July 1, 2026 • 29 mins
National Federation of Small Business Legal center VP Beth Milito addresses her concerns with the Beneficial Ownership Information rules going into effect. Then John Goodwin Senior managing Director with Humane World for Animals explains the problems created by so-called “Puppy Mills.”
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Protecting small business here in Alabama. Hello, I'm John Mount
and this is Viewpoint, Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
The National Federation of Independent Business, or the NFIB, is
launching a new campaign urging Congress to immediately im permanently
repeal the Federal Beneficial Ownership Information or BOI reporting mandate
before it can be reinstated. The campaign warns that without
(00:26):
Congressional action, millions of small business owners could again be
required to submit highly sensitive and personal information under what
the NFIB calls an invasive and unconstitutional federal reporting regime.
Joining me now to talk about this from the NFIB
is Beth Malita. She is the vice president of the
Small Business Legal Center. Beth, welcome to our show.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Him John, Thanks for inviting me to join you today.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Small businesses already have a lot to worry about, and
this is just one more thing. But let's explore this.
First of all, what is the BOI.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So this mandate, which was an acted a few years ago,
is called the Corporate Transparency Accident requires small businesses those
with under twenty employees and under five million in revenue
to report personal ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement network.
It sounds kind of scary. It's Fincon and it's the
(01:22):
Bureau of the US Treasury Department. So most small businesses,
as you can imagine, have under twenty full time employees
and have under five million in revenue, So this would
be estimated to apply to thirty two million small businesses
in the US.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
In face, this already kind of bothers me because it
sounds like it's one of those you're presumed guilty to
proven innocent. It just sounds like you've already done something
wrong by opening a business. Now we're going to investigate
you and see exactly what you've done, and we're going
to find something on you. It just seems like it's
coming at it from the wrong way.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
It's completely coming at it from the wrong way. It's
targeting law abiding businesses. I mean, when you think about it, John,
if you are opening a business to launder money, which
you take time to file a report and file a
registry with.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Vincent, absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
But the owners under this law must provide their name,
their data birth, their address, identifying information including a picture
of either their passport or their driver's license. All of
this must be entered into this database online database for
all the owners and those with a significant amount of
management in the company too, And anytime any of that
(02:30):
information changes, the business would have to reregister with Finston.
So a lot of personal information sitting out in this
government database, which we all know is you know, that's
kind of subject to potential privacy violations. I mean every
now and then, you know, we do see breaches of
you know, government databases there. So all this massive amount
(02:51):
of information is just sitting out in a federal database, Beth.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Most laws are created by our legislators to solve a problem.
Other words, like we look at something like say, I
don't know, a lot of people are dying in a
high speed car accidents, and they say, you know what,
we need to make it illegal to exceed the speed
limit and penalize people. And so if you're going one
hundred and ten miles an hour, that's illegal. You can
be fine, you can even be jailed as reckless driving.
(03:16):
We've solved a problem with a law against speeding. And
there's all sorts of laws that are designed to cause,
designed to solve a problem. What is this law intended
to What problem is this law intended to solve? How
does this law make US, as Alabamians, as Americans. How
does it make it safer?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, it's intended to stop money laundering and criminals from
using a business as a front organization, a shell organization
to launder money. But you know, it's totally just it's
a stupid idea. I don't know how else to put it,
because again, criminals are not going to file with Vincent,
So it's going to be the law abiding businesses like NFI,
(03:55):
these members who buy and large follow the law, especially
when it's a law like this that has you know,
penalties ten thousand dollars for failure to comply and potential
jail time too. But also concerning this new federal database
is accessible to law enforcement without a warrant, So with
just you know filing you know, you know, sort of
(04:15):
an online application, law enforcement can access this database, which
is very secure. And so again it's not going to
do anything in my mind or mind of VENTIFI B
to stop any sort of money laundering or criminal activity.
And instead it's just going to be you know, ensnare
thirty two million law abiding small businesses into potential you know,
(04:39):
criminal and civil penalties for failure to comply. So the
compliance costs are falling disproportionately on the small businesses that
follow the laws.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And based on the way you describe it, it sounds
like it's not just one person that has to register.
If you have, like say maybe it's a small business,
you have line, I know twenty people who work there,
and of those twenty people, there's like say eight managers,
you would have to register all of them, right.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
That is the concern too, because it's it's not you know,
clear exactly, you know, substantial control over the business, who
exactly you would need to report on. And as I
talked to one small business owner, he goes, well, with
ten thousand dollars and potential finds, he goes, I'm on
going to err on the side of the you know, caution,
be conservative and just file for all of them there.
(05:24):
So I'm going to get all the information from my
managers and file, you know, report and include all my
managers and also John, when you think about a lot
of business owners actually own more than one business, I
mean you probably see this in your community, like they
might have an LLC that owns the commercial building in
which the restaurant operates. So that's a BOI report for
that building, then maybe the restaurant too, and then maybe
(05:46):
their spouse has a business too. So they're filing reports
for all these businesses, and again they need to update
it if any of the information changes there. And it's
just a huge compliance nightmare for small business owners because
small business owners, you know, they don't have you know,
a lot of you know, admin staff sitting around to
file all these reports. There more times than not, this
(06:08):
sort of paperwork stuff, it falls on the business owner
and usually at night or weekends.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Right, do larger businesses have to comply as well? I
mean I guess, I guess not because they're not a
small business, but something equivalent to this, they already use
something like this.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
No, they do not have to comply with it, which
is what makes this so just so irritating. I mean,
I mentioned before too that we've argued that Congress exceeded
its constitutional authority in passing this law too. But it's
just such a huge hassle for small businesses. And again
it's targeting. It applies only to businesses with under twenty
(06:42):
full time employees and five MILLIONAR or less annually in revenue,
so it is specifically targeted at small business creating.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
This massive new federal.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Database of personal information, raising serious privacy and security concerns.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
In this massive database, we'll probably require a lot of
inform meaning they'll have a bureaucracy built around this. And
before you know it, there's a whole government building in Washington,
d C. With hundreds and hundreds ironically, not a small business,
one hundreds and hundred of employees whose whole job it
is to investigate and look into breaches and then to
bring them before some sort of a I don't know
(07:17):
their enforcement are because if they have penalties, that means
somehow there's somebody is it you? Is it like a
law or how do they even enforce this?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Right?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
That's a great point, John, because I can I can
see it there now right Finson is requesting new headquarters
because they need they need more staff to make sure
that these thirty two million small businesses out there have
filed their BOI reports. There I can just see. I
think you're right, that is where we're heading there now.
And I you know, enforcement, that's theme you just never know,
(07:48):
is it? You know it's the does Fenson talk to
the I R S? So if the IRS opens an
audit is this another thing that the IRS is going
to go, Oh, John didn't file his BOI report. We
can tack on another fine in an effort to get
to John settle this taxing or this tax issue there there.
And I think that's oftentimes how the government agencies work.
(08:09):
You know, they talk to each other and it's like, ooh,
here's another I he didn't dot or t he didn't crow.
We're going to add this to the list of things
that he didn't do right. And this is going to
you know, force him to come to a settlement or
an agreement with us.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Well, you bring up another idea, which is they I
shouldn't give them ideas, but the IRS and this organist
could share information. And let's suppose you and you did
your quarterly tax filings. You put one number, but on
this filing you put a number that didn't agree with
that number for whatever reason. Now both organizations are going
to be after you.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
That's so true too. Or if you change your business
name too, say, you know, you get a new partner,
you know, the restaurant opened the second branch, and it's like,
you know, then there's an IRS again, maybe an audit,
because businesses are subject to audits.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Every now and then. Some of those are just random.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
But is this just then another thing that they're going
to look at and again another way to sort of
like we can up the fine this way.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
And you're listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mountain and speaking with Beth Mlito.
She is the vice president for the Small Business Legal Center.
And Beth, this law we're talking about, the BOI or
the Beneficial Ownership Information I guess, Beneficial Ownership Information Information Act.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
What is it called benefit?
Speaker 5 (09:20):
You know?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
They ironic thing is it's called the Beneficial Ownership Information
Mandate the BOI mandate. But it is not beneficial to
small businesses, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
That's usually how it works. They name the thing whatever
is the opposite of what it actually is intended to do. Beth,
you said that it's being reinstated, which means it was
once in place before and it was repealed. When it
was in place before and repealed, how how did it
get repealed?
Speaker 3 (09:44):
So we have the White House and President Trump to
thank for that. So NFIB has been fighting this BOI
reporting mandate. It's been around, kicked around since two thousand
and eight, believe it or not. And it takes a
while sometimes for law to go and effect. You know,
Treasury had to write a regulation. So it finally was
going to take effect back in twenty twenty four, and
(10:05):
if I be sued, we filed a lawsuit to.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Try to stop it.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
We were arguing to Congress that they needed to repeal
the law, you know, reverse what they did before, and
nothing was working. So we actually went got in front
of the White House and got this to the President's
attention and he said, Treasury, you need to stop this.
So what happened is the US Treasury Department issued a
temporary rule blocking the BOI mandate. So we have the
(10:28):
White House to thank for this block right now. But
you know what, it is just a rule, and we
need Congress to go in and permanent repeal the underlying
law that gives Treasury Department authority to capture this COI information.
So that's what we're asking Congress to do now, to
go in and permanent repeat, permanently repeal the law. And
(10:49):
the other thing, John is, before the President stopped the
law and put a pause on the report requirement, over
sixteen million small businesses had reported to Finson and that
information is just sitting in this public database. So the
other thing we're asking the Treasury Department to do is
to wipe out the existing database. So Congress overturned the
law and Treasury wipe out this database there that has
(11:11):
this personal information for millions and millions of small businesses.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Has the NFIB had any success talking with specific congressmen
and women about the about introducing legislation or what is
the starting point for being able to repeal this.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
So we do have legislation right now, and your listeners
can reach out to their elected representatives too. We have
to a law in both the House of Representatives and
the US Senate that they can reach out to their
elected representatives that would repeal, permanently repeal the BOI mandate there.
And we also have legislation two that would require the
(11:47):
permanent deletion of those businesses and front. Maybe some of
your listeners are out there sitting there thinking, well, gee,
I went ahead and filed my BOI information because I
thought it was going to take effect and I didn't
want to get fined, which a lot of businesses did
there too. So again, this law it's hr for twenty
five and then the Senate at Senate Built one hundred
four twenty five. Senate Bill one hundred would require the
(12:09):
Treasure would repeal the BOI mandate and also then require
Treasury to delete all the information it captured already.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
So reach out to.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Your congress official elected representative and urge them to join
NFIB's fight to overturn the BOI mandate.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
And if someone wants to read either one the House
built or the Senate Bill one hundred, is there a
place they can go online to read the text of
what we're talking about here.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yes, they can actually go to Congress dot gov and
type in beneficial ownership information there and the search engine
there too. You can also go on NFIB's website. It's
very prominently featured nfib dot com and we have a
whole web page. If you go to our nfib dot
com you'll see our whole web page on the BOI
(12:58):
mandate and how to take action to repeal it.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Be before I let you go today, what does what
are all the for those people who are unfamiliar with it?
What are some of the other things beyond advocating for
legislation like this to be repealed. What are some of
the other things the NFIB does that are beneficial to
small businesses?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Thanks for that question, John So.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
NFIB is the leading small business association nationwide. We represent
about three hundred thousand small and independent businesses in every
state and actually we have members in every congressional district
nationwide too, and we advocate at both the federal and
the state level and also in the courts there too,
so we advocate at all three levels of the government too.
(13:41):
And we also provide significant small business support to our
legal center, which I head up, has a support line
so business owners can reach out to the NFIB Small
Business Legal Center if they have questions about tax, employment
HR issues. We have a webinar series too, so we
really work to educate our members and hopefully keep them
(14:02):
out of any legal hot water, because that is our
goal there too, in addition to our advocacy at the
federal and state level.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
And I know a lot of people are they've seen
the stickers on them because I've seen this to the
NFIB sticker on the window of businesses you frequent, So
that's what that sticker is all about. Beth Melito, thank
you so much for joining us this week on Viewpoint Alabama. Again,
people should go to your website check out that legislation
if you're interested. If it's something you want to see past,
you should reach out to your congressman or woman and
(14:29):
see if they could actually push this through. Seems like
a Bipotterson and no, I mean no brainer that we
don't need this. I don't know what this possibly does.
That's a good thing because all of it sounds bad
and needs to be repealed.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
I would agree, John, and I thank you so much
for inviting me to join you today and share this
information with your listeners.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Absolutely up next, who doesn't love puppies? Hello, I'm John
Mount and this is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
As cute as those puppies in the window at the
pet store are, there could be an ugly story behind
how they got there. As more states and cities ban
pet store sales, experts say, the cruelty to behind the
cute window display is finally getting noticed. Joining me now
is John Goodwen. He is the senior managing partner with
Puppy Mills and Equine Protection with Humane World for Animals. John,
Welcome to our show.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
The thing is, as you know, as long as I
can remember, when I was a little kid, you go
to the mall and there is the pet store and
there's all the cute little dogs up there in the
window in there barking at you, and you want to
take one home, and you don't really know where those
animals came from. Now, today, a lot of pet stores
they're using the Humane Society bring animals in, but there
still are some that are getting them from other sources.
(15:40):
What are some of these other sources?
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Well, most pet store puppies come from puppy mills, And
if you think about it, it just makes sense. High
volume pet retailers rely on high volume pet breeders, so
they can have all of these puppies, all of these
breed types, and keep those glass display cases stilled at
all times. But you kind of hit on the key
point in your intro where do these puppies come from?
(16:06):
When you walk in and you see that cute puppy
in the glass display case, ask yourself, where is that
puppy's mother? And usually that puppy's mother is in some
cage in a puppy mill.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So we talk about a puppy mill. What is a
puppy mill. I'm imagining, you know, a big wheel churning
out dogs. But it's more it's obviously not that. But
what is a puppy mill.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Yeah, it's not that, but think of a rows of cages.
It's a commercial breeding kennel with a large number of
dogs being bred every heat cycle to produce the most
puppies possible. The focus is on the quantity of puppies
rather than the quality of the breeding. They view the
(16:49):
parent dogs as livestock. They call them livestock because whereas
we see them as family members, they see them as
agriculture commodities. And these dogs just spend years in these
little enclosures, just being bred over and over and over again.
And oftentimes when they're no longer able to produce large litters,
they've gotten older, they're sometimes even killed.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
And I would imagine that the breeding it can cause problems,
because I've heard of a breed being what they call overbred,
like for example, after the TV showed Lastly everyone wanted
a Collie and all of a sudden, they were what
they could call it overbreeding the colleagues, and I imagine
there are certain breeds that get overbred, and when this happens,
the as you mentioned, the quality goes down right.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
Yes, because when there is when there are people who
are trying to produce as many colleagues as possible, they're
not going to be paying attention to the quality of
the animals for being bred in terms of their health.
They're not going to do the genetic testing to make
sure that you know, this dog isn't going to pass
on bad hips or bad knees, or vision problems or
(17:51):
some sort of other health problem. A responsible breeder will
do that sort of testing, and we'll focus on quality
rather than quantity. But puppy mills are all about just
maximizing production, and an animal welfare takes a distant, distant second, third,
fourth priority if it's even considered at all.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
And there are there's last I check, there's no shortage
of dogs. There's lots and lots of dogs already out there.
Usually you see where the humane society is is help us.
We have too many dogs. We don't know, we can't
house all these animals. Please somebody come adopt. That seems
like a real problem that people are rather than going
and adopting their going and purchasing. I guess because they
(18:34):
want a designer dog, they want the dog, they want
the labradoodles or what I'm trying to think of that
all the breeze you hear about the people want these
very special dogs, but in doing so, they don't realize
that they're supporting an industry that's somewhat unethical in the
way that it gets as you said, their livestock.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Yeah, exactly, and there are responsible breaders. But you made
a good point about the animal shelters in Alabama. There
are a lot of dogs and animal shelters. I grew
up in Tennessee. All through the South, we have very
large numbers of dogs and animal shelters, and they really
those shelters need a leaf and those dogs need forever home.
(19:13):
So I've got three dogs. All of mine came from
animal shelters or rescues, and I really encourage people to
think adoption first because there's so many of these dogs
that need somewhere to go. And the puppy mills, they're
producing about two and a half million puppies a year.
If puppy mills went away and there are two and
a half million fewer puppies being bred, we could empty
out animal shelters. We wouldn't have to have any healthy,
(19:37):
adoptable dogs being euganized for example.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
And you mentioned there are responsible breeders, because there are
some people who they have a farm, like not like
a mill, but a real farm where the dogs are,
you know, living on the farm happily, and the mommy
and dog, daddy dog, they have some puppies. And then
these people sell these dogs, you know, for a decent price,
and there there are places you can get them from
(20:01):
where they're bred. Right, But how do you know the
source that your dog, especially if it's a pure breed
dog that you wanted, how do you know the source
that it came from?
Speaker 4 (20:09):
I think the only way that you can really know
for sure if you're dealing with someone refutable. Three steps.
Meet the breeder in person, meet the mother dog in person,
and see where the mother dog lives. A FaceTime interview
will not count because anyone can clean up a small
part of their property and show something that looks better
(20:31):
than reality. You really need to meet the breeder face
to face, and a responsible breeder will be proud to
show you the mother dog and where she lives and
how he's treated her and taken care of her and
raised her. So you really just got to have that
sort of transparency.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
And like with a lot of things, you are probably
going to pay more for a dog from a responsible breeder,
but the quality that you get is going to be
worth it because you're not just adopting. You're adopting a
family member. And this is a family member. It's going
to be with you for another you know, ten fifteen years,
maybe longer. You want to make sure that you know
the family member you adopt. You're not adopting a lot
of problems, not to mention creating problems for other dogs
(21:11):
down the line.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Well, that's exactly right, and you really hit on a
key point about how long you're going to care for
this dog. This isn't like ordering some tooth based on Amazon.
This is a commitment for ten to fifteen years. One
can also think, hey, you know what, maybe I should
take my time. I should research to make sure that
I'm acquiring our next family member from a responsible source.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network on
John Mountain speaking with John Goodwin. He is the senior
managing director for Puppy Mills and equine protection. John, let's
talk about the the health and safety of these dogs
from the puppy mills. You said that they go from
the mill to the to I guess these dealer the
(21:55):
pet stores. But that's not all. But sometimes they get sick,
they die, are there. I imagine a lot of horror
stories where something bad has happened to the animals along
the way.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
Oh so to get the puppies to the stores, they
put them in these cargo vans and they'll put up
to one hundred and sixty puppies in one of these
white cargo vans. You can picture what I'm talking about,
And so it's really cramped in the back, and they
start driving them across the journey, making stops at test
stores along the way. These are eight week old puppies.
They have to pee and poop every two hours. But
(22:28):
no one is going to stop the van every two
hours to let one hundred and sixty puppies out, So
it just pools beneath them. It becomes filthy and unsanitary.
And I think a lot of people are surprised by
how many pet store puppies are sick, but considering the
conditions that they're transported in and considering the puppy mills
they come from, it's actually a miracle that any of
(22:49):
them are even healthy well.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
And another thing I wanted to draw attention to when
you mentioned the conditions is these these puppies, they're in
a you don't think much about dog psychology. They're aready
a formidable time in their life where they're they're they're
forming bonds with people. They're also learning things like how
to how to you know, be walked, how to be housed,
(23:11):
that sort of thing. It's gonna be really hard to
create train an animal that has been forced into a cage.
I guarantee once they get out of the cage, I'm
not going back in one of those things. You're gonna
have a hard time of create training. You're gonna have
a hard time with training them to be house trained
all those things because of the way they began their lives,
and you're gonna have a hard time with getting them
to form good attachments to people. They could manifest other
(23:32):
sorts of behaviors that you don't want because of the
way they were brought up, even though they look absolutely adorable.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
For three weeks, it's called key weeks. In a puppy's
social and behavioral development, and if that time period is
filled with fear or boredom from being locked in the
glass display case at a test store or you know,
on a cage in a puppy mill, then that animal
is gonna suffer with that, and you're just not going
(24:01):
to have the sort of behavior that the animal would
have given and had if he had been raised properly
and not come from a puppy mill and not been
forced to endure those sorts of conditions.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
John, do you happen to know in the state of
Alabama our stores able to purchase still from puppy mills
or have we outlawed that in this state?
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Pet stores in Alabama, in most parts of Alabama can
still sell puppies, unfortunately, because and I say unfortunately because again,
most pet store puppies do come from puppy mills. That said,
about a dozen, maybe fifteen Alabama communities at the local
level have banned the sale of puppies and put stores,
and so there has been a movement in some of
(24:40):
the smaller communities around the state to do something about it.
And I'd like to see that go statewide.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
So I guess If this is an issue important to you,
you might want to contact your state legislator to see
if you could encourage some legislation. And regardless, even if
you're not interested in the issue at large, for the community,
it's important that you consider these things when looking for
or your next forever family for an animal yep.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
One hundred percent, because when you again, when you see
that cute puppy, think about where is that puppy's mother.
Is she living in some comfortable home living, you know,
sleeping on the bed, laying on the couch, or is
she in a cage somewhere getting ready to go through
her next pregnancy because she's being bred every heat cycle.
I think when people love their puppy, they also hope
(25:25):
the puppy's mother is treated well, and I think that
is important to most people.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Very true, John go When the senior Managing director with
Puppy Mills and Equine Protection with the Humane World of Animals. John,
thank you so much for joining us and spreading shedding
some light on this important issue.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Finally, as we round out Viewpoint, Alabama today this fourth
of July weekend, you're probably looking for something fun to
do with the family. How about a movie or maybe
even stay home and stream something, whatever it may be.
JT checks in with Paul Ace from Focus on the
Family with some recommendations of some great things you can see,
stream or otherwise watch this weekend.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Paul, welcome in, thanks for being here, Thank you so
much for having me. And yet it will be a
big weekend in theaters. We've got a lot of talk about.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
Actually, yeah, why don't we start with minions and monsters.
There's no doubt me and my wife will have the
grandkids in the theater somewhere on this one.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
Be prepared for a really, really wild ride for this one.
This is a PG movie, so it doesn't have a
lot of content issues that you need to worry about
for bringing the kids. But man is it crazy. It
goes all over the place and in a weird sort
of way. It's this salute to old movies. There are
a lot of references to old movies that kids under
(26:41):
the you know, any kids. A lot of adults won't
even get. So this it feels like a big series
of shorts, essentially just short movie clips, lots of fun.
There's not a ton of plot that you need to
worry about here. Not a ton of heart, but but
it does have a lot of laughs, so it might
(27:02):
be a good one for the kids for sure.
Speaker 6 (27:04):
Yeah, and probably make a lot of money at the
box office this holiday.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
No doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
How about this little historical drama, Young Washington. What's this
all about?
Speaker 5 (27:13):
So this is about young Washington, young George Washington as
a matter of fact, So this takes place long before
he started wearing false teeth, long before he became President
of the United States. This is we essentially see very
young George Washington right as the French and Indian War,
sort of part of the Seven Years War between France
(27:35):
and England started going up, and Washington played a critical
role in that. In North America, this is the colonial times.
He's really trying to move up in the British hierarchy.
He really wants to improve his social status. So he
is an ambitious man on the make, and he feels
(27:55):
like he can make his mark within the military. So
that's sort of where this springboards. But it's a really
fascinating study on a guy who we really don't hear
very much about. You know, we know of George Washington
from the history books, but to see him on screen,
to see him more flesh and blood and making a
lot of mistakes along the way. It's a really interesting film.
(28:19):
Pretty violent in places, but it's a strong film that
has a lot of history.
Speaker 6 (28:23):
To it, and speaking of history in our two hundred
and fiftieth birthday in America. You can also check out
some other goodies. John Adams is also on HBO, Max
and Hamilton the Fame Broadway production is on Disney Plus
in that category as well. All Right, how about this one.
I'm kind of looking forward to this Inanola Holmes as
in Sherlock Holmes, Right, this is Enola Holmes three, that
(28:45):
is correct.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
This stars Millie Bobby Brown, who a lot of people
remember from Stranger Things. She plays Sherlock Holmes younger sister.
She owns a detective agency. She is also going to
get married in this movie, but everything started goes awry
when her brother Sherlock, is kidnapped and she has to
find him. So that's sort of where the story picks up.
(29:09):
These movies have been super fun. They're pretty innocent compared
to what a lot of stuff that you find on Netflix.
This one is darker than the first two and Nola
Holmes movies. But for fans of the series, for fans
of this franchise, I think it still holds water for sure.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Very good.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
Once again Inanola Holmes is going to be streaming on Netflix.
Paul ac with focus on the family underplug. Thank you, Paul,
have a great holiday weekend you two.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
JT. Thanks so much. You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama,
a public affairs program from the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (29:42):
The opinions expressed on Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those
of the staff, management, or advertisers of this station.
Protecting small business here in Alabama. Hello, I'm John Mount
and this is Viewpoint, Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
The National Federation of Independent Business, or the NFIB, is
launching a new campaign urging Congress to immediately im permanently
repeal the Federal Beneficial Ownership Information or BOI reporting mandate
before it can be reinstated. The campaign warns that without
(00:26):
Congressional action, millions of small business owners could again be
required to submit highly sensitive and personal information under what
the NFIB calls an invasive and unconstitutional federal reporting regime.
Joining me now to talk about this from the NFIB
is Beth Malita. She is the vice president of the
Small Business Legal Center. Beth, welcome to our show.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Him John, Thanks for inviting me to join you today.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Small businesses already have a lot to worry about, and
this is just one more thing. But let's explore this.
First of all, what is the BOI.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So this mandate, which was an acted a few years ago,
is called the Corporate Transparency Accident requires small businesses those
with under twenty employees and under five million in revenue
to report personal ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement network.
It sounds kind of scary. It's Fincon and it's the
(01:22):
Bureau of the US Treasury Department. So most small businesses,
as you can imagine, have under twenty full time employees
and have under five million in revenue, So this would
be estimated to apply to thirty two million small businesses
in the US.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
In face, this already kind of bothers me because it
sounds like it's one of those you're presumed guilty to
proven innocent. It just sounds like you've already done something
wrong by opening a business. Now we're going to investigate
you and see exactly what you've done, and we're going
to find something on you. It just seems like it's
coming at it from the wrong way.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
It's completely coming at it from the wrong way. It's
targeting law abiding businesses. I mean, when you think about it, John,
if you are opening a business to launder money, which
you take time to file a report and file a
registry with.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Vincent, absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
But the owners under this law must provide their name,
their data birth, their address, identifying information including a picture
of either their passport or their driver's license. All of
this must be entered into this database online database for
all the owners and those with a significant amount of
management in the company too, And anytime any of that
(02:30):
information changes, the business would have to reregister with Finston.
So a lot of personal information sitting out in this
government database, which we all know is you know, that's
kind of subject to potential privacy violations. I mean every
now and then, you know, we do see breaches of
you know, government databases there. So all this massive amount
(02:51):
of information is just sitting out in a federal database, Beth.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Most laws are created by our legislators to solve a problem.
Other words, like we look at something like say, I
don't know, a lot of people are dying in a
high speed car accidents, and they say, you know what,
we need to make it illegal to exceed the speed
limit and penalize people. And so if you're going one
hundred and ten miles an hour, that's illegal. You can
be fine, you can even be jailed as reckless driving.
(03:16):
We've solved a problem with a law against speeding. And
there's all sorts of laws that are designed to cause,
designed to solve a problem. What is this law intended
to What problem is this law intended to solve? How
does this law make US, as Alabamians, as Americans. How
does it make it safer?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Well, it's intended to stop money laundering and criminals from
using a business as a front organization, a shell organization
to launder money. But you know, it's totally just it's
a stupid idea. I don't know how else to put it,
because again, criminals are not going to file with Vincent,
So it's going to be the law abiding businesses like NFI,
(03:55):
these members who buy and large follow the law, especially
when it's a law like this that has you know,
penalties ten thousand dollars for failure to comply and potential
jail time too. But also concerning this new federal database
is accessible to law enforcement without a warrant, So with
just you know filing you know, you know, sort of
(04:15):
an online application, law enforcement can access this database, which
is very secure. And so again it's not going to
do anything in my mind or mind of VENTIFI B
to stop any sort of money laundering or criminal activity.
And instead it's just going to be you know, ensnare
thirty two million law abiding small businesses into potential you know,
(04:39):
criminal and civil penalties for failure to comply. So the
compliance costs are falling disproportionately on the small businesses that
follow the laws.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And based on the way you describe it, it sounds
like it's not just one person that has to register.
If you have, like say maybe it's a small business,
you have line, I know twenty people who work there,
and of those twenty people, there's like say eight managers,
you would have to register all of them, right.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
That is the concern too, because it's it's not you know,
clear exactly, you know, substantial control over the business, who
exactly you would need to report on. And as I
talked to one small business owner, he goes, well, with
ten thousand dollars and potential finds, he goes, I'm on
going to err on the side of the you know, caution,
be conservative and just file for all of them there.
(05:24):
So I'm going to get all the information from my
managers and file, you know, report and include all my
managers and also John, when you think about a lot
of business owners actually own more than one business, I
mean you probably see this in your community, like they
might have an LLC that owns the commercial building in
which the restaurant operates. So that's a BOI report for
that building, then maybe the restaurant too, and then maybe
(05:46):
their spouse has a business too. So they're filing reports
for all these businesses, and again they need to update
it if any of the information changes there. And it's
just a huge compliance nightmare for small business owners because
small business owners, you know, they don't have you know,
a lot of you know, admin staff sitting around to
file all these reports. There more times than not, this
(06:08):
sort of paperwork stuff, it falls on the business owner
and usually at night or weekends.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Right, do larger businesses have to comply as well? I
mean I guess, I guess not because they're not a
small business, but something equivalent to this, they already use
something like this.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
No, they do not have to comply with it, which
is what makes this so just so irritating. I mean,
I mentioned before too that we've argued that Congress exceeded
its constitutional authority in passing this law too. But it's
just such a huge hassle for small businesses. And again
it's targeting. It applies only to businesses with under twenty
(06:42):
full time employees and five MILLIONAR or less annually in revenue,
so it is specifically targeted at small business creating.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
This massive new federal.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Database of personal information, raising serious privacy and security concerns.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
In this massive database, we'll probably require a lot of
inform meaning they'll have a bureaucracy built around this. And
before you know it, there's a whole government building in Washington,
d C. With hundreds and hundreds ironically, not a small business,
one hundreds and hundred of employees whose whole job it
is to investigate and look into breaches and then to
bring them before some sort of a I don't know
(07:17):
their enforcement are because if they have penalties, that means
somehow there's somebody is it you? Is it like a
law or how do they even enforce this?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Right?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
That's a great point, John, because I can I can
see it there now right Finson is requesting new headquarters
because they need they need more staff to make sure
that these thirty two million small businesses out there have
filed their BOI reports. There I can just see. I
think you're right, that is where we're heading there now.
And I you know, enforcement, that's theme you just never know,
(07:48):
is it? You know it's the does Fenson talk to
the I R S? So if the IRS opens an
audit is this another thing that the IRS is going
to go, Oh, John didn't file his BOI report. We
can tack on another fine in an effort to get
to John settle this taxing or this tax issue there there.
And I think that's oftentimes how the government agencies work.
(08:09):
You know, they talk to each other and it's like, ooh,
here's another I he didn't dot or t he didn't crow.
We're going to add this to the list of things
that he didn't do right. And this is going to
you know, force him to come to a settlement or
an agreement with us.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Well, you bring up another idea, which is they I
shouldn't give them ideas, but the IRS and this organist
could share information. And let's suppose you and you did
your quarterly tax filings. You put one number, but on
this filing you put a number that didn't agree with
that number for whatever reason. Now both organizations are going
to be after you.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
That's so true too. Or if you change your business
name too, say, you know, you get a new partner,
you know, the restaurant opened the second branch, and it's like,
you know, then there's an IRS again, maybe an audit,
because businesses are subject to audits.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Every now and then. Some of those are just random.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
But is this just then another thing that they're going
to look at and again another way to sort of
like we can up the fine this way.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
And you're listening to Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
My name is John Mountain and speaking with Beth Mlito.
She is the vice president for the Small Business Legal Center.
And Beth, this law we're talking about, the BOI or
the Beneficial Ownership Information I guess, Beneficial Ownership Information Information Act.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
What is it called benefit?
Speaker 5 (09:20):
You know?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
They ironic thing is it's called the Beneficial Ownership Information
Mandate the BOI mandate. But it is not beneficial to
small businesses, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
That's usually how it works. They name the thing whatever
is the opposite of what it actually is intended to do. Beth,
you said that it's being reinstated, which means it was
once in place before and it was repealed. When it
was in place before and repealed, how how did it
get repealed?
Speaker 3 (09:44):
So we have the White House and President Trump to
thank for that. So NFIB has been fighting this BOI
reporting mandate. It's been around, kicked around since two thousand
and eight, believe it or not. And it takes a
while sometimes for law to go and effect. You know,
Treasury had to write a regulation. So it finally was
going to take effect back in twenty twenty four, and
(10:05):
if I be sued, we filed a lawsuit to.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Try to stop it.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
We were arguing to Congress that they needed to repeal
the law, you know, reverse what they did before, and
nothing was working. So we actually went got in front
of the White House and got this to the President's
attention and he said, Treasury, you need to stop this.
So what happened is the US Treasury Department issued a
temporary rule blocking the BOI mandate. So we have the
(10:28):
White House to thank for this block right now. But
you know what, it is just a rule, and we
need Congress to go in and permanent repeal the underlying
law that gives Treasury Department authority to capture this COI information.
So that's what we're asking Congress to do now, to
go in and permanent repeat, permanently repeal the law. And
(10:49):
the other thing, John is, before the President stopped the
law and put a pause on the report requirement, over
sixteen million small businesses had reported to Finson and that
information is just sitting in this public database. So the
other thing we're asking the Treasury Department to do is
to wipe out the existing database. So Congress overturned the
law and Treasury wipe out this database there that has
(11:11):
this personal information for millions and millions of small businesses.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Has the NFIB had any success talking with specific congressmen
and women about the about introducing legislation or what is
the starting point for being able to repeal this.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
So we do have legislation right now, and your listeners
can reach out to their elected representatives too. We have
to a law in both the House of Representatives and
the US Senate that they can reach out to their
elected representatives that would repeal, permanently repeal the BOI mandate there.
And we also have legislation two that would require the
(11:47):
permanent deletion of those businesses and front. Maybe some of
your listeners are out there sitting there thinking, well, gee,
I went ahead and filed my BOI information because I
thought it was going to take effect and I didn't
want to get fined, which a lot of businesses did
there too. So again, this law it's hr for twenty
five and then the Senate at Senate Built one hundred
four twenty five. Senate Bill one hundred would require the
(12:09):
Treasure would repeal the BOI mandate and also then require
Treasury to delete all the information it captured already.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
So reach out to.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Your congress official elected representative and urge them to join
NFIB's fight to overturn the BOI mandate.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
And if someone wants to read either one the House
built or the Senate Bill one hundred, is there a
place they can go online to read the text of
what we're talking about here.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yes, they can actually go to Congress dot gov and
type in beneficial ownership information there and the search engine
there too. You can also go on NFIB's website. It's
very prominently featured nfib dot com and we have a
whole web page. If you go to our nfib dot
com you'll see our whole web page on the BOI
(12:58):
mandate and how to take action to repeal it.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Be before I let you go today, what does what
are all the for those people who are unfamiliar with it?
What are some of the other things beyond advocating for
legislation like this to be repealed. What are some of
the other things the NFIB does that are beneficial to
small businesses?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Thanks for that question, John So.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
NFIB is the leading small business association nationwide. We represent
about three hundred thousand small and independent businesses in every
state and actually we have members in every congressional district
nationwide too, and we advocate at both the federal and
the state level and also in the courts there too,
so we advocate at all three levels of the government too.
(13:41):
And we also provide significant small business support to our
legal center, which I head up, has a support line
so business owners can reach out to the NFIB Small
Business Legal Center if they have questions about tax, employment
HR issues. We have a webinar series too, so we
really work to educate our members and hopefully keep them
(14:02):
out of any legal hot water, because that is our
goal there too, in addition to our advocacy at the
federal and state level.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
And I know a lot of people are they've seen
the stickers on them because I've seen this to the
NFIB sticker on the window of businesses you frequent, So
that's what that sticker is all about. Beth Melito, thank
you so much for joining us this week on Viewpoint Alabama. Again,
people should go to your website check out that legislation
if you're interested. If it's something you want to see past,
you should reach out to your congressman or woman and
(14:29):
see if they could actually push this through. Seems like
a Bipotterson and no, I mean no brainer that we
don't need this. I don't know what this possibly does.
That's a good thing because all of it sounds bad
and needs to be repealed.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
I would agree, John, and I thank you so much
for inviting me to join you today and share this
information with your listeners.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Absolutely up next, who doesn't love puppies? Hello, I'm John
Mount and this is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
As cute as those puppies in the window at the
pet store are, there could be an ugly story behind
how they got there. As more states and cities ban
pet store sales, experts say, the cruelty to behind the
cute window display is finally getting noticed. Joining me now
is John Goodwen. He is the senior managing partner with
Puppy Mills and Equine Protection with Humane World for Animals. John,
Welcome to our show.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
The thing is, as you know, as long as I
can remember, when I was a little kid, you go
to the mall and there is the pet store and
there's all the cute little dogs up there in the
window in there barking at you, and you want to
take one home, and you don't really know where those
animals came from. Now, today, a lot of pet stores
they're using the Humane Society bring animals in, but there
still are some that are getting them from other sources.
(15:40):
What are some of these other sources?
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Well, most pet store puppies come from puppy mills, And
if you think about it, it just makes sense. High
volume pet retailers rely on high volume pet breeders, so
they can have all of these puppies, all of these
breed types, and keep those glass display cases stilled at
all times. But you kind of hit on the key
point in your intro where do these puppies come from?
(16:06):
When you walk in and you see that cute puppy
in the glass display case, ask yourself, where is that
puppy's mother? And usually that puppy's mother is in some
cage in a puppy mill.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
So we talk about a puppy mill. What is a
puppy mill. I'm imagining, you know, a big wheel churning
out dogs. But it's more it's obviously not that. But
what is a puppy mill.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Yeah, it's not that, but think of a rows of cages.
It's a commercial breeding kennel with a large number of
dogs being bred every heat cycle to produce the most
puppies possible. The focus is on the quantity of puppies
rather than the quality of the breeding. They view the
(16:49):
parent dogs as livestock. They call them livestock because whereas
we see them as family members, they see them as
agriculture commodities. And these dogs just spend years in these
little enclosures, just being bred over and over and over again.
And oftentimes when they're no longer able to produce large litters,
they've gotten older, they're sometimes even killed.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
And I would imagine that the breeding it can cause problems,
because I've heard of a breed being what they call overbred,
like for example, after the TV showed Lastly everyone wanted
a Collie and all of a sudden, they were what
they could call it overbreeding the colleagues, and I imagine
there are certain breeds that get overbred, and when this happens,
the as you mentioned, the quality goes down right.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
Yes, because when there is when there are people who
are trying to produce as many colleagues as possible, they're
not going to be paying attention to the quality of
the animals for being bred in terms of their health.
They're not going to do the genetic testing to make
sure that you know, this dog isn't going to pass
on bad hips or bad knees, or vision problems or
(17:51):
some sort of other health problem. A responsible breeder will
do that sort of testing, and we'll focus on quality
rather than quantity. But puppy mills are all about just
maximizing production, and an animal welfare takes a distant, distant second, third,
fourth priority if it's even considered at all.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
And there are there's last I check, there's no shortage
of dogs. There's lots and lots of dogs already out there.
Usually you see where the humane society is is help us.
We have too many dogs. We don't know, we can't
house all these animals. Please somebody come adopt. That seems
like a real problem that people are rather than going
and adopting their going and purchasing. I guess because they
(18:34):
want a designer dog, they want the dog, they want
the labradoodles or what I'm trying to think of that
all the breeze you hear about the people want these
very special dogs, but in doing so, they don't realize
that they're supporting an industry that's somewhat unethical in the
way that it gets as you said, their livestock.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Yeah, exactly, and there are responsible breaders. But you made
a good point about the animal shelters in Alabama. There
are a lot of dogs and animal shelters. I grew
up in Tennessee. All through the South, we have very
large numbers of dogs and animal shelters, and they really
those shelters need a leaf and those dogs need forever home.
(19:13):
So I've got three dogs. All of mine came from
animal shelters or rescues, and I really encourage people to
think adoption first because there's so many of these dogs
that need somewhere to go. And the puppy mills, they're
producing about two and a half million puppies a year.
If puppy mills went away and there are two and
a half million fewer puppies being bred, we could empty
out animal shelters. We wouldn't have to have any healthy,
(19:37):
adoptable dogs being euganized for example.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
And you mentioned there are responsible breeders, because there are
some people who they have a farm, like not like
a mill, but a real farm where the dogs are,
you know, living on the farm happily, and the mommy
and dog, daddy dog, they have some puppies. And then
these people sell these dogs, you know, for a decent price,
and there there are places you can get them from
(20:01):
where they're bred. Right, But how do you know the
source that your dog, especially if it's a pure breed
dog that you wanted, how do you know the source
that it came from?
Speaker 4 (20:09):
I think the only way that you can really know
for sure if you're dealing with someone refutable. Three steps.
Meet the breeder in person, meet the mother dog in person,
and see where the mother dog lives. A FaceTime interview
will not count because anyone can clean up a small
part of their property and show something that looks better
(20:31):
than reality. You really need to meet the breeder face
to face, and a responsible breeder will be proud to
show you the mother dog and where she lives and
how he's treated her and taken care of her and
raised her. So you really just got to have that
sort of transparency.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
And like with a lot of things, you are probably
going to pay more for a dog from a responsible breeder,
but the quality that you get is going to be
worth it because you're not just adopting. You're adopting a
family member. And this is a family member. It's going
to be with you for another you know, ten fifteen years,
maybe longer. You want to make sure that you know
the family member you adopt. You're not adopting a lot
of problems, not to mention creating problems for other dogs
(21:11):
down the line.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
Well, that's exactly right, and you really hit on a
key point about how long you're going to care for
this dog. This isn't like ordering some tooth based on Amazon.
This is a commitment for ten to fifteen years. One
can also think, hey, you know what, maybe I should
take my time. I should research to make sure that
I'm acquiring our next family member from a responsible source.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network on
John Mountain speaking with John Goodwin. He is the senior
managing director for Puppy Mills and equine protection. John, let's
talk about the the health and safety of these dogs
from the puppy mills. You said that they go from
the mill to the to I guess these dealer the
(21:55):
pet stores. But that's not all. But sometimes they get sick,
they die, are there. I imagine a lot of horror
stories where something bad has happened to the animals along
the way.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
Oh so to get the puppies to the stores, they
put them in these cargo vans and they'll put up
to one hundred and sixty puppies in one of these
white cargo vans. You can picture what I'm talking about,
And so it's really cramped in the back, and they
start driving them across the journey, making stops at test
stores along the way. These are eight week old puppies.
They have to pee and poop every two hours. But
(22:28):
no one is going to stop the van every two
hours to let one hundred and sixty puppies out, So
it just pools beneath them. It becomes filthy and unsanitary.
And I think a lot of people are surprised by
how many pet store puppies are sick, but considering the
conditions that they're transported in and considering the puppy mills
they come from, it's actually a miracle that any of
(22:49):
them are even healthy well.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
And another thing I wanted to draw attention to when
you mentioned the conditions is these these puppies, they're in
a you don't think much about dog psychology. They're aready
a formidable time in their life where they're they're they're
forming bonds with people. They're also learning things like how
to how to you know, be walked, how to be housed,
(23:11):
that sort of thing. It's gonna be really hard to
create train an animal that has been forced into a cage.
I guarantee once they get out of the cage, I'm
not going back in one of those things. You're gonna
have a hard time of create training. You're gonna have
a hard time with training them to be house trained
all those things because of the way they began their lives,
and you're gonna have a hard time with getting them
to form good attachments to people. They could manifest other
(23:32):
sorts of behaviors that you don't want because of the
way they were brought up, even though they look absolutely adorable.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
For three weeks, it's called key weeks. In a puppy's
social and behavioral development, and if that time period is
filled with fear or boredom from being locked in the
glass display case at a test store or you know,
on a cage in a puppy mill, then that animal
is gonna suffer with that, and you're just not going
(24:01):
to have the sort of behavior that the animal would
have given and had if he had been raised properly
and not come from a puppy mill and not been
forced to endure those sorts of conditions.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
John, do you happen to know in the state of
Alabama our stores able to purchase still from puppy mills
or have we outlawed that in this state?
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Pet stores in Alabama, in most parts of Alabama can
still sell puppies, unfortunately, because and I say unfortunately because again,
most pet store puppies do come from puppy mills. That said,
about a dozen, maybe fifteen Alabama communities at the local
level have banned the sale of puppies and put stores,
and so there has been a movement in some of
(24:40):
the smaller communities around the state to do something about it.
And I'd like to see that go statewide.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
So I guess If this is an issue important to you,
you might want to contact your state legislator to see
if you could encourage some legislation. And regardless, even if
you're not interested in the issue at large, for the community,
it's important that you consider these things when looking for
or your next forever family for an animal yep.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
One hundred percent, because when you again, when you see
that cute puppy, think about where is that puppy's mother.
Is she living in some comfortable home living, you know,
sleeping on the bed, laying on the couch, or is
she in a cage somewhere getting ready to go through
her next pregnancy because she's being bred every heat cycle.
I think when people love their puppy, they also hope
(25:25):
the puppy's mother is treated well, and I think that
is important to most people.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Very true, John go When the senior Managing director with
Puppy Mills and Equine Protection with the Humane World of Animals. John,
thank you so much for joining us and spreading shedding
some light on this important issue.
Speaker 4 (25:40):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Finally, as we round out Viewpoint, Alabama today this fourth
of July weekend, you're probably looking for something fun to
do with the family. How about a movie or maybe
even stay home and stream something, whatever it may be.
JT checks in with Paul Ace from Focus on the
Family with some recommendations of some great things you can see,
stream or otherwise watch this weekend.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
Paul, welcome in, thanks for being here, Thank you so
much for having me. And yet it will be a
big weekend in theaters. We've got a lot of talk about.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
Actually, yeah, why don't we start with minions and monsters.
There's no doubt me and my wife will have the
grandkids in the theater somewhere on this one.
Speaker 5 (26:18):
Be prepared for a really, really wild ride for this one.
This is a PG movie, so it doesn't have a
lot of content issues that you need to worry about
for bringing the kids. But man is it crazy. It
goes all over the place and in a weird sort
of way. It's this salute to old movies. There are
a lot of references to old movies that kids under
(26:41):
the you know, any kids. A lot of adults won't
even get. So this it feels like a big series
of shorts, essentially just short movie clips, lots of fun.
There's not a ton of plot that you need to
worry about here. Not a ton of heart, but but
it does have a lot of laughs, so it might
(27:02):
be a good one for the kids for sure.
Speaker 6 (27:04):
Yeah, and probably make a lot of money at the
box office this holiday.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
No doubt, no doubt.
Speaker 6 (27:09):
How about this little historical drama, Young Washington. What's this
all about?
Speaker 5 (27:13):
So this is about young Washington, young George Washington as
a matter of fact, So this takes place long before
he started wearing false teeth, long before he became President
of the United States. This is we essentially see very
young George Washington right as the French and Indian War,
sort of part of the Seven Years War between France
(27:35):
and England started going up, and Washington played a critical
role in that. In North America, this is the colonial times.
He's really trying to move up in the British hierarchy.
He really wants to improve his social status. So he
is an ambitious man on the make, and he feels
(27:55):
like he can make his mark within the military. So
that's sort of where this springboards. But it's a really
fascinating study on a guy who we really don't hear
very much about. You know, we know of George Washington
from the history books, but to see him on screen,
to see him more flesh and blood and making a
lot of mistakes along the way. It's a really interesting film.
(28:19):
Pretty violent in places, but it's a strong film that
has a lot of history.
Speaker 6 (28:23):
To it, and speaking of history in our two hundred
and fiftieth birthday in America. You can also check out
some other goodies. John Adams is also on HBO, Max
and Hamilton the Fame Broadway production is on Disney Plus
in that category as well. All Right, how about this one.
I'm kind of looking forward to this Inanola Holmes as
in Sherlock Holmes, Right, this is Enola Holmes three, that
(28:45):
is correct.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
This stars Millie Bobby Brown, who a lot of people
remember from Stranger Things. She plays Sherlock Holmes younger sister.
She owns a detective agency. She is also going to
get married in this movie, but everything started goes awry
when her brother Sherlock, is kidnapped and she has to
find him. So that's sort of where the story picks up.
(29:09):
These movies have been super fun. They're pretty innocent compared
to what a lot of stuff that you find on Netflix.
This one is darker than the first two and Nola
Holmes movies. But for fans of the series, for fans
of this franchise, I think it still holds water for sure.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Very good.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
Once again Inanola Holmes is going to be streaming on Netflix.
Paul ac with focus on the family underplug. Thank you, Paul,
have a great holiday weekend you two.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
JT. Thanks so much. You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama,
a public affairs program from the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (29:42):
The opinions expressed on Viewpoint Alabama are not necessarily those
of the staff, management, or advertisers of this station.
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