(BTW- this is an imperfect issue but if it must exist, I'd rather it be regulated. More commentary at end).
Dear Animal Advocates,
The federal Pet Safety and Protection Act would prohibit Class B Dealers and unlicensed individuals from selling dogs and cats to research laboratories.
Class B Dealers are people who collect dogs and cats to sell to the research industry. They sometimes obtain their animals through illegal or unethical means, such as by responding to “free to good home” ads in newspapers, falsifying records to keep the true origins of the animals unknown and stealing pets kept outside in yards. They also buy animals in bulk from “bunchers,” whose methods are even more questionable.
Eliminating Class B Dealers will also take away the profit motive of bunchers, providing a much-needed safety net to ensure beloved pets are not stolen or acquired under false pretenses and sold to facilities that test on animals.
What You Can Do
Visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center Online to email your U.S. senators and representative urging them to support and cosponsor the Pet Safety and Protection Act. You may use the same link to read about this legislation in greater depth. https://secure2.convio.net/aspca/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2611&JServSessionIdr003=kwb5fhnm42.app28a
From the link:
The U.S. Pet Safety and Protection Act (S. 1834/H.R. 3907) would provide a much-needed safety net to ensure that beloved family pets are not stolen or acquired under false pretenses for sale to research laboratories.
Recently reintroduced in Congress, the Pet Safety and Protection Act would prohibit Class B Dealers and unlicensed individuals from selling dogs and cats to research laboratories. Class B Dealers are people who make their livings by selling animals to the research industry. This is currently permitted under the Animal Welfare Act (passed in 1966), but these dealers are not held accountable for where they obtained their animals.
This is a problem, because dealers sometimes acquire animals through illegal or unethical means—such as by responding to “free to a good home” ads in newspapers, falsifying records to keep the true origins of the animals unknown, working with “bunchers” (people who collect animals from random sources to sell to Class B Dealers) and stealing pets kept outside in yards.
If the Pet Safety and Protection Act is passed, the Animal Welfare Act would be amended so that the only people who would be allowed to sell dogs and cats to research facilities would be:
- Dealers who have bred and raised the animals.
- Publicly owned pounds or shelters that obtained the animals from their legal owners.
- A person donating a dog or cat whom they have bred and raised, or owned for at least one year.
People who obtained dogs and cats by any other means would not be permitted to sell those dogs and cats to research laboratories, thus ensuring that stolen pets do not end up in research facilities.Thank you for supporting the ASPCA and America’s animals.
(Note from author: I happen to think this leaves open the door for municiple shelters to sell their dogs into research, and for puppy mill breeders to do the same, but in order to put pressure on anyone selling dogs in this way, it must first be regulated. This is a good first step.) In the meanwhile, keep an eye on your dog while it is outside.
xoxo
