Support HB 1388 and reduce animal mills' revenues

To The Daily Sun,

I support NH House Bill 1388 as a part-time New Hampshire resident and as an animal lover. Maine and Maryland passed similar laws which fine pet stores for selling live dogs, cats, and rabbits in an effort to reduce animal mills’ revenue sources.

Some politically inclined readers may argue that government regulation isn’t necessary here and that these shops will disappear “in the natural course” if consumers become educated. However, mill operators are so secretive that many mills are only uncovered accidentally or through highly secretive undercover investigations; they have clear incentives to remain hidden and many now even masquerade online as “animal rescues.”

Animals in mills are routinely subjected to unimaginable horrors in foul and disgusting conditions, many far worse than those discovered in Christina Fay’s Wolfeboro mansion. Government action wouldn’t be necessary if shop owners posted clear signs that said, “We sell animals from pet mills,” but I think most owners would hesitate to do that. Shop owners who know their animals come from mills are even likely to deceive customers who are savvy enough to even ask.

Up until 1964, if you asked a tobacco executive or a shopkeep whether the cigarettes they sell are bad for you, the answer would’ve been a resounding no — four out of five doctors smoke Camel cigarettes! The government finally stepped in when the harmful effects of tobacco became impossible to deny and when they realized that tobacco companies wouldn’t change their advertising to begin informing the public about the dangers of smoking on their own. Mill owners and shop owners who sell mill pets are today’s modern tobacco executives, keeping their harms a secret while profiting from an unsuspecting public and pulling the wool over the eyes of even the most educated customers.

Anyone who owns a pet or who loves animals, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, should ask their representative to support this bill, which would be only a modest step towards reducing the harm that pet mills cause to hapless animals who can’t stand up for themselves.

Michael Silber

Plantation FL