USDA/APHIS Proposed Regulation Changes Would Affect Both Pet/Animal Owners and Breede

Not to sure where to post this but this is where i thought i would post it Thanks

http://www.adbadog.com/p_pdetails.asp?fpid=789&pg=789

Legislation
USDA/APHIS PROPOSED REGULATION

USDA/APHIS Proposed Regulation Changes Would Affect Both Pet/Animal Owners and Breeders

Public Comment Deadline is
******July 16, 2012 ******

The United States Department of Agriculture has recently published a proposed regulation that would expand USDA licensing requirements to dog, cat and other pet breeders who were formerly exempt from USDA licensing. This proposed rule will affect breeders of many different species, which are sold as pets, including:
Dogs
Cats
Rabbits
Guinea pigs
Hamsters
Gerbils
Rats
Mice
Gophers
Chinchilla
Domestic Ferrets
Domestic farm animals
Birds
Coldblooded Species
Without major changes or a total withdraw of these “proposed regulations”, this new classification would impact many pet buyers and breeders.
The USDA/APHIS is proposing a rules change for the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). If the change goes through, anyone who sells dogs, cats or other animals sold as pets will have to be licensed and inspected by the USDA/APHIS. Their facilities will have to meet USDA/APHIS requirements. The only exemption to this rule will be “retail pet stores.”

· In order to qualify for the “retail pet store” exemption, every animal offspring purchaser will have to come to your home at least once when purchasing the offspring. If you ship just one dog or cat to a long-time friend across the country without that person coming to your ‘facility’ before the sale, you will have to be licensed by the USDA/APHIS.

· The only other exemption will be if there are four or fewer “breedable females” on your premises and sell only the offspring of your own animals. This could be a combination of two unsprayed dogs and two unfixed hamsters. These numbers may include dogs/cats that you co-own with others. If you take in and place a dog (that you didn’t breed) in need of a home, you will have to be licensed by the USDA/APHIS.

moving this to the legal section

This has been circulating the internet for at least a few weeks now.. If you go to the USDA's page on the proposed rule change http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publicatio...l_pets_faq.pdf and don't read through the whole page, it does look like it would impact the herp hobby but if you read further particularly under the paragraph titles "What is the animal welfare act", it notes that cold blooded animals are not covered by the act.

Ed

"The act does not apply to cold-blooded animals or agricultural animals used for food or fiber."

If there were a comma after the words 'cold-blooded animals', I'd agree, but that missing comma makes all the difference in the world. It does not apply to cold-blooded animals used for food or fiber (for example, farmed frogs used for food).

I agree completely. That lack of comma would suggest fish, frog, gator and turtle farms to me (sure i am missing a few).

here is a quote from the q and a on the usda website:


The proposal will restore the definition to its original
intent so that it limits the retail pet store exemption
to only business and residences:
• where buyers physically enter to observe the
animals available for sale prior to purchasing
them, and
• where only the following animals are sold or
offered for sale at retail for use as pets: Dogs,
cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils,
rats, mice, gophers, chinchilla, domestic ferrets,
domestic farm animals, birds, and coldblooded
species

thanks
howard

Since people want to parse the exact meaning of the statement....we can look at the exact defninition of what is actually covered by the act to see that it clearly does not mean reptiles or amphibians.
Taken from http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusawa.htm#2132

(g) The term "animal" means any live or dead dog, cat, monkey (nonhuman primate mammal), guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or such other warm-blooded animal, as the Secretary may determine is being used, or is intended for use, for research, testing, experimentation, or exhibition purposes, or as a pet; but such term excludes (1) birds, rats of the genus Rattus, and mice of the genus Mus, bred for use in research, (2) horses not used for research purposes, and (3) other farm animals, such as, but not limited to livestock or poultry, used or intended for use as food or fiber, or livestock or poultry used or intended for use for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management, or production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food or fiber. With respect to a dog, the term means all dogs including those used for hunting, security, or breeding purposes;

Reptiles and amphibians are clearly not included in the definition of animals covered under the act which supports the exemption I quoted before. The language in the proposal does not have anything that changes the above definition of animal covered by the act.


Some comments,

Ed

Why would they specifically include the term 'cold-blooded' species in the explanation quoted in the first post of this thread. They could be taking a back door approach to re-defining the term 'animal' in this proposed change.

What I'm trying to get at is be careful not to assume the meaning of the proposed change if there's any chance for ambiguity in the wording. You can bet that the HSUS would try to interpret it to their favor if they had a chance.

It is part of the description of what constitutes a pet store. The language the OP copied other than the list of animals is not what is actually proposed..

The actual language is

The proposal will restore the definition to its original intent so that it limits the retail pet store exemption to only business and residences:

• where buyers physically enter to observe the animals available for sale prior to purchasing them, and

• where only the following animals are sold or offered for sale at retail for use as pets: Dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rats, mice, gophers, chinchilla, domestic ferrets, domestic farm animals, birds, and coldblooded species.

You would be considered an exempt pet store if you have people come to your location and purchased reptiles and amphibians but reptiles, amphibians and fish are all also exempt from regulation under the Animal Welfare Act.

So in short you could be an exempt pet store if you sold those animals even though reptiles, amphibians and fish are exempt by definition from coverage by the AWA.