Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions

In keeping with our mission to free Ohio animals from their crates and cages, LOHVOH has committed to help the Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions in collecting approximately 121,000 signatures needed to put this initiative on the 2010 ballot. Therefore we need and are requesting assistance from each of you to accomplish this task by the fast-approaching deadline of December 14!

Most all of you are probably familiar with puppy mills, which are basically factory farms where poorly bred pups are mass produced. For more info on puppy mills, we suggest you simply do a Google search for those two words and approximately 962,000 hits will come up.

Something many animal advocates don't know about the pet industry, though, is that mill dogs are often subjected to the additional misery of being shuffled between puppy mills throughout their lives. Such transactions occur largely through dog auctions, which in general, are events held by low standard, USDA-licensees and others involved with high volume/low quality dog breeding.

Dog auctions are held primarily for backyard breeders and other puppy mill owners, thereby providing an efficient way to sell dogs, who are no longer producing as many puppies as when they were first bred and/or who have developed medical and/or behavioral problems. In this way, dog auctions not only provide an easy method for puppy mill owners to increase their sales revenue, but according to a February 6, 2008 Best Friends article, titled "Dog Auctions," as the number of auctions has grown across the Midwest, the number of dogs sold at auctions nationwide has -- over just a few years -- more than tripled!

Of course an increase in dog overpopulation exacerbates the problem of pet abandonment; results in more demand for already overstretched rescue and shelter resources; leads to more dogs being killed in shelters, due to the lack of good adopters; causes more demand for increased tax dollars and charitable donations to run shelters and rescues; and results in extra stress for shelter and rescue workers.

Something else less apparent to most animal advocates is that prior to and after auctions, dogs and pups are driven for long distances, sometimes for more than 10 hours, when they are taken for sale in such places as Holmes County, OH (about 60 miles southwest of Canton). Dogs and pups being transported to and from auctions are not only exposed to extreme weather conditions, but also deprived of food and water for very long periods, including the many hours while the auctions are actually going on.

Typically, a minimum of 250 dogs are sold per auction in Ohio, at prices ranging from over $1,000/dog to as little as $1/dog. Fortunately, Ohio dog auctions have not "successfully" spread out of Holmes County yet, where they were started in 2004. So dog auctions are a relatively recent addition to similar Ohio auctions held nearby, where - shamefully -- exotic and other types of abused and neglected animals are sold (e.g., native Ohio wildlife, horses, cattle, pigs, etc.) Dog auctions are an outgrowth of the thriving Ohio puppy mill business. According to testimony given at an Ohio Puppy Mill Bill hearing by mass puppy producer and co-founder of the Buckeye Dog Auction, Ervin Raber, it is a $9 million dollar/year industry for Holmes County.

Worse still, it appears that Mr. Raber and others like him believe personal profit is some God-given right bestowed upon the few to exploit dogs and other animals. They seem to be too self-absorbed to see the hidden costs to the majority of Ohio residents who are indirectly subsidizing the puppy mill business. In fact, LOHOV believes Ohio residents may soon be subsiding this despicable industry even more, because as new mills keep springing up in Ohio hills and hollows, the potential grows for additional dog auctions to be established in Northwest, Southeast and Southwest Ohio, to even further expand our state's burgeoning puppy mill industry.

Luckily, basic economics tells us that -- like with any other type of high volume/low quality product - manufacturers will cut production, if demand falls and/or markets where products can be sold dry up. Therefore, LOHVOH wants to help stop the growth of Ohio puppy mills, so we're asking everyone in our voting bloc to immediately contact us (or the Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions by emailing info@banohiodogauctions.com or by calling 614-271-8248) about circulating the petition to put the "Ohio Dog Auction Act" on the 2010 ballot. Even if you're the only person you know who would sign the petition, we urge you to contact us, so we can email you a copy of the petition and the easy, but extremely critical instructions that must be followed by those of you who are willing to collect signatures.