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Monday, March 09, 2009

Ind. Law - "Fur flies in legislatures over dog-breeding rules"

Niki Kelly and Sylvia A. Smith of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette have a lengthy and wide-ranging story today on regulation of dog breeders in Indiana and nationwide. S ome quotes:

In states throughout the country – including Indiana – a battle about how and where dogs are bred, or even whether breeding should be ended, is playing out in legislatures with an emotional intensity akin to that of abortion or gun laws. * * *

"It's just a nightmare," said Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, who is authoring a bill that, for the first time, would regulate dog breeders and the people who sell them in Indiana. "I've been called everything imaginable including an animal abolitionist. Does anybody even know what that is?"

Lawson said the only time she has received this much feedback was when she voted against a resolution banning marriage between same-sex couples.

Lawmakers have been deluged with e-mails, letters, phone calls – and even a few threats.

Indiana House Bill 1468 passed the House 80-14 and is under consideration in the Senate. It would require people who breed and sell dogs to register with the state, restrict breedable dogs to 30 or fewer, limit how often female dogs whelp and offer buyers their money back if a dog is diseased. * * *

At least 17 other states are considering similar legislation. National organizations are helping state activists frame the issue, often in emotional terms.

"It's a business like any other," said Ledy VanKavage, a member of the American Bar Association's animal law committee and senior legislative analyst for Best Friends Animal Society, which supports laws to regulate breeders. "And like any other business, it needs to be regulated, especially when these animals go into your home and sleep with your children."

The story explores all viewpoints. A side-bar provides the details of House Bill 1468.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 9, 2009 09:33 AM
Posted to Indiana Law