Sunday, July 22, 2012

Important Reminder

... for anyone who breeds dogs or cares about the Old Ways: please write to oppose the new federal APHIS regs! Jess sums it up well:

"The comment period is to let APHIS know that there are problems with this new rule. It should be abandoned completely. Tell them. Do you plan to purchase a puppy that will be shipped to you? Tell them. Do you have a rare breed that depends on easy shipping to maintain genetic diversity? Tell them. Do you want to be able to buy from the breeder of your choice, whether that breeder is local or across the country? Tell them. Do you know breeders that will not be able to comply with the AWA regulations? Tell them."

This post is an essential example of the blog category "Read The Whole Thing". If these regs had been in place when I brought my three breeders back from Asia, the whole Querencia tazi family and strain would be nothing but imaginary, unfulfilled potential in Asia. Jess, who has a few more dogs than we do, would not be legally able to let her dogs sleep in her bed any more (seriously), by sudden and utterly arbitrary federal fiat.

Whether driven by a sinister conspiracy or "merely" invincible ignorance (I think chance determines more disasters than conspiracy but also that well- organized fanatics can move faster than the complacent majority), these regs must be stopped. Someone on another blog thought my use of the challenge or outright dare "Molon labe!" ("Come and take them...") was over the top. How would you feel if the government planned to casually destroy over a decade of your work and love, your intentional and careful breeding of a unique domestic animal in a tradition thousands of years old? Now multiply throughout the nation...

3 comments:

Retrieverman said...

I missed the deadline to make comments on the stupid Muscovy duck regulation, which is currently not enforced but is on the books.

So every comment is necessary to stop an incredibly stupid regulation that won't solve the problem at all.

The only way to stop breeding practices that one doesn't like is simply not to buy from those who engage in it. Don't buy anything from a pet store that sells puppies. Don't buy from a website that always has puppies available and has a Paypal link under each available one.

Being intelligent consumers can put an end to the worst sort of cruelty and will still keep honest breeders in practice.

The many problems that dogs suffer cannot be solved without breeders. Breeders are the ones who will implement the reforms we need to produce healthier and longer lived dogs. However, if we put all the breeders out of business, they will never be solved.

The Federal Government will be as successful in putting out puppy mills as it was in Prohibition. The demand for cute little puppies is high, even now, and the shelter system isn't going to be able to meet that demand, especially if only a small percentage of dogs now winds up dying in shelters each year.

I am not currently a dog breeder, but it is something I want to do. I would hate for this opportunity to be taken away from me just because of the animal rights fanatics.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this post.
Kathy

Jess said...

Kathy, I have written quite a bit on the proposed APHIS rule change and the problems it's going to create.

Most of the mainstream press coverage has been one-sided. Not our side.