Friday, October 09, 2015

New Rules thanks to Public Health Veterinarian Peter Belinsky

Dr. Belinsky has been our veterinarian since 1981. He is amazing.

Tough new R.I. rules address concerns about puppy mills


By Donita Naylor

Journal Staff Writer Posted Oct. 7, 2015 @ 11:15 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rules that set minimum standards for the care of pets offered for sale or adoption in Rhode Island take effect Thursday, and they have teeth.

The new regulations require purveyors of pets to keep records on where each animal came from and who bought or adopted it. Information about the animal's origin must be posted on the animal's cage or enclosure for potential new owners to read.

The rules, written by veterinarians in the R.I. Department of Environmental Management with input from animal care stakeholders, have been in the works for about 10 years, State Veterinarian Scott Marshall said Wednesday. He credited Public Health Veterinarian Peter Belinsky with researching best practices and turning them into regulations.

The rules set minimum standards for the care of animals in pet shops, kennels, municipal pounds, animal shelters, animal rescues and with animal brokers.

Standards are set for temperature, ventilation, drainage, sanitation, lighting, size of enclosure and whether the facility is safe, escape-proof and maintained so that animals are not subjected to contagious diseases or injury. Proof of vaccinations must be kept available for review.

Specific regulations are set for dogs, cats, rabbits, rats/mice and hamsters/gerbils/guinea pigs.

Investigators finding animals in substandard conditions can recommend fines ranging from $500 for a first offense to $1,000 for second and subsequent offenses, the rules say. The fines can be imposed upon conviction after a hearing. Each day the substandard condition is not remedied constitutes a separate offense.

Before the new rules went into effect, inspectors finding poor animal care could only recommend changes. Beyond that, revoking a facility's license or pursuing criminal charges were the only penalties available.

"By giving us broader authority to intervene and address issues before they spiral out of control, these new rules will help keep animals safer," DEM Director Janet Coit said in a news release announcing the regulations Wednesday. "And by giving consumers better access to breeder information, they protect prospective buyers as well.”

Posting an animal's origins on its enclosure, Coit said, "addresses growing concerns from the public about acquiring pets from ‘puppy mills’ — breeding facilities known for their inhumane conditions."

"There's no real accepted definition of what a puppy mill is," Marshall said. But commercial breeders must register with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and consumers can look up the breeder's record, and any penalties, on the USDA website.

By far, the majority of pet complaints that come in to the DEM involve dogs, he said.

Records detailing the origin and destination of each animal will allow health authorities to track contagious diseases and notify people whose animals may have had contact with the diseased animal.

As far as Marshall knows, "there is not another state that has regulations as comprehensive as we do."

He said he was "very proud of these regulations. I'm glad we got them to the finish line."

Read the new rules here.

dnaylor@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7411

On Twitter: @donita22

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