Just to try to clarify this a little ~~
Being USDA licensed has nothing to do with the number of dogs anyone owns or has (intact or not).
However, one MUST be licensed if they broker .... or breed to sell to petstores, etc. for re-sale AND make over a certain amount of money (annually) doing this.....can't recall the dollar amount but it is not very high (it's something like $500. per yr). Anyone who strictly sells privately is NOT required to be USDA licensed (again, regardless of the number of dogs they own).
IF only the number of intact dogs was the requirement for being USDA, then about ALL breeders would be on the list.
Again, my memory is not what it used to be.....but I do believe those are the basic requirements of being USDA.
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Actually, The Animal Welfare Act requires that anyone with 4 or more intact bitches must be licensed as a breeder with the USDA. I think you may be confusing the licensing requirements for brokers.
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Sorry, I must respectfully disagree as I just did a quick check and this is what I found:
Who must be/required to be USDA licensed--
a) pet wholesalers -- people who import, buy, sell, or trade
pet breeder -- who breeds for wholesale trade, i.e., sells to brokers, pet stores, research labs, etc.
c) hobby breeder -- who sells DIRECTLY to petstores -- grosses $500. or more per year and has a minimum of three breeding females.
It goes w/o saying that brokers must be licensed as they are involved in wholesale.
As I said before, if it were true that it applied to ALL breeders who has over 4 intact females, then the show breeders would also be required to be USDA licensed and as you know....they are NOT. And it is all over the internet to not buy from a breeder who is USDA licensed. A USDA license is only required if the breeder is involved in wholesale --not if they sell privately (to private individuals).