Proposed Changes to Animal Welfare Act/APHIS/USDA

Some of the horrific conditions dogs live with in some puppy mills DOES shock and anger me, but regulating everything to save the few is senseless. Especially when there are measures in place (no matter how lax their own rules may be followed) to take care of the law-breaking kennels and mills.

Thank you for posting that link, I will read it over coffee.

Bumper, thank you for taking the time to distill all of this into something manageable and understandable. I want to make my voice heard, but everything I'd read before was just too jumbled, confusing, and overwhelming to make sense of.

toastedoat37":10leq7yx said:

kyle,,,i understand it being your hobby and you not wanting to follow rules and regulations. I myself have never been an employee,,,ive had several differnt businesses in three different states in my life. Each one of them started out as a hobby. But when your hobby starts to turn into a business, well we just have to follow the laws of the land (God said so). Ive been in the process of closing down my business the last year and half because cant stand all the regulations and inspections, but i do understand the reason that they are needed.
Ive been away from raising rabbits for quite few years, and now that im interested in it again, im amazed at how the rabbit world has changed. I feel that something does need to be done about it. With all the WRONG things being taught by people online about rabbits, and all the iresponsible breeders , people starting out are not gonna be able to figure out what information is correct and whats not. I dont know how it can be fixed, but i think that the government trying to do something about it is the lessor of two evils,,,,the other , letting it go on the way it is.

Your comment about no one agreeing with me , and never will,,,,well, no one has to agree with me, no one has like me, no one has to respond to me, a few will learn from me, and i have been learning some things from some. I know a lot of the stuff ive said in this thread is fact, some of its opinion.
But im not gonna just go along with what the majority says just to "fit in". I know that some here do.

__________ Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:24 pm __________

the arguement that you dont want someone coming through your rabbitry because of biosecurity is really an arguement for the need to have some inspections. Your saying that there are so many sick rabbits out there that your afraid yours will get sick , law makers are gonna say, well if this is the case, something needs to be done about it.

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As far as the wrong information online. There are
Peace Corps, Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA), Texas A&M, and your local Ag service.
-If someone gets into the cattle business, they do their research first and these could be some references that they might check, as well. They have very good information on raising rabbits and guinea pigs for food, which is also applicable for raising them as pets.
-I intend on a closed chicken flock. In fact it is recommended many times. I intend on having a closed rabbity too.
= As far as buying a show/breeding rabbit - like buying a breeding cow or bull. Just because you think of it as an investment pet - it's offspring is normally considered meat / dairy / or in the case of yak - fiber too.
If you want to call it a pet...
-Rabbits are livestock, like cattle or horses. When there are people starving, to make heroic 'medical' efforts for an animal, that may not have that good a quality of life afterwards or to be upset because a vet might make the recommendation, that it is time, is frustrating to me.
-My mom had cancer, she had a fall in Jan (turned out it was brain cancer) and went from healthy to dead 3 months later. It was such a shock and she went down so fast, that I could not handle it or let go, it caused her extra grief, I do not want to do that to even as simple an animal as an rabbit. I have heard of people getting upset if a vet mentions that it might be the animals time (if that animal is one of my 'pets'), I hope that I will be able to handle it better than what happened to my mom.
-What do you consider an irresponsible breeder?

I live in the most corrupt County in the most corrupt State in the Free World. I have learned that if you don't have the money or the right last name, you will be held responsible. If you do, you get a free pass, and even a job being a rat.

Welcome to PC. Pretty sad what we have come to. Neighbors ratting neighbors out. And even breeders ratting other breeders out, not because of a problem, but because of competition. Truly sad.

Karen

ZRabbits, those 10 minutes of fame will do that to people. What they won't stop to realize is that karma comes to everyone's doorstep soon enough.

SatinsRule":3w0w8yn7 said:

ZRabbits, those 10 minutes of fame will do that to people. What they won't stop to realize is that karma comes to everyone's doorstep soon enough.

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Yep, just like saying "Every dog gets there day." But I want to be there.

Karen

I hope people have written and given their opinion on this. It is slightly disturbing they have extended it, that usually means they haven't received enough feedback, want more opinions. Hopefully, it means all the opinions are against the proposal and they are rethinking some or all of it. For those of you wondering what is a responsible dog breeder:

A reputable dog breeder by my definition is someone who is breeding to improve the breed and breed a dog closest to standard of that breed. That means the whole standard, not just conformation (structure) but soundness, temperment (friendly, reserved, protective, etc- again according to standard), and instinct.

The breeder is doing all the clearances for that breed- example OFA (hips, elbows) CERF (eyes) DNA tests like PRA (eyes), EIC (Exercise induced collapse), echos (heart), etc. Some breeds have less issues, some more but if a breeder wants to breed a well bred dog they spend the money on those tests for their breed and offer a guarantee that means something like a hip/elbow guarantee for 3 or more years (OFA rating can't be done until 2 yrs, prior to 2 yrs old is a prelim which doesn't mean a whole lot). Most health issues like eye issues, EIC, heart issues, hips, etc are genetic. Some you can clear by dna so if you breed a cleared dna pra dog to another clear- that line is now clear from pra. The tests are very meaningful and important.

Lastly the breeder competes with their dogs and proves them in the ring, obedience, agility, field, trials. I personally like a dog to do well in conformation, be at least major pointed or have their Championship, have an obedience degree (shows me dog is smart and trainable) and then competes in whatever venue for that breed- so for Australian Shepherds- herding, for Labs- field trials (shows me the line has instincts). A reputable breeder is always available to mentor those buyers and help, they are committed to the breed and want to improve it.

For a rabbit breeder, I would say adequate cage size, fresh water, food everyday, cleanliness. Care of the rabbits. Then I think it depends on what purpose the rabbits are kept for. A show breeder may have different objectives then someone breeding meat rabbits or the objectives may be the same.

I think the proposal is crazy, I don't think we need a government any larger than it already is and I hope it dies on the table.

Sadly not all breeds of dogs have a DNA PRA test. even more sadly most heath issues are not simple but poly-genetic or the mod of inheritance it unknown. a breeder must be very careful about not throwing the outstanding genetic baby with the bathwater.


one of the things that is being over looked here is that if you need to be cover for one specie,all covered species on the land/in your name will have to be covered.
not sure if colony rabbits would pass.

Interesting read, for sure.

I sent my letters...thanks for posting to this thread, Bumper.<br /><br />__________ Tue Sep 10, 2013 10:51 am __________<br /><br />

Bumper":2qj1sw1p said:

Once I started looking into this, I didn't want to stop till I understood it from the beginning. Then I actually got a chance to take part in a teleconference with Dr. Rushin and members of the SRPS last week, which was definitely helpful. Anyway, I put what I've learned at this page. I just finished it today and it turned out to be 4000 words, but it's broken down into little sections. You guys may already know all that's there, but it was helpful for me to write it out from current laws to proposed changes to suggestions for comments.

I see this as pretty important, and I'm frustrated that some rabbit breeders don't seem to agree. The whole thing started after the HSUS petitioned the USDA to crack down on “puppy mills.” They are raging in support of this change. AKC, SAOVA.org, and many other animal breeder organizations are not taking this as an idle threat!

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Bumper, the link to the the letters on your page isn't working....here is the correct link:
http://the-cavalry-group.rallycongress. ... ?m=3178063

Sent in my feed as well, I am not at all happy about any of this and neither is any one else I know

So, I am a little late to the party but have the proposed changes been made official? I find lots of these regulations disturbing but I also have had experience with a true puppy mill breeder and it was heart breaking.