oppose PAWS bill S1139/HB2669

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HoppinHerdofHares

HoppinHerdofHares

Active Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2005
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Location
Moodys, Oklahoma, USA

Hi there -

This is a bill that will affect any of us animal breeders. The info is here -

Qadoshyah



------------------------------

I've discussed that the PAWS bill S1139/HB2669 will show legislativeintent to regulate people selling animals direct to owners and open thedoor to another AR lawsuit to regulate all hobby breeders.

Well it's worse than I first thought, as written PAWS will requireevery rabbit breeder selling pets or breeding stock and gorssing over$500 in slaes to be licensed with the USDA.

Upon further review of the PAWS amendment and alerts from PIJAC theamendment specifically excludes from retail pet store definition peoplebreeding and selling animals as pets. It also under the exemptions fordog and cats states "(II) derives not more than $500 gross income fromthe sale of other animals"

So there you have it, rabbit breeders will no longer be exempt due tothe retail pet store exemption and if you gross more than $500 sellingto anyone you need a USDA license. This will impact not only adultrabbit breeders but youth and 4-Hers as well.

Every rabbit breeder needs to fight PAWS. It's pretty simple to, make acouple phone cals and send a few e-mails voicing your opposition. Butplease make sure you do and encourage everyone you know to. And don'tforget your pet customers as well, urge them to oppose PAWS. Of courseanimal "rights" groups are supporting PAWS and misleading "rescue"about it. Yes rescue will also be regulated if PAWS passes. Also theAKC has joined the dark side, as incredible as it sounds the AKC ispromoting PAWS. The AKC is going all out to convince breeders tosupport it, mass e-mails, ads on it's store site, spin from directorswho voted for it, etc. However a great many dog clubs and breeders areopposed to PAWS.

So is the CFA who will also be negatively impacted if PAWS passes. Thisfight is winnable but we need to do our part to ensure our safety tobreed free from federal regulation.

So TAKE ACTION NOW:

url showing what the AWA will look like with the PAWS amendmenthttp://www.pet-law.com/paws/ppa3.html[/u]

Websites with PAWS info and how to fight it

http://www.pet-law.com[/u]

http://www.ncraoa.com[/u]

http://saova.org/1139.html[/u]has auto e-mail to sponsors and committees function

A CALL A DAY KEEPS PAWS AWAY Call (202)224-2035 and say I OPPOSE PAWS SB1139 & HB2669

Call Sponsor Senator Santorum PA at 202-224-6324 or e-mailhttp://santorum[/u]senate.gov to explain that his amendment will regulate nearly everyhobby rabbit breeder in the US. He seems overzealous about regulatingdog breeders I don't think he understands how this impacts other animalbreeders.

Contact the Senate Ag committee members to voice your oppositionhttp://agriculture.senate.gov/sen.htm[/u]

Contact your federal representatives and tell them to oppose PAWS

Permission to crosspost
 
Gypsy posted on this, HoppinHerdsofHares. I believe Katsmewotree did too.

Just letting you know so that you don't think we're ignoring you.

:)

-Carolyn
 
What's so bad about breedersregistering? I can't see this as a negative thing forbunnies, just a bit inconvenient for breeders.
 
Currently, there is a lot of confusion about the proposed legislation and how it would affect rabbit breeders.

Radar, there's nothing wrong with the basic concept of breederlicensing. There are concerns however, that the bill's intentis to put many breeders out of business by making it too difficult ortoo expensive for many backyard breederstocomply.



Pam
 
Would this registering be similar to the organiccertification requirements that were put into effectrecently? The standards are so hard to met, plus expensiveand time-consuming with mandatory inspections that many small farmsjust forgo the organic 'label' and state there products are from'happy' animals.

Would there be a similar loophole for breeders if this getspassed? I for one, do not want this bill to be passed becauseI would eventually like to get into breeding (small scale) rabbits inthe future. :(
 
The current legislation applies to breeders making sales of over $500 per year.

Examples of requirements that may make it difficult to comply are:

Washroom and sinks. Facilities, such as washrooms, basins, or
sinks, shall be provided to maintain cleanliness among animal
caretakers. I don't have a washroom or sink in my rabbitry

Interior surfaces. The interior building surfaces of indoor
housing facilities shall be constructed and maintained so that they are
substantially impervious to moisture and may be readily sanitized.My old rabbitry met these requirements, but we haven't put walls upyetin the one I have now.

A suitable nest box containing clean nesting material shall be
provided in each primary enclosure housing a female with a litter less
than one month of age. I take the nest box out at 2 weeks.

I believe that I meet most of the other specifications.

Pam


 
Here are the US AWA rabbit care specifications:

http://www.animallaw.info/administrative/adusawaregc.htm

Here are UK codes for livestock rabbits:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/farmed/othersps/rabbits/pb0080/rabcode.htm

I like to use these codes as a guideline in my own barn as to where I need to improve care.



Here are photos of my old barn before we moved to PA.http://www.geocities.com/pamnock/rabbitry2001.html(It has now been converted into an apartment). Ijust took some photos of my current setup that I'll try to post tonight.



Pam



Tort5.jpg

 
pamnock wrote:
The current legislation applies to breeders making sales of over $500 per year.

Examples of requirements that may make it difficult to comply are:

Washroom and sinks. Facilities, such as washrooms, basins, or
sinks, shall be provided to maintain cleanliness among animal
caretakers. I don't have a washroom or sink in my rabbitry

Interior surfaces. The interior building surfaces of indoor
housing facilities shall be constructed and maintained so that they are
substantially impervious to moisture and may be readily sanitized.My old rabbitry met these requirements, but we haven't put walls upyetin the one I have now.

A suitable nest box containing clean nesting material shall be
provided in each primary enclosure housing a female with a litter less
than one month of age. I take the nest box out at 2 weeks.

I believe that I meet most of the other specifications.

Pam
Click to expand...
Requiring plumbing in every rabbitry is an oftenunworkablehardship for many, I'm sure, if that what thewording requires. The question is in the execution of thelaw.Will they allow a stand with a pump bottleofanti-bacterial dry wash solution and a rack of papertowels? Most nursing homes have dispensers at the entrances,it seems to suffice. Will an extended hoseor aclean buckets of water will do the trick for cagecleaning?Is this wording flexible enough forthat?The nest box length requirementisflat-out micro-managing.

Based on this example, it would be nice to see workable wordingrehashed as opposed to the bill simply killed. The spirit ofthe bill seems well intended.Of coursethere's an awful lot more to it from both sides of thefence. Thanks for the succinct insight.Makes the picture much clearer.
 
Radar wrote:
The spirit of thebill seems well intended.
Click to expand...


It is true, that like any law, it is open to interpretation.The bill was introduced by my state rep., Rick Santorum fromPennsylvania, the "puppy mill capital" of the US. Currentlaws do already cover many aspects of animal neglect, but inspectionswould certainly help clean things up.

Here's photos of my rabbitry that I took tonight.(Link below)I've been scrubbing cages all week and cut *everyones* toenails (over80 adult rabbits!). Some of the cage pans appear dirty in thephotos, but it's just hay that I give to the litters andjuniors. Cage pans are cleaned every 3 days and everything iscurrently sparkling clean! :)



http://www.geocities.com/pamnock/RabbityPhotosJuly19.html



Pam

RabbitCages1.jpg





 
Hi Pam,

Where were you able to find the specifics of what the rules were? I'm interested to see what it says about breeding birds.

Megan
 
Washroom and sinks. Facilities, such as washrooms, basins, or
sinks, shall be provided to maintain cleanliness among animal
caretakers <<<<<<<<<

USDA and FDA require thiscompliance for any animal concideredEdible , I have such in mygarage so it for me is minor .

Interior surfaces. The interior building surfaces of indoor
housing facilities shall be constructed and maintained so that they are
substantially impervious to moisture and may be readilysanitized<<<<<<<<<<

This one on the other hand will bea PITA! AG Dept doesnt requireit . I have wood basedwalls some painted some not .


A suitable nest box containing clean nesting material shall be
provided in each primary enclosure housing a female with a litter less
than one month of age<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I dont have nests boxes buthave hutches built into Doe cages ( goodthing concidering ) Fact allcages were originally designed this way for Bucksand for Does , Sinceonly Does have suchcages and all Bucks nowhave wire cages .

All this Bill is going to dofor Breeders is make it virtuallyimpossable to breed animals ,Restrict Pet Sales , Drive upcost of Inflation , And Litterallymake people confoorm to someoneelses way of thinking ,

Dont get me wrong I am all forshutting down MILLS! but to puthonest hard working hardpressed Breeders to task forThe actions of afewis JUST WRONG!
 
I dont think we need more laws,the laws we havenow are not enforced. were is the money coming from to police this.mostpeople i know dont have water in their rabbit barns it would be tooexpensive to put in.this would put many 4H kids out of rabbits.bluebird
 
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