Federal PUPS Bill Introduced to Regulate Mid-Sized Dog Breeders
Thursday, June 24, 2010

Contact your legislators to provide better protection for puppies

The Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act (PUPS Act), S. 3424 and H.R. 5434 have been introduced to regulate the care provided by high volume retail dog breeders for their animals. This bill defines a “high volume retail breeder” as one that has one or more breeding female dogs and sells or offers for sale 50 or more offspring of these dogs within a one-year period.

The news is filled with horrific accounts of the living conditions of dogs seized from puppy mills—large commercial breeding operations—around the country. Dogs are kept in small kennels with little or no exercise and feces and vermin everywhere. While this is not true for all dog breeders, there are many substandard breeding operations where sick dogs are being sold to the public, directly or through pet shops around the country.

This bill would amend the Animal Welfare Act to set minimal standards of care for high volume dog breeders, including requirements for exercise and appropriate living space. Under these provisions, high volume retail breeders would be included within the definition of a “dealer,” so they will now be subject to all existing regulations applicable to dealers.

Contact your U.S. Senators and Representative and ask them to support passage of these bills.