There are lots of reasons for us, as Ohioans, to take pride in our state. How animals are protected is not one of them. Ohio ranks 34th in the Nation in animal protection laws – from weak penalties for animal abuse to permitting a multi-million dollar puppy mill industry to prosper here virtually free of government oversight or regulation.
Within the last year, Ohio took its first steps toward regulating the state’s multi-million-dollar commercial dog breeding industry, more commonly known as puppy mills. Puppy mills refer to large-scale commercial breeding operations where dogs are kept in cages and used only for breeding — and they are bred as often as possible. Cages with wire flooring that cuts into soft feet are stacked one atop another in often airless barns, unheated in winter and stifling in summer. There is little human contact and no concern for hygiene as dogs live in their own excrement. They are neither exercised nor socialized, and veterinary care is minimal if it is provided at all. When puppy mill dogs can no longer produce litters, they are of no use. So they are shot, drowned or gassed to death.
You would be forgiven for thinking that the state legislature took strong measures to put an end to such treatment of “man’s best friend.” After all, it is the 21st century.
Unfortunately, you would be wrong…
