Bells Are Ringing! (At Least For Now)

This article originally appeared in Dog News and is published here by permission of the author.

Bells Are Ringing! (At Least For Now)

Carlotta Cooper

Dog breeders in Tennessee are celebrating, at least for the next few months. Tennessee recently became the first and, so far, the only state to get rid of a commercial breeder law. It took five years but the law will be gone after June 2014.

It should be said at the start that the commercial breeder law in Tennessee was never as harsh as the laws passed in some states. The law was passed in 2009 during the first wave of commercial breeder laws. Perhaps HSUS had not fine-tuned their approach yet. We also fought the law hard and had a lot of help from hunters as the 2009 legislative session went on. Most legislators would not oppose the law but they were troubled by it enough that they weakened it considerably. In the end, the Tennessee commercial breeder law had a sunset provision. It would end in June 2014 unless the legislature voted to make it permanent.

As you might expect, most of the owner and breeder groups in the state have been watching and waiting anxiously over the last five years to see how things would go. Early on it became apparent that hardly any dog (or cat) breeders were signing up for state licenses. Informal statements made by the new department set up to license and inspect “commercial” breeders suggested that there was no one to license and inspect as described in the commercial breeder law.

This information was confirmed in a state audit from 2012 which revealed that only 20 breeders had signed up for the program. The commercial breeder law had used figures from the Humane Society of the United States which promised 500 breeders in the state would sign up and that the program would be self-sustaining. Not just self-sustaining, but that the program would be a money-maker for the state in terms of sales tax and revenue from breeder license fees. By the end of 2013, the state reported that the program was nearly a million dollars in debt and it would continue to lose approximately $300,000 per year.

Faced with these obvious signs that the commercial breeder law was a complete failure, the Tennessee legislature killed the bill that would have extended the law and made it permanent. Even last ditch efforts by HSUS to extend the law for just one year failed. Sometimes even legislators can tell something is manure when they step in it.

There were other signs that things would not go well for HSUS and animal rights groups during the 2014 session, but they started last year and earlier. HSUS spent at least $100,000 lobbying against a bill in Tennessee in 2013 that would have required someone to share undercover videos of animal abuse with law enforcement. They spent another $100,000 on a media campaign against the same bill – a media campaign that got very ugly and earned them no friends with the public or in the legislature. Many legislators began to see a rotten, bullying side of HSUS that they usually try to conceal.

One result of HSUS's strong arm tactics last year was that every single animal rights bill in the Tennessee legislature was defeated this year. Not just the commercial breeder extension bill, but an animal abuse registry bill, a tethering bill, and others never made it out of committee. Only one bill made it out of a subcommittee.

It would be nice to think that Tennessee dog owners and breeders could count on these results every year but, unfortunately, we can't. Every year is different and this is an election year. Legislators who understand our issues need support. Some may be defeated. Some may retire. New lawmakers are always being elected and they may not know anything about dog breeders or pet issues. No matter what state you live in, it's important for you to stay in touch with your state representative and senator. Let them know how you feel about animal issues. Lawmakers frequently say that they vote for or against something because they only hear from one side. Let your legislators hear from you so they know that dog owners and breeders care about these issues. The same goes for your U.S. representative and senator.

Tennessee owners and breeders owe special thanks to the Tennessee Federation of Dog Clubs, the Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance (SAOVA), and to the AKC for their legislative help this year. Thank you to everyone who made a phone call or sent an e-mail. Now we'll start working on next year's agenda because we know that HSUS will be back with another version of a commercial breeder bill.