Dear Editor: Opponents of Prop. B, the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act, always rely on the same false claims, that it is an unnecessary law backed by so-called extremists.
The USDA's Office of Inspector General just issued a report, saying USDA kennel inspectors are guilty of witnessing horrible animal suffering at puppy mills, but not doing anything to stop that suffering, often because they feel constrained by weaknesses in current law.
The Better Business Bureaus of St. Louis, Springfield and Kansas City all combined on a report earlier this year saying the exact same thing happens in Missouri and that unless something changes, puppy mills will continue to abuse and neglect their dogs and sell the puppies to unsuspecting families. The Missouri state auditor has reported similar problems in multiple reports, since at least 2001.
Are the USDA, the BBB and the state auditor extremists? No, they are doing their job by telling us there is a big problem with cruel Missouri puppy mills, and Missouri's current laws and penalties are not strong enough to address the problem. In return, we should do our job by fixing that problem.
In November, we can do that by voting "yes" on Prop. B.
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