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Letter: Shame Iowa so high on list of bad puppy mills
Op-Ed · May 26, 2016
This past week, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) issued its annual Horrible Hundred report, listing the 100 worst commercial dog breeding facilities in the country www.humanesociety.org/news/news/2016/05/horrible-hundred-2016-puppy-mills-exposed.
Once again, Iowa was well represented in the report with 15 facilities listed, second only to Missouri with 30 while our neighbor to the east, Illinois, had only one facility included. Since the first report was published by HSUS in 2013, 30 Iowa dog breeding facilities have been identified, collectively accounting for 362 violations to the Federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA).
Why does this matter? More than 220 USDA-licensed commercial dog breeding facilities are located in Iowa. While many are responsible and practice appropriate animal husbandry, many do not. In 2015, 53 percent of all
USDA-licensed commercial breeding facilities were in violation of the AWA.
These substandard operations continue to demonstrate, via USDA inspection reports available for review by the public, that dogs and their puppies are being injured, starved, neglected, brutalized and even killed through unapproved and inhumane methods. USDA-licensed facilities in Iowa supply puppies to retail pet stores in-state and nation-wide and also sell to the public through private treaty. In addition, USDA-licensed facilities must pay an annual fee and hold a permit from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) to conduct this type of business.
Two tax-payer funded agencies charged with permitting, oversight and enforcement of established animal welfare laws have once again, failed the adult dogs and puppies these laws are designed to protect, as well as the humans who are purchasing the puppies produced in the commercial kennels.
Since 2008, citizens throughout Iowa have been asking the Iowa legislature for state inspection (IDALS) of these facilitates. Unfortunately during the session which just ended, House leadership chose not to introduce, and bring to the floor for discussion, a bill that would have provided oversight by IDALS for the worst offenders of the AWA…offenders such as those listed in the 2016 Horrible Hundred report. There is no valid reason to continue to dismiss this shameful and embarrassing element of Iowa business, and to turn a blind eye to the needs of Man’s Best Friend. Our state can certainly do better.
Sincerely,
Lynn Snyder, Coordinator
Hawkeye Area Advocacy Team
Iowa Friends of Companion Animals
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