Biden's dog breeder cited for violating dog laws

Oops. Maybe a pound puppy wouldn't have been so bad after all...

Everyone knows by now that Joe Biden's got a new puppy - we talked about this a couple of days ago and it generated a big, heated discussion over whether the Veep-elect should have gone to an animal shelter rather than a breeder to get the Second Dog.

Adopt!

Not surprisingly, animal rights advocates are up in paws arms about Biden. It's not that they think the VP-elect would be a bad dog owner, they just don't like where he got his dog.

Why go to a kennel or a puppy mill when there are plenty of needy dogs out there who don't have owners, they ask? So many that some four million animals are euthanized every year.

Plus, the conditions at many of these businesses - horrendous.

Cited

Well it turns out the place where Biden got his dog was just cited for multiple violations including: unsatisfactory ventilation, inadequate maintenance and sanitation, and missing sale and vaccination records.

Here's the kennel inspection report.

Dog heaven

When the story first came out, Philly.com reported that the owner - Linda Brown - had a pretty nice spread laid out for the dogs, almost idyllic.

"Many of her adult dogs live inside her ranch house, said Brown, as she showed a reporter around her property, which includes two indoor dog pools. Several dozen dogs live in outside pens surrounding the house with access to utility sheds or dog houses."

Not so fast

But one blogger at the Daily Kos disputes this. "Joyful," who is a moderator at a web site called No Puppy Mills, says Brown's facility isn't as nice as it sounds.

"Perhaps a few lucky dogs do get to enter her home, as she states to the news reporters," she writes. "But she is a high-volume commercial breeder, with 85 dogs currently on her property. The dogs are kenneled full-time in pens, not curled up on the couch. According to her kennel inspection report, the kennels are not maintained or cleaned as well as they should be and there was a heavy odor of ammonia (urine) in her home. The vaccination reports for the puppies were missing, and they are not cleared for future health issues."

Dot com

Well, if this last campaign taught us anything, it's when there's a controversial issue (or you want to make something controversial) - start up a web site.

And that's exactly what someone did. Bidendog.com urges visitors to "follow Obama's lead" saying that the President-elect's promise of change should "extend to our four-legged friends, but Senator Biden has called into question that hope for change when he purchased a puppy from a dog breeder in Pennsylvania."

Sign our petition

Of course there's a place to sign a petition asking that Biden change his mind. They equate Biden's pooch-pick with a controversial cabinet choice. Like a John Tower. Remember he was the guy the first President Bush chose as his Secretary of Defense. But then some sketchy details came out about him and they went with a much less controversial figure named Dick Cheney.

"Join us in asking Senator Biden to make the right choice," asks the web site. "Mistakes are made all the time, especially on Capitol Hill. Would the incoming Administration hesitate to withdraw a Cabinet nomination if "dirt" was discovered on the nominee? The breeder that Senator Biden chose certainly has her share of skeletons in her closet, and by opting to purchase a puppy from a less-than-reputable breeder, Senator Biden has opened the barn door to poor choices Americans will make when following the Biden family's mistake."

"We, the people, reject Vice-President elect Biden's nomination for the Second Dog! The time is now for the Biden family to admit their mistake and make the right choice - Adopt, don't shop!"

Biden swift-boated?

Oh yeah, if you think the web site is just one of those Republican "swift boat" things, it doesn't appear to be. They aren't fans of the Bush family either.

"Some presidential families, like George and Barbara Bush, even went so far as to breed their own pet (Millie) while in the Whitehouse."