Hoarding is only one of the problems.
Our society has changed from one where the average person was free to let their dog have a litter of puppies, and where most people got their pet puppy from a mother dog who was a pet, to a society where dog breeding has largely become a business.
To keep it a business, people in the business often think they have to prevent the people who buy one of their puppies from becoming dog breeders.
There are 4 laws which I believe would fix a great many of the problems in dogs, or at least open the door for those problems to be fixed:
1) FED. End the loophole that allows dog raising to be an IRS tax shelter.
2) FED. End the USDA exemption for direct sales of puppies. Sell more than 25 dogs/cats in a year, and you need a USDA license NO EXCEPTIONS. Don't blow it like last time by adding exemptions. If the USDA can't do the inspections, then don't bother. Talk about a conflict of interest!
3) Local. Set a maximum number on how many adult UNFIXED cats/dogs a person can own (include co-ownerships in the total).
If you can't get a state law for a 12 dog/cat limit, go for a 50 dog/cat limit, but don't do nothing.
If you can't get a city or county law for 4 UNFIXED (not neutered/not spayed, ie fertile) dogs/cats, then go for 12 or 20, or 100, but set some limit.
4) Local. Set a maximum for the number of unfixed adult dogs/cats allowed to be kept on a property. This is also to keep dog breeder from cheating by saying "Yes I have 50 cats in my garage and 75 dog in my basement but I don't legally own them, the cats are strays, and the dog belong to friends.
In short, taking the production of pets away from puppy mills, and hand it back to pet owners.
A good breeder, who doesn't inbreed and who ships seamen or sends her female to be bred, and who only breeds her best dogs, is only breeding her best dogs. 4 top unfixed dogs make for a better kennel,
than 40 unfixed poor show dogs with few legit wins, who produce 100 puppies a year so that the dog breeder can sort through them searching for one who is showable.
