Dogs dealers, also called Class B dealers, are people who buy and sell pets to other class B dealers, research labs and universities for educational purposes. Most of the animals come from “random sources” which means they obtain pets from anywhere they can find them. Bunchers sell pets gotten from questionable sources to class B dealers for around $25.00 a head. Yes, pets are treated as if they are livestock with a price on their head. Class B dealers sell pets for an average price of $100.00 up to $450.00 or more per head depending on the animal being sold. These dog dealers most likely have guaranteed sales to research facilities in the form of a contract to supply pets to them.
In 2006, an HBO documentary, “Dealing Dogs” aired on February 21. It dealt with an undercover investigation of a Class B dog dealer (C.C. Baird) who sold dogs from his Arkansas Martin Creek Kennels to research facilities across the country. According to figures from the 2006 documentary, 65,000 dogs are sold each year to these facilities. Class B dealers get 42,000 dogs every year from animal shelters, small breeders (most likely puppy mill owners), animal bunchers and local pounds. In the hands of class B dealers, most pets will suffer abuse one way or the other under the Animal Welfare Act that allows for legal animal cruelty because the law isn’t enforced.
Anyone can apply for a class A or class B dealer license and the fee is only $10.00. Class A dealers are animal breeders who breed animals specifically for research labs. Class B dealers may be breeders as well, but most of the pets they deal are from random sources that include, pounds, animal shelters, animal auctions, lost, stolen and “free to good home” pets obtained from bunchers.
Once licensed, it’s the responsibility of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an agency within the USDA, to inspect facilities and make sure animal dealers are in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. However, the AWA is poorly enforced despite assurances from the USDA and the biomedical research community. Under the AWA, class B dealers are required to hold random sourced animals anywhere from 24 hours up to 10 days, depending on where the pet came from. However, with a shortage of APHIS inspectors that don’t properly inspect paperwork or dog dealers’ facilities; many pets are sold directly to research labs the same day the pet is acquired.
Dead and live pets are sold to biological supply companies (which are also classified as class B dealers under the AWA) that provide labs with animals for research/testing and to universities/colleges for educational purposes. Blood supply companies collect blood from animals for medical use by vets and in research and testing labs. Currently, there are nine USDA licensed class B dealers in the country who get their animals from random sources. One dealer has been under a five year suspension that began in 2008 and one was indicted on February 22, 2011 for violations of the law. Four dealers are currently being investigated for suspected violations of the AWA, but they are still allowed to continue operating.
The business of dog dealing is a profitable business and the USDA turns a blind eye to the shady and dark enterprise of animal selling. Class B dealers and bunchers prey on our pets like a silent snake sliding through the weeds. Regardless of what the law requires, dog dealers may or may not be licensed. Most are unethical and they are not compassionate. The USDA does not enforce the law and they only have control over those people and research labs who are licensed. There is no way of knowing how many unlicensed class B dealers there are operating illegally in this country.
Bunchers are not required to be licensed under the Animal Welfare Act, but they are suppose to only sell animals they have bred and raised themselves and they must be able to prove it. Class B dealers are suppose to document where they bought their random source animals from and licensed research labs are suppose to be able to assure the public the animals they have in their facilities are not stolen pets. “Suppose to be” is the operative phrase and because enforcement of the law is lax; many pets die from abuse, neglect, dehydration or starvation while in the care of a dog dealer. If they make it to a research lab; pets most likely suffer an unconscionable and horrific death.
Not much has changed over the years since the first public outrage in 1965 forced Congress to enact an animal welfare law that does little to protect pets from people exploiting them for profit. Animal dealing is big business and dog dealers who are prosecuted rarely receive jail time and fines are just a part of doing business.
To people who buy and sell animals; pets are nothing more than a product. As long as the USDA continues to look the other way when it comes to enforcing the law; dog dealers will continue stealing pets anywhere they can find them and research facilities will continue to buy them. The only thing that can change business as usual is public outrage that demands real changes. Unfortunately, politicians will still bend to the will of powerful lobbyists in Washington who intend on making sure nothing changes in their industry. If Congress were to amend the Animal Welfare Act, it would be another watered down attempt to quiet public outrage and animals would not be given better protection under the law. When we won’t see with our eyes, feel compassion in our hearts and listen to the suffering of animals; nothing will change as long as we remain silent.
In 2000, the Atlantic Monthly ran an article, “From the Leash to the Laboratory,” that tells the story of how Class B dealers operate. It’s an eye opening and heartbreaking documentation of how these dog dealers are able to operate with impunity as if they are the ones protected by the Animal Welfare Act.
Legal Animal Cruelty: Free to Good Home
Legal Animal Cruelty: Animal Welfare Act of 1966
Silent Voices of Animal Shelter Pets: Death Sentences for the Innocent