HOW YOU CAN HELP ANIMALS!
By
helping ISAR work toward the elimination of puppy mills and most retail sales
of companion animals here and abroad.
ISAR's supporters know how long we've
been working to eliminate puppy mills and most retail sales of companion
animals. (See www.isaronline.org)
Now, finally, even the United States
Department of Agriculture has admitted that one aspect of the puppy mill
problem -- the thousands of puppies shipped into this country from abroad
(e.g., South Korea, China and Eastern Europe) -- present a serious problem.
Until now, among them at least 25% have died in transit before even reaching this country.
In mid-August of this year, after many
years of ignoring the problem, according to the Associated Press "[t]he
U.S. Department of Agriculture approved a regulation . . . that, starting in 90
days, will require all puppies imported to the United States to be at least 6
months old, healthy, and up-to-date on vaccinations."
While those of us who work tirelessly
for animal rights and know too well the scourge of puppy mills and most other
breeders might welcome the USDA regulation the fact is that sadly it misses
the mark.
For one thing, the government's
concern is not for the puppies -- according to the AP usually less than 8 weeks
old -- but for the American consumer. That's the wrong
emphasis. Breeding of puppies generally and their importation in particular is
a moral issue of animal rights, and is rooted in the philosophical
premise that animals are akin to inanimate objects and thus can be treated as
chairs and bowling balls (See Some Thoughts on the Rights of Animals). That's why the puppies are crammed into crates
in the holds of intercontinental airplanes with little or no concern for their
wellbeing. Protecting not the helpless puppies, but the American consumer.
Second, as a practical matter, even
if the new regulation was acceptable morally and legally, which it is not, it is unenforceable given the general corruption and document forgeries that
the breeders' countries are known for. To say the least, it is naïve to believe
that puppy mill operators abroad (especially in countries whose populations eat
dogs) will not falsify the documents required by the new USDA regulation. It
requires that the puppies be "at least 6 months old, healthy, and
up-to-date on vaccinations." There is simply no way overworked, and perhaps
indifferent, USDA inspectors can get behind the paperwork to ascertain how old
puppies are, whether they are "healthy" (whatever that means), or
whether they ever received the vaccinations the regulation requires.
Third, those of us who labor in the
animal protection movement know how unsuccessful USDA is in enforcing other
laws within its jurisdiction pertaining to the welfare of animals. The new
regulation will not be adequately enforced, if at all.
Fourth, the heralded fine of up to
$10,000 presupposes that violators will be identified (in South Korea, China,
and Eastern Europe countries!), fined, and then the fines actually collected --
a utopian assumption that defies reality. And even if the shippers do pay a
fine, why would one think they will be deterred?
An official with a national humane
organization has said that the new USDA regulation "eliminates the easy
access to market that foreign breeders have had for years." Nonsense! Not
only is that statement not so, but those who support the regulation have now
given the shippers and USDA a fig leaf to cover the vile importation practice
by making it appear that the problem has been dealt with. Indeed, an official
with a national humane organization has said that by promulgating the
regulation the organization and USDA "are taking steps in the right
direction."
Sorry, but that's not the "right
direction."
There are only two "right directions."
If American puppy-buyers are determined to support breeders by purchasing dogs (and cats, for that matter), rather than by going to a shelter the least they can do morally is make certain that the animal has not been imported. There are more than enough homeless companion animals right here in the United States. More than more than enough.
Even more important, those purchasers should
reconsider the entire breeding issue, and then support ISAR's efforts to
prohibit puppy mills both abroad and in the United States.
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