PAWS, state agencies, to hold town hall for dog breeders

WELLMAN — An informational, town-hall style meeting for Southeast Iowa dog breeders is on the docket in Wellman later this month, as state regulators and local organizations strive to boost education and promote practices.

The event is organized by Washington animal shelter PAWS & More, where Director Amber Talbot said calls to local vets on the subject had spiked after 131 animals were surrendered by a breeder in rural Riverside in August.

Many of those calls came from the Amish community, which lacked internet access to look their questions up.

“Because of the way that they live, there is a huge gap in communication,” Talbot said. “We may think that they know what they’re supposed to be doing, but what we found out is they really don’t. So we thought that this town hall was a great way to bridge the gap in communication, and bring the facts and the questions to them in a way that would be accessible.”

With representatives from the U.S. and Iowa Departments of Agriculture also scheduled to attend, Talbot said the meeting would help people register as dog breeders, a process that typically happens online.

“If you don’t use the internet, just getting licensed and doing the proper steps to your business is a barrier,” she said. “So we’ll have packets and applications, and we can help folks get licensed that day and answer any questions that they may have.”

The town hall will happen at the Wellman Parkside Activities Center from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 13.

The location stands as a middle ground between sizable Amish populations in Kalona and Sigourney, according to Talbot, who expects around 100 people to attend the event after a flyer-distributing campaign.

The event is not limited to Amish participants, of course. Talbot said anyone was welcome to learn about the latest state regulations for dog breeders which focus on housing, sanitation, and, again, licensing.

“A lot of the breeders aren’t quite sure when to get licensed, who they get licensed with and how they get licensed,” she said. “Depending on what kind of breeding operation you have, you may have oversight under the USDA, or you may have oversight under the Iowa Department of Agriculture. So again, if you don’t use the internet, that’s a really hard thing to know.”

Talbot hopes getting everyone on the same page about regulations and suggestions could help prevent situations like Riverside’s, where police and rescuers said they found dogs in a poorly ventilated and unclean space, with an overall “state of distress.”

“Situations like what happened with those 131 dogs, those are all preventable if we can get the information to the people,” she said. “The Amish community just doesn’t even know the basics that have been required for a long time. There’s so many that aren’t licensed, and we want to get them licensed so they can have that oversight to prevent situations like what happened in the Riverside area.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com