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Yesterday I got a really good look at the lopsided balance of power in Missouri when I attended a rally in support of the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act in Jeff City. About 150 of the most passionately humane and caring people met on the sidewalk outside the governor’s mansion shouting “VETO SB 113.” Some folks brought the dogs they had adopted from horrible circumstances and told us their stories. One woman with HSUS who used to be a television reporter talked about what she saw when she went undercover to a puppy mill auction. We got lots of thumbs up from state workers leaving for the day and people driving by in cars. All in all, it was an inspiring experience. I, myself, feel inspired every time I meet someone brave enough to do the dirty work of rescuing animals from their filthy prisons. I don’t think I could do it. The chief investigator with the MO Humane Society told us last week about how he has to wear a breathing apparatus (not just a face mask) when he goes into some of the disgusing breeding operations. He said the fumes in the air can damage his lungs. Well, imagine what those fumes are doing to the dogs.
After the rally, Marty Rulo and I drove around to the south side of the Capitol building and had to face the fact that we are not just outnumbered by opponents of Prop B but outgunned as well. The state reps and senators who passed SB 113 gathered in formal lines on the capitol steps behind a speaker’s podium, complete with professional sound system, flags and the whole works. I’d estimate 800 or so people gathered below the speaker listening and shouting “NO” when asked if they were going to allow an assault on their “property rights.” And that’s the difference between us and them. As Marty said , “They think of dogs as property. We think of them as pets and part of a family.” The power is all on their side. The legislators depend on corporate donations to run their campaigns. The Department of Agriculture rules on all issues involving animals. The Missouri Humane Society has to depend on the Ag Dept to enforce regulations pertaining to puppy mills. That probably explains why the state humane society and the MO Alliance for Animal Legislation were willing to “compromise” on a new bill.
I’m not as up on all the regs and enforcement procedures as others are. I’m not directly involved with any dog group at all. But when I reviewed the new bill, the “compromise” that the governor brokered with both sides of the issue, I was struck by the fact that they are arguing about how many more inches a dog should have to turn around and stretch out her limbs. Think about that. It’s come to this. We are debating whether an adult dog imprisoned for her whole life in a cage should be able to stretch her limbs.
What has become of us that we are even allowing dogs to be caged for life? Dogs have been domesticated by humans to serve us as pets. We want dogs to be our family members and our friends. We don’t expect cows, chickens and pigs to interact with us emotionally, but we DO want dogs, and especially puppies, to be our companions and our “babies.”
Why are we even having this conversation? NO DOG should spend its life in a cage barely bigger than the animal itself. I haven’t been as emotionally affected by this issue as some of the friends I’ve met at these rallies until I read that “compromise” bill. It’s disgusting. I’m horrified that we, as human beings, are allowing these conditions to exist in our state. We do NOT need puppy mills in Missouri. Humane breeders care for their animals, sell only to families that make a good fit for the dogs, follow and go beyond all the regulations because they respect their dogs as social animals. Breeders who run the factory operations and produce thousands of puppies a year should be closed down – end of discussion.
“Property rights”? NO – domesticated animals are not your “property” to do with as you wish. We have evolved. We don’t allow animals to be trained to kill each other for sport and gambling. We outlawed dog fighting and cock fighting a decade ago. We are on the path to outlawing factory breeding facilities too. This whole Prop B issue has brought to light the hidden reality of what most of us didn’t really understand until now. Even if the “compromise” bill passes and the governor caves to corporate pressure and signs it, we will continue to expose the cruelty that exists in our state.
So you have more money and we have more “guns”.Aww.(sigh)And you miscalculated-we were over 1000 strong.I have tried to help you HSUS people before.Eat some meat-a good old med-rare beef steak -that fog in your brain will clear right up.
Thanks. You proved my point with your ridiculous responses.
Isn’t it interesting that Anonymous is so upset about “outside” entities wading into the puppy mill issue yet seems totally unaware (or doesn’t care) that the Pro-puppy millers are funded by huge right-wing extremist lobbyists out of Washington, DC. If you want an education on who REALLY wants to keep puppy mills in business follow the funding trails of the army of lobbyists who have descended on Jeff City.
Actually, many “outside” groups have been cleaning up the MO puppy millers messes for many years. Every time another sick puppy is sent to a pet store or sold over the Internet, the buyers have to incur huge vet bills or watch their dogs die early deaths. Then there are the Better Business Bureaus who try to warn potential buyers away from pet stores and puppy mill puppies because they know they will be faced with angry buyers seeking justice. Then there are the many, many shelters and rescue groups who take in the abandoned dogs and puppies when the millers decide they can’t turn a profit anymore or the buyers get tired of paying the vet bills. I’d love to see some personal responsibility from the puppy millers who saddle the rest of us with millions in costs cleaning up after them. And that is in almost every state in the US, not just Missouri.
Your “outside” interests include Big Agriculture — the very corporations who have run so many family farms out of business. How sad that they hold the ideal of family-farms up in front of them as a shield at the same time Big Ag is the responsible party for turning Missouri rural areas into toxic dumps and meth labs to make money. Shouldn’t you take a hard look at the puppet masters pulling your strings? First they bankrupt you, then they use you as their shills and dupes.
As for your ludicrous ad hominums, many animal protectors are meat-eaters. Just because we eat meat does NOT give us the right to abuse animals or torture them while they live. That is an absolutely sociopathic view of the world.
At its base, this is not just about treating other creatures God made with respect; it is also a consumer protection issue. Every puppy sold from a puppy mill, whether licensed or not, is a case of fraud. In almost every case, buyers are lied to about how the puppies were treated, how their parents were bred and housed, the animals’ health and even their supposed lineage. Just because some paid-off inspector turns a blind eye to a puppy mill because its licensed does not make those puppies any healthier. Every puppy sold from a puppy mill is a fraud and a lie. Every puppy sold from a Missouri puppy mill is a shame on the state.
Prop B was and is ONLY about puppy mills. It has NOTHING to do with family-run farms or hunting. NOTHING. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying, playing you for a fool or both. Its not about some paranoid delusion about animal rights. Its about humans and what we value — honesty and caring for others or greed and selfishness. I know which side I want to be on when I meet the One who created s and the animals you so blithely dismiss to a life of hell.
I grew up in Missouri on a family farm. A good steak is one of my favorite things. In this country we do not eat dog meat! I voted yes on Prop B. Cows, hogs, and chickens are raised to a certain weight then killed to feed us. Those animals don’t have to spend years in tiny cages like the dogs in breeding operations. I totally agree with Sarah Jo! The dog breeding industry in Missouri is horrible. It’s not just the unlicensed breeders, and the Missouri Department does not do a good job at all keeping the licensed breeders in line. Missouri voted and we want dog breeders to clean up their act!
P. S. My parents, the farmers, voted yes on Prop B also.
Anonymous, if you’re so virtuous why are you too afraid to use your name or even a nickname? When I was growing up in the country (with nice guys who hunted and grew crops) they would have been ashamed to talk to anyone under cover of darkness as you have done. So I find it laughable that you look down on city people as folks who think we should help each other.
I noticed that after every flood, tornado, fire, etc. people in rural Missouri loudly call for state and federal help. As someone who believes we should help each other and government is in the best position to do so, should lead the charge, I have no problem with helping my neighbors in the country. But if you prefer to make it on your own I’m sure we can let FEMA know you would prefer no aid after the next flood or tornado rolls though your town. Let us know how that works out for you.
I also doubt that you are in the position to know how every rural Missourian voted on Prop B. If you wold like to check some facts like the voting record you’ll notice that Prop B did have a lot of support outside of St. Louis and KC even with all the money and lies the puppy millers dumped into out state Missouri.
So throw all the insults and invectives you want. None of them change the facts or the reality that puppy mills are a shame on Missouri and anyone who supports them.
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