Beginning November 18, 2013, a change in Department of Agriculture regulations for pet breeders takes place. Under the new regulations, breeders who wish to be exempt from USDA inspection must choose whether to limit their ownership to four females, or to refuse to ship pets to new owners who have not met the breeder and the animal face-to-face. The USDA has changed this ruling without the passing of any new laws by our elected representatives, and has not consulted responsible show breeders like myself. Violations of this rule carry severe penalties.

Because I have traditionally kept five to six females, in order to preserve rare bloodlines, I have chosen to reduce my owned females to four. This will mean that anyone who wants a kitten from my small home cattery will need to wait in line for their kitten. It will also mean that I can still provide kittens from this ultra rare breed to pet owners who live in the many areas of the USA where there are no Turkish Angora breeders within driving distance. I expect many breeders to opt to stop shipping, which means that only the client with the ability to drive or fly to receive their kitten face-to-face will be able to obtain this rare and wonderful breed.

As a result, I will have more difficulty keeping rare bloodlines and unrelated families going in our TA community. Fortunately, I am well connected within the TA community, and have many friends who share their bloodlines with me when I desire to do so.

This ruling is going to seriously curtail the choice of those wishing to buy a healthy and non-inbred pet of their choice unless you are willing to travel to your breeder of choice regardless of distance. While we do understand the need to stop those who don't properly care for their animals, and who knowingly sell sick kittens and puppies, we already have existing state and federal laws for those issues.

If you would like to help us fight this bad choice of regulation policy, please contact NAIA, The USDA Proposed Rule and You to see what you can do to help. It should be YOUR right to be able to choose the person from whom you buy a cat or kitten, and to choose whether to pick it up personally, have your cat or kitten shipped to you, or to meet your breeder at a mutually agreed upon place to save you travel and expense. However, you only have that right if it remains OUR right to offer those choices.