Indiana bill could reduce animal cruelty

Many Indiana citizens are fighting for animal rights in support of a new bill that could reduce animal cruelty and puppy mills.

If passed, the bill would put new laws into place strictly defining animal cruelty as well as strengthen penalties for people convicted.

State Representative Linda Lawson, who brought the bill before the Indiana House of Representatives, said current Indiana laws state that one can only be convicted of animal cruelty by neglecting to provide food or water.

Many Indiana residents said the reason for the large number of puppy mills in Indiana could be that current laws are too relaxed.

“Indiana has become a hotbed for puppy mills,” CEO of the Monroe County Humane Association Sarah Hayes said.

Puppy mills are mass breeding facilities that produce puppies for sale in pet stores, over the Internet and directly to customers.

The operations commonly house animals in overcrowded, filthy conditions with inadequate shelter and lack of socialization or human companionship, animal rights activists have said.

Hayes said at one house they found a dog dead and frozen to the sidewalk, but no one could be convicted for abuse because food and water were not denied.

Lawson said according to the Indiana Department of Animal Welfare, there are between 800 and 1,500 puppy mills in Indiana. In those puppy mills are anywhere between 100 and 700 dogs each.

Hays said there are puppy mills all over the state, and you could be close to one and have no idea it is there.

“It is like raising soy beans or carrots,” Lawson said. “They are seen as a product.”

The bill passed the Indiana House of Representatives with a landslide 81-14 vote and will now go before the Senate. If the Senate passes the bill, it will then be put before the governor, who will either sign the bill or veto it.

Lawson said there has been a lot of confusion about the bill, and many people think it is going after any person who breeds dogs, which Lawson said is not true. Lawson said the law is going after any person who treats animals inhumanely.

Hayes said she agreed.

“If you are a reputable breeder, you are not going to have over 30 dogs,” Hayes said. “They have much higher standards when it comes to their dogs.”

If passed, the bill would expand Indiana’s animal cruelty statute from just neglecting food and water to neglecting shelter and medical care. Also, anyone convicted of animal cruelty would no longer be allowed to own a pet. Not only does the bill provide stricter animal cruelty laws, it’s also cracking down on puppy mills.

All large-scale breeders would not be allowed to have more than 30 breeding dogs older than one year, and dogs would only be allowed to breed one litter per year. Mills would also have to give dogs ample exercise outside their cages and facilities, consistently clean the cages, and construct the cages to protect dogs from disease and injury and have sufficient heating, cooling and ventilation.

“Shelter can’t be a barn where it is freezing cold in the winter and so hot they can’t breathe in the summer,” Lawson said.

Local pet store owners are also backing the bill and said they want all puppy mills to be put in check.

Delilah’s Pet Shop owner Karene Kidwell said she has been to see some of the Amish puppy mills. She said some are nice and the dogs are out playing with people, but others can be bad.

“There are a whole lot of Amish people who do a good job,” Kidwell said. “But there are a whole lot who don’t.”

Lawson urges anyone who supports the bill to contact his or her Indiana senator and vocalize concerns.

“I think anyone who loves animals needs to get involved,” Lawson said.