From News-Leader.com Springfield, MO
Exhibit highlights puppy mill problem
Traveling show aims to educate potential canine owners.
Ashley Wiehle • News-Leader • September 11, 2008
Say "puppy mill" and most people will envision a hunched-over dog with matted hair sitting in a too-small cage.
Organizers of "Misery in Missouri," an art exhibit at the Pool Art Center at Drury University, are trying to show the plight of puppy mills through paintings and photographs created by Missouri artists.
Sponsored by the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation, the traveling exhibit runs through Friday before it heads to its next space in Columbia.
Organizers scrapped the violent imagery often associated with a "puppy mill" in favor of pictures that illustrate the problem in a more subtle way.
Animals purchased from pet stores are often cute, cuddly puppies that come with no socialization and undetected health problems from puppy mills, said Kris Hegle, who helped facilitate the exhibit.
"We've gone out of our way to make this family-friendly," Hegle said. "That way, when you see that pretty dog on the Internet or in the pet store, you can think about what you're supporting."
A puppy mill is a term used for commercial dog breeding facilities that are known for cramming many dogs into small cages without providing adequate attention or health care.
Organizers hope the message will be particularly pertinent in the Show-Me State, where such operations have repeatedly been criticized by the animal-rights community.
"Missouri has the sad distinction of being one of the leading sources of puppy mills in the United States," said Patricia McEachern, director of the Drury University Forum on Animal Rights. "Puppy mills cause enormous suffering to dogs."
Alliance officials hope the display will raise awareness among those who might be unaware of how puppy mills operate.
"This is kind of neat for us, because we do legislation and this puts a face on our issue," said Julie Leicht, executive director of the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation.
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Unique Art Exhibit Focuses on Missouri's Puppy Mills
Reported by: Rob Evans
Friday, Sep 12, 2008 @06:53am CST
An art exhibit wraps up Friday on Drury's campus. Pictures, painting, and sculptures - all hoping to bring attention to Missouri's puppy mill problem.
"A lot people see the cute dog," says Kris Hegle, a volunteer coordinator for Misery Missouri Art Exhibit. "What they don't see is the mom at the mill, hair covered, no teeth, suffering miserable existence. A lot of these animals are never taken out of their cages except to give birth. Feces, you're in bad shape. Dogs have lost their teeth, webbing on their feet because they've been walking on wires their entire lives."
Volunteer Kay Powell says the treatment of some animals is horrible. "Awful. Terrible. It's inhumane. The people who do this will do it for children, as well. It's an inhumane treatment of a living thing."
"Here's a dog with a droopy tongue," says Hegle, pointing to a picture. "He lost his teeth. In order for you to lose your teeth, this is what you see in a puppy mill." And, Hegle says, they're seeing more and more of those puppy mills. "Right now, we have three times more puppy mills than any other state."
Hegle says the state needs to do a better job of inspecting animal shelters. The animal care facilities act requires the state to inspect all facilities every year. But according to a recent audit, only 40 percent of commercial dog-breeding facilities were being inspected.
"So if you want to set up an operation that's not going to be inspected," says Hegle, "come to Missouri."
Dr. Jerry Eber is with Missouri's Department of Agriculture. He's one of those people responsible for inspecting animal facilities. "They have their interests, and their interest probably doesn't reflect the average citizen. I'm disappointed, and take umbrage we're not getting the job done because we're doing it. For the resources we have available, we have 3,000 licensees, that number is intimidating, they have to get to 250 sights a year to get their job done. I'll be the first to say we aren't getting 100 percent of them covered, but we are doing an adequate job. We focus our energy on unlicensed activity and the problem kennels."
If Missouri is the puppy mill capital, then the Ozarks is sitting on Main street. Barry County alone has 126 animal facilities registered, Wright County has 118. According to Eber, the high numbers are due to the inspection process itself.
"Missouri is the only state that has a state inspection program that this extent," says Eber. "If you call Ohio, you can't get it. Call California, they don't do this."
All in all, Eber says, the odds of extremely good that any puppy you buy in this state did not come from a so-called puppy mill.
"You can rest assured, 99 percent are from good kennels that are regulated in Missouri. If you go to the pet store in Springfield, we know where it came from, we can dig up the documents to prove it."
Tonight from 6:00-9:00 pm, event organizers are hosting a fundraising reception at Drury's art gallery.
It'll be the last chance for area residents to check out the paintings, before the event moves to Columbia.
For more information on the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation, visit the group's web site HERE
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Editorial from the Columbia Tribune
Puppy mills breed misery in state
By MARY PAULSELL
Daisy was a purebred Shih Tzu who, for the first 11 years of her life, produced dozens of litters of cuddly puppies for sale by a Missouri dog breeder. "Retired" from her owner’s breeding stock, Daisy was adopted by a caring individual but lived only 15 months longer because of poor health and the harsh conditions she suffered in the puppy mill.
From behind a screen of chicken wire, Daisy’s face in a photograph longs for understanding and awareness. More than 40 smaller versions of the same photo frame the original portrait and stand testament to the millions of dogs produced without care or concern in the many filthy, overcrowded and poorly regulated pet breeding facilities throughout Missouri - so many, in fact, that Missouri has been christened the "puppy mill capital" of the United States.
This arresting work of art, along with nearly 40 others, will be displayed today through Sept. 25 during business hours in the gallery of Boone County National Bank, Eighth Street and Broadway. "Stopping Misery in Missouri" is an art exhibition to raise awareness about the problem of puppy mills in our state. An opening reception including refreshments and an opportunity to meet with representatives from the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the bank. Admission is $15 per person, $25 for two during the reception. Otherwise, the exhibition is free of charge.
There’s absolutely nothing shocking, graphic or upsetting in this collection. Rather, the art causes us to pause, think, consider … is this really Missouri? Our Missouri? Why isn’t someone doing something?
Someone is. MAAL, a private not-for-profit group of concerned individuals, has been working for several years to bring light to this problem as well as other gaps in Missouri law that affect the welfare of animals. MAAL is not a radical, militant or overly aggressive group. Instead, we work diligently with concerned lawmakers to ensure that animal welfare legislation is drafted and passed and that laws now on the books are enforced with consistency throughout the state.
"Stopping Misery in Missouri" is our first public event in Central Missouri. It is our hope that the exhibition exposes our caring community to one of the most serious challenges in our state - the tendency of some to think of animals only as property for barter and not companions for life.
In our state, the Department of Agriculture is responsible for inspecting pet-breeding facilities. According to state audits released in 2001, 2004 and 2008, the department is not meeting its obligation. In 2006, the department failed to inspect 40 percent of the known licensed commercial breeding facilities. This does not include many unlicensed pet breeding facilities that now evade registration. The problem grows unabated, partially because of the state’s lax enforcement and partially because of the economy, which has forced many people to find alternate ways to make money.
But the puppy mill problem is not just a humane issue. It also is an economic development and public health issue. Why would employers want to locate in a state with such flimsy laws and pale enforcement? Why would they want to move their businesses into communities where the homeless pet population - a direct result of unlicensed and unregulated pet breeding - continues to grow? How long can the public turn its back while unwanted animals are turned loose in cities and throughout the countryside to spread disease, breed randomly and become a public nuisance?
This is such an easy problem to solve. Other states have done it. In fact, many Eastern states have been so successful in curbing pet overpopulation that their pet stores and auctions frequently turn to Missouri for a steady supply of animals on which they can make a profit. Missouri is systematically supplying many regions of our nation with dogs. While that occurs, many wonderful pets are euthanized in our shelters every day.
Of course, our communities and our world have many challenges to solve. Many people will not consider this one pressing or even important. But they fail to see the connectedness we share in our obligation to care for our homes, neighborhoods and communities. The American Veterinary Medical Association describes animal welfare this way: "a human responsibility that encompasses all aspects of animal well-being, including proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling and, when necessary, humane euthanasia." Is that so much to ask of ourselves? Is that so much to ask of our state? To learn more, please join us at "Stopping Misery in Missouri."
Please join us in caring.
Mary Paulsell is a board member of the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation.
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