North Carolina is a puppy mill state. North Carolina had more puppy mill busts in both 2011 and 2012 than any other state. Why is this happening? It’s easy for puppy mills to do business in North Carolina because the state’s lack of regulations. In order to shut down puppy mills, we must wait for conditions to be so bad that dogs are suffering and near death.
North Carolina needs a law to regulate commercial dog breeders by imposing simple standards for the care and maintenance of dogs — to prevent neglect and mistreatment rather than waiting until animal cruelty laws are broken and dogs have to be seized. Adding commercial breeders to the standards already in place for our animal shelters, boarding kennels, and pet stores is the right thing to do for the dogs in North Carolina. These rules, enforced by the Department of Agriculture’s Animal Welfare Section, would not impact responsible breeders because they are already providing veterinary care, healthy food, and comfortable housing.
Follow this link to sign the petition: protectourpuppies.com/petition/
Is this a topic the County Commissioner’s should address at their annual retreat?
Why just puppy mills; what about cat mills?
There don’t seem to be cat mills….but cats seem to be hoarded more than dogs.
I think the county commissioners should back this, but the legislation has to be passed at the state level. I think the county could better spend their time looking again at the NC State spay/neuter program that matches county funding.
For more information you can contact me at hotshotpys@gmail.com
You are correct the legislation must come from Raleigh by way of the voices in the counties. To get our voice heard in Raleigh we need our commissioners to speak. To get the commissioners to speak we need to inform them of our interests and needs. Should the topic of puppy mills be on the agenda of the Vance County Commissioners’ annual retreat?
It could only help the situation for the commissioners to address this issue. At the same time they REALLY should address pit bull and cock-fighting. Vance is known to have a lot of pit bull fighting, but law enforcement is spread too thin to really address it. I mention the 3 together as the Humane Society of the United States offers a $5,000 reward for all three. Citizen involvement is needed desperately here, for these and other issues of concern, as pointed out in your article.