Please Oppose HB 198

We, the undersigned nonresidents of Illinois, urge the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois State Senate to reject House Bill 198 and Senate Bill 53, which are known as the "Dog Breeders License Act."

We are petitioning the Illinois Legislature because we support dog owners and hobbyists in your state, and also support the many businesses and jobs that are assisted or created by resident and nonresident dog owners in all segments of the Illinois economy. Most of us also visit Illinois to attend field trials, dog shows or competitive events, or come to Illinois as hunters or tourists.

We urge the Legislature to understand the importance of Illinois being seen as a state that is friendly to dog owners and people who raise dogs. It is probable that at least a million nonresident dog owners visit or pass through Illinois every year, and many of them spend a significant amount of time and money in your state.

We also are opposed to this legislation because:

1. It targets dedicated and conscientious hobby breeders of purebred dogs. It would destroy the life's work of many of the finest breeding programs in America, which are located in Illinois. These kennels, most of which are owned by truly dedicated hobbyists, are responsible for making major improvements in the health, genetic soundness, temperament and utility of the dogs that they raise. This is of major benefit to the people of Illinois, who have the opportunity to obtain a companion dog of very high quality. The fine kennels also benefit dogs by enabling them to become a part of families that will cherish them for a lifetime.

2. It does not target large commercial kennels that have been labeled "puppy mills." The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which is the impetus behind this onerous legislation, has been completely deceptive and dishonest with the Illinois Legislature about the real intention of HB 198 and SB 53. HSUS falsely claims that this legislation will regulate large commercial kennels. In fact, those kennels already are intensely regulated by the State of Illinois under existing laws, and most of them also are subject to federal regulation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. HSUS exists solely as a political action organization for the animal rights movement. Its name is misleading. HSUS does not operate a single animal shelter in America.

3. This legislation will increase the number of "puppy mill" dogs sold in Illinois, as out-of-state commercial kennels will enter the void left by the closure of high quality kennels in Illinois, in order to meet consumer demand for purebred puppies. At no time in history has the consumer demand for purebred puppies been higher than it is today. It is clearly in the best interest of the people of Illinois, and for the welfare of dogs, to assure that high quality puppies are available from dedicated and conscientious hobbyists who live in Illinois.

4. This legislation violates the constitutional rights of everyone who raises dogs in Illinois. It reduces dog owners to the status of second-class citizens by denying them basic constitutional protections such as fair and equal treatment under the law, the right to due process under the law, the right to defend oneself and seek redress before a court of law, and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

5. It is unnecessarily and unfairly burdensome to thousands of hobby kennel owners in Illinois by imposing potentially high licensing costs, requiring dog owners to pay for the cost of inspections, requiring anyone who owns a kennel to undergo a criminal background check and be fingerprinted, creating mountains of unnecessary paperwork and illogical and unworkable standards of kennel operations, making it illegal for many people to raise puppies in their homes, permitting the invasion of homes, property, and financial records by enforcement officers without cause, and imposing frightening liabilities that can pointlessly destroy the lives of good people for even purely technical violations.

6. And the legislation has no basis in fact. There is no evidence that the regulated parties contribute in any way to the alleged problems cited as the reason for this legislation. Nor is there evidence that this legislation will do anything to improve the lives of dogs. The fact is that by any standard of measure, the vast majority of dogs in Illinois enjoy far better lives today than at any time in human history.

For these reasons and more, we the undersigned residents of Illinois are petitioning the Legislature to reject HB 198 and SB 53.