By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
Groups advocating new rules for dog breeders will be collecting signatures in a bid to get a proposal on the state ballot in November.
The Missouri secretary of state’s office last week approved a summary for such a measure, clearing the way for supporters to start gathering the 100,000 signatures that would be needed to place the proposal before voters.
Foes of the plan, which would impose a cap on the number of dogs at each breeding site and make provisions for different forms of care, said they intend to file a legal challenge.
The proposal, backed by a coalition of several groups, would bar breeders from having more than 50 breeder dogs per site. It also would require large-scale operations to provide each dog with sufficient food, clean water, housing and space, along with necessary veterinary care, regular exercise and adequate rest between breeding cycles, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Officials estimate the measure, if passed, would cost state government entities more than $650,000. Local governments also could face some costs related to enforcement activities, although they also could realize some savings through reduced animal care activities.
“Missouri citizens are not proud of the reputation the state has earned as ‘puppy mill capital of the United States,’ and they want to see the laws strengthened,” said Ginger Steinmetz, executive director of the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation, in a statement issued last week.
The alliance is supporting the ballot measure along with the Humane Society of the United States, the Humane Society of Missouri and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The proposal already has drawn criticism from organizations such as the Missouri Federation of Animal Owners, a group that seeks to protect animal owners against the “devastating effects of the animal rights movement,” according to its Web site.
Karen Strange, the federation’s president and lobbyist, objected to the supporters’ use of the term “puppy mill,” which she said is “derogatory” and is used by some of the national organizations only to garner publicity and donations. She said the proposal would encroach on ownership rights and put Missouri breeders at a competitive disadvantage, and that it targets licensed animal breeders that already are licensed and “doing a good job.”
She also said the ballot push is part of a larger “animal rights” movement.
“(It is) basically seeking more and more rights for care and treatment even above human beings,” Strange told the Globe, contending that animals should not be elevated above humans.
Steinmetz, with the Alliance for Animal Legislation, said her organization is an “animal welfare” group, not an “animal rights” organization. The distinction, she said, is that animal welfare groups ask for some basic humane treatment of animals. In this case, for example, supporters hope the changes will prevent dogs from having to lie in feces and from having to spend long stretches of confinement in cages.
She said the proposed ballot measure is about animal welfare.
“I don’t feel like this is giving the animals any rights,” she said.
Efforts to obtain comment last week from the Hunte Corp., of Goodman, a distributor of puppies that obtains its animals from breeders, were unsuccessful, as were attempts to obtain comment from local breeders.
Bea Caviglia, the president of Joplin-based For the Love of Animals, an animal rescue group, could not be reached for comment last week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Timeline
The deadline to have signatures in place for the November ballot is May 2.
Local News
Animal welfare groups eye ballot measure
- Local News
-
-
City wants to buy weather radios for those without
Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.
-
Cold air headed this way
The Arctic front that passed over Missouri this morning will bring dangerously cold temperatures to the region tonight and Saturday.
-
Miami, Okla., man dies along I-44
A 27-year-old Miami, Okla., who appeared to be walking along I-44 in an attempt to get help after wrecking his car, is dead after being hit by a pickup truck.
-
Mo. presidential primary sets low mark in turnout
Just 8 percent of Missouri’s registered voters cast ballots in this week’s presidential primary.
-
Okla. court upholds man’s life sentence in deaths
An Oklahoma appeals court has upheld the life in prison sentences of a man convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the shotgun slayings of two men at a Sperry residence.
-
Architects present preliminary JHS plans at community meeting
Reaction appeared mostly supportive Thursday night among the roughly 50 people who attended a community meeting at which architects presented their preliminary site plans for the future combined Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center.
-
Confessed shooter testifies against co-defendants in Pittsburg murder case
Rickey Smith testified Thursday that as he came in the back door of Ryan Bailey’s home in Pittsburg with a 9 mm pistol in his hand, Bailey looked up from the couch in his living room.
-
School district’s proposed street-closing plan questioned
Plans to close some streets near the proposed Joplin High School drew questions, including a challenge from a former Joplin mayor, during a public hearing this week.
-
Mike Pound: Spirit of competition evident during double-overtime game
When I played basketball in high school, I played in several very close games.
Now, some people who may have known me in high school are probably laughing right now and saying, “What Mike meant to say is that when he was in high school, he came very close to playing in some games.” -
Neosho council approves new golf cart contract
The purchase of golf carts was back on the agenda this week for the Neosho City Council. City Attorney Steve Hays said there were errors in the financing terms that were part of a bid approved last month for the purchase of 55 gas-powered carts from E-Z-Go for $144,195, so the purchase of a new fleet was rebid.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
