The Humane Society of the United States is urging Congress to pass legislation that would protect family pets from being used in laboratory experiments. The Pet Safety and Protection Act prohibits businesses and individuals from selling dogs and cats to research facilities if the animals have been acquired from random sources. The bill also would prevent stray animals, possibly lost or stolen family pets, from being sold to laboratories.
The bill was introduced in early March in the U.S. Senate by Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and in the House of Representatives by Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and Phil English (R-Pa.), along with 22 cosponsors.
So-called "Class B" dealers sell animals acquired from "random sources," rather than those bred specifically for research. Such random source animals may be stolen pets or those acquired through "free to good home" ads. Although only a handful of these dealers exist, the U.S. Department of Agriculture spent more than $250,000 in tax dollars in 2006 to monitor and investigate them.
"America's pets are at risk from a small number of animal dealers who steal the animals or obtain them in other disreputable ways and sell them off to research laboratories," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "No pet owner wants to contemplate the possibility that their beloved companion could be stolen and subjected to painful and inhumane experimentation, and this legislation will go a long way toward seeing that never happens again."
Facts on Class "B" Dealers
- The HSUS opposes all trafficking in pets for resale to biomedical research labs. In 1966, an HSUS investigation laid the groundwork for passage of the Animal Welfare Act , which is enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Historically, the AWA regulated the trade in dogs and cats purchased or sold by dealers and sought to eliminate the possibility that stolen pets might end up in laboratories. The difficulty in tracking the origins of "random source" animals, however, essentially precluded the agency from successfully addressing this problem.
- Since then, a number of Class B dealers have been charged with severe violations of the AWA. A 2005 undercover investigation by Last Chance for Animals found numerous infractions by dealer C.C. Baird of Martin Creek Kennels in Arkansas. The findings led the USDA to close the facility. HBO television turned the case into a documentary that aired last year.
- Class B dealers purchase dogs, cats and other animals from various sources for resale to institutions that use them for research, testing or teaching purposes. They include auctions, flea markets, animal shelters and "bunchers", agents known to acquire lost, stray and "free to good home" dogs and cats. Pet theft also has been documented. In contrast, Class A dealers breed animals to sell to research institutions.
- Currently 15 Class B dealers sell random-source dogs and cats for research purposes. The facilities are in Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. As of September 2006, four of these facilities were under investigation by the USDA, according to the Animal Welfare Institute.
- The USDA is responsible for regulating Class B dealers under the AWA, but the agency does not have enough funding to properly monitor their activities.
- According to the USDA, between 18,000 and 19,000 animals, mostly dogs, are procured through Class B dealers each year.
- Despite serious concerns with Class B dealers, some research institutions continue to use them as a source for animals.
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