Tighter rules for puppy mills approved by voters
By Cathy Scott, Best Friends
“It’s a good day for the dogs.”
Those were the words Wayne Pacelle used when he announced to an anxious group of animal lovers that Proposition B — the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act — had officially been approved by the citizens of Missouri, sending an unmistakable message to the puppy mill industry.
“This is a tremendous victory for the hundreds of thousands of dogs suffering in Missouri’s puppy mills,” said Elizabeth Oreck, national campaign manager for Puppies Aren’t Products and representing Best Friends as a member of a coalition of animal welfare charities and organizations gathered on election night to hear the results. Pacelle, as president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, was at the gathering too. “The people of Missouri recognized that change needed to happen and that they are no longer willing to support this cruel and inhumane industry,” Oreck said.
With the Nov. 2 vote, life, indeed, is looking up for the puppy mill dogs of Missouri. And Missourians are one step closer to shedding their state’s reputation as the “puppy mill capital” of America. The statewide ballot initiative, which drew national attention, summarily ends substandard conditions at overcrowded commercial breeding operations.
It translates to changes for puppy mill dogs in other states too. “If it can be done in Missouri, where the problem is the most severe, it can be done anywhere,” Oreck said.