Permission granted to crosspost.
August 1, 2009
HSUS has a major media campaign in full swing in Texas to arouse emotions
and get sponsors for their anti-breeding (anti-all breeding, that is)
"Puppymill" Bill in the next session of the Texas Legislature.
After reading the article below, please contact Texas State Representative
Eddie Lucio III (who is quoted) and News Channel 5 and tell them that Texas
Penal Code 42.09 regarding Animal Cruelty covers all animal owners in the
state.
Rep. Lucio and the reporter should contact their county district attorney
and ask why it isn't being enforced! Raids on substandard rescuer and
breeder facilities are being made on a regular basis elsewhere in the state.
You might also inform them that USDA regulates breeders selling to pet
stores.
http://www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Special-Investigation-Puppies-In-Need/Kqyu2bhs3EeNZS4ZPpr1og.cspxhttp://tinyurl.com/kn6dj4Contact information for:
Rep. Eddie Lucio III
(Note this is the representative as his father is a senator.)
E-mail:
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/dist38/lucio.phpAustin Office:
Phone: 512-463-0606
Fax: 512-463-0660
District Office in San Benito:
956-361-2795
956-361-9158
KRGV Television Reporter Will Ripley:
E-mail:
will@krgv.comGeneral Manager John Kittleman
Phone: 956-968-5555
_____________________________
Special Investigation: Puppies In Need
Reported by: Will Ripley
Email:
will@krgv.comLast Update: 7/29 10:40 pm
MCALLEN - People selling pets don't want others to know about the dark side
of the animal business.
A NEWSCHANNEL 5 investigation exposes what many pets go through. But we also
discovered there are almost no laws protecting them.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) took undercover video of what
they call a puppy mill. The technical term is "substandard breeder."
The video showed dogs packed in rusty wire cages, covered in their own
feces, with almost no food or water. Breeders can crank out hundreds -
sometimes thousands - of puppies a year.
They're the same puppies you buy at the pet store.
McAllen Petland owner Cesar Cepeda says his animals come from only the best
breeders.
"They're mom-and-pop operations, where you can see the pictures of grandkids
sleeping on top of the dog," he tells us.
The HSUS tells a different story. The organization says many of the puppies
sold at some Petlands come from puppy mills. They tracked the sale of nearly
17,000 puppies over eight months.
In some cases, the people providing puppies kept them in small cages, gave
incorrect medications, and violated animal welfare.
Petland's corporate office released a statement to NEWSCHANNEL 5. In it,
they called the HSUS a "radical animal rights group."
They go on to state, "Petland does not support substandard breeding
facilities."
State Representative Eddie Lucio III tells us substandard breeders are a
problem everywhere.
"What I'd like to do is create standards," he says.
The state representative wants to license and regulate breeders. Lucio
joint-authored a bill to give pets more legal protection.
Right now, there are virtually no laws in Texas protecting pets before they
make it to your house.
Lucio explains, "We really don't have a lot of folks looking out to provide
protection for animals."
That means no one is watching over Joe Anthony, who has a chihuahua business
in Alamo. Tina Magee called NEWSCHANNEL 5, because she was concerned about
the dogs she saw there.
"They wanted to be held. But you couldn't hold'em, because they were covered
in feces," she says.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 took our undercover camera to the business. On the video, the
person undercover asks Anthony, "So they're all your little babies?"
He replies, "They're a major headache."
Anthony says he has 120 puppies right now. Twenty of them are pregnant.
Magee tells us she's worried about them.
"They can't have the proper care that they need. There's no way," she says.
Anthony tells NEWSCHANNEL 5 he has one part-time helper.
"My puppies are in $9,000 worth of stainless steel kennels," he adds.
The animal store owner wouldn't show us where the dogs are housed.
"No. If you go back there, it will cause a miscarriage," he tells us. "Are
you gonna pay for all those puppies?"
Anthony did bring out 10 puppies in a crate. All of them were clean and
seemed to be in good health.
"I've been doing this 27 years. I have an impeccable reputation," he says.
"This isn't a puppy mill."
At the Alamo flea market, our undercover camera found a man selling puppies
out of a wire cage in the 100-degree heat.
In Mexico, we found puppies panting in their cages. There was no food or
water in sight.
We were told the animals were healthy. It was only when we started asking
questions that the dogs get a drink.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 then found Reynosa veterinarian Alcibiades Lopez selling
puppies a few blocks from the bridge. He says 90 percent of his customers
are American.
He says many people load up their cars with puppies and sell them in the
United States in flea markets or even on the side of the road.
"You buy a puppy from them. If it gets sick, you don't know where to go
back," explains Shannon Ponce of the Palm Valley Animal Shelter.
She says animal abuse is a huge problem in the Valley. She showed us
pictures she took of several Valley breeders she considers puppy mills.
But Ponce adds there's really nobody cracking down on them.
"We don't have any staff that does out and does investigations
specifically," she explains.
She tells us if you have a complaint, you can call animal control in your
city or county.
Lucio says the laws are just not enough.
"Animals are completely helpless," comments the state representative. "They
don't have someone looking out for them."
Lucio's pet protection bill never made it to a vote last session. He's says
he'll try again next year.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 did an earlier investigation into Jesse Vasquez, the owner of
Jesse's Pet Shop.
We exposed the shop was selling dozens of puppies that appeared to be
healthy, but the animals quickly got sick and died.
Five months after our investigation, the Texas Attorney General's Office
shut down his McAllen business.
Former employees of Vasquez told us he bought the animals in Mexico.
The pet shop owner was ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines and
refund his customers. As far as we know, Vasquez is no longer doing business
in the Valley.
RPOA Texas Outreach (501C4 Nonprofit)
www.rpoatexasoutreach.orgResponsible Pet Owners Alliance (501C3 Nonprofit)
www.responsiblepetowners.org