While Missourians passed the so-called ‘puppy mill’ initiative last week, opponents say the issue isn’t over just yet.
Proposition B passed by a relatively slim margin; by only about 60,000 votes. That’s about 3% percent of all ballots cast.
“Except for the bootheel, nearly all of outstate Missouri voted against Proposition B, some by very wide margins. We’re very encouraged by that,” said Karen Strange with MoFed, the Missouri Federation of Animal Owners.
She says her group views the Humane Society of the United States as a future threat to the animal agriculture industry, beyond just dogs. She hopes the significant opposition at the polls will send a message to the HSUS that Missourians are loyal to their agriculture industry.
Meantime, dog breeders will have to adjust to the new restrictions when they go into place next year.
“The breeders are nervous, they’re scared, they’re worried. They want their dogs, they love their dogs and they want to continue taking care of them and producing happy, healthy puppies,” Strange said. “Prop B is going to be devastating to the licensed, professional breeder in that it’s going to be extremely costly and difficult to comply with space requirements. The 50 dog limit is quite unconstitutional and an invasion of free enterprise in our state.”
She says her group’s active opposition to Proposition B is far from over.
“We’re looking at various avenues of what we can do about Proposition B and we’re having meetings in various avenues to discuss what we can do to protect the industry in our state against this attack by out of state, wealthy animal rights groups,” Strange said.
