Class B Dealer Timeline

1966

• LIFE magazine publishes "Concentration Camps for Dogs"
  President Johnson signs the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act (later renamed the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) into law)

1980-1986

• The USDA cites Class B dealer Ervin Stebane of Wisconsin 27 times for improper and inadequate housing, 17 times for not providing palatable food and water, and 11 times for inadequate sanitation and waste disposal. According to agency reports, inspectors found dogs and cats in outside cages in all seasons, without any protection from sub-freezing temperatures, snow, rain or sun.

1987

• USDA issues statement that "In the past few years there have been several instances of dealers buying and selling obviously stolen animals and of a few research facilities obtaining animals under questionable circumstances." ¹

1990

• Congress amends the AWA to require class B dealers to document the identity of each person who supplies them with random source dogs and cats

1993

• The number of Class B dealers selling random source dogs and cats to research is 100.
• A USDA "trace-back" investigation reveals numerous examples of suppliers of random source dog to class B dealers who either had never actually supplied animals or could not be located from the names and drivers license numbers given by the dealers.
• The USDA performed random-sampling tracebacks of animals sold to research institutions and were able to trace only 40 percent of the animals back to their original sources.²
• The USDA spent nearly a million dollars in an attempt to regulate random source dealers.

1994

• C.C. Baird, owner of a Class B facility in Arkansas cited for numerous AWA violations, is involved in a shipment of animals to Mississippi that included 42 dead dogs in their cages.
• Ervin Stebane permanently relinquished his Class B license.

1995

USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Audit Report notes:³

• "licensed dealers ... obtained animals from random sources which could not be verified... The sellers did not acknowledge any sales to the dealer, or could not be located."
• "violators (of the AWA) consider the monetary stipulation as a normal cost of conducting business rather than a deterrent for violating the law"
• "[USDA] has cited multiple USDA licensed dealers for fraudulent recordkeeping concerning the inability to verify sources. ... A recent attempt by APHIS to determine the source of ten dogs disclosed that five of the sales were apparently fictitious."
• "APHIS had renewed licenses or registrations to facilities which were in direct violation of the Act."
• "... a dog dealer … destroyed his records during a stolen dog task force investigation."

1996

USDA Assistant Secretary Michael Dunn, testifying at a Congressional hearing, notes: ⁴

• 52% of the records designed to verify the legal acquisition of animals by class B dealers are incomplete, incorrect, or outright fraudulent.
• "Every time we develop a new way to look at things, they [dealers] develop a new way to hide them."

1997

• C.C. Baird is convicted of violating the AWA and fined $5,000. The charges against him include: failing to maintain complete records showing the acquisition, disposition, and identification of animals.

1998

• The number of Class B dealers selling random source animals to research is less than 40.

2001

• The number of Class B dealers selling random source animals to research is down to 20.
• The USDA claims that the rate of audited animal acquisition records traced back to the original source has reached 96%.

2004

• The USDA files a 108-page complaint against Baird, charging hundreds of violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

2005

• Baird's USDA license is permanently revoked and he is fined $262,700, the largest fine ever imposed by the USDA/APHIS.
• A microchip scan revealed that a dog slated for use in a University of Minnesota research laboratory was actually someone's pet—named Echo, who was stolen two months earlier from a backyard in Arkansas and sold to the university by a Class B dealer from Michigan.⁵

2006

• HBO releases its documentary of the Baird case, "Dealing Dogs".
• A HSUS survey of the approximately 1,200 USDA registered research institutions indicates that 96 percent of the 192 respondents do not purchase random source dogs and cats from Class B dealers. According to a survey by the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, at least 19 of the nation's 28 vet schools do not use live, random source dogs and cats from Class B dealers.

2007

• There are ten Class B dealers of live, random source dogs and cats, three of whom are under investigation by USDA. 
• July: The U.S. House of Representatives passes amendment to the Farm Bill that would eliminate Class B dealers of random source dogs and cats.
• December: The U.S. Senate passes amendment to the Farm Bill that would eliminate Class B dealers of random source dogs and cats.

Sources:

[1]  http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/96symp/awasymp.htm

[2] http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/11/letters.htm

[3] Audit Report APHIS Animal Care Program Inspection and Enforcement Activities. Office of Inspector General, Midwest Region,  U.S. Department of Agriculture; Report No. 33600-01-Ch; January 1995.

[4] Family Pet Protection Act, Pet Safety and Protection Act: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry of the House of Representatives. 104th Cong., 2nd Sess. (1996)

[5] Wilson, A. and Porter, S. (2005, October 20) Why is this dog smiling? Fayetteville Free Weekly. Retrieved February 6, 2006, from website: http://www.freeweekly.com/freeweekly102005/feature.php