“When it rains, it pours the old adage goes.” At this point the adage would not be referring to the drought in Ohio, but to the amount of anti breeding legislation being introduced in our country. Ohio Senate Bill 173, the puppymill bill, will have a formal hearing this coming Tuesday with bill sponsors and opposition giving testimony. This bill is an awful bill. Written to shut down the Amish puppymills, the bill will effectively stop the small reputable show breeders from breeding. Commercial breeders will really not be affected; they will get their vendors’ licenses, pay the fees to do high volume breeding, and raise their dogs like livestock under the regulations of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. While the spirit of requiring better housing and care for the puppy mill dogs, the bill lumps all breeders together who have over a certain number of breeding animals which includes brood bitches and stud dogs. If one would have a stud dog, that dog could not be bred more than once a year. So a healthy dog could effectively not be used by other breeders to improve their dogs. We presently have four dogs who have been MRI’d clear of Syringomlyelia who really could not be used as I read the bill. I am attaching the link to the bill and to the list of senators. PLEASE, THOSE OF YOU IN OHIO, AND THOSE IN OTHER STATES, CONTACT YOUR SENATOR OR ALL SENATORS NOW IN OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL. Just look on the link to the Ohio Government website to read the bill and find the list of senators. Please become involved.

The site for SB 173:

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=127_SB_173

And don’t forget AB 1634 in California. Thank you!

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