John Goodwin, HSUS and Jupiter

Today, a return visit from John Goodwin, anti-puppy mill campaigner from the Humane Society of the United States. Here's the email that prompted this interview, as well as information and a link to last year's interview with John.

On February 6th, a group of U.S. Representatives introduced a bill to crack down on puppy mill cruelty by closing loopholes in the law that allow problem breeders with severe and multiple Animal Welfare Act violations to continue doing business as usual. The Welfare of Our Friends (WOOF) Act, reintroduced by U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Charlie Crist, D-Fla., Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and Jim McGovern, D-Mass, has the potential to improve the welfare of thousands of dogs and puppies bred and sold each year by federally licensed commercial breeders.

In today's blog post, Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, and Sara Amundson, president of Humane Society Legislative Fund, explain what this means for animals and our fight to stop puppy mills:

Currently, the USDA, tasked with licensing and inspecting certain businesses that use animals, routinely relicenses puppy breeders with dozens of severe violations on their records, including dead and dying animals who didn’t receive adequate veterinary care, underweight animals and animals kept in filthy and unsafe conditions. Problem dealers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked can also essentially obtain a new license under the name of a family member while owning the same animals on the same property.

For years, we have exposed this disregard for the law and the need to close these loopholes in our annual Horrible Hundred reports on problem puppy mills in the United States, which we compile from USDA and state inspection data.

Here is the earlier post and podcast: