The post What If a Law Required Dog Parents to Make Time for Walks?<\/a> by Jeff Siegel<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the bane of almost every urban dog owner, and not a few suburban ones as well: How and when do I find time to walk the dog?<\/p>\n But what if a law required dog owners to make time for walkies every day \u2013 or else?<\/p>\n That\u2019s part of a proposal facing German lawmakers<\/a>, which mandates two walks a day totaling at least an hour, as well as bans on keeping dogs chained for long periods and leaving them alone in the house.<\/p>\n Sounds draconian in these days of pets as part of the family, doggie birthday parties, and $300 pet beds? Perhaps. But the legislation isn\u2019t necessarily aimed at remiss dog owners. Rather, it\u2019s apparently part of the German government’s offensive against puppy mills, also as much of a concern in that country as it has long been in the United States.<\/p>\n Related: The Truth About Puppy Mills<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n No word yet on whether the bill will become law, though it\u2019s scheduled to be debated in the German parliament. If passed, it could take effect law early next year. If so, it will be up to the 16 individual German states to enforce the law under the country\u2019s federal system.<\/p>\n Still, even if passed, there is no plan to use local police to check on whether dogs have had their walkies or been left alone. Rather, the emphasis would be on ensuring that dogs kept in kennels were treated well.<\/p>\n Obviously, given the U.S.\u2019 welter of state and local laws, it would be that much more difficult to pass, let alone enforce. In fact, spokeswomen for both The Humane Society<\/a> and the ASPCA<\/a> declined to comment on the specifics of the proposed German law, since neither group was familiar with how it would work.<\/p>\n Regardless of whether a law like that would be possible in the U.S., there are a variety of current programs to fight puppy mills, including the Humane Society\u2019s Stop Puppy Mills campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n The key, says John Goodwin, senior director of the puppy mills effort, is to recognize that \u201cmost pet store puppies are from puppy mills and stores count on customers not making the connection between the puppy in the window and the mother dog locked in a cage somewhere.\u201d In this, he says, the anti-puppy mill effort has succeeded in halting dog sales in pet store sin three states and some 350 localities.<\/p>\n Featured Image: Photography by Alliance | Alamy Stock Photo.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Read Next: Yes, Your Dog Can Get Too Many Walks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The post What If a Law Required Dog Parents to Make Time for Walks?<\/a> by Jeff Siegel<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n The post What If a Law Required Dog Parents to Make Time for Walks?<\/a> by Jeff Siegel<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the bane of almost every urban dog owner, and not a few suburban ones as well: How and when do I find time to walk the dog?<\/p>\n But what if a law required dog owners to make time for walkies every day \u2013 or else?<\/p>\n That\u2019s part of a proposal facing German lawmakers<\/a>, which mandates two walks a day totaling at least an hour, as well as bans on keeping dogs chained for long periods and leaving them alone in the house.<\/p>\n Sounds draconian in these days of pets as part of the family, doggie birthday parties, and $300 pet beds? Perhaps. But the legislation isn\u2019t necessarily aimed at remiss dog owners. Rather, it\u2019s apparently part of the German government’s offensive against puppy mills, also as much of a concern in that country as it has long been in the United States.<\/p>\n Related: The Truth About Puppy Mills<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n No word yet on whether the bill will become law, though it\u2019s scheduled to be debated in the German parliament. If passed, it could take effect law early next year. If so, it will be up to the 16 individual German states to enforce the law under the country\u2019s federal system.<\/p>\n Still, even if passed, there is no plan to use local police to check on whether dogs have had their walkies or been left alone. Rather, the emphasis would be on ensuring that dogs kept in kennels were treated well.<\/p>\n Obviously, given the U.S.\u2019 welter of state and local laws, it would be that much more difficult to pass, let alone enforce. In fact, spokeswomen for both The Humane Society<\/a> and the ASPCA<\/a> declined to comment on the specifics of the proposed German law, since neither group was familiar with how it would work.<\/p>\n Regardless of whether a law like that would be possible in the U.S., there are a variety of current programs to fight puppy mills, including the Humane Society\u2019s Stop Puppy Mills campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n The key, says John Goodwin, senior director of the puppy mills effort, is to recognize that \u201cmost pet store puppies are from puppy mills and stores count on customers not making the connection between the puppy in the window and the mother dog locked in a cage somewhere.\u201d In this, he says, the anti-puppy mill effort has succeeded in halting dog sales in pet store sin three states and some 350 localities.<\/p>\n Featured Image: Photography by Alliance | Alamy Stock Photo.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Read Next: Yes, Your Dog Can Get Too Many Walks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The post What If a Law Required Dog Parents to Make Time for Walks?<\/a> by Jeff Siegel<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCould something like this become law in the U.S.?<\/b><\/h3>\n
Could something like this become law in the U.S.?<\/b><\/h3>\n