This evolving story may affect how the US (and Canada) deal with puppy mills in the future.

Missouri narrowly passes Puppy Mill act in US elections

This is comment from Jim’s Notebook…

The residents of Missouri have spoken, and the Tea Party isn’t very happy.  In fact, they’re not very happy at all.  Missouri, with its 3000 estimated puppy mills and known by humane groups as the “Puppy Mill Capital” of North America, has passed Proposition B, known as the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act.  The USA Today story reports that animal rescue groups are of course pleased, but the LA Times reports that Tea Partiers are “Barking Mad” and Joe the Plumber (pictured above), who gained national attention as the sidekick of John McCain, has called the Prop B a grand conspiracy with a hidden political agenda by HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) to take away the rights of Americans.  Here are his some of his comments from a website called Alliance for Truth, which has since been taken down and vanished without a trace.

“This bill is just a stepping stone. HSUS eventually wants to extend this law to ALL animals. Their idea of utopia is a United States with NO animal ownership; NO meat to eat; NO pets; NO hunting; NO fishing; NO service animals.”

And there’s more:  “Even the extinction of our food industry isn’t the scariest part of this whacko liberal agenda. A law is only as good as it’s enforced. And HSUS is happy to fill the void. HSUS has now become the self-appointed law enforcement of the animal world. We have to draw the line and hold these radical animal rights activists back.”

According to this story on KanasCity.com, Missouri has at least 1500 licensed breeders (plus hundreds of unlicensed) and supplies 40% of all puppies for sale in pet stores in the United States.  And the Huffington Post, which notes that Missouri has 30% of all the puppy mills in the US writes:

“While these standards [in Prop B] may seem modest at face value, given the unspeakablly poor conditions that have persisted for far too long in puppy mills throughout Missouri, this legislation provides welcome relief to the thousands of dogs languishing in facilities throughout the state.” And they continue: ”We are more hopeful than ever that the strong momentum around this issue will push other states to follow Missouri’s lead, and that this will cause a ripple effect throughout the nation.”

Here is a story of the Missouri Dept. of Agriculture making one bust and another reporting on the Dept. of Ag efforts in 2009.  The ASPCA comment on the election results are here.

Regarding the Alliance for Truth website:  Never have I seen such a professional, friendly looking website and never before have I ever read such a load of crap!  I’m a graphic designer.  Give me some dog poop, a tin can, and some labels and I’ll make you a product people will want to buy.  This is bottom feeder ignorance wrapped in an American flag.  At least the people of Missouri proved that they weren’t two bricks shy of a load and saw through the rhetoric.

But you have to give the Tea Party credit:  What a master stroke on their part!  They tied into the whole gun control/States rights/anti-Obama/fear issue.  The idea that the Humane Society would be showing up with guns and badges to take away your animals just plays upon the idea of Big Government coming to take away your rights.  Never mind that it wasn’t true–if Prop B passed it would be up to the Dept. of Agriculture to enforce it, not the Humane Society, and not just the local Humane Society, the Humane Society of the United States.  Get it?  The United States (Obama and his cohorts sticking their noses in our business) Humane Society.  Why, they’re coming up the driveway right now, maybe even gonna to drag you away to a hospital to get some health care or something even more insidious like implant a chip behind your left ear.

I am no fan of do-gooder legislation at all, and there are always unintended consequences that hurt ordinary people.  Of course the whole debate isn’t a simple thing.  There are going to be legitimate breeders that will be caught in the crossfire, and it should be noted that the Professional Kennel Club of Missouri endorsed Alliance for Truth and opposed Prop B, and we have to assume that there are plenty of professional dog breeders who aren’t stupid people or rabid anachronisms of the human race.  But 40% of the puppies in the US!  Some things just go too far.  And one has to wonder what the feeling would be if they were asked to cough up roughly 40% of the dog rescue costs nationwide.  The claim that Prop B would hurt employment in Missouri is laughable when you consider what puppy mills really cost all of us at the local level all over the US and Canada.

Puppy mills are the meth labs of the dog world.  The claims and fears by Alliance For Truth (where do they get these names?) would be like saying shutting down the meth labs down the street will cause unemployment in your neighborhood, hurt employment Statewide by causing layoffs in legitimate pharmaceutical companies that supply meth lab materials, that Federal Agents will come into your home and seize your aspirin, tylenol, and insulin, and will cause people who use meth to go to other states that don’t have any restrictions to supply their habit.  This thing also has a lot of echos and tone of the American Civil Rights movement where “outsiders” went to the southern States to give a hand during the marches.  Hopefully the State of Missouri will use its own people and not rise to the bait of getting help from “outsiders” to help enforce Prop B, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see violence before this is all over.

When I was a kid in grade school in the US, a 4th grade teacher I had for awhile (who spit tobacco into a spittoon beside his desk) warned us that if John F. Kennedy was elected he would shut down the churches and schools that weren’t Catholic.  Fear never dies.

PS:  Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thinks the Alliance For Truth ideas are a load of bs.  You can watch the clip from Jon Stewart on the Comedy Network here.

Missouri Prop B rises from the dead – March 2011

The Missouri State Senate passed a bill to repeal (or make changes to) Prop B, know as the Missouri Puppy Mill Act.  Despite being passed by a majority of voters, pressure from various special interests obviously became too much to bear.  Depending on whom you want to believe, the Bill is being watered down or changes are necessary to protect legitimate breeders.  Among changes:  removing the language prohibiting stacked cages, minimum and maximum temperatures for housing, redefining the “regular exercise” requirement, and the type and frequency of vet inspections.  The Bill will now go to the House for a vote, and the debate will probably rage on.

Missouri Repeals Prop B – April 2011

Update April 15, 2011 – The Missouri Senate and House have now repealed what is commonly known as the Missouri Puppy Mill Act, or Prop B, which passed in last November’s election.  Only the governor can overturn the repeal at this point.  Among changes to the Act that were sought in the repeal: removing the language prohibiting stacked cages, minimum and maximum temperatures for housing, redefining the “regular exercise” requirement, and the type and frequency of vet inspections.

According to HSUS President Wayne Pacelle:  “Prop B was a response to the inaction of Missouri lawmakers in the first place. For nearly two decades, the breeding industry and its apologists failed to convince citizens that all was well. Instead, the problems of puppy mills grew and went unanswered. Then the voters stepped in.”

More comment on the St. Thomas Dog Blog.

Other related stories-

The Wall Street Journal reports in a story States Nip at Dog Breeders that lawmakers have now enacted restrictions on dog breeders in more than a dozen states during the past two years.  Many of the laws will take effect next year, and have the potential of transforming the industry.  Shown above is Bernadine Himes at her breeding kennel in Oklahoma.  Mrs. Himes, who appears for all intents and purposes to be one of the more responsible breeders in the scheme of things, says the new changes could put them out of business.  But the new laws may be a slow step to curbing the biggest culprits–the backyard breeders.

Cleveland goes pro-active

During the month of December the Cleveland Animal Protective League placed almost 200 dogs and cats during a reduced-fee adoptathon, a facebook page called Ohio Voters against Puppy Mills and Dog Auctions collected 77,355 signatures, the Aaron Animal Clinic offered free pet exams for pet owners who are experiencing financial difficulty, a newsletter called Animals in the News collected over 500 pounds of pet food for low-income pet owners, and Ohio Advocates for Companion Animals distributed the food and protested the sale of puppy mill puppies at a Cleveland pet store (shown above).  The pet store went out of business this week.

Despite the success of the adoptathon, the empty cages are almost refilled, and the 77,000+ signatures falls short of the 120,000 needed to force legislators to consider the puppy mill and dog auction issues.  But all in all, an incredible effort from a concerned community.  The link to the story is here.  Well done, Cleveland!