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Iowa puppy mill bill inches forward

Iowa puppy mill bill inches forward - MessengerNews.net | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Info. - Messenger News

Measure would give state inspectors greater jurisdiction

By KATIE WILLIAMS, Messenger staff writer
POSTED: March 27, 2009

It's crunch time for those in support of the puppy mill bill.

The bill was placed on the Iowa House floor calendar last week - along with a long list of other bills - for consideration to be made into law, said Rep. Jim Lykam, D-Davenport.

The puppy mill bill, or House File 486, will allow state inspectors access to federally licensed breeding facilities if a complaint is made against the breeding facility. Right now, the law states that only federal officials can inspect federally licensed facilities.

"Puppy mills are in business to produce mass quantities of puppies to primarily sell to a broker or distributor," said Lin Sorenson, a member of Iowa Voters for Companion Animals.

Female dogs are bred every heat cycle - usually starting with their first. Breeding is commonly continued until their bodies wear out, said Sorenson. To save money, the breeders often use small cages with very little protection from the elements, feed substandard nutrition and give little, if any, medical attention.

The proposed bill received a 12-8 vote of approval from the Public Safety Committee on Feb. 24. It was scheduled to go to the House floor, but was requested to be reconsidered by the House Agriculture Committee first. Rep. Dolores Mertz, D-Ottosen, chairwoman of the House Agriculture Committee, requested that the bill be reviewed by a subcommittee.

Lykam, sponsor for the bill, said the bill was pulled from the House Agricultural Committee by Speaker of the House Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, without a vote and placed on the calendar for the House floor.

But that doesn't mean it will be passed, Lykam said.

"The opposition is still fighting me pretty heavily on this bill," he said. "But I'm going to fight for it until the last gavel falls."

He has approximately two weeks to get the required 51 votes in support of the bill for it to be considered on the floor, he said.

Then the final vote would be made.

Rep. Mark Kuhn, D-Charles City, said he is offering amendments to the bill in an attempt to get more support.

"This is an attempt to address some of the concerns that the opponents have brought up for discussion," he said.

Kuhn's proposed amendment would make three key changes to the bill, he said.

The first change would allow breeders whose license has been revoked or suspended to contest the decision and have it reinstated.

It would also allow funding for the inspections to come from an animal trust fund. He said there have been concerns that recent budget cuts would make the bill unrealistic to enforce. Money for that trust fund can come from state and federal government. and private individuals and organizations, he said. Under the proposed amendment, the new regulations would not go into effect until the trust fund reaches $150,000.

It would also allow inspectors to regulate any U.S. Department of Agriculture facility, even without a complaint filed against it.

"Many times people aren't allowed to see these facilities to file a complaint because they have no trespassing signs," Kuhn said. "Hopefully these changes will be enough to get the bill considered by the full House."

Contact Katie Williams at (515) 573-2141 or katie@messengernews.net