Wow, among all the Westminster goodies in a post, I found info about a new bill that would make anyone offering more than five dogs or puppies or cats or kittens for sale a year a puppy mill. No more house and couch time for the dogs--off to some kennel! If I am reading this correctly, there's a bounty or commission of $250 (up to $1,000 or 10 % of the 10 K fine?!?!) to be paid to anyone turning in such a breeder--all breeders are bad, according to this bill. This is far worse than the one they tried a few years ago. Worse, the HSUS is a main consultant and tied into this bill. You can't get an animal from anyone not on this state and HSUS registry--maybe not even from out of state? The bill even has the gall to state, "The specific requirements are changes to federal regulations being recommended by the Humane Society of the United States. "

http://www.bestinshowdaily.com/blog/2012/01/new-jersey-tries-again-to-regulate-small-scale-breeders/

Now I can't sleep--I who haven't had a litter in a few years! Yes, this is worse than the bill they tried to pass in 2008. So it is time for another petition and letter writing campaign at our shows. It may also be a time to get another AKC magnet, the one that goes on your car and states,
"I OWN A DOG AND I VOTE!"

Coming to a state near you soon. . . . where our grandkids won't have access to dogs.

This undid the lovely dinner and concert with DH tonight. There is not enough chocolate in the world to take the place of good dogs!

Sleepless in New Jersey,
Charlotte

I scanned the article and the actual bill. Did you? I did not read in depth, but I think you are incorrect in the number of animals a person could put up for sale as pets in a year. You said 5, the bill saiid 25. It also said that you could only breed a cat or bitch once a year, and that breeding animals needed OFA clearances. It would make sense to read and understand the bill before making statements about it.
I am not saying I agree or disagree. There are parts of this bill which seem really good. There are parts which seem too much for me.
In my state, I am regulated by laws, too. At first they seemed overly restrictive, but I have no problems in complying once I fully understood them.

http://www.bestinshowdaily.com/blog/2012/01/new-jersey-tries-again-to-regulate-small-scale-breeders/

Read it again. You are a "pet dealer, " like a USDA broker, if you offer more than five animals for sale a year. The text is "The term "pet dealer" shall also include, but shall not be limited to, kennels or pet shops as defined in section 1 of P.L.1941, c.151 (C.4:19-15.1), persons selling more than five cats or dogs per year who are otherwise exempted from the federal license requirements established pursuant to the "Animal Welfare Act," 7 U.S.C. §2131 et seq., and the rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto, and all pet dealers regulated pursuant to subchapter 12 of chapter 45A of Title 13 of the New Jersey Administrative Code. Individuals that sell five or fewer animals per year and animal shelters shall not be considered pet dealers under this act."

Also, it appears that one might not be able to run on puppies without turning them over to the local pound or humane society. If we are pet dealers, are we also pet shops?
"Every pet dealer shall establish procedures and methods for the return of cats or dogs for any reason that shall include the humane transfer of cats or dogs to pounds, shelters or other municipal animal control facility. Any cat or dog that has not been sold after eight consecutive weeks in the pet shop shall be delivered in a humane manner and at no cost to the pound, shelter, or other municipal animal control facility with which the municipality in which the pet shop is located has contracted for the holding of animals."

You neglected to give the link to the actual bill, which I did scan. It is clickable below on Website. Here also is the URL to the bill:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/A1000/736_I1.HTM

I take it that you also don't mind never being allowed to have house dogs who are your two intact girls? No whelping in the house, no soft surfaces for the cats and dogs. No more well socialized house dogs for those buying puppies and kittens. It actually makes a Hunte corporation type puppy more legal than those of small hobby breeders whelping in the house. " 'Breeding facility' means any building or other structure, or area whether indoor or outdoor, in which more than two cats or dogs are housed and bred for the purposes of selling the resulting kittens or puppies for any purpose." It does become illegal to have more than 25 puppies a year for sale in state--what is that, two good Lab litters?

The substantial bounty or reward, particularly in this economy, takes the whole thing way over the top for me, even if I never have another litter. Compare that to the fines in NJ for truly dangerous, deadly activities, and see who is included in the actual language of the bill as an authority, the HSUS, and you see how dangerous this bill could be to those who love cats and dogs.

Many of the safeguards in the bill are already law in NJ, so the ones that protect the pet buying public are already law. I had one friend looking for a puppy who said last year that, given the puppy lemon law and other restrictions, you'd have to be crazy to breed in NJ.

You are assuming things which I never said. I stated that My position was neither for or against...therefore, I gave no opinion about this proposed bill other than some parts seemed good and some parts were "too much" for me.

Yes, I provided the actual link to Best in Show which contained a direct link to the bill. You simply provided the Internet address. Here is the actual link to the bill:

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/A1000/736_I1.HTM

So what can we do to fight this? Are the members of Mid Jersey and Skylands LRC aware of this bill. The issue I have is the same as the OP, which is this bill hurts hobby breeders who have beloved house dogs, not kennels.

We can organize and not feed trolls, maybe remind the legislators who votes them in and "feeds" them. Major shows are upcoming, with plenty of opportunities to have other dog lovers sign petitions and write the NJ legislators and the committee to which this bill was referred. Such an opportunity was at the New Brunswick KC a few years ago, but the Westminster week parties and shows are bigger and sooner. I am taking the magnet off my fridge and putting it on one of our vehicles, "I OWN A DOG AND I VOTE." (Magnet available at the AKC store.) I will probably put it on the commuter car, as it gets the most visibility over the miles.
Write your legislators, write your clubs, write the NJ Federation of Dog Clubs (FWIW), and talk about it to anyone in NJ who will listen--at Super Bowl parties, 4-H, clubs, lunch with a friend, or wherever anyone who might ever want a dog might listen to you.

I sincerely hope you are not referring to me simply because I chose to read thoroughly before I make up my mind on an important issue.

I do not want to be tempted to do so. We apparently disagree in our interpretations of the bill, which has some dangerously vague language, language dangerous to anyone wanting a well raised companion animal in NJ's future. I don't know why you are so argumentative if you are "not from NJ." Maybe you got here from an internet search monitoring HSUS citations and are not a breeder of Labradors, or possibly you are one still drinking the poisonous Kool Aid proffered by leaders of anti-animal organizations.

Like my Labrador Retrievers, I am not one to start a fight, but I will defend myself and those I love. I seriously regret contributions to HSUS in the distant past, before I was enlightened as to their mostly less than charitable actions and positions.

Have a good day. A dog got off the couch in our carpeted room and went to the door. We are going out to enjoy our sunshine as devoted companions to each other, at home in New Jersey.

I know there's plenty of hobby breeders who are involved with both the federal and their local governments...and there's a good amount of us involved in conformation, hunt tests, etc. across the country among all the different breeds...

Why not start putting petitions/lawsuits out against the HSUS and PETA? Shut them down and expose them for the frauds they really are? Enough is enough.

To Charlotte: I am not arguing with anyone, taking any type of position for or against anything. You are quick to jump to conclusions (at least about me) which have little accuracy. I simply said that I thought it was necessary to read any important document before forming an opinion. I have not "interpreted" this bill. I am an independent adult who has competed with my labs and have bred conciencously for forty years. I am not in agreement with many of the stated goals and positions of PETA or other similar groups, so do not presume to condemn or label me simply because I have not enthusiastically agreed with your every word. Don't forget....Kool-Aid drinkers can come from either side of the fanatical fence.

There is a lot of big money behind those organizations which make it very hard to compete with them through advertising, propaganda or through legal means.

The Animal Rights movement has one goal in mind when it comes to domestic animals-liberate and set them free. They believe that we are enslaving our animals when we choose to breed them, compete with them and just have them as our pets. They would much rather do away with ALL domesticated animals. Anytime I see HSUS behind a bill, IT IS A BAD BILL!

HSUS is NOT an Animal Welfare group, they are Animal Rights folks. Their true motives is to stop all consumption of, breeding of, use for entertainment of, etc. ALL animals. Dog breeders are among one of the groups they target. Farmers are another big group they are targeting. They try to pass laws that heavily restrict and force farmers and breeders to do things "their" way which is usually quite expensive to continue and put many out of business.

They make up terms like "puppy mills" and "factory farming" which is very derogatory yet one that they blanket ALL breeders and farmers with. We as hobby breeders don't want to be included in such a term and we try to distinguish why we are better than a "puppy mill". We come up with terms like "hobby breeder" or "reputable breeder". This is VERY divisive and the problem with this is we "hobby breeders" are a very small piece of the puzzle. And you know what? Legislation like this doesn't give a rat's ass about those terms. It basically defines anyone who sells puppies as a dealer or a commercial kennel. We MUST unite with ALL breeders, whether we agree with their breeding practices or not, and stand together and continue to fight this type of legislation.

There are plenty of animal cruelty/welfare laws on the books now that go unenforced due to lack of personnel. Passing more laws that add more kennels to be inspected will make things even worse. Many animals that find themselves in filthy, neglectful situations are owned by hoarders or other animal collectors. Just recently a truck full (192 dogs) of "rescues" were found in a U-Haul in horrid conditions as they were being transported across the country. Many owners are prosecuted for breaking the law as it is.

Another problem with this type of legislation is that it leaves the door open to the HSUS to continue to impose more and more restrictions on the licensed breeders. Just because you have a commercial license doesn't mean that you will be allowed as many dogs as you want. It may mean you can only have 50 dog (adults and puppies) and the next year the HSUS will decide that's too much and drop it to 30, then 20 and then 10 or less. Now I know some of you hobby breeders will jump for joy because you think no one should have more than a certain number of dogs. Again, this is the wrong attitude because why should you or anyone else say what is right for EVERY breeder? Some breeders can handle 50 dogs and keep clean, happy, and healthy dogs. Some breeders can't handle 2 dogs! But if we keep dividing ourselves into our own group, we will go down with the ship. We must unite to fight this type of crap.

Spread the word about the HSUS and help take them down. Hit it where it hurts-their pocket book. Here is a great link to share: www.humanewatch.org. And if you truly want to help shelter animals, please donate locally.

I remember a e-mail protest regarding a California bill which worked very well. Can you NJ folk post e-mail addresses and the rest of us will help protest. I'm in the midwest and won't be in your area to sign a petition but would gladly send an e-mail to your legislatures on your behalf.

These bills bode no good for any of us or our dogs.

I remember an e-mail protest regarding a California bill which worked very well. Can you NJ folk post e-mail addresses and the rest of us will help protest. I'm in the midwest and won't be in your area to sign a petition but would gladly send an e-mail to your legislatures on your behalf.

These bills bode no good for any of us or our dogs.

Seems to me that this little poem may apply here:

FOOD FOR THOUGHT – ANIMAL RIGHTIST THREAT
Anonymous Thought:

They came for the trapper but I didn’t trap …..I did nothing.

They came for the hunter but I didn’t hunt …. I did nothing.

They came for the fisherman but I didn’t fish …. I did nothing

They came for the scientist using research animals to fight disease, but this wasn’t my area of concern …. I did nothing

They came for the people who ran the Rodeo and Circus saying it was cruel to use these animals for public display. I didn’t go to either, so once again, … I did nothing.

They came for me …. The dog breeder and show exhibitor. I looked for someone to help me fight this terrible injustice. I searched far and wide for an ally in this just fight to no avail. THEY WERE ALL GONE.

I hope they pass the bill. Might get more puppy sales on my side of town.

this subject is no joke. People never cease to amaze me.

Although I don't agree with the tactics of HSUS and certainly not PETA, their original intent was good, to do away with animal cruelty and neglect. And, let's face it, they're right, there's a lot of it out there.

But GOOD breeders never did anything to make their good practices known to these groups so we have been lumped in with the bad ones.

The only thing to do is continue to educate, police our own, invite our legislators to our facilities to show the differences between us and "mills." By continuing to blindly oppose ANY bills that have anything to do with breeding, we will appear as though we are trying to protect something other than our right to breed, which as we all know, is not supposed to be for profit......??????

And there you go with your elitist attitude...not for profit? What is wrong with breeding good quality dogs who pass all their clearances, have won titles in the show ring, and the breeder breeds more than a "few" litters a year to make money off what they do?

It bugs me to no end when I hear oh let's just show them we are different and they will see the light. NO THEY WON'T! Like I said earlier, their motto is "better dead than bred". What part of that don't you understand? I've debated with the AR nuts many time. If you oppose their organizations it's because you're a breeder. It doesn't matter what kind of breeder you are, you enslave your animals by forcing them to breed, forcing them to run around a stupid show ring, etc.

You live in fantasy land if you think by inviting them to your home and see how your dogs live will some how change their minds. IT WON'T!

Yes, animal cruelty happens all the time. There are plenty of laws on the books now that deal with those who do such horrible things. It won't ever stop unless there are no other animals to torture. Heavily restricting breeders will do nothing but put your little righteous butt out of the hobby because you won't be able to comply with all their nonsense. ALL BREEDERS MUST STICK TOGETHER AND FIGHT THIS CRAP. Comprende?

When our state has had ridiculous bills I contacted EVERY politician who would be voting. I took 3 items that would be detrimental to responsible breeders and then explained the importance of enforcing existing laws and a point or two from the bill that worked. I received many thanks and was told they had not read the bill and would now look into it deeper. Talking to the AR people is fruitless- been there- done that.

I am in NY. A few years ago they passed the "Pet Dealers" law here.Really suppose to stop puppy mills and the bad treatment of animals but we breeders got lumped in. We complied. Its just another money maker for NY. They don't enforce it. There are plenty of breeders out there that should have one but don't. All you have to do is open the local paper or go on the internet to find them. Its 25 pups from your private residence or 9 if you are a DBA.
When we asked about it the reply was "We don't have the time or man power to chase them down." Only way someone gets found out is if someone turns them in.
So we comply, pay our fees and a lot of breeders get away with not having it. You breeders in NJ already have rules and regulations that you have to abide by. Like a 6 month genetic law!
Good luck NJ!

First of all, your comments were uncalled for and rude. I said nothing that warranted your crappy attitude!!! It's my opinion and it comes from experience!!!

I live in the south and in the county I live in, 1 shelter alone euthanizes close to 100 dogs per week, we see dogs running loose everywhere or tied to a tree, children watch their fathers shoot dogs for reasons such as stepping in a pile of poop and dog fighting rings are rampant!!!!

So 2 of our County Commissioners united a group of concerned pet owners, veterinarians, breeders, hunters and rescue groups to come up with a plan to not only end the madness and expense of the stray problem but also to respect the liberties of the breeders and hunters in our area.

Animal ordinances that everyone could live with were crafted and the Commissioners, along with many of us in the group, frequently go to the capital when legislation regarding breeding comes to the floors.

We continue to try and educate those in our area, especially children, we run spay/neuter drives(no, not mandatory, simply less expensive!!!)and we believe that we are making a dent in the problem. No, it's not perfect and, you're right, if it were up to the rescue groups there would be no breeding.

But we have come together, RESPECTING each others opinions and we will continue to try to solve the problem. It's been 10 years of hard work but, in the end, we all agreed on the same thing. The suffering of the dogs (and cats) in our area had to be addressed!!!

So get off your damn high horse and listen to others....might make more of a difference then just barking at people for not agreeing with you!!!