From the Humane Society of Missouri (St. Louis, Missouri 63110)
Today a huge victory was achieved for all dogs living their entire lives in service to Missouri’s commercial breeding industry. This afternoon, both the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed SB161, the Canine Cruelty Prevention Act, and this evening, Governor Jay Nixon signed the bill into law.
For decades, the Humane Society of Missouri has been on the front lines of investigating reports of substandard care in Missouri’s puppy mills, rescuing dogs from the worst of the worst and spending millions of dollars nursing them back to health and finding them new homes.
Immediately, dogs in large breeding facilities will be assured hands-on veterinary care, continuous clean water, nutritious food twice daily and, within a very short time, considerably more space in which to live.
We also are very pleased additional significant financial and human resources will be available for enforcement of these improved standards.
Governor Nixon has committed to adding $1.1 million to the Department of Agriculture’s budget for more inspectors and veterinarians to ensure breeders are complying with the improved provisions.
And, with passage of this Canine Cruelty Prevention Act, both Missouri’s Attorney General and local prosecuting attorneys will have original jurisdiction to enforce the law. Attorney General Chris Koster has pledged to aggressively enforce this law devoting a full-time attorney to focus on prosecuting wrongdoers and opening a toll-free hotline to receive complaints.
This victory for the dogs could never have been achieved without the appreciable and sustained efforts of the Missourians for the Protection of Dogs coalition.
We sincerely thank all organizations and individuals who have worked so hard to make a difference for puppy mill dogs in Missouri.
