Breeding Misery...

Today on the front page of the Tulsa World they started a 4 part series on dog breeding in Oklahoma. Fascinating and horrifying at the same time. Below are links to the 4 full articles as well as snippets from those articles that I thought were interesting. It's a long read... go grab your coffee and settle down for a while.

Breeding misery

"Oklahoma is a puppy-mill state with some unscrupulous breeders neglecting their dogs, falsifying pedigree papers and knowingly selling animals with defects and diseases... Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s licensed breeders have been caught with substandard conditions at their kennels, according to records obtained... through the Freedom of Information Act. Between 2003 and 2006, nearly 20,000 animals lived in unsanitary conditions and substandard pens or suffered from untreated health conditions among other problems found by federal inspectors, records show."

"Oklahoma has become a puppy-mill state due to its rural roots. The state is in the middle of the ‘‘puppy belt,’’ a group of states that supply thousands of puppies to pet stores and buyers in other states each year."

"Within the puppy belt, the top five puppy-producing states are Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and Arkansas, according to USDA records. The larger markets for these states are New York and California."

Records show USDA inspectors cited Oklahoma dog breeders with the following number of violations by category between 2003 and 2006:

Facilities and enclosures: 1,255 violations

Cleaning, sanitation, housekeeping, pest control: 335

Record-keeping requirements: 243

Attending veterinarian/adequate vet care: 167

Improper identification of animal: 110

Feeding/water requirements: 79

Miscellaneous: 44

Ten breeders and brokers, 473 USDA violations

"Shelia Gamblin recorded the most USDA infractions among Oklahoma’s 645 commercial breeders between 2003 and 2006, records show."

Specific examples of Gamblins’ USDA violations are:

October 2006: "Fecal matter and urine were standing on concrete runs. The dogs were having to walk around or through the waste. 59 dogs affected."

October 2006: "Excessive number of flies outside the enclosure and inside the building. Fly spray was being used but the flies were not under control. 213 adults and 69 puppies affected."

August 2006: "Dog #266 had hair missing all over face. The skin was crusty yellow. No vet had looked at the dog. Dog needs to be taken to the vet for proper treatment."

August 2006: "Staph infection has been diagnosed on puppies and some adult dogs. Dogs need to be re-examined by vet and written documentation of the diagnosis and treatment made available upon inspection."

Investigation finds issues in industry

• Oklahoma attracts unscrupulous dog breeders due to a lack of state regulations. Between 2003 and 2006, nearly 20,000 animals lived in unsanitary conditions and substandard pens or suffered from untreated health conditions among other items found by the USDA.


• About 40 percent of Oklahoma’s 700 commercial breeders and brokers were cited for two or more violations by the USDA between October 2003 and October 2006.


• Oklahoma’s dog-breeding industry is Internet-driven, with most of the puppies being shipped to out-of-state customers and pet stores.


• Efforts are being made to close a federal loophole on Internet sales. Currently, federal law primarily covers wholesale operations and allows unlicensed breeders to raise and sell an unlimited number of puppies directly to the public.


• Some Web sites are actually fronts for puppy mills or dog breeders with sick or poor quality animals.


• Puppy-mill owners routinely ship sick or genetically inferior animals to out-of-state customers who have little recourse once the dog is received.


• Oklahoma puppies shipped to other states are being deemed unfit for sale after being taken to a veterinarian for a check-up.


• Some Oklahoma breeders have lied about the pedigree of their ‘‘purebred dogs.’’ Some breeders have been fined by the American Kennel Club and had their AKC status revoked.

Definitions:

• Puppy mill: A dog-breeding operation that usually has a large number of small-breed animals kept in unsanitary conditions without adequate veterinary care for the purpose of breeding the animals continuously for profit.
• Puppy lemon law: A law that allows a consumer to seek a refund, replacement animal or help with veterinary expenses for a sick or defective animal purchased from a pet store or other source.
• USDA breeder: A breeder licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and subject to federal regulations that cover sanitation, pen size, veterinary care and protection from the elements.
• Hobby breeder: A breeder with three or fewer breeding animals used to provide animals for sale. Not required to be licensed by the USDA.
• USDA broker: A person licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to buy and sell animals in the wholesale and retail market.
• Purebred: A puppy that has a sire and dam (parents) that are registered with a dog registration organization that tracks the animal’s lineage and bloodline.
• Designer dog: An animal produced by crossbreeding two animals with pedigree bloodlines.

Network rescues animals in need

Last year, the Tulsa Animal Shelter euthanized 13,000 animals.

‘‘They can be like wild animals. They cower or hide. Or they snap or growl. It takes a lot of work to rehabilitate a puppy-mill dog.’’

‘‘Someone has to speak for the animals because they don’t have voices,’’ Steinberger said.

Tulsa Pets Website

Something has to be done... These animals don't deserve this.