Another point of view on the USDA/APHIS Anti-Pet regulations that will become effective November 18, 2013 that focuses on people who raise pets in their homes regulating them to install commercial facilities on their Residential Property and prohibiting them from transporting these pets to their new owners, Worker Discrimination! Women were encouraged to participate in hobby dog breeding at home for extra money in the 1960-70’s as a “stay at home” job to be able to take care of the children and “work” at the same time, a wonderful arrangement.
White women in particular are the lowest earning full time wage and salary workers in the United States. The majority of “dog fanciers” and home-hobby breeders are white women, the sector of employment who these APHIS Anti-Pet regulations will effect.
www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2012/ted_20120110.htm
“Overall employment of animal care and service workers is projected to grow by 23 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations.” ”About 28 percent of animal care and service workers were self-employed in 2010. Animals need care around the clock; many facilities, such as kennels, animal shelters, and stables,….The median annual wage of nonfarm animal caretakers was $19,550 in May 2010…. animal caretakers often work irregular hours and night, weekend, and holiday shifts” 80% women! “Employment in kennels, grooming shops, pet stores, and veterinary clinics and hospitals is projected to increase to keep up with the growing demand for animal services…. As the companion animal population grows and the number of pet services increase, more workers will be needed.…” Total number of Animal Care and Service Workers in 2010 was 234,900. The USDA/APHIS Anti-Pet regulations will reduce employment in the agricultural sector, not increase. These regulations will reduce even further the income of almost poverty-level, agricultural workers.
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/animal-care-and-service-workers.htm#tab-5
“Healthcare is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. economy, employing over 18 million workers. Women represent nearly 80% of the healthcare work force.” “Over 78% of workers employed in veterinary services are female; this information is unavailable for pet care services” according to the Centers for Disease Control CDC. The majority of animals that are taken to a veterinarian facility are PETS. But yet, APHIS wrote that the new Anti-Pet Regulations would only affect about 4600 breeders. HUH? If the information is unavailable for pet care services, how would APHIS know how many breeders the Anti-Pet Regulation would affect?
Irony never ceases to amaze me. Emily’s List is a Pro-Women political group. In 2012, they supported Christie Vilsack as a Senatorial candidate in Iowa. Christie Vilsack, now employed by USDA/USAID, is the wife of Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the USDA who is responsible for APHIS’ new rules that affect ALL REGULATED SPECIES.
In the APHIS Civil Rights Impact Analysis, “APHIS determined that this rule will primarily affect dog breeders with more than four breeding females at their facilities, those who sell offspring as pets, and breeders with an online presence.” Regulations.gov . I did a little searching on my own to find some numbers of “pet care service” employees.
Department of Labor:
Table 1
|
Industry and class of worker |
Total unemployed |
Unemployment rates (in thousands) |
||||||
|
2011 |
2012 |
Total |
Men |
Women |
||||
|
2011 |
2012 |
2011 |
2012 |
2011 |
2012 |
|||
| Agricultural and related private wage and salary workers(2) |
190 |
188 |
12.5 |
12.4 |
11.5 |
11.3 |
15.6 |
16.0 |
Footnote: (2) Includes self-employed workers whose businesses are incorporated.
This could mean that these number probably do not represent those self-employed workers that are not incorporated but “they might.” However, look at the percentage of men and women unemployed in the agricultural sector in 2012. The reason for the APHIS regulations that further prohibit employment growth in the agricultural sector?
Department of Labor:
Table 2
|
Industry and class of worker |
Number of |
Unemployment |
||
|
Oct. |
Oct. |
Oct. |
Oct. |
|
| Agriculture and related private wage and salary workers |
146 |
163 |
9.5 |
10.7 |
SINCE WHEN DOES 11.3% AND 16% EQUAL OUT TO 9.5%?
No other sector had higher unemployment in 2012 than Agriculture, producers of our food and PETS. How many people buy their pets from an individual who had a puppy for sale? MOST! The regulations that take effect on November 18, 2013 will reduce the already small number of puppies for sale at individual homes.
One of the Lowest unemployment rates of all sectors was GOVERNMENT. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack included in his USDA budget “$29 Million for Animal Welfare activities. This includes funding to fully implement the retail pet stores rule, which will offer welfare protections to dogs and certain other animals sold as pets through non-traditional means.” Not only will individual breeders pay for this $29 Million but also every pet owner and tax-payer in the country through paycheck tax deductions. In other words, a tax and unemployment increase.
According to APPA, Actual Sales within the U.S. Market in 2012, $53.33 billion was spent on our pets in the U.S. No other sector was lower in sales than “Live Animal Purchases $2.21 Billion”.
Breakdown:
Food $20.64 billion
Supplies/OTC Medicine $12.65 billion
Vet Care $13.67 billion
Live animal purchases $2.21 billion
Pet Services: grooming & boarding $4.16 billion
The Total Cost of the APHIS Anti-Pet Regulations exceed well over $1 Billion directly from those home-hobby breeders that will now fall under Commercial Regulations. This is almost half of the income produce by live animal sales. Their choices: Either comply with the regulations that will cost at a minimum a room addition to their homes with commercial appliances. Where do you buy commercial appliances for a “commercial kennel” for the home? The Hunte Corporation who whole-heartedly supports this USDA/APHIS Anti-Pet Regulation!
Q: Who stands to benefit from all of this “legislation?”
A: Government, one of the largest distributors of puppies to pet stores, Andrew Hunte of the Hunte Corporation (a member of PIJAC-pet product/lobbying organization), HSUS, ASPCA, and the American Kennel Club. A reduction in the amount of breeders increases puppy prices for distributors/breeders who already have a USDA “license”, increases puppy prices for those that have fewer than four animals, and increases the amount of tax the government can take out of your paycheck. Andrew Hunte of the Hunte Corporation has been working to “license” every single individual who sells a puppy. A formal comment from the Hunte Corp. to USDA/APHIS concerning the “retail pet store”/Anti-Pet regulations encouraging the passage of this regulation. “AndrewHunte -Hunte Corporation: “We believe if you breed, transport, or sell puppies across America – especially over the Internet –, you should be regulated, and subject to inspection” IMO, this is an example of price fixing, monopolizing through legislation/regulations, and forcing individuals to buy materials manufactured and sold by Andrew Hunte’s Corporation that they do not need. The American Kennel Club is a huge pet product seller at PetCo and other retail store outlets. The Sherman Act-Anti Trust issues.
The word “breed” will usually bring to mind many dogs with many litters. This is not true in this case. Your son has 1 female hamster, your daughter a couple of female cats, a pet milk cow, and your husband has one female dog and “transports” one puppy to be considered a COMMERCIAL BREEDER.
Kimberly Kraemer
P.S. I am all for pet stores. Love them. But, I do not agree with anyone that works to promote the removal of pets from family homes.
dominosfall 
Since both of the groups mentioned below are considered Animal Rights and not animal welfare that led the fight in this what is one to think. Both believe in no pets, no eating meat so no need to raise farm animals, no life saving research and all animals are to roam free….whew that could be a problem, especially where bear have run ins with humans, deer on the highway, geese flying into airplane engines. I am going to miss that bacon with 50 percent of the piglets killed by the sow crushing the piglets crushed…gosh that sounds like animal abuse in NOT using gestation crates. This is just one more way to work toward ending all use of animals. This is a strange social movement where Singer is for euthanasia of children under two and sex with chickens is OK. It is difficult for most to get their minds around Singer’s, Ragan’s or Francione’s philosophy and why HSUS, PETA, and ASPCA feel they need to dictate non animal use and yet no explanation on why that will bring about a more civilized society. Rather a anti human movement it seems where animal lives are placed above human lives. Animal welfare is a given but Animal Rights is something else where everything, including just owning an animal is considered abuse. As for those shelter dogs, wonder what makes them better than those raised in a breeder’s home….often times they are not and exhibit many problems in socialization, health as they are usually obtained in the poorest parts of town by animal control.
From ALDF website:
USDA Closes Internet Sale Loophole for Pet Breeders After Pressure from Animal Groups
Posted by Chris Berry, ALDF Litigation Fellow on September 10, 2013
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service took a significant step forward today for cats and dogs by closing the internet sale loophole to the Animal Welfare Act. This action is the result of an administrative process started by the Humane Society of the United States, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, and Doris Day Animal League. When those efforts led the USDA to propose changing its regulations in 2012, the Animal Legal Defense Fund joined the chorus along with Dentons, a well-respected law firm, by submitting a comment in favor of the proposed rule. ALDF also asked its supporters to send comments to the agency.
What is the internet sale loophole? The Animal Welfare Act generally requires that cat, dog, and other pet breeders obtain a license, comply with minimum standards of animal care, and submit to occasional inspections to verify compliance with the law. However, the Animal Welfare Act exempts retail pet stores under the logic that purchasers can see the animals’ living conditions first-hand so inspections are unnecessary.
Breeders take advantage of this exemption by selling pets online and claiming the website qualifies as a retail pet store. This leads to situations where there may be hundreds of dogs or other animals confined to tiny, unsanitary cages in subpar breeding facilities with no oversight to ensure minimum standards of care. Today’s USDA action closes that loophole by requiring the purchasers’ physical presence at the property before a breeder qualifies for the retail pet store exemption.
In its comment, ALDF also pushed USDA to go even further to protect animals by implementing policies to ensure robust enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act in light of a recent internal audit by the Office of Inspector General finding that the law is seriously under-enforced. We will review our options to press these issues in the future, but for now it is exciting that USDA heeded the voices of our community and took a significant step in the right direction.
I would think a follow up of animals bought at a shelter and see really how satisfied people are with their pets.
Me I keep thinking of what would happen if all animals just got to run around and be “free” just think of all the dead bodies of previously domesticated animals that do not have a clue on how to feed themselves, the ones that fall prey to the predators that are also running around “free” and have a glut of prey to eat so they just eat a little and go on to the next leaving the rest to rot, and lets not mention the copious amounts of feces and urine being left everywhere. The next to die would be us from disease. Oh wait maybe that is the plan???
This rule is just one more rung on the ladder or nail in animal ownership/use’s coffin. People need to wake up and FIGHT BACK! We humans would be lost without our animals.
Wow, thanks. I was searching for this EXACT thing most of the week. I wish that people would write more about this. I really appreciate the post