IG Safehouse - Livestock Reports

Make a Donation

Our IGs do not get IGRF funds so your generosity is very much appreciated. Use Paypal or mail to: IGSA, POB 381885, Germantown, TN 38183. (EIN #20-425935 - 501(c)(3)) Thanks!!!

Livestock Reports

"Knowledge is power." That's a well-worn old axiom. Unfortunately, sometimes the more we know, the more helpless we end up feeling. Life can be a whole lot simpler when we have no idea what is going on over the next hill. It is not that simple for IG lovers any more because we do know what is happening to our breed... out of sight up in the hills, back in the woods. We have living proof. What many of us lack is a real understanding of the inner workings of the contorted pet distribution system that has developed in the United States.

The Livestock Reports are a series of articles written by Kim Townsend and originally published in the IG Times. Kim is the undisputed pioneer in bringing commercial dog farming out of the closet. In 1997, she created and launched a single web page about puppymills. That one page has grown into thousands of pages of information, research, and data bases available nowhere else. NoPuppyMills.com offers puppy buyers, animal lovers, and rescuers the tools they need to understand our billion dollar pet industry.

The Animal Welfare Act has been an abysmal failure in safeguarding the breeding dogs in its USDA licensed facilities. Heaping on more unenforced or unenforceable legislation hardly seems a practical solution. When it comes to the plight of the mill dogs, knowledge will never become real power as long as consumers continue to shop for their puppies in pet stores. What we can do is try to educate puppy shoppers, one by one, and place our hope in the words of Maya Angelou, "You did then what you knew how to do and when you knew better... you did better!"

(The Livestock Report articles are available for educational, non-profit use only. They are not to be placed on, or downloadable from, other internet websites. Kim Townsend has been a good friend to the IG community so we ask that you respect this request. You are welcome to link to this page from any site. For more information, visit www.nopuppymills.com. Subscribe to the IG Times breed magazine at www.igtimes.com.)

The Livestock Report

IGs in the mills; the old price differentials based on registry; industry reaction to AKC's mandatory DNA program; the consumer's failure to complain about off-brand registries during the Christmas 2000 test season.

Wholesaling The Italian Greyhound

Tracks a puppy's journey, step by step, from birth until he arrives at a retail outlet; explains USDA regulations and breeders' tricks for getting around them; distinguishes the role of the breeder from that of the broker.

Demystifying The New Registries

How and why yesterday's puppy mills diversified into today's "paper mill" businesses; the origin and role of the original dog registries; where paper mill registries such as ACA, APRI, CKC came from and what they really do.

Secrets & Lies: The Year In Review

The 2003 Christmas IG puppy survey: where they were born, where they were sold, how they were registered, their price tags and their health.

Inspecting The Inspections

What it takes to get a USDA breeder's license; the qualifications for becoming an inspector; the on-site inspection process; which USDA employees are supposed to do what; what constitutes an AWA violation; what is supposed to happen after a violation is reported; why it is nearly impossible to actually get a commercial kennel shut down.

USDA: Who Does It Really Protect?

What happens when inspectors don't do their jobs; how the pet industry turns USDA's ineffectual performance to its own advantage; how USDA benefits financially from the negligence and inertia of its own staff when it submits its annual report card to Congress.