With the estimated # of mills in Missouri (3000), that works out to over 26 per county. Figuring that the # isn't evenly spread around the state and you can imagine that some counties have millers tripping over each other.
I hope Missouri can get a handle on this, but I have to wonder if this is the route to go. This is an initiative to get puppy mill anti-cruelty legislation passed. Well, Missouri already has felony animal cruelty laws and they still have this mess. I don't see how passing another law will help if the ones already on the books aren't being enforced.
The danger I see is that, if this initiative succeeds, that people will go 'hurrah' and then move on...thinking the problem is solved. No law will do any good without enforcement. The laws are already on the books. What's needed is to get the prosecutors off their butts and enforce these laws.
From what I'm seeing, this initiative won't do anything to stop mills....only to improve the conditions there. This could be done by enforcing existing laws. If they aren't being enforced, just what in the world will a new law do?
Cindy, just as you and I have been discussing in the pet over-population thread, the answers may well be in front of our faces already. What is lacking is a will to see these solutions carried out.
For me, the single biggest thing that could be done is plain and simple....
ENFORCE ANTI-CRUELTY LAWS |