ATTENTION!! The Arizona State Senate is still negotiating the budget, and so they have not voted on SB1248 yet. Please continue to help us STOP SB1248 by contacting the Governor and Senators listed below. I am posting this update, because we recently came upon some new information regarding the pet store chain here in Arizona. The attached link to a video investigation demonstrates everything that is wrong with SB1248 and directly shows that Arizona’s pet stores sell puppies from puppy mills! In the wake of multiple cities passing or considering laws banning the sale of commercially bred pets, a multi-million dollar valley pet store chain has been lobbying the Arizona State legislature to block these laws so that they can continue business as usual. The owner of the chain of stores claims that he only buys from “reputable breeders” who go above and beyond the minimal standards required by the USDA. Just a few short months ago, he provided the City of Tempe with a list of his breeders in order to “prove” their quality. He even went so far as to fly one of his breeders in to testify before the Tempe City Council where she was caught lying to Councilmembers about the USDA violations her kennel had received (https://youtu.be/_75_fW93TcE Today, another one of the breeders turned out to be less than reputable. Leroy Detweiler, a Missouri breeder, has been cited multiple times for serious health and welfare violations and had his USDA license cancelled, resulting in his being named today as a part of the “Horrible 100”, a list of the worst puppy mills in the country compiled by the Humane Society of the United States (http://www.humanesociety.org/news/news/2016/05/horrible-hundred-2016-puppy-mills-exposed.html?credit=web_id734941724#missouri A new USDA licensed kennel has been opened on an adjoining property in the name of family member Joseph Detweiler, who is one of the “reputable breeders” that our local pet store chain is proud to purchase from. In the attached video investigation, Joseph Detweiler admits that the Missouri state inspector “understands that the dogs make a mess,” while casually justifying the filth that his dogs are living in. He goes on to show the investigator his kennels, where dogs are forced to live their entire lives in a small, noisy, and feces-infested kennel, while breeding every heat cycle. The breeder explains that the state and federal inspectors do not give citations for violations, instead calling them “teachable moments.” These are the conditions allowed at the USDA licensed dog breeding facilities that supply Arizona’s pet stores with puppies, and these are the conditions that will continue to be allowed under proposed legislation SB1248, a bill based on false claims. SB 1248 claims that USDA licensed facilities have higher standards of care, but the video clearly shows this to be untrue. SB 1248 relies on USDA inspectors accurately documenting animal health and welfare violations, but Mr. Detweiler clearly states that they don’t. SB 1248 relies on veterinary oversight and verification while this video shows nursing mothers with untreated, infectious medical conditions. Don’t believe the lies. www.caps-web.org/research-investigations/investigations/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1213&Itemid=269 Not only will SB1248 encourage these breeders to simply seek out new USDA licenses when they receive too many violations, as the Detweilers did, but it will also protect the pet store if they purchase from breeders like this one. According to SB 1248, the pet store only has to “presume to have acted in good faith” that their breeders do not have too many USDA violations. Please contact Governor Doug Ducey and the following State Senators immediately. Show them this video, explaining that Arizona’s pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills like this one. These are the people that SB1248 is protecting to stay in business. Please ask them to vote NO on SB1248!! Email Governor Ducey: http://azgovernor.gov/governor/form/contact-governor-ducey Call Governor Doug Ducey’s office at 602-542-4331 Twitter: @ dougducey www.facebook.com/dougducey/ Senator Carlyle Begay cbegay@azleg.gov (602) 926-5862 www.facebook.com/Carlyle-Begay-183896928482336 Twitter: @CarlyleBegay Senator Jeff Dial jdial@azleg.gov (602) 926-5550 www.facebook.com/jeffdialforarizona Twitter: @ JeffDial Senator Adam Driggs adriggs@azleg.gov (602) 926-3016 www.facebook.com/adamdriggs Twitter: @ AdamDriggs Senator David Farnsworth dfarnsworth@azleg.gov (602) 926-3020 www.facebook.com/dave.farnsworth.77