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Ohio's Proposal to Regulate Puppy Mills and Dog Auctions
There are 186 USDA "Class A" licensed b reeders and 32 USDA "Class B" licensed dealers in Ohio, and more than 54% of these breeding kennels are located in Berlin, Millersburg and Sugarcreek, the heart of Amish country. In 2006, Holmes County licensed 478 kennels, a 40 percent increase from 2003, the year before the Buckeye Dog Auction started.
With hundreds of kennel registrations in Ohio, there is great disparity in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) licensing and inspecting the appropriate number of kennels. Laws are on the books to provide minimum-care standards for animals, but enforcement has historically been spotty at best.
The USDA-APHIS licenses and inspects commercial breeding facilities; (those that sell to wholesalers) for violations of the Animal Welfare Act; likewise, a handful of states have laws that provide oversight of some breeding operations as well. (Ohio law requires kennels register annually in their home counties.) But puppy mills can successfully navigate around these laws, either by selling directly to consumers (thereby avoiding USDA licensing requirements) or by simply avoiding the reach of law enforcement - with so few USDA inspectors and minor fines, it's easy to stay in business.
Ohio legislation does not currently provide for public accountability where deplorable conditions exist. These large scale operations - dozens of dogs in one kennel - are the major concern. Representative Cheryl Grossman has met with key stakeholders to introduce a *commercial breeding bill that would (among many provisions to address breeding kennels in Ohio) establish reasonable and enforceable shelter standards and veterinarian care. Their intentions are to craft language which is very similar to S.B. 5651 recently passed in the state of Washington and H.B. 1468 recently passed in the state of Indiana. Given that this proposed legislation will rely on local enforcement with state oversight (requiring little to no additional fiscal resources from the taxpayers), we are confident the proposed legislation will please all interested parties.
For more information on the ballot initiative to ban Ohio dog raffles and auctions, we invite you to visit the Campaigns page of our website.
Legislative Resources
For more information on the status of bills in the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate, visit Ohio Legislative Service Commission.
For more information on finding and contacting your local, state and federal elected officials to share your concerns about puppy mills and dog auctions, visit Congress by Capitol Advantage.
For more information on USDA minimum requirements, Animal Welfare Act regulations and the role of the American Kennel Club (AKC) in puppy mill auctions, read the articles - The USDA and Puppy Mills and Rally Against the AKC's Support of Puppy Mills - published by Best Friends Animal Society.
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