Puppy Mills and TX Legislation

This year in the Texas Legislature there was a bill introduced (House Bill 3180) to provide some initial, minimal degree of regulations on people in the business of puppy mills. The bill passed the House of Representatives with some amendments on it which would have weakened the bill but we had hoped to change that when the bill went to the Senate. When the bill got to the TX Senate, it was assigned to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. When it was to be heard in committee, four Senators on the committee indicated they would oppose the bill which would have prevented it from being brought before the full Senate for consideration. This was a total surprise as we had no previous indication these Senators would oppose the bill. After some investigation, we learned that the TEXAS VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION opposed the bill and convinced these four Senators to oppose the bill.

I was shocked as the TVMA had not indicated any opposition to the bill when it was in the House. I spoke with their lobbyist as well as the president of the TVMA to try to work out any issues they had with the bill. They gave no reason for their opposition except to say, "their members didn’t favor the bill." They refused to sit down with the bill sponsors or anyone else to work out a compromise or substitute bill. It was so late in the session, there was not enough time to do much more since they were going to block the bill from being heard.

So, I suggest the next time you see your veterinarian, you let them know your position on puppy mills and your feelings about the veterinarians of Texas supporting the continuation of puppy mills in Texas without any regulation. It all came down to a money issue with the vets.

It is amazing to me that in this state, there is regulation of your hairdresser/barber, pest control service, lawn service, plumbers, etc. but nothing on those who indiscriminately breed animals in horrid health conditions for profit.

If you would like to know more in detail about the original bill and what it entailed, don’t hesitate to let me know and give me your phone # so I can answer any questions as we go along. You can email me at SSCavaliers2@aol.com

Posted by Sheila Simmons

It was truly a sad day in Texas who continues to remain "animal Unfriendly" in its actions at the State Capitol.