More funding for dog breeder oversight

ST. LOUIS , MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - Missouri’s budget for next fiscal year includes 1.1 million dollars more for oversight of dog breeders.

Governor Jay Nixon highlighted the funding at a press conference Tuesday at the Humane Society of Missouri in St. Louis.

The move comes after the governor helped craft a compromise bill this spring that toughened state oversight of dog breeders… but scaled back some provisions of the voter-approved initiative Prop B.

Humane Society of Missouri president Kathy Warnick says the group has no regrets about the compromise.

“This is a monumental step forward towards improving the quality of life for these animals that in many instances have been suffering in exceptionally substandard conditions,” Warnick said.

The increased funding will be used to hire more veterinarians, inspectors and other enforcement agents.

Attorney General Chris Koster says his office has created a Canine Cruelty Protection Unit and has already used new authority to shut down two dog breeders in the state.

Maria Altman, St. Louis Public Radio

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Governor supports Prop B compromise

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - The Governor backed a compromise to Proposition B headlined by weaker regulations and more than one million dollars added to its budget.

Jay Nixon said in a press release the proposed legislation is a compromise among voters, animal rights groups, and Missouri's agricultural industry.

The agreement would add $1.1 million to the budget and also allow breeders to own more than 50 dogs, a reversal of the original regulations.

Senator Mike Parson sponsored the original bill. He agrees with the compromise, but says he's worried with the interference from the United States Humane Society.

"That's a disappointing fact that people from out of the state of Missouri don't even want to compromise when all the animal rights groups in Missouri are agreeing to this," Parson said.

The US Humane Society opposed the revised proposition.

Parson also says he is unsure if the compromise will have time to pass through both legislative houses by the end of the session.

Executive Director of the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation Bob Baker says he is pleased with the compromise.

“It gives the dogs much more space and room, it will entitle them to much better access. It will prohibit wire in the flooring, it will provide that they have a veterinary exam compared to veterinary inspection,” Baker said.

The amended bill will have to go through the entire legislative process.

Brian Pepoon and Meghan McGinnis, Missouri Digital News

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Constitutional Amendment would protect voter-approved initiatives

St. Louis area Representative Scott Sifton is working to bring a new amendment to Missouri’s Constitution. The so-called Voter Protection Act would require a three-fourths majority in both the House and Senate to amend or repeal a voter-approved measure, such as Prop B or the clean energy law.

Sifton, a Democrat, has organized a Voter Protection Alliance that includes proponents on both the left and the right, such as the Humane Society of the United States and Americans for Tax Reform.

Sifton says that he understands that legislators should vote the will of their district, and that is precisely why amendments to Proposition B have passed the House and Senate. That’s also why he believes that voter-approved laws need protection.

“The folks that show up for work here to cast votes are doing their best to represent their constituents. That’s what they are elected to do. They’re doing their job. Which is why the Constitution should say, if the voters say one thing and the legislature says another, the tie should really go to the voters,” Sifton says.

The Voter Protection Alliance plans to obtain enough signatures to put the amendment on the Missouri ballot in November 2012.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Public forum yields strong emotions towards "Puppy Mill" law

State Senator Jason Crowell addresses constituent concerns about the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act.

JACKSON, MO (KRCU) - Emotions and concerns ran high at a public forum held Friday evening regarding the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act. 

Over 40 people attended the public forum held Friday evening at the MU Extension Office in Jackson.

Representative Donna Lichtenegger and Senator Jason Crowell hosted the forum to allow concerned citizens from both sides of the issue to come forward, ask questions, and voice their opinions.

Aside from hearing comments and concerns from alarmed citizens, the legislators also used the forum to highlight several bills that have been proposed to amend the law. Nine laws have been introduced during the 2011 legislative session regarding the law. They range from a complete repeal to minimal modifications.

The wording and terminology of the law were the main focus of the forum.

Senator Crowell discussed the big issue of what the word “domesticated” covers as it is written in the law.

“As soon as you put a cow in a fence, is that cow domesticated? As soon as you put a pig in a fence, is that pig domesticated? As soon as you put a horse in a fence, is that horse domesticated?,” Crowell rhetorically asked. “Wild versus domesticated. And that term that was in Prop B has caused the alarm of, is this greater than just dog breeders or is it all livestock?”

This terminology will be challenged further as the law is currently being looked at by both the Senate and the House in hopes of amending it before the law goes into effect on November 2nd of this year.

Crowell voiced his opinion that he is in favor of a complete repeal but was open to some compromise.

“I’m willing to look at some help to really focus on the bad actors, I just think Prop B was focused on the legitimate, honest, hard working Missourians out there that happen to be dog breeders,” Crowell said.

Lawmakers are hoping to have amendments in place before the law goes into effect on November 2nd of this year.

The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act passed as a ballot initiative last November. It sets limits on the number of breeding females that a dog breeder can have at any given time and establishes standards of care for dogs in breeding facilities.

Katie Long, KRCU

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