What FOHO is doing. Here is a letter we prepared for the other states who are receiving this funding.
. Here is an overview of the five states who also use the pet food registration fee to fund their spay neuter program in their state
Christy Desanctis is an Assoc. Prof. of Law at the Univ. of New Mexico. She has shared this article just written. Just so you know 5 states use the Pet food registration as a funding source for spay neuter programs. Maine, Maryland, WV, New Mexico and Delaware.
WV, FOHO, WVSNP are mentioned several times throughout this article. You can download the full article below. It is EXCELLENT! It is COMPREHENSIVE!
Christy has gotten information from a lot of sources and has been writing this article for some time now. FOHO WV was introduced to her some time ago and she has been following our progress along with Maryland and the other states. Why is she doing this? She is trying to make the case for NM to get their program going since it has been bogged down in court. It is a very comprehensive article on this topic. (51 pages) Reading thru it, there are references to us primarily on pgs. 17 -21, 26, 35, 41 and 49. There are other references since there are only 5 states using this type of funding but listed are the main areas. She also does an excellent analysis of the PURR Act (federal bill – although it is the older 2024 bill) which offers some hope that our state funding could remain.
More on the federal bill in Congress. They have replaced the HR 7380 bill (old bill is still on the books) with a new one called The PURR Act of 2025. It is concerning that it could remove the state from regulating pet food. That could result in the ELIMINATION of the WVSNP grant funding FOREVER! It is not overt in the bill but it could become apparent when the CFR (Code of Federal Rules) are established for the passed bill into law. Plus, it could remove an important level of oversight for pet food safety across the nation. It is ludicrously and ironically called The ‘PURR Act.” You need to let your congressional reps know you do not support this. First, because it endangers an existing level of safety checks for Pet Food and second because a portion of that funding coming into the WV Dept. of Agric. is what is being used for the current spay neuter grant program in our state which has altered more than 85,000 dogs and cats from 2018-2024 in 55 counties.
FOHO WV is researching and will be posting more information here as we obtain it. There is an excellent article below that thoroughly explains the pet safety issue at stake. Plus there are other articles which help to inform you. Read and learn about this. It affects your getting another WVSNP grant.
We have included the new 2025 bill here. What is worrisome is that it sounds good if you are reading it and do not know that the FDA already works with the states in inspecting pet food. This could eliminate the state level of inspection. Nothing about this is good for your pet! The PFI is doing this because 5 states, ME, MD, WV, NM, and DE have the same registration fee we have imposed at the state level which are used for spaying and neutering. Come on folks, over $350 million in pet food was sold in WV in 2023 and we are taking $450,000 of it. The APPA (American Pet Products Association) projects $66 Billion in Pet food and treat sales in 2024! Why not jump on board PFI and help to alleviate the pet overpopulation across America and WV. Have a stamp on Pet food bags in those states proudly proclaiming we contribute to controlling pet overpopulation!
*How did we calculate this? 87 million US Pet Households (APPA est.) divided into $64 billion Pet Food Sales = $736 per pet-owning household spent X 482,463 WV Pet Households = $355 million in total WV Pet Food Sales in 2023 (Based on APPA figures)
Go to Congress and email your reps. /easy to do and tell them how important our spay neuter funding is and how HR 597 could remove our funding.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/597/text#H454001B367AA400983FD9977E5580ACC
The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has raised concerns about the newly reintroduced H.R. 597, the Pet Food Uniform Regulatory Reform Act of 2025 (PURR Act of 2025), which it said could negatively affect consumer protection, transparency in pet food labeling, and product safety and impact the safety of pet food products.
Presently, both FDA and the State regulate and inspect pet food. Why eliminate the critical role of the state, removing a level of long-standing expertise, safety and regulation for pet food?