Kansas City Veterinary Medical Association

Missouri Puppy Welfare Ballot Initiative

by Melissa Austin, DVM

Recently, you may have received an urgent memo via email (2/4/2010) from the KCVMA executive board regarding the Missouri ballot initiative, Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act, targeted for the November 2010 statewide election. If you are a veterinarian practicing in Missouri, you may also have received a letter from the Humane Society of Missouri or a solicitation for petition signatures at your clinic. All forms of communication aforementioned find their common denominator in the desire to prevent animal cruelty in Missouri but differ in their methodology.

The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act is spearheaded by Missourians for the Protection of Dogs, a coalition comprised by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the Humane Society of Missouri and others. They wish to require each dog at a large-scale breeding facility be given (1) sufficient food and clean water; (2) necessary veterinary care; (3) sufficient housing, including protection from the elements; (4) sufficient space to turn and stretch freely, lie down and fully extend his or her limbs; (5) regular exercise; and (6) adequate rest between breeding cycles. The measure would limit the number of breeding dogs to 50 per facility, and would not apply to breeders with 10 or fewer intact female dogs.

The Missouri Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA), as a part of the coalition Missourians for Animal Care, believes the proposed statute to add more rules and regulations against dog breeding in Missouri helps illuminate an animal welfare issue that is very important to all Missourians: the existence of ‘puppy mills’. They believe the proposed statute, unfortunately, fails to address the reasons why puppy mills exist in Missouri, including the unlicensed and unregulated dog breeders that run them, the lack of resources necessary to find these facilities and the lack of funds to enforce current Missouri dog breeder laws (over 22 pages of rules and regulations). The MVMA believes the solution to ending puppy mills in Missouri – and in other states - is not to make more laws, but rather to enforce current laws and educate Missouri citizens to the point where they will not support puppy mills (so the demand for these puppies will stop). The MVMA is encouraging Missouri veterinarians to urge their elected officials to provide the necessary resources to find and regulate unlicensed dog breeders in their state.

To assist in educating Missouri citizens about puppy mills, the MVMA will be providing to Missouri member clinics, without charge, posters for clinic display including the slogan “Report Them, Don’t Support Them!” MVMA will also provide brochures titled “How to Choose a Puppy.” For more information or a copy of the brochure, “How to Choose a Puppy” log onto www.mvma.us/puppy.

Regardless of which solution to the ‘puppy mill’ problem in Missouri you support, it is important that Kansas City area veterinarians actively participate in the debate. Your medical background, expertise on the human-animal bond, and membership within one of America’s most trusted professions enables you to provide a perspective on this issue that is vital.

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