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. 

Vote No on Missouri's Prop B

Ballot issue breeds contempt between dog breeders, animal-rights activists


KansasCity.com

By JASON NOBLE

JEFFERSON CITY
The forces for and against Missouri’s Proposition B are making their cases with cute and cuddly puppies.

But make no mistake, the contest to convince voters is a down and dirty dogfight.

Prop B on the Nov. 2 statewide ballot will ask voters whether to enact the “Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act,” a set of laws that would substantially sharpen regulations on dog breeders.

Proponents, led by national animal-rights groups, contend new laws are critical to ensure humane treatment within Missouri’s vast dog-breeding industry.

“The regulations on the books now … ensure that dogs in these facilities survive, but don’t do much more than that,” said Barbara Schmitz, campaign manager for Missourians for the Protection of Dogs. “We’re trying to insert animal-welfare provisions into the large-scale breeding equation.”

Breeders and animal-agriculture trade groups counter that the laws will devastate reputable family businesses and raise the price of puppies at pet stores, but do nothing to stop bad breeders.

“What this does is make regulation so strict on breeders that it will basically put them out of business,” said Anita Andrews, director of the Alliance for Truth, a campaign opposing the ballot measure.   Read More

The HSUS doesn’t want people using animals for any reason, not as pets or as sources of food.  If this bill passes it helps them on both fronts.  They know this will hurt people who raise dogs in turn making it harder for people to have dogs for pets.  It will also get their foot in the door on the livestock front and further their argument that eating meat is wrong.  HSUS is nothing but a fundraising machine and in order to keep that machine running they must continually push onerous regulations on people who use animals by distorting the truth.  Please let your friends and family in Missouri know they should vote NO on Prop B.

HSUS Faces $5 Millon Lawsuit

HSUS Faces $5 Million Lawsuit


09/09/2010 10:19AM
CattleNetwork.com
The Humane Society of the United States is among the defendants in a $5 million federal lawsuit filed by Dan Christensen, a South Dakota dog breeder, according to HumaneWatch.org. Christensen claims his dogs and puppies were illegally seized during a raid last fall.

The lawsuit filed last week names as defendants Second Chance Rescue Center, Second Chance executive director Rosey Quinn, several national animal groups and Turner County's sheriff, commission members and state's attorney.

HSUS, with former employee Scotlund Haisley, assisted the Second Chance Rescue in raiding Christensen’s property last September, seizing 173 dogs that they alleged were being mistreated.

Christensen had been charged with more than 170 misdemeanor counts of inhumane treatment of animals after the raid. Authorities alleged the farm had filthy water, kennels containing feces and that some of the 172 dogs seized had coats in poor condition.

All of the charges against Christensen were dropped and a judge ordered dogs illegally seized by HSUS and Second Chance to be returned to Christensen, their rightful owner.   Link

It will certainly be interesting to see how this lawsuit goes. These dogs were illegally seized due to an overzealous HSUS using an overzealous local animal control officer. The motivation for this seizure had little to do with the welfare of the dogs and more to do with publicity and money.

MO Livestock Owners Working Together

Cattlemen react to HSUS “puppy mill” proposal
December 1, 2009 by Julie Harker Brownfield Ag News

The Missouri State Director of the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) has filed two proposed initiative petitions cracking down on so-called “puppy mills” in the state. The petitions, filed by Barbara Schmitz of St. Louis, are under review by the Missouri Secretary of State’s office. The proposed “Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act” proposes limiting to 50 the number of covered dogs a breeder can own and the offspring of which they could sell as pets.

Missouri Cattlemen’s Association executive director Jeff Windett tells Brownfield it’s an attempt by HSUS to eventually try and restrict animal agriculture in the state…

“As most people know, once they initiate something like this and get it into law, it’s very easy to go back and change the wording to include livestock.”

Windett says Missouri isn’t going to let that happen, “I think we have demonstrated over the past couple of years at least that we’ve beat back HSUS and several of their initiatives within the legislative session.”

Windett says all the ag commodity groups and major farm organizations in the state have formed the Missouri Animal Ag Coalition – which will fight any efforts by HSUS to limit animal agriculture production, “We recognize the fact that we have to stick together. It’s going to take all of our talents and resources to be able to mount a public relations campaign with the public.”

Windett wouldn’t say whether Missouri would pursue a measure similar to Ohio’s successful Issue Two, but he did say the coalition has meetings planned right away to work on their strategy.

HSUS tells Brownfield the organization has “no comments to offer on the ballot initiative” at this time. Link

Congratulations to the livestock owners of Missouri realizing the need to get involved in this issue. It’s naïve of folks to assume that HSUS will do anything other than try including livestock in a bill like this in the future. While some people try to scoff at the slippery slope argument, I’m not willing the bet my family’s future that it won’t happen. Taking action together and doing it right away is absolutely the best course of action.