Battle lines being drawn: The struggle over puppy mills in Missouri

There's a battle taking shape in Missouri. It pits animal rights activists who are supporting a ballot measure known as Proposition B, which is designed to crack down on the state's notorious puppy mills, against John McCain's former lackey Joe the Plumber (a.k.a. Joe Wurlitzer-something-or-other), who, despite his phony horse shit "populism," pretty much loathes all living beings with salaries under a quarter of a million dollars.

Proposition B, according to the wonderful Baltimore Sun blog Unleashed,

would crack down on larger-scale dog breeders, prohibiting them from keeping dogs in wire cages, requiring kennels be climate controlled and that dogs have access to the outdoors. It would also force breeders to wait a healthier time before getting a dog pregnant again.

So why would these right-wing extremists hate such a humane law? For the same reason they oppose virtually all regulations, laws and reforms that protect the vulnerable and powerless. Because they detest those groups. According to Joe the Plumber, this is part of an evil conspiracy by the to destroy the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the ordinary folk of America. Here are some highlights from Joe's "analysis":

“This bill is just a stepping stone. HSUS eventually wants to extend this law to ALL animals. Their idea of utopia is a United States with NO animal ownership; NO meat to eat; NO pets; NO hunting; NO fishing; NO service animals.”

“Even the extinction of our food industry isn’t the scariest part of this whacko liberal agenda. A law is only as good as it’s enforced. And HSUS is happy to fill the void. HSUS has now become the self-appointed law enforcement of the animal world. We have to draw the line and hold these radical animal rights activists back." (Source.)

There you have it, straight from the plumber's mouth. And once the HSUS takes over, we all know that America will become a nation of socialist-supporting, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, tree-licking, bird-watching, limp-wristed, Obama-loving pinko Muslims, forced to limit their diets to fruits and veggies. So long steaks. So long pork. So long ribs. So long barbecued chicken. Hello tofu.

But not all conservatives are jumping on the anti-Prop 8 bandwagon. St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who backed Glenn Beck's Restore Honor Rally and has supported the Tea Party and Arizona's tough immigration laws, is also an unwavering defender of Proposition 8. In this Blog, I've praised La Russa for his support of homeless companion animals. He has done wonderful work for cats and dogs, mainly through his Animal Rescue Foundation. La Russa is the perfect example of how some conservatives genuinely support weak and vulnerable animals.

Sadly, Joe the Plumber lacks La Russa's heartfelt compassion for animals. Joe is trying to make a comeback, an attempt to return to the limelight he so enjoyed back in 2008. We can only hope this descent into obscurity accelerates and his inane conspiracy theories lose credibility. The guy is such a dim bulb he makes Glenn Beck look bright.

As for Proposition 8, its passage will help a hell of a lot of dogs across the state of Missouri. No wonder Joe and his comrades oppose it.

Fighting the Good Fight Against Puppy Mills

Rather than always focusing on the negative, which is easy for animal rights advocates to do, it is also important to spotlight the heroic fight against animal abuse. Kudos to SPCA volunteers across North America. In Pennsylvania, SPCA workers in Lebanon and Lancaster counties are working to help abused puppies who are currently crammed into dark mills in a state with the reputation as "the puppy mill capital of the world." (Source) The conditions in the puppy mills are horrendous. It is worth quoting extensively from the article in the Mercury:

An Associated Press report in Monday's edition of The Mercury reported on one day in the life of an animal rescue worker driving through Lancaster County buying mistreated animals. The account described the horrid conditions inside high-volume puppy mills: "... an overwhelming stench of urine and feces. Ammonia fumes burn the nose and eyes. The simultaneous barking of hundreds of dogs creates a wall of sound that makes it hard to think, let alone converse.

"Lacking a bone or toy to occupy their time, some dogs go into a frenzy every time they see a human. Other dogs circle endlessly. Still others just sit there, staring, like a 'warm statue,' says Jessie Smith, special deputy secretary of dog law enforcement at the state Department of Agriculture.

"Breeders often act as their own vets, performing delicate surgical procedures — docking tails, "debarking" dogs by hacking at the vocal cords, performing Caesarean sections on pregnant females."

Thanks to a group of committed SPCA activists, these puppy mills are being exposed in the press as the profit-hungry, cruel factories that they are. "The corps of combatants" fighting against the abuse in puppy mills, notes the Mercury article, are "tireless." It is an uphill battle, to be certain, but when you see the horrible acts of abuse captured on tape (for example: a series of recent dog beatings in New York filmed on video), you begin to understand how crucial it is that animals receive better protection under the law. It is encouraging to see that many states, including Pennsylvania and Minnesota, are enacting much tougher anti-cruelty laws. This is a welcome move in the right direction. And the passage of such laws is largely because of the pressure being placed on legislators by animal rights activists.