Class B Dealer Timeline

1966

• LIFE magazine publishes "Concentration Camps for Dogs."

• President Johnson signs the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act—later renamed the Animal Welfare Act (AWA)—into law.

1980-1986

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cites Class B dealer Ervin Stebane of Wisconsin 27 times for improper and inadequate housing, 17 times for not providing palatable food and water, and 11 times for inadequate sanitation and waste disposal. According to agency reports, inspectors found dogs and cats in outside cages in all seasons, without any protection from sub-freezing temperatures, snow, rain or sun.

• The USDA issues a statement saying, "In the past few years there have been several instances of dealers buying and selling obviously stolen animals and of a few research facilities obtaining animals under questionable circumstances." ¹

• Congress amends the AWA to require Class B dealers to document the identity of each person who supplies them with random source dogs and cats.

• The number of Class B dealers selling random source dogs and cats to research is 100.

• A USDA "trace back" investigation reveals that an estimated 60 percent of animals sold to research institutions cannot be traced back to their original sources. The investigation uncovers numerous examples of suppliers of random source dogs to Class B dealers who either had never supplied animals or could not be located from the names and drivers license numbers given by the dealers.²

• The USDA spends nearly one million dollars in an attempt to regulate random source dealers.

• C.C. Baird, owner of a Class B facility in Arkansas cited for numerous AWA violations, is involved in a shipment of animals to Mississippi that includes 42 dead dogs in their cages.

• Ervin Stebane permanently relinquishes his Class B license.

1995

• A USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Audit Report notes: ³

- "licensed dealers ... obtained animals from random sources which could not be verified ... The sellers did not acknowledge any sales to the dealer, or could not be located."

- "violators (of the AWA) consider the monetary stipulation as a normal cost of conducting business rather than a deterrent for violating the law."

- "[USDA] has cited multiple USDA licensed dealers for fraudulent record keeping concerning the inability to verify sources ... A recent attempt by APHIS to determine the source of ten dogs disclosed that five of the sales were apparently fictitious."

- "APHIS had renewed licenses or registrations to facilities which were in direct violation of the Act."

- "... a dog dealer … destroyed his records during a stolen dog task force investigation."

1996

• In May, Rep. Charles T. Canady (R-FL) introduces the Pet Safety and Protection Act (H.R. 3398) to prohibit the use in research of random source dogs and cats from Class B dealers and in September, Sen. Daniel Akaka introduces identical legislation (S. 2114) in the U.S. Senate.

• In August, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry of the Committee on Agriculture conducts a Congressional Hearing on the Family Pet Protection Act and the Pet Safety Protection Act.

• USDA Assistant Secretary Michael Dunn, testifying at this Congressional Hearing, notes: ⁴

- 52 percent of the records designed to verify the legal acquisition of animals by Class B dealers are incomplete, incorrect, or outright fraudulent.

- "Every time we develop a new way to look at things, they [dealers] develop a new way to hide them."

1997

• C.C. Baird is convicted of violating the AWA and fined $5,000. The charges against him include failing to maintain complete records showing the acquisition, disposition, and identification of animals.

• In June, Rep. Charles T. Canady (R-FL), reintroduces the Pet Safety and Protection Act (H.R. 594) for the 105th Congress.

1998

• In June, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) introduces identical legislation (S. 2202) in the U.S. Senate.

• The number of Class B dealers selling random source animals to research is less than 40.

1999

• In February, Rep. Charles T. Canady (R-FL), reintroduces the Pet Safety and Protection Act (H.R. 453) for the 106th Congress, and in August, Sen. Daniel Akaka introduces identical legislation (S. 1522) in the U.S. Senate.

2001

• The number of Class B dealers selling random source animals to research is 20.

• The USDA claims that the rate of audited animal acquisition records traced back to the original source has reached 96 percent.

• In March, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) reintroduces the Pet Safety and Protection Act (S. 668) for the 107th Congress.

2004

• The USDA files a 108-page complaint against Baird, charging hundreds of violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

• In April, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) reintroduces the Pet Safety and Protection Act (H.R. 2346) for the 108th Congress.

2005

• Baird's USDA license is permanently revoked and he is fined $262,700, the largest fine ever imposed by the USDA.

• A microchip scan reveals that a dog slated for use in a University of Minnesota research laboratory is actually someone's pet and was stolen two months earlier from a backyard in Arkansas and sold to the university by a Class B dealer from Michigan. ⁵

• In February, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) reintroduces the Pet Safety and Protection Act (S. 451).

2006

• HBO releases its documentary of the Baird case, "Dealing Dogs".

• An Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) survey of the approximately 1,200 USDA registered research institutions indicates that 96 percent of the 192 respondents do not purchase random source dogs and cats from Class B dealers. According to a survey by the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, at least 19 of the nation's 28 vet schools do not use live, random source dogs and cats from Class B dealers.

• In April, Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) reintroduces the Pet Safety Protection Act (H.R. 5229) in the U.S. House. By the end of the year, and the close of the 109th Congress, the bill has 62 cosponsors.

2007

• There are 10 Class B dealers of live, random source dogs and cats, three of whom are under investigation by USDA.　

• In February, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) reintroduces the Pet Safety and Protection Act (S. 714), and in March, Rep. Doyle introduces identical legislation (H.R. 1280) in the U.S. House.

• In July, the U.S. House of Representatives passes amendment to the Farm Bill that would eliminate Class B dealers of random source dogs and cats.

• In December, the U.S. Senate passes an amendment to the Farm Bill that would eliminate Class B dealers of random source dogs and cats.

• Language requesting the formation of an expert committee to study whether random source cats and dogs obtained by Class B dealers are necessary for research is included in The Senate Fiscal Year 2008 Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee report.

2008

• The section of the Farm Bill that would have phased out the use and sale of random source dogs and cats is dropped from the final bill despite being passed in both the respective Senate and the House Farm Bills with broad, bi-partisan support. Instead, this provision is substituted with language again calling for a study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and instructing the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to submit a report to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees on how recommendations from the study can be applied to the USDA.  

• The National Academies (NA)—specifically the Institute for Laboratory Animal Welfare—forms an expert committee to address the use of Class B dogs and cats in research funded by the NIH.

• In August, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss, (R-GA), and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Ranking member Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) send letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a comprehensive review of USDA oversight of random source dog and cats procured by Class B dealers.

• The HSUS participates in the NA committee's first public meeting on October 7, makes a statement, and submits information for the consideration of the committee members.

• By December, the 110th Congress comes to an end with 131 cosponsors of the Pet Safety and Protection Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, and 20 in the U.S. Senate. 

2009

• On January 12, The HSUS participates in the second NA committee meeting on the "Scientific and Humane Issues in the Use of Random-source Dogs and Cats for Research."

• The GAO begins study of random source dogs and cats from Class B dealers, as requested by the leadership of Senate and House Agriculture Committees.

• There are 11 Class B dealers of live, random source dogs and cats, two of whom are under investigation by the USDA.
• The NA committee "concludes that Class B dealers are not necessary for supplying these animals and describes alternative methods through which random source dogs and cats may be acquired for appropriate research purposes," identifying Class A dealers (who sell dogs and cats bred specifically for the purpose of research), NIH-supported Resource and Research Development, the NIH Request for Proposal mechanism and donation programs among viable alternatives.

Sources

¹ http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/96symp/awasymp.htm

²  http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/11/letters.htm

³ Audit Report APHIS Animal Care Program Inspection and Enforcement Activities. Office of Inspector General, Midwest Region, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Report No. 33600-01-Ch; January 1995.

⁴ Family Pet Protection Act, Pet Safety and Protection Act: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry of the House of Representatives. 104th Cong., 2nd Sess. (1996)

⁵ Wilson, A. and Porter, S. (2005, October 20) Why is this dog smiling? Fayetteville Free Weekly.

Updated June 10, 2009