story on dog vivisection dealer in St. Louis

The story opens,
"A northwest Arkansas animal dealer who for years sold thousands of cats and dogs to medical research facilities, including the University of Missouri at Columbia, has agreed to pay the largest-ever penalty for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

"C.C. Baird and his wife, Patsy, paid the $262,700 fine last week as part of an agreement settling a civil case brought by the U.S. Department of Agriculture..."

The complaint accused the Bairds of violations including "severe mistreatment and neglect of a multitude of animals." And we learn, "They also were charged with buying animals of suspicious and possibly stolen origins and falsifying animal health certificates."

We read, "About 125 dogs were seized and handed over to animal adoption groups. The seized animals forced the USDA to take the unusual step of asking owners of recently lost dogs to contact the agency. Hundreds of inquiries came in, and the agency matched 'a dozen or more' owners with their lost pets, said USDA spokesman Jim Rogers. The animals 'had somehow gotten into his hands,' through false pretensions, miscommunication or theft, Rogers said."

It is disturbing to learn that as far back as 1995, Baird "was charged with failing to keep detailed records of how animals were bought and sold. He also was accused of acquiring 'random-source dogs' -- a term to describe dogs that cannot be traced to legitimate dealers and may have been stolen."

We learn something about the medical research industry:
"Selling dogs and cats to medical research facilities proved to be lucrative for the Bairds, federal authorities said. In 1999, one of their busiest recent years, the Bairds bought 3,300 animals, sold 3,115 animals and grossed a minimum of $100,000, according to the civil complaint.

"The Bairds' clients are said to have included research universities across the country, among them the University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center, Oregon State University and the University of Missouri at Columbia.

"Mizzou officials confirmed Wednesday that they had recently bought dogs from C.C. Baird for use in teaching and research. They said they stopped buying only when the kennels closed as part of the civil consent decision last month....The school buys from USDA-certified animal dealers and does not stop purchases because of federal charges. 'We're not going to react to allegations,' said school spokesman Christian Basi."

And we learn something about the effectiveness of USDA monitoring:
"The Bairds, and C.C. Baird in particular, have been the targets of animal rights groups for years. One group, California-based Last Chance for Animals, has been visiting Bairds' operations in northwest Arkansas for at least eight years. The group has sent federal authorities shots of undercover videotape they said proved dogs and cats were mistreated. But USDA attorney Carroll said her office's investigation did not rely on the group's work and she never viewed the videos."

Hundreds of families whose dogs disappeared in Missouri in the last few years might be upset to learn the USDA had not only failed, for years, to investigate properly, but had not even viewed video taken by an outside source.

You can read the whole article on line at: http://tinyurl.com/67uaw

And you can send a letter to the editor about any aspect of our society's treatment of animals that this story brings to mind. The Post-Dispatch takes letters at: letters [at] post-dispatch.com

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.

Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)