Unreasonable Delay, Unthinkable Abuse
The GlobalPost, an award-winning news site that covers international issues, reports that there may be more than 3,000 puppy mills in South Korea that are churning out dogs not only for sale in that country, but also for export to the United States. This, despite a law that The HSUS worked to pass to forbid the import of puppies from foreign mills for resale.
In 2008, The HSUS worked to include a provision in the Farm Bill to ban imports of dogs less than six months of age for resale, because of our findings that foreign breeders and dealers were shipping dogs into the country from Eastern Europe, China and Mexico. Many of the dogs were ailing or dead by the time they arrived in the United States on long-distance flights. The language was also supported by the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Kennel Club. Congress adopted the provision, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it needed to promulgate regulations to enforce the provision. Now six years since congressional enactment of the law, and even though an entirely new Farm Bill was drafted, debated and adopted after protracted debate, the USDA still has not taken final action on a relatively non-controversial provision to shut down the U.S. market to unscrupulous foreign breeders and dealers.
“On a GlobalPost undercover visit to a vast puppy mill in Gimpo, northwest of Seoul,” according to reporter Geoffrey Cain, “a breeder said he refuses to export ‘teacups,’ estimating that one in every three dogs dies during shipping or within a month of their arrival.”
In March, 38 U.S. Representatives wrote to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack demanding action and highlighting the inordinate delay, noting that the agency published a proposed rule in September 2011, but has taken no final action.
“Congress recognized that this law is needed,” wrote Reps. Dina Titus and Jim Moran and three dozen other lawmakers, “to address: (1) a critical public health threat – imported puppies present a risk of transmissible diseases, including diseases which are transmissible to humans such as screwworm, rabies, scabies and Brucellosis, and (2), an acute animal welfare problem – many puppies arrive dead or are seriously ill due to being bred in inhumane conditions and having traveled long distances in cramped containers that may be exposed to extreme temperatures.”
The USDA did take action to close a gaping loophole in U.S. law, bringing Internet sellers of puppies under its authority. But its puppy mill work is woefully incomplete until it cracks down on foreign shipments of dogs into the United States. There’s no excuse for this inaction and inattention, while dogs suffer so terribly.
You can help. Click here to tell the USDA to stop puppy mill imports.
