Your Feb. 15 front-page article "Dogs' ordeal spurs call for law" showed a stunning lack of balanced reporting. You sought out only a very narrow perspective on the actual situation here in North Carolina. A well-balanced story on regulation of commercial dog breeders would have gathered information from several differing sources and presented those findings to readers.
Mainstream opponents of excessive dog breeder licensing, such as the N.C. Federation of Dog Clubs or the American Kennel Club, were not quoted on their reasons for opposing breeder regulation bills. Both organizations are highly visible and longtime proponents of responsible dog ownership and dog breeding and have an in-depth understanding of the regulatory issues.
A 2009 attempt to pass unrealistic dog breeder legislation (SB 460) did not fail because of agriculture-based lobbyists but because of the magnitude of comments and personal contact legislators received from citizens concerned about the effects of the bill. If accountability must be found for the failure of that bill, then blame the tens of thousands of dog owners in North Carolina. These are the people who worked hard to educate their legislators on the real effects of that problematic bill with letters, phone calls and emails.
