Political Quotes

“on May 26, 2005, I introduced with my colleague Senator Durbin the Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005, or PAWS. PAWS amends the Animal Welfare Act to strengthen the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to deal with the problems of substandard animal dealers. I want to make clear to our colleagues and the public that we believe the vast majority of animal dealers are conscientious persons who make every effort to treat their animals humanely and to comply with the law. But, unfortunately, there are some animal dealers who do not care properly for their animals and who seek to profit at the expense of the animals and the public. They exploit the weaknesses and loopholes in the current law to evade or ignore basic standards for the care and condition of animals. These substandard dealers give the entire pet industry a black eye, all the while preying upon the public. It is these unscrupulous animal dealers at which PAWS is targeted. PAWS strengthens the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to deal with substandard animal dealers by making four important improvements to the Animal Welfare Act. First, it will bring under coverage of the Animal Welfare Act high volume dealers who are in every respect like those dealers currently regulated, but are evading regulation because they sell animals exclusively at retail. PAWS will continue to exempt real retail pet stores, and will add a new exemption for small dealers and hobby and show breeders.…”