DV Journal

Animal extremists are back, and this time, they are attempting to stamp out the breeding of dogs in the United States with a proposal that would supercharge foreign puppy mills.

The latest assault is legislation they are advancing through allies in the House that they claim will “protect puppies.” It would do the opposite by punishing responsible domestic breeders with new, more burdensome regulations without providing resources to improve breeder education or enforce current laws.

The inevitable result of new regulations, instead of improving the enforcement of existing requirements, means that responsible pet breeders will be curtailed. At the same time, those who disregard current basic standards of care will continue to operate. To meet the always-high demand for dogs as pets, the so-called Puppy Protection Act would incentivize the importation of unhealthy dogs from countries such as China and Turkey. These dogs carry the threat of spreading diseases.

It is a crapshoot whether imported foreign dogs are carrying serious diseases. While importation laws require all dogs to have a health certificate, foreign paperwork is commonly invalid or forged, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dogs from other countries are not subject to the same health and welfare requirements required by the Animal Welfare Act and regularly arrive in the United States with serious and infectious canine diseases.

There is good reason Congress let the House measure die in previous sessions. In addition to its damaging effect on domestic breeding and encouraging importation of potentially sick animals, it’s a bad law based on bad science.

Guidelines in the Puppy Protection Act would create arbitrary, one-size-fits-all requirements for dog breeding even though dogs are the most diverse species of land mammal.

Some examples include:

—Unfettered access to an outdoor exercise area. Such a mandate does not take into account canine behavior and biology. Some dogs don’t get along. Some might be in heat. Some yards might not be large enough to accommodate the mandate. Small dogs can be prey to large birds and other predators. “Unfettered” can be irresponsible.

—Mandating two meals daily. A federal law mandating two meals a day, instead of existing Animal Welfare Act requirements for sufficient and appropriate food, doesn’t advance the well-being of dogs, especially when not all dogs have the same food requirements. This bill replaces regulations that allow for this flexibility.

—Flooring. The proposed legislation would mandate solid flooring only. This ignores the science that other types of structurally solid flooring may be better for animals. Research by Purdue University has found that dogs benefit from multiple types of flooring. It recognizes the health and sanitation benefits of high-quality engineered slatted or perforated flooring that protects dogs’ feet.

—Temperatures. A prohibition of temperatures below 45 degrees or above 85 degrees makes sense for most, but not all, dogs. Northern breeds, such as the Alaskan Malamute or Siberian Husky, prefer and can easily handle temperatures well below freezing. Other dogs, especially newly born puppies, require temperatures significantly higher than 85 degrees. Again, the one-size-fits-all approach makes no sense.

Current law mandates extensive requirements for breeders hugely effective at ensuring animal welfare as the top priority while providing flexibility for breeders depending on the breeds they are raising.

For example, the most recent annual report of the Department of Agriculture’s inspections of the nation’s dog breeders found that 96 percent of licensees and registrants were in substantial compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, the guiding legislation that regulates the treatment of animals. Breeders of dogs for commercial sale provide animals with humane care and treatment that meets government standards, including proper veterinary care, an appropriate diet, clean and structurally sound housing, proper ventilation and sanitation, and protection from extreme weather and temperatures.

Animal extremists don’t like dog breeding. If responsible breeders are regulated out of business, then the only ones left will be irresponsible breeders who ignore the laws. American families will be left with choosing among a rescue dog whose temperament, characteristics and provenance are suspect, patronizing an illicit dog breeder, and/or boosting the fortunes of foreign puppy mills.

The proposed measure is another attempt to achieve a radical and deeply unpopular outcome that deprives Americans of one of life’s pleasures — a loving pet of their choice.

Most Americans want to help veterans and their families who fall on hard economic times. Republicans say a bill that just passed the House does it the right way, cleaning up a mess left by the Biden administration.

“The Biden administration was dead wrong to risk the future of VA’s Home Loan program by creating the VASP program, and the Trump administration was right to put an end to it,” said Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.).

Bost was referring to the recently passed VA Home Loan Program Reform Act. It addresses problems created by the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program.

The Biden administration launched VASP in May 2024 as a “last-resort” tool within the VA’s suite of home retention options. Under VASP, the VA purchased defaulted VA-guaranteed loans from mortgage servicers, modified the loan terms (often to a fixed 2.5 percent interest rate), and held the loans in its own portfolio as direct loans.

It’s that last detail — making the taxpayer-funded VA a mortgage holder — that created the problem, critics say.

The VA ended VASP on May 1, 2025, arguing the agency is not structured to serve as a mortgage loan restructuring service and lacked congressional authority, as it was created under the Biden administration. The program’s scale, with over 17,000 loans purchased, far exceeded its original intent for fewer than 100 cases.

The Biden administration projected VASP would save $1.5 billion in federal spending from 2024 to 2033. Instead, the department spent $5.5 billion helping just over 17,000 veterans.

Economists say the Biden-era program had all the wrong incentives.

“Veterans with 6 percent or 7 percent mortgages have a strong incentive to stop paying, just to qualify for a government refinance at 2.5 percent,” Tobias Peter, co-director of the Housing Center at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in The Hill.

The new Home Loan Program Reform Act provides help for veterans who truly need it, while protecting the interests of taxpayers, supporters say.

“The VA Home Loan Program Reform Act is not just a fix, it’s a necessary court correction,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) “This program has worked in the past, keeps vets and their families in their homes, and does so at a fraction of the cost of the horrific VASP program.

Veterans like retired U.S. Army Major General James “Spider” Marks acknowledged the VASP program had flaws, but they opposed suggestions the VA should abandon mortgage support entirely. Doing so “places the risk exclusively in the hands of the veteran, not the department responsible for identifying and mitigating risk,” Marks wrote in the Military Times.

When Republicans began targeting VASP, proponents urged that a partial claim program be reinstated.

“Congress quickly enacting a partial claim program would benefit veteran homeowners and the VA as well, since avoidable foreclosures on federally-backed loans result in unnecessary government losses,” said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending.

The new  VA Home Loan Program Reform Act does just that. The challenge now is to get this reform bill through the U.S. Senate.

That bill is likely to receive Democratic support. U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) introduced a similar proposal in April.

The House-passed bill also received support from mortgage groups, who called it necessary.

“Those who have served our country deserve access to the same protections available to other homeowners, and the passage of the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act of 2025 out of the House is a critical step toward that goal,” Rocket Mortgage said in a statement. “This legislation will enable the VA to develop a strong, sustainable solution that provides mortgage servicers with the tools they need to support Veterans in today’s higher-rate environment.”