Missouri's Prop B Affects Real People

Breeders fearful of tighter rules under Prop B

By Melanie Loth

October 28, 2010
6:42 p.m. CDT
Columbia Missourian

COLUMBIA – Peaches rolls in the grass by the feet of his breeder, Hubert Lavy. The French bulldog casually sniffs Lavy’s shoes and jeans, finding the scent of the other dogs at the kennel.

“If you ever want a pet, this is what you get,” he said. “They are the most loving, comical pets.”

Lavy and his wife, Sharon Lavy, own Tenderheart Kennel in Silex, which is in Lincoln County. They have been breeding dogs to sell as pets for the past 10 years.

“We sell love, we sell friendship, but we also sell a reason to get out of bed in the morning,” Hubert Lavy said.

Tenderheart Kennel is one of many large-scale dog breeding operations in Missouri that would be affected if voters statewide approve Proposition B on Tuesday.

Proposition B would add new regulations to current laws governing dog breeders in Missouri. The regulations are limited to dog breeders with 10 or more breeding females. Tenderheart Kennel has 37 breeding females, but only breeds about 20 of them; the rest are too young or too old.

The Lavys oppose Proposition B because they fear it would be cost-prohibitive to meet all of the proposed standards.

“It’s the only thing I want to do for the rest of my life,” Hubert Lavy said. “It’s my hobby, it’s what I love to do and, dammit, they are going to take it away from me.”

Hubert Lavy estimated renovations to meet the standards in Proposition B would cost $50,000. He put his yearly earnings at $15,000 to $20,000.    Read More

This article is the first one that I’ve seen about Prop B in Missouri that has attempted to put a face on the people this will affect.  HSUS has been able to make a fortune by trying to make criminals out of honest, hard working people that raise animals.  The widely used HSUS talking point is to say that they only want to stop the worst cases of abuse.  Yet spending just a minute on their website will tell a completely different story.  They don’t want people using animals for any purpose whatsoever.  Prop B, like many other pieces of legislation they have forced on states, is just a step in the direction of their ultimate goals.  Please vote NO on Prop B in Missouri.