Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) this evening signed into law a compromise dog-breeding bill, the result of last week’s agreement between some supporters and opponents of voter-approved Proposition B.
First, Nixon signed a bill this morning that stripped several regulations out of Prop B, including the 50-dogs-per-breeder cap and requirements for larger cages and annual veterinary exams.
Then lawmakers quickly passed and the governor signed the “Missouri Solution,” which restores some of those provisions, but not the 50-dog limit. The measure was added as an amendment onto an agricultural bill before being passed and signed.
Nixon says Missouri doesn’t have to look elsewhere to find leadership on the puppy mill issue.
“We have strength inside the organizations that are involved here, and I don’t need somebody jetting in to tell us what to do when we can do it ourselves," Nixon told reporters at a press conference in his office.
Barbara Schmitz, Missouri State Director for the Humane Society of the United States, condemns the new law.
“I think that it is sort of the worst kind of backroom deal," Schmitz said. "I think that this measure really does a disservice to Missouri voters, as well as (to) the actual dogs that are being housed at these large-scale breeding facilities.”
Schmitz also says the new law may violate the single-subject requirement in the State Constitution, and that they’re considering legal options.
