Animal welfare advocates warn Missouri bill protects state’s puppy mill industry

Andrea Johnson said that when she volunteers at a local Kansas City animal shelter, she sees the impact of puppy mills that have proliferated across Missouri.

Dogs that are unethically bred will come to the shelter with health and behavioral problems. And many don’t survive, she said.

Johnson, who lives in Gladstone, doesn’t want Missouri lawmakers to pass a bill that she says will protect shops that buy from those facilities.

“Missouri has had the reputation as the puppy mill capital,” Johnson told The Star. “We are just coming out from underneath that reputation as the puppy mill capital and we’re dealing with shelters that are at crisis capacity…it’s galling to see legislation like this in search of a problem.”

Animal welfare groups fear that legislation passed by the Missouri House this week would weaken local governments’ abilities to crack down on pet shops that work with large-scale inhumane breeders known as puppy mills.

The bill, filed by state Rep. Ben Baker, a Neosho Republican, would ban Missouri cities and counties from passing laws to prohibit pet shops amid a national crackdown on puppy mills. After passing the House on a mostly party-line vote of 96 to 56, the bill now heads to the Senate where lawmakers are considering similar legislation.

It’s backed by Petland, the largest retail company that sells puppies in the U.S. The company, which is based in Ohio, hired five Missouri lobbyists just after the legislative session began in January.

The legislation comes as Missouri leads the nation in the number of problematic puppy breeders and dealers with 26 mills scattered across the state. The Show-Me State has topped an annual list of worst dog breeders in the country for the past decade, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

While no Missouri cities appear to be considering bans, states such as Illinois, New York, California and Washington have banned the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in retail pet stores to curtail shops that stock up on animals bred in puppy mills.

Elizabeth Kunzelman, Petland’s vice president of legislative and public affairs, said in a statement to The Star that Petland sources all of its puppies from USDA licensed breeders and adheres to local, state and federal regulations.

“Animal rights activists push retail pet sale bans to eliminate ‘puppy mills.’ But after passing pet store bans, California, New York, and Illinois are seeing an increase in reports of online scams and pet fraud,” Kunzelman said. “Unfortunately, puppy mills are doing more business than ever in those states.”

However, Petland has been cited at its Houston store for violating a local ordinance that prohibits the sale of puppies in pet stores, according to citations obtained by The Star.

Baker told lawmakers this week that his bill wouldn’t change any current regulations or laws regarding animal care.

“This just says you can’t regulate a pet shop out of business,” he said.

Baker framed his legislation as a way to protect animals. He said that if cities and counties were able to shut down pet shops, it would allow black market sales of animals to thrive.

But animal welfare groups view the legislation as a way to protect the state’s puppy mills. They say the bill would prevent local governments from enforcing laws or regulations on pet shops, including health ordinances.

“We see that stripping local control over these entities is going to have a chilling effect on reporting,” said Cody Atkinson, the Missouri state director of the Humane Society of the United States. “If a city is so petrified at the risk of litigation, they may not run it up the chain. So we just see a potential chilling effect that could bolster our already egregious puppy mill industry.”

Atkinson pointed directly to concerns about Petland’s links to puppy mills and dog breeders. An investigation posted on the Humane Society’s website alleges that the store regularly sells sick puppies while deceiving customers into believing the dogs they sell are raised humanely.

As part of the investigation, Humane Society investigators went undercover at eight Petland stores in Texas, Florida, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, Virginia and Kentucky between the fall of 2018 and November 2019.

The investigation found sick puppies at all eight stores, including animals with seizures and infections. It also found dead animals — mostly puppies and bunnies — in freezers at five stores “indicating Petland sometimes lets sick and injured animals die in its stores rather than seeking veterinary care.”

While there are Missouri laws intended to crack down on puppy mills, regulation is lacking, Atkinson said. Bad breeders are often able to deny inspections dozens of times. And if a puppy mill operator is faced with a fine, the operator can usually offset that fine with the sale of a few dogs.

“It is exorbitantly expensive and difficult to shut down bad actors,” he said.

State Rep. Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat, told lawmakers this week that puppy mills were the No. 1 reason why Baker’s bill exists. She said that while she hopes companies like Petland source their animals from reputable breeders, pet shops that are faced with high demand turn to puppy mills for supply.

“This bill is trying to make it so that a company like Petland can operate with impunity in any municipality, getting their supply from whomever they would like,” she said. “Because that’s how they stay in business.”

State Rep. LaDonna Appelbaum, a St. Louis Democrat, became emotional on the House floor this week when talking about her dog. She said she couldn’t imagine her dog being forced to be pregnant over and over at one of the state’s puppy mills.

“It’s a damn fact that this state is cruel to animals,” she said. “I will be voting no.”