SAOVA friends,

Since the rule was first proposed last May we've been at the forefront to raise awareness and opposition against this unnecessary regulation which will severely impact tens of thousands of dog, cat, and small animal breeders. Pet breeding as we know it today will not survive enactment of this rule. Despite another year of budget reductions, APHIS plans to move forward with the implementation of their proposed rule. The 2014 Budget requests $1M for rule enforcement, which is just as absurd an underestimate as their prediction that less than 1,000 breeders nationwide would be newly licensed.

The Fiscal Year 2014 Budget is available online at the Office of Budget and Management and budget overviews are organized by agency. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Appendix

Department of Agriculture, Animal Welfare Section reads: "APHIS' 2014 budget request of $798 million is an overall reduction of $24 million from the 2013 estimate. . . . The Agency is also requesting funding to enforce the Animal Welfare retail pet store rule, which closes a loophole of pets being sold over the Internet, phone, and by mail, that are currently exempt from the regulatory process. The requested funding levels will help support these important regulatory efforts."

USDA has also posted its FY 2014 Budget Summary and Annual Performance Plan http://tinyurl.com/7wdhacy with this summary: "The 2014 Budget proposes $29 million for Animal Welfare activities. This includes funding to fully implement the retail pet stores rule, which will offer welfare protections to dogs and certain other animals sold as pets through non-traditional means."

SAOVA is reactivating the APHIS Opposition List. It is unconscionable for APHIS to enact this rule which will crush the pet industry and we must continue our opposition with a loud voice until Congress listens. If your organization or business did not sign on last summer, you have another opportunity to do so now.

ACTION REQUIRED
Add your organization to the SAOVA Opposition List. http://www.saova.org/APHIS_Opposition.List.html
Send an email signed by an officer of the organization stating opposition to Susan Wolf: mailto:cubhill%40earthlink.net. Please include state where your organization is located.

Write Congress. Use comments from the SAOVA website. You can also submit a letter via the Cavalry Group website http://tinyurl.com/c44mmew

PLEASE CROSS POST WIDELY

Susan Wolf
Sportsmen's & Animal Owners' Voting Alliance
Working to Identify and Elect Supportive Legislators
mailto:saova%40earthlink.net
http://saova.org/