Category: Critters

Attorney General Koster has come out with a look how much we care about the doggies site, which is basically a load of bilge water.

Two breeders have been closed down. Two. And both breeders were allowed to hold on to their dogs until resolution of their cases, and one is even allowed to breed dogs again in six years.

I don’t really care about the political party of all the people involved, because both Democrats and Republicans have tried to help the dogs, and both Democrats and Republicans have done a lot of damage to the cause of animal welfare in this state. What I do care about is truth, which is sometimes hard to see when politicians use so much smoke, and so many mirrors.

This little joy-joy announcement was a good reminder, though, that I need to re-focus back on my Missouri Kennel Campaigns. Currently I’m going through the entire USDA APHIS database, as well as other resources, finding what I feel are the worst breeders. Then we’ll start the battle anew.

Because contrary to what the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation states, contrary to what Governor Nixon, Director Jon Hagler of the MDA, and AG Koster claim, things are not better for the dogs in this state.

updated

Several Tea Party pundits have jumped on the media bandwagon for Debe Bell and the Six Bells Rabbits.

“There was no warrant”, they claim, based solely on what they were told by Bell (never bothering to fact check).

“The rabbits were in great shape!”, they shouted, again based on what they were told by Bell (assuming that Bell was telling the truth, while a dozen or so veterinarians, animal care personnel, and sheriff’s department personnel were all lying).

Well, nothing like a few facts to show how foolish these people are.

In the sidebar to the story is a link to both the warrant and a slideshow of the conditions on Bell’s farm. You better have a strong stomach before clicking the link to the slideshow.

The sad thing is, many puppy (and bunny) mills in Missouri share similar conditions, but they’re not being closed down.

update

The Baltimore Sun picked up the story as have the Denver TV stations.

second update

A judge has denied Bell’s restraining order and the rabbits can now go up for adoption. Finally, these bunnies have a chance.

Last I heard, though, Tea Party friends of Bell have decided that the photos were doctored, that Colorado has entered into a conspiracy with the USDA and HSUS (and probably little green aliens from Mars) to deny Bell her Constitutional rights to continue treating rabbits like crap.

Folks involved with the puppy mill effort in Missouri have long been familiar with Wendy Laymon, and her so-called “Rescue a French Bulldog”.

Wendy Laymon has a shameful history of animal neglect as a commercial breeder, including being fined by the USDA and losing her USDA license. Chat in the community has it that she started up the Rescue a French Bulldog, not to save poor homeless french bull dogs but to muddy the water for genuine rescues—not to mention siphoning off donations from the less informed, as well as being a way to get rid of frenchies that haven’t sold through her commercial breeding operation.

Thankfully, the Humane Society of the US has taken action on Ms. Laymon and her dubious enterprise. The organization recently filed a complaint with the Missouri AG that the Rescue a French Bulldog violates Missouri’s consumer protection laws.

This gives the AG a reason to go after Laymon, but the more important point of all of this is why is this person still in business? I don’t want to keep reading about the AG’s office closure of one breeder, as if the closure of one breeder justifies overriding the vote of the people.

The Department of Agriculture now has money. It now has the inspectors it needs. The AG office has focused one Assistant AG on prosecuting bad breeders under the the so-called “Missouri Solution”…

So why does an organization like HSUS have to point out the obvious?