Missouri farmers please read

[ANTLER VALLEY]

This is very serious and very threatening to all of us who own livestock and/or pets. It isn’t PETA, although they may have drafted PETA members to help them, it is the Humane Society of the United States. They are circulating a petition to place an initiative on the November Ballot which would place heavy restrictions and mandates on licensed pet breeders, including limiting them to 50 breeding females. They are doing it under the disguise of protecting dogs and are using the term “puppy mills” to excite the general public. What does this mean for us? If this passes, they will likely try to do the same thing to livestock owners. I don’t want someone telling me all I can own is 50 cows or 50 sows. It goes against basic principles of capitalism and freedoms our country was founded on. Go to www.farmerfreedom.com to learn more and stay on top of issues facing Missouri agriculture!



John C. Kleiboeker

Executive Director

Missouri Beef Industry Council

2306 Bluff Creek Drive #200

Columbia, MO 65201

Phone: 573.817.0899

[Predator3]

Thanks Antler, I'll keep an eye on it. Everybody thinks the Humane Society is all about helping cute little puppies. B.S. they are just another cult.

[Jack]

Had that bill in Montana last year. It got milked down so at the end it would have only applied to ten large dog breeders or pet stores that sold dogs in the State. It was only a way to produce money for the State by taxing and licensing and punish a few people that were big in dog production. The bill is back in legislation again so it had an agenda for the future for something besides dogs.

Can you imagine any other animal producer being punished or restricted like this? It really is just a way to stop all animal breeding by the fruit cakes.
We as animal producers should never allow do gooders to stop any animal production. In my opinion if we allow one type of animal to be restricted like this it will soon be our animals we are fighting for.

[FawnMommyx3.5]

They're attacking Ohio right now too. The bill includes no gestation crates for sows, no veal crates, chickens must be able to stretch their wings and not touch anything. Pigs, calfs, and chicken must be able to move freely, lay down, and fully extend all limbs without restrictions. And to get all this to pass and look like a welfare thing they're including that all animal for food must be able to walk and stand, and that cows and pigs must be killed in a way approved by the AVMA, and that strangulation is specifically prohibited.

Sadly what a lot of people don't realize is that HSUS isn't the same as your local humane society. I see people come into vet clinics all the time saying they donated to HSUS and think that they just donated to an animal welfare organization, not an animal right organization. And there's an even bigger group that can't distinguish between animal right and animal welfare.

[acutting]

I believe that the HSUS is interconnected with PETA on many levels (I can't verify that but I'm pretty sure) They actually have a website devoted to stopping canned hunting. So in my opinion ANYTHING they promote is bad even if it looks good on the outside. Either way this is a bad thing all around. Its up the to US public whether we want to end "puppy mills" or not and it should be decided through the capitalistic manner of the good old American dollar. If the public is against them they will stop buying puppies from puppy mills and they will go away naturally. Some bill won't fix this issue. Just because they are told they can only have 50 females doesn't mean anything. So they can only have 50 females at this facility they'll have two facilities or whatever. So vote this down and let a capitalistic society do what it does.

You are right FawnMommy HSUS is not the same thing as your Local humane society. Big difference just using the name to disquise themselves.

[FawnMommyx3.5]

PETA and HSUS are connected on so many levels they're basically 2 divisions of the same organization.

Unfortunately its tactics like the name and disguising the rights stuff with welfare stuff that gives HSUS their power. People recognize PETA as animal right. They connect the words "humane society" with helping animals get away from abuse and being adopted out like at their local shelter, so they assume HSUS is the same program just on the national level. A lot of people make the same association mistake with the ASPCA. They assume everything with SPCA is the same organization and its not. The ASPCA is only in New York. Their shelter and hospital in in NY. If you give money to them you help out NY, not your local SPCA. Granted a lot of animal welfare advocacy comes from them so you're still supporting welfare on a national level, but it doesn't directly benefit the local SPCA like people think. And even the ASPCA has some things they say that make me cringe. Animal Precinct on Animal Planet offers a very limited picture of them.

All the celebrities that support HSUS makes things worse. I wish that some of these celebrities were making the same mistake of thinking that they're donating to their local humane society, but you know they know what they're doing. And people follow celebrities so closely it gives PETA/HSUS a lot more monetary support than they might not have otherwise.

Part of the problem with puppy mills is that they supply a good percentage of pet stores with puppies. People buy them from the store never thinking where they come from. Or they buy them from the mill to "rescue" them. They might rescue one, but they just gave money to support the mill so it can continue its practices.

[ANTLER VALLEY]

Had that bill in Montana last year. It got milked down so at the end it would have only applied to ten large dog breeders or pet stores that sold dogs in the State. It was only a way to produce money for the State by taxing and licensing and punish a few people that were big in dog production. The bill is back in legislation again so it had an agenda for the future for something besides dogs.

Can you imagine any other animal producer being punished or restricted like this? It really is just a way to stop all animal breeding by the fruit cakes.
We as animal producers should never allow do gooders to stop any animal production. In my opinion if we allow one type of animal to be restricted like this it will soon be our animals we are fighting for.

Jack, I can imagine some other types of farms that could be hurt by this. I wean over 2200 pigs each week at the farm I manage-a largely crated farm. Crates were banned in most of Europe not so long ago (yes, I know that there are also states in our own union who have passed this just to appease the public) and they almost immediately fell by 2 PSY (Pigs/Sow/Year). Scares the heck out of me.

[Jack]

Part of the problem with puppy mills is that they supply a good percentage of pet stores with puppies. People buy them from the store never thinking where they come from. Or they buy them from the mill to "rescue" them. They might rescue one, but they just gave money to support the mill so it can continue its practices.[/QUOTE]

Nothing personal here but the use of negative terms like puppy mills, canned hunts are nothing more than a way to enrage the public for something we personally don't like.

Replace canned hunts for puppy mills and hunting facilities for pet stores and you see where I'm going with this. The problem I see is all dog producers are refereed to in a negative light even if they run the most humane, ethical business. The unformed public has no business voting this or any other business out of business on their emotion.

The animal business is under attack from people who really don't understand anything about animal care. Current laws will stop animal abuse if these laws are enforced. This Nation needs no more feel good laws just enforce the laws on the books.

To place an amount of animals the dog business can have really is not American. Cattle men who have 2000 head and supply food for the public are considered very successful but a dog producer who supplies pets to the public will be restricted and forced to stay small.

We in Montana were voted out of the hunting business in 2000 from negative terms like this and the fact we had on farm harvests. On farm harvests are the most humane method of death for animals raised for food. The public has no idea how animals are slaughtered for the food on their table. One of the most stupid ideas the the public bought into was the deer harvest facility didn't supply have fair chase to the deer. Antis and government just used the public to elliminated the industry in Montana.

What these people do to a small business like dog producers will go to the next smallest animal producer like the deer industry all the way up the line. We have to help all animal producers and let the laws on animal abuse weed out the bad producers. That is what the current laws are for. The new easy way government and antis are using is to eliminate the industry. Stand up for any animal producer and stop these people now or you will be next.

[FawnMommyx3.5]

To me a puppy mill and a dog breeder with a lot of dogs are two different things. When I say puppy mill I think of unsanitary conditions with diseases running rampant, a lack of proper care and no regard for the animal's safety or well-being. Mother's being overbred and inbreeding is common. Its all about profit without regard to the animals. Whereas I see a breeder as paying attention to the quality of animal they're breeding and caring about the type of animal they produce. If they run their operation in an ethical way I see no reason to interfere. But the public never hears about the ethical operations. They only see the mills and think that all big breeders are like that when they aren't. It helps get legislation passed to stop the mill type operations, but it destroys the quality operations too. They do it with all types of species, and unfortunately, it works.




"The unformed public has no business voting this or any other business out of business on their emotion.The animal business is under attack from people who really don't understand anything about animal care."

You hit the nail on the head right there!!

[Bill]

The Missouri Whitetail Breeders and Hunting Ranch Association is aware of this legislation. Our state lobbyist is working against this as we speak. From talking with the Missouri Dept of Agriculture this week, they are also against this legislation. I recommend to any animal producer to contact their State Representative and State Senator and let them know that you are against this legislation.

Bill Pittenger
President Missouri Whitetail Breeders and Hunting Ranch Association