Ohio anti-puppy mill proposal moves forward; impact on bird dog breeding unknown

A big hurdle has been surmounted regarding an Ohio constitutional amendment affecting the business of breeding dogs.

Called the “Ohio Puppy Prevention Amendment,” the initiative petition was certified by the Ohio Attorney General as having met certain legal criteria. This criteria contained both the necessary 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters and a “fair and truthful” summary of the proposal, said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.

By accepting the filing from attorneys representing “Stop Puppy Mills Ohio,” the Ohio Attorney General has green-lighted the next step, which will mean petitioners have their work cut out for them. They will have to meet various voter signature-gathering requirements in order to place their agenda before Ohio’s voters, likely in 2018. That is the target date the “Stop” group states on its web site.

Ohio has often been cited by animal rights organizations as being a hotbed of of the so-called “puppy mill” business, defined in a 1984 Minnesota court case as “a dog breeding operation in which the health of the dogs is disregarded in order to maintain a low overhead and maximize profits.”

It is estimated by some animal rights groups that as many as 10,000 licensed and unlicensed puppy mills produce about two million canines annually in the United States with a 2004 estimate of 4,000 dogs born in Ohio.

However, calls in the past for crackdowns on the so called “puppy mill” issue has met some resistance from legitimate bird-dog and houndsman enthusiasts. They fear that a too broadly written law could very well hurt their small and specialized operations that typically involve only one or a few pure-bred female dogs.

As for his duties as Attorney General in regards to this petition, DeWine says:

“Without passing upon the advisability of the approval or rejection of the measure to be referred, but pursuant to the duties imposed upon the Attorney General’s Office I hereby certify that the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed law.”

DeWine said also that once the summary language and initial signatures are certified, the Ohio Ballot Board must determine if the amendment contains a signle issue or multiple issues.

That requirement is vital. The reason being is that petitioners must then collect signatures for each issue from registered voters in each of 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, equal to five percent of the total vote in the county for the office of governor during the immediately previous gubernatorial election.

Total signatures collected statewide must also equal 10 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election, DeWine said.

In other words, more than 305,000 signatures will be needed.

The petitioner’s summary is lengthy and detailed. They also claim that the proposed ballot language will exempt so-called “hobbyist breeders.” This term is defined by the petitioners as keeping seven or fewer unspayed female dogs.

Also exempt are those persons who sell 15 or fewer dogs in the state each year.

However, the requirements as stipulated for the generic term “puppy mill” are rigorous. They include defining the parameters of care, how often dogs are to be fed, continuous access to potable water that is “free of contaminants,” access to veterinarian care, sheltering, exercise, and “socialization.”

It even states how many times a “puppy mill”-eligible female dog can be breed: no more than twice in any 18-month period and no more than six times in a female dog’s lifetime.

Many of the demands are quite specific and includes where dogs can be sold. They include animal shelters, animal rescue centers, legally defined hobbyist breeders, and those commercial breeders who are compliant with the proposed Ohio constitutional amendment, should it ultimately be placed on a near future ballot and after it has met all of the initiative petition requirements.

The full text of today’s letter and the amendment petition submitted by the attorneys for “Stop Puppy Mills Ohio” can be found at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/Petitions.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net