Dog Breeders Bill Has Hobbyists Howling
Hobby dog breeders, concerned they will be swept up alongside "puppy mills," came out in force against bills sponsored by members of the House and Senate leadership that would regulate the industry.
"I have two passions in life. One of them is being a city councilor in Revere and representing my constituents and helping people. The other is, I breed and show west highland white terriers," Anthony Zambuto told the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government on Tuesday. "This bill will devastate the purebred dog show enthusiast and other breeders."
Zambuto and Charlotte McGowan, president of the Ladies' Dog Club, visited Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, D-Revere, at her State House office last week to talk to the sponsor of the bill that the two dog show competitors said would subject them to undue regulation.
"She's very emotional and I appreciate that. But there's ways to do things and ways not. It was a very heated conversation, and it was really disrespectful at times," said Reinstein, who called Zambuto "a good friend," and said she wouldn't have testified were it not for McGowan's visit.
"She insulted me. She called me a snob and an elitist," McGowan said.
After testifying, Reinstein disputed McGowan's account, saying she never called her a snob, and that McGowan had been pointing her finger in Reinstein's face during a meeting in her office.
"I had to call her out, because I also teach an advocacy class part-time at a college, and honestly I should bring her in to show my students what not to do," Reinstein said. She said, "She was here for what, 45 minutes at least, yelling at me."
Reinstein, the second assistant majority leader, and Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, the majority whip, drafted similar bills that they said would create a "lemon law" for dogs, requiring breeders to pay for necessary veterinary care if they sell a sick dog.
The bill would also prohibit the sale of puppies under the age of 8 weeks and would subject breeders to regulations, Zambuto argued. The bill directs the Department of Agricultural Resources to write regulations and exempts breeders engaged in "incidental breeding," with no more than three breeding females.
"The Commonwealth could become a haven for some of the worst breeders," said Spilka, noting that breeders might move to the Bay State as other states tighten their regulations. She said, "As a prior hobby breeder myself, for chocolate labs . . . it's really important to me as well to have a bill that's workable, good for puppies, good for people who buy the puppies."
Under the legislation, if a veterinarian found an illness within 15 days or within a hereditary condition that affects the health of a dog within one year, the purchaser would have a choice of remedies. The dog could be exchanged for a healthy one, the dog could be returned and the price could be reimbursed, or the cost of medical treatment up to 150 percent of the price of the dog could be covered by the breeder.
"When you buy a pet, it's not like buying groceries or it's not like buying a sweater that has a hole in it, and all of a sudden you can just return that dog," said Reinstein, who said she bought her dog Molly from a store, and the dog later fell sick. She said, "You have an emotional attachment to this animal. If you have a dog, it's a member of your family."
Image credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net
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