Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon dropped by the Humane Society of Missouri today to pet a few pooches and pledge that the state will strongly enforce laws governing animal breeding.
Nixon and his wife, Georganne, visited the Society's headquarters and shelter at 1201 Macklind Avenue, just south of Forest Park.
Humane Society workers gave him a tour of the kennels, veterinarian wing and their adoption center.
They also showed off a few of the dogs that the center recently received in an animal rescue in Daviess County in northwestern Missouri. The Nixons took turns holding one of the little dogs, and were surrounded by cameras.
Nixon then took the podium in the adoption center atrium to praise the Society and promise strong enforcement. He said his administration recently created a reporting system, known as Operation Bark Alert that allows people to report to the state Agriculture Department the locations of suspected unlawful breeders.
"We will work diligently to make sure that the laws are enforced," Nixon said to the loud applause of Humane Society workers and volunteers.
Nixon said his administration plans to spend this year enforcing Missouri's 1992 animal breeding law and decide whether to ask the Missouri legislature next year for any changes. Bills to shutdown so-called "puppy mills" periodically are introduced in Jefferson City, but have met with no success. The lone bill filed to that effect this year has little chance of passage.
The Humane Society considers Missouri to be one of the nation's more notorious havens for unlicensed animal breeders.
Nixon was quick to offer a dog story of his own, opening his remarks by saying that the family Spaniel, Daniel Boone, was back at the governor's mansion. "I bring regards from Daniel Boone, who could not make the trip," he said.
The tale of the Daviess County pups began unfolding on March 30, when a sheriff’s deputy answered a call about a loose and agitated chimpanzee outside Winston, a small town near Interstate 35 about 60 miles north of Kansas City. He shot and killed the chimp after it grabbed his leg. The deputy went inside the home and was repulsed by what he saw and smelled.
He and other deputies saw and heard at least 100 dogs, three more primates and a few cats. They saw and smelled feces all over the two-story home.
Two days later, deputies and members of the Humane Society went back with a warrant, but found only 15 dogs and two cats. Asked where the others were, the homeowners just shrugged and said they were somewhere safe.
News reports of the missing dogs soon led to telephone tips, and Tim Rickey of the Humane Society went to Kansas City to meet two local breeders, who turned over the remaining 102 dogs. Rickey drove them back to St. Louis on April 3 in the society’s 26-foot rescue trailer.
Rickey and dogs were met by a passel of photographers and reporters, who splashed video of the rescued pups across local TV screens all weekend long.
On Monday, a judge in Daviess County gave the original find of 15 dogs and two cats to the county sheriff, who transferred custody to the Humane Society. A hearing is set for April 16 in Kansas City on the fate of the other 102 dogs.
Jeanne Jae, society spokeswoman, said staff members are preparing the animals for adoption, but aren’t ready yet.
The Nixon administration’s new Operation Bark Alert is administered through the state agriculture department, which set up a new website so people could write in their reports of suspected abusive animal-breeding operations. Nixon’s office says that more than 1,300 dogs have been seized since the operation began.
The Missouri Legislature periodically considers bills to strengthen animal-breeding laws, to no avail. Earlier this decade, those efforts even drew backlash in the form of bills to create the felony of photographing animals in breeding operations without written consent. Those bills also failed in 2002 and 2003, but they indicate the extent of opposition.
This year, the Illinois Legislature is considering bills to add new requirements for breeding animals for sale.
