Thank you!!! At the last minute, Rep. Lawson got Sen. Steele to sign off on many conditions that she’d previously given away. He just got too greedy, and Indiana residents let him, and the governor, and the Republican Party know how they felt about it. Thanks to everyone who called, we are one step closer to getting puppy mills out of Indiana!!!
The following is from an article from the Indianapolis Star, by Bill Ruthhart and Mary Beth Schneider. http://www.indystar.com/article/20090430/NEWS0501/904300464/1304/LOCAL
Dog breeders
Capping one of the more emotional debates of the session, lawmakers passed legislation strengthening the state's animal-abuse laws and, for the first time in Indiana, regulating commercial breeders.
The Senate voted 44-4 to pass House Bill 1468, and the House soon after voted 99-0 to support the measure.
Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, had pushed for a provision that would prohibit local communities from enforcing their own stricter laws on breeders, a move objected to by the bill's author, Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond.
But Steele and Lawson managed to reach a compromise, allowing stricter local ordinances as long as they are adopted before Jan. 1. After that point, no new local regulations for breeders would be allowed.
The legislation also will stiffen the state's animal-cruelty laws, allowing prosecutors and law enforcement officials to crack down on abusive commercial breeders, also known as puppy mills.
Under current law, owners are required only to provide their pets with food and water. HB 1468 would make it illegal to beat and torture a dog, inhumanely kill a dog or fail to provide a dog with reasonable medical care.
The bill also would allow the attorney general to prosecute abusive breeders, require breeders to register with the state and set care standards that would require dogs to receive daily exercise and prohibit breeders from using wire cages without flooring to protect the animals' feet.
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