The Senate in December approved an amendment tacked onto the voluminous Farm Bill that would prohibit foreign imports of dogs younger than 6 months of age for resale.

The effect of Senate Amendment 3855 is that Hawaiian pet retailers would no longer be able to buy puppies unless they were bred in that state, according to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (Washington). As a rabies-free state, Hawaii does not permit imports of puppies bred elsewhere in the United States. Currently, puppies imported into Hawaii for resale come exclusively from rabies-free countries.

Attached to the House-approved Farm Bill, the Senate proposal to restrict dog importation would amend the Animal Welfare Act.

A previous amendment contained several other provisions similar to those in the failed Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005, such as expanded breeder regulation and third-party inspections by nonprofit organizations certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Those provisions were quietly withdrawn by the amendment’s sponsor, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), after they met swift opposition, according to the Sportsmen’s & Animal Owners Voting Alliance (Madison, Va.), which mounted a lobbying campaign against Senate Amendment 3723.

That amendment, as written, literally would have meant that persons who sell only domestically bred animals would have been characterized as “importers,” whether or not that was the actual intent, according to PIJAC.

In addition, the existing retail pet store definition—retailers who sell dogs and cats directly to the public and not at wholesale—also would have been revised to include Internet retailers if they did not also operate a brick-and-mortar pet store, said PIJAC.

At press time, the Farm Bill resided in a conference committee so lawmakers could resolve differences between the House and Senate versions. [February 2008 PET AGE]