United States Court of Appeals

               FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

       Argued November 4, 2002    Decided January 14, 2003

                           No. 01-5351

                Doris Day Animal League, et al.,
                            Appellees

                                v.

           Ann M. Veneman, in her official capacity as
   Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture, et al.,
                            Appellants

          Appeal from the United States District Court
                  for the District of Columbia
                           (00cv01057)

     John S. Koppel, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice,
argued the cause for appellants.  With him on the briefs were
Roscoe C. Howard, Jr., U.S. Attorney, and Michael Jay
Singer, Attorney, U. S. Department of Justice.

     Christine M. Cooper was on the brief for amicus curiae
American Kennel Club, Inc., in support of appellants.

     Andrew C. Kimbrell, pro hac vice, argued the cause for
appellees.  Joseph Mendelson III was on the brief.

     Before:  Randolph and Rogers, Circuit Judges, and
Williams, Senior Circuit Judge.

     Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge Randolph.

     Randolph, Circuit Judge:  Hundreds of thousands of dog
breeders throughout the United States raise and sell puppies
from their homes.  The Animal Welfare Act requires certain
animal "dealers" to be licensed and to submit to inspections. 
The Act, which is administered by the Department of Agricul-
ture, exempts "retail pet stores" from these requirements. 
The Secretary defines "retail pet store" as "any outlet where
only the following animals are sold or offered for sale, at
retail for use as pets:  Dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs,
hamsters, gerbils, rats, mice, gophers, chinchilla, domestic
ferrets, domestic farm animals, birds, and coldblooded spe-
cies."  9 C.F.R. s 1.1.  The effect of this regulation is to
exempt breeders who sell dogs as pets from their residences. 
The issue is whether the regulation is valid.

     Doris Day Animal League, a membership organization,
filed a rulemaking petition with the Agriculture Department,
urging a change in the regulatory definition of "retail pet
store" so that residential operations would not be exempted. 
The Secretary published the petition in the Federal Register
(62 Fed. Reg. 14,044 (Mar. 25, 1997)) and received more than
36,000 comments.  When the Secretary announced that he
would retain the definition, and stated the reasons why, 64
Fed. Reg. 38,546 (July 19, 1999), Doris Day Animal League
and other organizations and individuals concerned about the
mistreatment of dogs brought this action for judicial review.

     The Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. s 2131 et seq., seeks to
insure the humane treatment of dogs (and other animals)
raised and sold at wholesale and retail for research, for
exhibitions, for hunting, to serve as guard dogs, and to be
pets.  Id. s 2131(1).  Animal dealers must obtain licenses,
they must comply with standards governing the handling,
care, treatment, and transportation of the animals, and their

facilities may be inspected for compliance.  See id. ss 2133,
2143, 2146(a).  The Act defines "dealer" to exclude "a retail
pet store except such store which sells any animals to a
research facility, an exhibitor, or a dealer."  Id. s 2132(f)(i). 
The Act does not define "retail pet store."  Pursuant to
rulemaking authority in 7 U.S.C. s 2151, the Secretary pro-
mulgated the regulation, quoted above, defining "retail pet
store."  The regulation's basic definition of "retail pet store"
to mean "any outlet," without distinguishing homes from
traditional business locations, dates back to 1971.  See 36
Fed. Reg. 24,919 (Dec. 24, 1971) (s 1.1(t) of the regulations: 
" 'Retail pet store' means any retail outlet where animals are
sold only as pets at retail.").

     The district court viewed the meaning of "retail pet store"
as plainly not including one who sells dogs for use as pets
from his residence, and therefore held the regulation invalid. 
Doris Day Animal League v. Veneman, No. 00-1057, mem.
op. at 15 (D.D.C. July 30, 2001).  The court relied on the
specific exemptions in the definition of "dealer" in 7 U.S.C.
s 2132(f) and the licensing exemption of s 2133.

     There is no need to repeat the standards for reviewing an
agency's interpretation of a statute it alone administers.  See
Envirocare of Utah, Inc. v. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 194
F.3d 72, 75-77 (D.C. Cir. 1999).  The question is what "retail
pet store" in s 2132(f)(i) means, or more precisely, what
Congress intended it to mean.  Those who sell dogs as pets to
consumers from their residences are selling pets at retail. 
But is a residence a "store"?  One usually thinks of a store as
a business open to the public and engaged in the sale of
goods.  But not all stores are open to the public and not all
stores are located in shopping malls or other typical business
locations.  If a homeowner raised dogs;  set up a separate
place on his property - say, for instance, a small building; 
installed a counter and a cash register;  displayed leashes,
collars, and other dog paraphernalia for sale;  and advertised
the sale of puppies at his address, it would not be much of a
stretch to view this too as a store.  The local zoning authority
might also view the matter that way.

     The government cites a dictionary to show that treating
residences as "retail pet stores" is possible.  One definition of
"store" is "a business establishment where goods are kept for
retail sale."  Webster's Third New International Dictionary
2252 (1986).  But what is a "business" and what is an
"establishment"?  A "business" is a "commercial or mercan-
tile activity customarily engaged in as a means of livelihood,"
id. at 302, and an "establishment" is a "more or less fixed and
usu. sizable place of business or residence together with all
the things that are an essential part of it."  Id. at 778. 
Webster's lexicographers thus might say that because a
residence can be a "business establishment," a residence can
be viewed as a "retail pet store" if dogs are sold there. 
Those at Black's Law Dictionary (7th ed. 1999), would get to
the same conclusion by a more direct route. Black's defines
"store" as a "place where goods are deposited to be pur-
chased or sold."  Id. at 1432.  Residences are of course places
and dogs can be considered "goods."  Still, we do not pretend
these dictionaries, or any others, provide a complete refuta-
tion of plaintiffs' contention that the so-called plain meaning
of "retail pet store" excludes residences, or that the opposite
is what Congress clearly had in mind.  Whatever the printed
dictionaries say, we cannot be sure what was in the mental
dictionaries of the members of Congress.  And so we will
move on.

     Both sides rely on statements from the legislative history
of the Animal Welfare Act.  The government and amicus
American Kennel Club, Inc., say the legislative history re-
veals that the emphasis of the Act was on regulation of
wholesale, not retail, sellers of animals.  Plaintiffs point to
other statements suggesting that the exemption for retail pet
stores should be construed narrowly.  In the end we can find
no solid evidence showing that Congress came to any conclu-
sion about the issue we face, one way or the other.

     Plaintiffs' more serious claim, one that convinced the dis-
trict court, rests on the structure of 7 U.S.C. s 2132(f), the
provision defining "dealer."  The definition of "dealer" has
two exceptions.  The first we have already mentioned:  it
provides that "dealer" does not include a "retail pet store"

(unless the animals are sold to a research facility, exhibitor,
or dealer).  Id. s 2132(f)(i).  The second excludes from the
definition of dealer "any person who does not sell, or negoti-
ate the purchase or sale of any wild animal, dog, or cat, and
who derives no more than $500 gross income from the sale of
other animals during any calendar year."  Id. s 2132(f)(ii). 
One of plaintiffs' arguments is that by not giving sellers of
dogs a de minimis ($500) exemption in subsection (ii), Con-
gress meant to make sure that those who sold dogs from their
homes remained covered by the Act no matter how much
income they generated.  But the argument begs the question. 
If subsection (i) already gave an exemption to residential
sellers of dogs as pets (because they were "retail pet stores"),
there was no need to give them a de minimis exemption in
subsection (ii).  Plaintiffs also point out that if Congress had
wanted to exempt individuals selling dogs from their homes,
it could easily have written subsection (i) to cover "any
person" rather than "retail pet store," as it did in subsection
(ii).  The argument is weak.  It may be countered by arguing
that if Congress wanted to exclude residential sellers from
the definition of retail pet store it easily could have said as
much.  The argument is, in any event, one that can be made
in any case in which there is a fair dispute about the meaning
of a statute.  Often it is put this way:  Congress knows how to
say thus and so, and would have written thus and so if that is
what it really intended.  This proves very little. Congress
almost always could write a provision in a way more clearly
favoring one side - or the other - in a dispute over the
interpretation of a statute.  Its failure to speak with clarity
signifies only that there is room for disagreement about the
statute's meaning.

     Plaintiffs also direct us to the licensing exemption con-
tained in s 2133.  The relevant portion reads:

          any retail pet store or other person who derives less
     than a substantial portion of his income (as deter-
     mined by the Secretary) from the breeding and
     raising of dogs or cats on his own premises and sells
    
     any such dog or cat to a dealer or research facility
     shall not be required to obtain a license as a deal-
     er....
    
The argument is that s 2133 reflects two separate and dis-
tinct licensing exemptions for dog sellers:  "retail pet stores"
and "other persons."  The second category, plaintiffs contin-
ue, "does not apply to persons who sell dogs or cats to
consumers for use as pets from their own premises."  There-
fore Congress intended to keep the categories separate, while
the regulatory definition of "retail pet store" lumps them
together.

     We will assume that the "other person" clause applies only
to those persons who are selling dogs and cats to dealers and
research facilities, rather than to consumers who want the
animals for pets.  Even so, we cannot see how this helps
plaintiffs' contention that the plain meaning of "retail pet
store" does not include residences.  Plaintiffs read the qualifi-
cation - breeding and raising dogs and cats, on the person's
premises, as a result of which he does not derive a substantial
part of his income, and selling to dealers and research
facilities - to refer only to "other person," not to "retail pet
store."  Because of the disjunctive "or" in the passage, Dep't
of Hous. & Urban Dev. v. Rucker, 122 S. Ct. 1230, 1234
(2002), supports their interpretation.  But even if plaintiffs
are correct about what s 2133 means, which we need not
decide, those "other" persons are not within the Secretary's
definition of "retail pet store" for the obvious reason that they
are not selling at retail.  Under the regulation, residential
retail sellers, like traditional pet stores, are exempt from
licensing regardless of whether they make a substantial part
of their income from this activity.  If the Secretary's inter-
pretation of "retail pet store" is correct, it would have been
senseless for Congress to add retail residential sellers in the
"other person" clause of s 2133;  that would have created a
redundancy, or an overlap between the two classes exempt
from licensing.  Given the regulation, a residential seller may
sell an unlimited number of dogs to the public as pets, but he
may sell outside of retail channels only if his sales of dogs are
less than a substantial portion of his income.  The regulation

thus preserves both parts of s 2133, allowing each to operate
in its sphere.

     While the regulation's definition of "retail pet store" does
not exactly leap from the page, there is enough play in the
language of the Act to preclude us from saying that Congress
has spoken to the issue with clarity.  From what we can
make out, Congress has paid little attention to the question
posed in this case.  Still, it is true that in the years since
passage of the Act and the Secretary's adoption of the
regulation, Congress has not altered the regulatory definition
of "retail pet store" although it has amended the act three
times.  One line of Supreme Court cases holds that "when
Congress revisits a statute giving rise to a longstanding
administrative interpretation without pertinent change, the
'congressional failure to revise or repeal the agency's inter-
pretation is persuasive evidence that the interpretation is the
one intended by Congress.' "  Commodity Futures Trading
Comm'n v. Schor, 478 U.S. 833, 846 (1986) (quoting NLRB v.
Bell Aerospace Co., 416 U.S. 267, 275 (1974)).  The quotation
fits this case perfectly.  Compare Alexander v. Sandoval, 532
U.S. 275, 292 (2001), refusing to find that Congress, through
silence, had endorsed a judicial interpretation of a statute. 
But see Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v.
Curran, 456 U.S. 353, 381-82 (1982).

     This leaves the argument that the Secretary's resolution of
the meaning of "retail pet store" is not a reasonable one.  In
our judgment the Secretary's decision and policy statement
declining to modify the regulation is supported with reasoning
that is persuasive and faithful to the Act's purpose of protect-
ing animal welfare.  See generally Licensing Requirements
for Dogs and Cats, 64 Fed. Reg. 38,546 (July 19, 1999).

     The Secretary spelled out several policy considerations
thus:

           Second, we have determined that retail dealers,
     especially those who sell from their homes, are
     already subject to a degree of self-regulation and
     oversight by persons who purchase animals from the
     retailers' homes, as well as by breed and registry
    
     organizations.  Breed and registry organizations,
     such as kennel clubs, require their registrants to
     meet certain guidelines related to the health and
     genetic makeup of animals bred and to the education
     of the registrants.  These organizations also monitor
     the conditions under which animals are bred and
     raised.  Wholesale dealers typically do not have this
     type of oversight from the public.
    
     ....
    
           Fourth, retail outlets are not unregulated.  There
     are already many State and local laws and ordi-
     nances in place to monitor and respond to allega-
     tions of inhumane treatment of and inadequate hous-
     ing for animals owned by private retail dealers.  If
     we were to regulate these dealers along with State
     and local officials, it would clearly not be the most
     efficient use of our resources.
    
Id. at 38,547.  While plaintiffs are unhappy about the degree
of self-regulation and the amount of oversight from local
humane societies, kennel clubs, and state agencies, the Secre-
tary, applying his expertise, was entitled to rely on these
factors in making his judgment about the need for federal
regulation.  And he was entitled also to differentiate retail
sales from wholesale sales of dogs on the basis that "whole-
sale dealers typically do not have this type of oversight from
the public."  Id.

     The Secretary also declined to amend the definition on the
ground that the best interest of animal welfare is supported
by allowing the Department to "concentrate [its] resources on
those facilities that present the greatest risk of noncompli-
ance with the regulations."  Id.  The Department has decided
to focus on wholesale dealers, where its resources are likely
to yield the greatest benefit.  This is a reasonable choice,
keeping in mind the purpose of the Act to promote animal
welfare.  See Envirocare, 194 F.3d at 77-78.  It was also
within the authority delegated to him by Congress for the
Secretary to decline to amend the definition in light of the
potential invasions of privacy that would result if federal
inspectors began enforcing "cleaning, sanitation, handling,

and other regulatory requirements in private homes."  64
Fed. Reg. at 38,547.

     Taken together, the Secretary's decision to retain the regu-
latory definition of "retail pet store" reflects the judgment of
the agency entrusted with administering the Animal Welfare
Act to fulfill the purpose of the Act as effectively as possible. 
For the reasons given, the regulation is a permissible con-
struction of the statutory term "retail pet store."

     The order of the district court granting partial summary
judgment to the plaintiffs and declaring the regulation invalid
is therefore

                                                                 Reversed.