AP has posted an article, A new day for dogs: Pa. law targets puppy mills, detailing the new law meant to stop the horrors of unscrupulous commercial dog breeding (puppy mills).

From the article:

“The new law imposes strict standards on commercial kennels, including at least twice-a-year veterinary exams, larger cages and exercise requirements.”

I applaud their efforts, and I hope Iowa and the other puppy mill states follow suit with similar laws.

My worry is that despite the laws, unscrupulous commercial kennels will not change their ways. Let’s face it, it costs a lot more money to provide veterinary care, space, good food, exercise, and a clean environment for a large number of dogs. You have to pay more vet bills, and you have to pay more employees. You have to pay for lighting, air conditioning, and heating for the kennels. It’s going to cost a kennel money to bring up their care standard. Will the cost of violating the law be higher than the cost of complying with it?

Fines only punish a business if the amount they have to pay is greater than the amount they would pay for complying. A true punishment would be a 3 strikes variety — after 3 violations, they lose their license. PERMANENTLY. The article didn’t mention what the punishment is for violations, but if it’s the usual fines, it’s not going to be harsh enough.

Also, where will they get the people to enforce the law? Will they have twice yearly inspections of every licensed kennel in the state? All (according to the article) 2600 of them? There are around 260 working days in the year for a typical Monday-Friday job. How could they possibly manage that many inspections? On whose tax dollar? No, I’m betting they will rely heavily on complaints and required paperwork submissions. Any idiot can hire an unethical veterinarian who is short on cash to that for them.

Having the law is certainly a step forward, but puppy mills will never cease to exist until people stop buying their puppies. Please support your local ethical breeder. Don’t buy a dog from a pet store. Your dog will live for 8, 10, even 15 years or more. You don’t want a ton of health and behavioral problems to have to contend with. Choose your breeder carefully.

What do you think? Will the new law make any difference? Is it worth taxpayer cash to stop puppymills, or should we concentrate on educating the public and let the free market put an end to it?  Share your thoughts in the comments.