Give Pets a Second Chance: Get Rid of Class B Dealers

Unfortunately, there are some situations where pet owners can no longer continue to care for their animals. While owners may try their best to give their pets a second chance at having a forever home, they may be unwittingly putting them in situations where they can become the victims of Class B dealers.

Class B dealers are animal brokers who find and sell dogs and cats to schools and research institutions for a profit. Their methods of acquisition range from going to shelters, answering classified ads, and in some cases stealing pets who are left unattended outside. Class B dealers also buy animals from “bunchers,” who collect animals from random sources.

Class B dealers are regulated by the USDA and are responsible for following guidelines of care outlined by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). However, even the AWA only requires minimal care standards and there have been multiple violations where animals suffer with no food, water or veterinary care, among other issues, and there is little or no accountability.

“Currently, over half of the Class B Dealers selling random source animals to research labs are under investigation by the USDA for allegedly failing to comply with the law,” according to the ASPCA.

The Pet Safety and Protection Act, sponsored by Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Rep. Michael Doyle (D-PA), has been proposed to amend the AWA in order to ensure that animals used in research are obtained legally.

According to the ASPCA, if the Pet Safety and Protection Act is passed, the AWA would be amended so that the only people who would be allowed to sell dogs and cats to research facilities would be:

Dealers who have bred and raised the animals.
Publicly owned pounds or shelters that obtained the animals from their legal owners.
A person donating a dog or cat whom they have bred and raised, or owned for at least one year.

These categories of people are already allowed to sell to research. The Pet Safety and Protection Act would not change that or give them more rights than they currently have. This bill would eliminate Class B dealers and take away any incentive for others to illegally source animals for a profit.

While this may not help the thousands of animals who are legally obtained for research purposes, it will help animals like Cruella from unnecessary pain and suffering.

Send a letter to your representatives through the ASPCA asking them to support the Pet Safety and Protection Act.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Hope S.

7:36PM PDT on Aug 1, 2011

No cats, dogs, primates, or rabbits should be used in research.
In fact no animals should be used. There are better ways that can be used without the atrocities practiced on animals. Research results from animals do not translate to humans.

send a green star

Tanyaisa P.

10:22AM PDT on Aug 1, 2011

Anyone with a heart will take these articles and plights of the poor animals seriously.....sign petitions and leave comments.........speak out

Hattie W.

6:49AM PDT on Aug 1, 2011

They should stop this altogether.

Susan H.

8:05PM PDT on Jul 31, 2011

Only in the most extremely ungent research cases should any animals be ussed.

Robby C.

3:22PM PDT on Jul 31, 2011

Yeah, I agree w.the other posters here- why support a bill that still allows the experimentation to go on, at all,,,? We needs bills that prohibit animal experimentation completely!

Susan B.

3:44PM PST on Nov 3, 2009

No animal whatsoever should be used, whether raised for that purpose or not should not be used for any kind of research or experimentation. There's plent of hardened criminals, sex offenders and what not sitting in prison. Why don't they just use this scum instead of innocent animals. This law should protect all animals.

David B.

1:43PM PST on Nov 3, 2009

ok,nuff of the crap!! why do we have to experiment on animals?? there not human,(lucky them)so if you want people medicines and the like to be researched properly,why not on humans? use some of the trash from the prisons,and believe me i look on harden killers and drug dealers,and sexual pervers as trash,and tell me why we couldn't use them instead of animals??then we'd know the results we get are good or bad for the rest of ua !!

Ulrike S.

6:48AM PST on Nov 1, 2009

No animals for research! Definitely !

resignd C.

10:30AM PDT on Oct 30, 2009

You are a smart group of people I am glad to associate with. My first instinct was that this bill does continue to allow the selling of animals to experimental laboratories which I will not support. No home bred puppies for experiments and torture. Let's have a bill that prohibits it entirely. It is already proven that humans and animals are just too different to support any experiment "for the benefit of humans". We need a law that outlaws animal experiments and makes those who do criminals. Europe have laws to that affect. Let's not get sucked into to his bill. No way will I support any bill that indirectly or directly endorses such horrific treatment of our fellow creatures we share this planet with.

Jade H.

9:14AM PDT on Oct 30, 2009

I cannot support this bill because it still sends helpless animals to labs where they are literally used as guina pigs in a situation that would be called "torture" if we were talking humans! Good grief - this is throwing the baby out with the bathwater! When will we grow up and stop considering everything else on the food chain lower than us and therefore available to testing, fighting, racing, ad naseum - to SERVE humans in some way! What an outrage!