The HSUS had a press conference in Jefferson City today, and released an updated Dirty Dozen report. As noted in the report, only three of the original Dirty Dozen have been shut down. The rest of the breeders, and the addition of six new breeders, are still licensed, still making the same violations—still doing what many state representatives consider to be “good breeding practices”.
The report mentioned one that I have been particularly disturbed about: Lou Cox. I wrote about her in another of my sites. Not only does she continue to have extremely bad inspections, but she and her son, Donnie (who with his wife, Marsha, is also a Dirty Dozen breeder), had two separate fires on her property that killed 115 dogs—15 puppies were burned to death in 2008. This, in addition to a third fire in 1989 that killed 8 sows and their piglets. I think we can say that three fires demonstrates marginal care.
One thing I noticed about the debate yesterday and in press conferences, is that none of the reps ever mention the dogs. They don’t mention their welfare, how they live, or even if the reps have taken the time to actually go out and visit the breeders they seem to think are just peachy keen. I would think if I were going to override the will of the people, I’d at least visit a couple of breeders—especially the worst ones. After all, they want to “own” these breeders and their violations from this day forward.
We have an inordinate number of bad, but still licensed breeders, in this state. That our state would actually legislate to protect these people…well, I don’t think we have to worry about an overabundance of compassion, morality, or heart in the state capital.