Dear Club, Officers, Legislative Liaisons and Delegates, please share this alert immediately with club members and other dog enthusiasts in Florida.
Currently, animal rights/ “protection” groups are actively lobbying members of the U.S. Senate to introduce Goldie’s Act, a harmful bill that undermines the rights of responsible breeders. Your Senators, particularly Senator Scott, need to know that this bill could undermine the care of dogs and could harm responsible dog breeders.
Your action is urgently needed NOW to stop the animal-rights supported Goldie’s Act (House Resolution (H.R.) 1788) from being introduced in the U.S Senate.
PLEASE ACT TODAY!
Your Senators need to hear from you now.
1.Please call or email Sen. Rick Scott immediately.
Email: Rick Scott Legislative Director, Jon Foltz
jon_foltz@rickscott.senate.gov
Phone: (202) 224-5274
2.If you can do a second call or email, contact, Marco Rubio:
Email: Legislative Director, Lauren Reamy
lauren_reamy@rubio.senate.gov
Phone: (202) 224-3041
Tell them the following:
- Ask them to oppose the introduction of Goldies Act in the Senate. This is a “feel good” proposal that will create confusion and undermine prioritizing proper care and conditions for dogs that are part of a licensed kennel facility.
- Explain you are a constituent. Respectfully share your experience and concerns as a dog owner/breeder/expert and based on the talking points above. For example, how would an outside inspector assess “psychological harm” for which there is no definition?
- Ask your Senators to not support introduction of Goldie’s Act in the Senate. Tell them, despite claims being made by AR groups, these bills do impact responsible small breeders.
- Ask them to instead support additional financial resources for USDA so they can appropriately enforce the requirements they already have.
- If you can, let the AKC Government Relations (AKC GR) team (doglaw@akc.org) know you contacted your lawmakers and if you received any response.
Summary of “Goldie’s Act” (H.R. 1788)
Goldie’s Act (HR 1788) establishes government mandates that:
- Redefine AWA violations and undermine priority for the care and wellbeing of animals. Proponents claim that the bill is designed to crack down on violators of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), but in fact it will do the opposite. By removing the distinction between care and welfare (direct) violations and paperwork/non-welfare related (indirect) violations the measure will make enforcement of animal care violations more difficult. While zero violations of any rules or laws should be the goal, the care and wellbeing of animals must always be a priority. Reporting paperwork errors in the same manner as care violations also creates a misleading perception about breeder licensees and creates a new target for animal extremists who use those public databases to identify breeders.
- Require inspectors to destroy or remove an animal if they believe it is experiencing physical or “psychological harm”. The bill does not define or determine how “psychological harm” would be determined, or by whom. This creates an environment for abuse and unnecessary euthanasia of animals.
- State the intent to expand enforcement of federal breeder licensing requirements, but in fact it throws out recent enforcement enhancements currently undergoing a 3-year implementation process, scheduled for completion in October 2024. Instead of improving enforcement of the AWA, it creates confusing and onerous new mandates, and undermines recently established enforcement efforts. Constantly changing arbitrary rules create a confusing, expensive, and potentially harmful environment for animal care in which neither licensees nor regulators may be certain of requirements.
Who This Applies To:
Anyone subject to USDA breeder/dealer licensing. Breeders are subject to USDA licensing if they maintain more than 4 “breeding females” (a term that is undefined but is generally considered to mean an intact female) and transfer even one of the offspring “sight unseen”. “Breeding females” include any combination of cats, dogs, or other small pet mammals such as hamsters, guinea pigs, etc.
For questions or more information, contact doglaw@akc.org, visit AKC’s Legislative Action Center www.akcgr.org or contact 919-816-3720.
Thank you for your action to protect the future of our breeds and the integrity of responsible, expert breeders. Your voice does make a difference!