Last night I sat by the TV watching the election results come in. But unlike most people I was more interested in Missouri’s Proposition B than in the Senate and House races.

So what is Propostion B? The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act is a set of enforceable standards for large-scale dog breeding businesses in the state of Missouri.

There are over 3000 puppy mills in Missouri, giving the state the nickname of the “Puppy Mill Capitol Of America.” Combined, they have almost 200,000 breeding dogs that produce a million puppies annually. 35 to 40% of all pet store pups are from Missouri. If you buy a dog from a pet store, you have a one in three chance of getting a pup from Missouri.

Many dogs in these puppy mills get no break between breeding, get no exercise, and have to spend their lives in a small wired cage, that many times, is shared with a few more dogs and stacked on top of other cages with dogs in them. They are generally malnourished, live in their own filth and are more susceptible to being sick.

To be fair, they aren’t all like this, but most are. They show little regard for the welfare of man’s best friend in their pursuit of profit. And that is what makes me a supporter of Prop B. I’m all in favor of capitalism. I’m a fan of big and small business. It’s one of the things that made this the greatest country in the world. I get it. I respect it.

But when you are dealing, day in and day out, with one of the most social and loving animals on the planet, you HAVE to be held to a greater standard than the company down the road making baseball cards.

I mean, let’s be serious. We, the human race, created dogs. They wouldn’t exist without us and many scientists think we might not have made it out of our lioncloths without the aid we received in return from our No. 1 buddy. Our furry best friends helped us feed our families. They warned our village of danger in exchange for our leftovers. They kept us warm at night before the advent of central heating and babysat our children when we were out in the fields.

Dogs deserve better than what they have received from Missouri Puppy Mills.

Is Prop B the answer to all our prayers? No. But it is a start. It sets up new requirements including increasing the cage space for dogs, having solid floors instead of dogs living on the wires of their cage, mandatory veterinary care once a year, better, more nutritious food and clean drinking water, etc. It will also allow the hiring of two more enforcement agents.

Is it the end of Puppy Mills? No to that also. But it is a way to let the Puppy Mill industry know that we will not put up with the mistreatment of America’s best friend and loving family member. Today, with the passing of Prop B, we all have a little something to be proud of.

Now, you’ll probably see comments here about how Prop B is bad and how Missouri already has enough laws about the treatment of dogs in puppy mills. How the next, evil step for the Humane Society of the United States is to take your doggie’s away from you. Regrettably, there is a powerful machine behind this. The Meat Industry. The Hunting industry. They almost won last night with all their “Vote No On Prop B” commercials in which the Missouri public was informed that first it’s the dogs, next it’s the cows.

Of course, none of these doomday scenarios will come to pass. This is solely about dogs. It is very clear in the text of the act. Please read it here to see for yourself.

In full disclosure, I eat meat, have no issue with responsible hunters who eat what they catch and believe in the rights to bear arms. So I’m anything but a militaristic animal rights person. I don’t think dogs should have more rights than humans, I just think that humans should have a bit more love, care and respect for dogs.

Naysayers will come and naysayers will go, but I will always stand with the hounds. While there is so much more needed, we all have something to be proud of today.

Let’s work hard to get other states to follow suit.

Because the people of Missouri did the right thing yesterday, the dogs of Missouri can breathe a tiny sigh of relief today.

Kenn Bell
Dog Files Creator