How much is that doggy in the window? A better question might be: Did he come from an ethical and caring breeder who treated his mother humanely?
It’s a question the province has deemed now needs to be answered, announcing on Monday that dog and cat breeders will soon need to be licensed and inspected to meet standards set by Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.
Perhaps, needless to say, Premier Christy Clark received some scolding from pundits who saw her photo op of saving dogs a mite hypocritical just after she cut transit passes for the disabled.
But cynical political comments aside, we offer the province a wag of the tail, not the finger, for stepping in to help the provincial pets.
The move follows two high-profile raids on puppy mills in recent weeks that found animals living in deplorable states. Several of those animals had to be put down because they were in such rough shape.
A purebred pet isn’t just a big-ticket item that fetches a handsome price. It’s a loving creature that deserves to live its life without harmful exploitation. The majority of breeders are conscientious lovers of four-leggeds, so we don’t expect to see them fighting this claw and nail. In fact, it is to their benefit to clean up the business.
But we hope this is more than a can’t-lose political announcement. If these laws are to have teeth, there’s going to have to be funding for inspections and enforcement. For those who break the rules, we’d expect some hefty penalties, and not a whack on the snout with a rolled-up copy of this newspaper.
And while we welcome the new regulations, we’d like to remind people that the kindest thing they can do for animals is to adopt one of the ones already here. Between the Burnaby SPCA and humane societies, the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association and numerous breed-specific rescue organizations, there’s no shortage of animals looking for a fur-ever home.
