California State Board of Equalization targeting breeders - Page 1

 Don't know if you have heard of this one yet, but now it looks like it may not be advantageous registering with AKC, since their records are being demanded. See below and please crosspost. I hope the address works, but here's the text.

The State is visiting the AKC website and taking down names and addresses. Please see our blog for the full story... and spread the word!
California officials harassing dog fanciers through AKC website Permanent Link by CHAKO on Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:44 pm The California State Board of Equalization has been visiting the AKC website and searching out breed clubs. Any person who has his or her name and address listed there or at the breed club's website is subject to harassment by the California State Board of Equalization. The Board uses this information to send out letters advising people they need a seller's permit to sell dogs or puppies and demanding they respond within 30 days. A copy of one of these letters is depicted at the end of this blog entry.   CHAKO called Jenny Chau with the Board and asked her about these letters. She confirmed these letters have gone out, and her supervisor (Bermudez) instructed her to send them. We asked Ms. Chau, since the government has the burden of proof and citizens have a constitutional right not to incriminate themselves, what would happen if someone did not respond to the letter.   Ms. Chau confirmed there is no penalty for not responding to the letter, but people who fail to respond would get a second notice and the matter might be referred to the Board's district office for further review and possible investigation. She stated several times the letters were sent out as part of an "outreach" program. (Yeah, a Big Brother outreach!) If you are required to hold a seller's permit because you meet the criteria, but you do not have a permit, then CHAKO recommends that you seek an attorney to assist you with the board. If you sell no more than two pets or other non-food animals during a twelve month period, you are not required to hold such a seller's permit. You do not have to prove YOUR innocence. The government has to prove its case. Therefore, you are not obligated to respond to the letter.   CHAKO has contacted various media organizations and legislators with this information and recommends that anyone who has received such a letter do so as well. You can find your legislator by visiting the following link http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
http://www.chako.org/forum/blog.php?u=53    

Do they want the buyers to pay sales tax on pups sold? I thought live animals were exempt?

Yes, I just saw this warning, coming across an AR (animal rights) watch list that I am on.
I have explained this before to people, that this is one reason I don't care to use AKC services, anymore. I feel that they have been too often baited and pressured into adopting policies which are long term very damaging to the interests of dog breeders in the USA, and I think that they will eventually hand over lists of their clients (breeders) to state tax agencies and possibly also humane / animal control agencies.

I had a small, licensed kennel.. Or, that is to say that I still have.. But, I keep it very, very small! I used to raise pups once in awhile, and just recently had my first litter in ten years.  When I was actively breeding, I had about four litters per year, which is far below so-called "puppy mill" levels, and the GSD was my only breed, which is not typical of commercial breeders, who often have several breeds, usually under 40 lbs.

What I am getting to is that I had all the licensing, permits, zoning, etc. In the middle of a residential area, in an incorporated city, with a dog-breeder-unfriendly county agency performing animal control under contract, this is extremely difficult.. nearly impossible, really, to get. I had to buy a property with a grandfathered permit, and even then it was impossible to continue longterm with the projects I had in mind. I ended up closing down all my breeding, giving all of my dogs away. As the saying goes, "You can't fight city hall". I saw that this was true. It would have been the same result even if I had pressed on with litigation, wasting all of my resources in the process.

Now.. Here is the "Catch 22"...
 
I also had a Seller's Permit, granted by the CA State Board of Equalization. They are not difficult to get. Nor are they difficult to comply with. You have to file a quarterly report of income, and you have to send them their money from your retail sales. Californians... This varies a bit according to the county you are in, because each has it's own add-on fee, and the state collects this, also. If you anticipated big sales, you'd be required to prepay your first expected sales taxes. They will generally waive this, if you don't expect to be very big. So, that is not a problem.

The problem comes in with something called, "reciprocity". Reciprocity happens whenever agencies or organizations share information with each other, under agreement. Private organizations (such as AKC) could sign reciprocity agreements. State, county and city agencies DO share information. Every time BoE grants a seller's permit, they send the applicants information to the city he / she is located in. The city will contact you posthaste with a demand to obtain a business license and any other necessary permits required. Predictably, you will fail at this point, because the granting of business licenses is not automatic and can be a very torturous process. At any point in the process, you can be denied and turned back, without any recourse. The number one thing that will stop you is that you will fail on zoning regulations. Sometimes, in the past, a person could get a CUP (conditional use permit), but the overall tenor of government these days is to deny any exceptions to the rules. We can chalk some of this up to malevolence, ambition, apathy, but even with the best of intentions, a good city attorney knows that they subject the city to litigation and liability, every time they bend a rule or make an exception.

In many counties (such as Los Angeles County) you will also have to pass inspections from the AQMD (Air Quality Management District), provide parking and handicapped access, and even maybe pay for environmental impact reports. I wish I was kidding, but I am not. I think that a lot of you have not been paying attention t

This is one thing I cannot stand about this list. I type out long messages, because I believe in giving as much relevant information as possible, and this list truncates long messages, so much is lost.

Well, fines for non-compliance and operating without a business permit can be very, very high.. One agency charges $10,000 per offense for the first offense, and it can double after that. You can also get into impound situations. All of your dogs can be forcibly taken and impounded, and you are on the hook for the bill. At $10 per day, per dog, this adds up quick. It works EXACTLY like automobile impound processes. They (humane / animal control agency contractors) impound your property (dogs, cats, automobiles) at the request of the city police, and start running up a bill on you. I know of one woman who ended up with a bill over $400,000, and the county wanted to take her house to pay for it. They can do it, too! You cannot file bankruptcy for any debt owed as a result of the commission of a crime. Even one misdemeanor conviction or plea is enough to substantiate such claims. A Ca State Supreme Court decision back in 1997 or 98 established that if even ONE animal on your premises was sick or neglected, that all of the animals were in the same condition and subject to seizure.

Even in the very rare instance that a judge would throw out the case, and order your dogs given back, you are still not going to get them back until you (or someone else) pays the lien for their impound and boarding. This is a "civil" matter and thus separate to the criminal case. Again.. Even if the criminal court judge orders your dogs / animals back to you, you will NOT get them back until the lien against  them is paid, or until you prevail in a civil case against the city. Folks.. They are NOT going to let that happen. They will make CERTAIN that you are convicted of at least ONE misdemeanor, so that you cannot sue them in Federal court. It is already forbidden to sue state agencies, contractors, employees in a civil court in the State of California. You only have the Federal courts for redress.. But this is a very, very expensive process, and in the mean time, the dogs languish in the impound, suffering and dying, and the bill is running up. AND.. This is important.. If they get even one conviction against you, or a plea to so much as one count, they can get your case in Federal court tossed. Of course, they have ample opportunity to press multiple charges against you, with multiple animals.

It's a damned shame, really.. I grew up in this state, and I can tell you that it was so free and beautiful! But, that is long gone. It belongs to the socialists and the public employees' unions, and the lawyers, now. Sorry if you take offense to that, but this is what I have deduced, after a great deal of evidence gathering and research and observation, over the years.

Oh, goody! I did manage to copy the text from my first post before sending, so here it is, continued..

In many counties (such as Los Angeles County) you will also have to pass inspections from the AQMD (Air Quality Management District), provide parking and handicapped access, and even maybe pay for environmental impact reports. I wish I was kidding, but I am not. I think that a lot of you have not been paying attention to what's going on out here in the real world. The dog world is (no offense), sort of a fantasy world. It's easy to get caught up in what we're doing with dog shows, etc, and miss or ignore the grim details.

Don't think you'll have to jump through all these hoops? Sorry.. You're wrong. This has nothing to do with what's reasonable. You're about to be raped by an 800 lb gorilla, and you're done when the gorilla's done. I know a guy who put in a simple storefront business, a dog wash, for Chrissakes, and he had to pass an AQMD inspection before he could get his business permit and open to the public. If he had tried to open prematurely, he could have been arrested and fined maybe $10,000 (typical first offense fine).

Sorry to burst your bubble, folks! Thank Judy Mancuso and HSUS, who are pushing to get purebred dog breeders regulated to the point of extinction, probably so they can sell their mutts and run "no kill" shelters that actually live up to their name. Of course, the astute buyers and breeders will simply go out of state, but this pattern of über-regulation is being copycatted and introduced all over the country. What happens in California is going to come around to all of the states. HSUS is lobbying hard and throwing a lot of money around this year to pass breeder regulations in many states. I heard that the original number of states was 39. Some have failed, but AR activists are like rust.. they never sleep, never stop.

Please don't tell me I am "negative". I am a pragmatist. I am just reading out "the writing on the wall". I've spent much of the last ten years studying these trends and the finer details (wherein is the devil, himself). I know what I'm talking about. And, I hate to say this, but a lot of you have brought this on yourselves (as has AKC) by buying into the "puppymill" arguments and propaganda. That is a perjorative term, by nature, and it is really a catchword coined by the AR movement propagandists by which to introduce all of this regulation. I'm not denying that substandard operations do exist or have existed. My kennel was far from perfect., and most peoples' are, from time to time. Running a kennel is best described as a Herculean task. That is not the real point.. The REAL agenda is control of the pet industry and all other animal industries. Folks, they are going to steal it from you, like they did me. Don't even think to yourself that you are better than the other guy, of purer intentions, not profit-motivated and all that other horse crap! Don't imagine that you will get rid of your competition and be the "last man standing", or that you will cut a deal by throwing someone else under the bus. If you think that, you are the ultimate fool!

By the way, here is a video you should all watch. You may be in need of this information, sooner than you think. My God, I hope I am wrong, but at least be prepared!
Hmmm.. I'll post this link in another window. I'm afraid of losing all that I've written, here!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8167533318153586646&hl=en

Long but worth watching! Really, burn this into your brain!
I've sat on seven civil and criminal juries, as well as a Federal Grand Jury, over the years, and I've done my fair share of legal research. I daresay I know what I am talking about.
What they are saying is absolutely true.. By US Supreme Court decision, law enforcement can lie to you. They do. Unfortunately, many also lie in court. I've seen it.
This is 100% AR agenda, in my opinion. The ARs are setting us all up to fail. They cannot make dog breeding illegal, per se, but they can regulate the hell out of it, and non-compliance can be cause for criminal proceedings, penalties, fines, impoundment and forfeiture of assets, etc.
It's not illegal to be a big, greedy, scumbag organization, so the AR movement goes on and gets bigger, while trouncing all over everyone else.
But, let's not take this personal.. The socialists are destroying the business environment in California. We're just one small part of the picture. Any businesses that can do it have already moved out. I suspect it will be the same with the dog fancy. Only those who sleep, eat, work with and pay tribute to the right people will be able to continue. They will thrive. The rest of us are hosed!!!!!

I know that I am over-posting, again.. Typical for me!
I just want to add as much as I can to this thread before it disappears.
It's real important for everyone to know what this is really all about. It's real simple, but you probably won't want to believe it. I didn't. We have been lied to. This is what I call a "food fight"... not throwing food, but fighting FOR it!
Our government agencies are grossly overswollen to an unsustainable level, our economy is all screwed up, and the government is essentially acting in a conflict of interest with the public. They don't have enough money to go around. For years, the public employees' unions pillaged the economy and were never satisfied. They always wanted more.. More political power, more money, more union dues, etc. The problem is that at some point, there is not enough money to pay for all of this. So, they find "creative" ways to get the money. They start creating draconian regulatory schemes and imposing hefty penalties and fines. The agencies can no longer be sustained and supported through the general fund, so they are expected to generate their own income by imposing fines.
We're just seeing the beginning of it in the dog hobby. But, it's pretty hard to convince these people that we're not making money, when they see prices for purebred puppies going to $1,500 and beyond. They want a piece of the action, and if they can't get that, they'll try to take over the whole thing. You'll see.. Again, I wish I were wrong. Oh, how I wish!
Many years ago, maybe now 12 or 13 years ago, I saw a program on TV.. a very serious looking late 50-ish looking man in a searsucker suit and a bow tie was telling that this was going to happen. I don't know what it was about that guy, but I taped a good part of that show. My bet was that he was right. And, it's sure looking that way.
His statement, given with a dead-pan serious face, was that this was going to get very, very ugly.
So, to recap, this is competition..
I hope everyone sees that. It's disguised as "saving the children", or the environment, or the homeless kittens, fighting pit bulls, etc. All sounds good, as it is supposed to. Folks.. We've all walked ourselves right into a trap, one step at a time. I'm not saying that humane and ethical issues are not worthy of consideration. You don't know me.. I was OBSESSED with "saving the environment", waaaayyyyy back in the late 50's, when NO ONE talked about it! But, eventually, I realized that it was a Gordian knot, and the beginning of potentially more problems and dilemmas.
My fear, specifically, is that unethical people are going to use these ethical arguments and the laws and precedents that come from them to enrich and advantage themselves, at the expense of others. I have a LOT of personal experience and insight to support these fears.
We just need to be much more suspicious than we are. Every time someone tells you they want to do something good, you should ask yourself what the real agenda is.
Now, go read about the Magna Carta, and the Bill of Rights, and put your brain to work!

I did everything right when I operated in CA, had every number and permit and license I needed for anything I sold, horses, equipment, you name it, paid sales taxes on everything, quarterly estimates paid well in excess of the actual estimates just to keep them off my back. The State Board of Equalization gave me fits for years after I moved out of state. Guess they didn't get my messages about having closed and left.
I just thank goodness for the words "Do Not Forward" on the envelopes.

SS

On the bright side, the BoE Seller's Permit is pretty easy to get, and while you are obligated to pay the taxes, you are also allowed to collect the money from the buyer's. They will complain, but too bad! Just tell them it's the law! Everyone loves the law so much, and wants everyone ELSE to obey it! So, here's their chance to be an upstanding citizen!

The problem is dealing with the city codes, licenses and permits, and you will be hearing from the city, as soon as you file for that Seller's Permit. I can almost guarantee it! How do I know? Well, my kennel was set up as a business, and before that, I tried to sideline a bit selling dog food. Same thing happened, there!

Regarding AKC and their viability as a registry:

A lot of people do not realize why their registrations are so far down. I can tell you what I believe to be the case. Several years ago, APRI (American Pet Registry, Inc) got a very large influx of registrations and new clients. The reason is that the commercial breeders got sick of the AKC inspections, fines and sanctions, and voted to move their registrations as an act of solidarity. That was the beginning of it, from what I know. I heard that the next year, AKC puppy registrations were down 10% and adult dog registrations down 20%. This is hearsay, I admit. But, I trust the source, very much.

The thing is that these were AKC clients who felt that they were not appreciated, nor respected. This community of breeders made up a very substantial percentage of AKC income. Some of their members had been beaten up, so to speak, and the rest of the community was alarmed and concerned. Their move to another registry was an act of solidarity and self-interest, in a community of people who were tired of being maligned and menaced.

No one appointed AKC to be the Supreme Dog Registry, much less are they annointed by God or any earthly power. No one gave them a mandate to make surprise inspections in private homes. They have some pretty shiny brass b*lls, I'd say! Their data is not always so accurate.. a claim which they have long protested, but which seems to be substantiated by AKC's own DNA probes (Siliski case). I personally know of someone who allegedly falsified a litter registration application, and now the offspring from that litter are into the third generation, I'm sure.

Just one of my pet peeves, but it seems that if an organization is insightful enough to use the words: American, or United States in their name, they get instant credibility!!!! These are private organizations, with their own agendas and interests!

Thanks, Shelley!

  I think that the only thing which will save or redeem this state, now, is a complete melt down. I saw this crap coming years ago and like an idiot, I stuck around to help with family. I should have bailed. Now, it's probably too late. The R / E market is so completely F'd up! I told another dog person years ago to sell while the market was good and clear out. She didn't listen.. idiot! She wasn't even living here, then. All she had to do was call a realtor and make a listing. Well, she's hosed, now!

  I don't think that our former crazy governor, Jerry Brown, will ever realize the damage he did by allowing public employees to form unions of their own. They were fine as civil servants. The unions have totally screwed everyone in California and destroyed our business environment and economy. It's almost impossible to do business here. The regulatory agencies basically shake down and harrass businesses, looking for money. The kind of fees we are talking is in increments of $10,000, doubling with each violation. Most small businesses cannot survive even one such event.

  Violations? I'm talking about stupid stuff, like failure to post an MSDS (manufacturers' safety data sheet) for a dish detergent used in the kitchen of a small family restaurant.. or, a spare mixer in the back without a special safety sticker in it. How about a form with one redundant line of information incomplete?