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Dealing Dogs
Nearly two million companion animals are
stolen each year. Many of these animals are sold to research
laboratories, dog-fighting rings or puppy mills, where they are abused
and often killed.
Many of these pets find their way to research laboratories through USDA
licensed Class “B” animal dealers. For a $10 fee, anyone can apply for a
USDA Class “B” dealer license.
Class “B” dealers obtain animals from state, county or city owned and
operated animal pounds or shelter, (this is called
pound
seizure), other USDA licensed “B” dealers and various random
sources. However, “B” dealers also obtain animals from “bunchers."
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Buncher admitting how
easy it is
to sell stolen dogs to Baird |
Bunchers fraudulently obtain
animals through “free to good home” ads, preying on
unsuspecting people who can no longer care for their
companions. They make promises of a good home and tender
care, only to turn around and sell the animals, sometimes
the same day, to Class “B” dealers. In attempts to gather
as many animals as possible for sale to research
institutions, bunchers also frequently steal family pets
directly from their owners. |
Laws Don’t Protect Our
Companion Animals
Currently, the only piece of
legislation standing between family pets and the unscrupulous “B”
dealers who sell them to be tortured in research facilities is the
Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Enacted in 1966, the AWA requires that minimum
standards of care and treatment be provided for most warm-blooded
animals bred for commercial sale, used in research, transported
commercially or exhibited to the public. Unfortunately, the enforcement
of the AWA is completely inadequate and millions of family pets have
ended up in research facilities as a result.
Class “B” dealers have been shown to regularly and willingly do
everything in their power to ensure family pets are sold to be tortured
in research laboratories. The monetary incentives associated with
selling lost and stolen family pets motivate “B” dealers to violate
countless laws. Records are falsified, evidence of ownership, such as
dog tags, are purposefully destroyed and no attempt is made to reunite
microchipped animals with their families. Instead, these companion
animals are kept in often squalid conditions before being sold for use
in experimentation.But underneath his battered work clothes, “Pete” was
secretly documenting the atrocities at Baird’s facilities. Using a tiny
microphone and videotaping device, “Pete” acquired more than 70 hours of
video surveillance. An overwhelming amount of animal cruelty, abuse,
neglect, and unsanitary conditions were exposed.
 The
enforcement of the AWA is the responsibility of the Animal Care division
of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which is a
part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Government
documents show the laws of the AWA severely lack enforcement and APHIS
is unable to ensure animals are well cared for. Additionally, violators
who are penalized for their infringements consider monetary penalties an
accepted cost of conducting business, rather than a disincentive for
violating existing laws. As a result, violations of the AWA, including
the falsification of records -- the only current way to ensure that
family pets do not enter the research animal trade -- continue
undeterred.
15 Other Class “B” Dealers
Are Still in Operation
As of February 2007, there were approximately 1200 Class “B” dealers.
The majority of these dealers sell “random source” animals wholesale, to
other brokers, pet stores and auctions. Only 15 of these “B” dealers
sell their animals to research laboratories.
These dealers are:
Arizona
• 86-B-0050 Ranaco Corporation DBA: Delta Biologicals* (Tucson)
Illinois
• 33-B-0007 Michael Cooper, DBA: Triple C Farms (St. Joseph)
Indiana
• 32-B-0045 Mark and Penny Lynch, DBA: LBL Kennels (Reelsville)
Kentucky
• 61-B-0124 Perry and Crystal Foster, DBA: Mountain Top Kennels
(Wallingford)
Michigan
• 34-B-0001 Roberta and James Woudenberg, DBA: R&R Research
(Howard City)
• 34-B-0002 Fred Hodgins, DBA: Hodgins Kennels (Howell)
Minnesota
• 41-B-0017 Kenneth Schroeder (Wells)
Missouri
• 43-B-0032 Danny & Mildred Schachtele, DBA: Middlefork Kennels
(Salisbury)
North Carolina
• 55-B-0010 Carolina Biological Supply* (Burlington)
• 55-B-0081 John H. and Eva Wise DBA: Hillside Kennel* (Four Oaks)
• 55-B-0076 S E Lab Animal Farm, Inc.* (Raleigh)
• 55-B-0107 LBS Biological, Inc.* (Graham)
Ohio
• 31-B-0104 Robert Perry (Mt. Sterling)
Oklahoma
• 73-B-0130 Henry Lee Cooper, DBA: C & C Kennels (Wewoka)
Pennsylvania
• 23-B-0174 Floyd Martin, DBA Chestnut Grove Kennel (Shippensburg)
Bold font denotes those currently under investigation for apparent
violations of the Animal Welfare Act by the USDA
* Denotes dealer selling dead dogs and/or cats
DBA = doing business as
For a complete list of all licensed animal dealers (Class A & Class B)
visit:
HERE
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