by Martin Mathen 

•   

Last November, Missouri voters narrowly passed Proposition B, a statewide referendum designed to crack down on cruel and negligent dog breeding in a state that has been labeled the puppy mill capital of the United States. Prop B is a necessary and important law, and it was approved by a majority of the voters, after they had been exposed to millions of dollars of advertising on both sides of the issue.

Proposition B wouldn't have been a win for animal advocates without the hard work of thousands of volunteers, activists, and members of animal protection groups. The coalition that organized support for Proposition B, Missourians for the Protection of Dogs, included the Humane Society of Missouri, the Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation, the ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, Animal Rescue Foundation, and the Humane Society of the United States. They worked hard to get Missouri on board with animal protection.

Proposition B ought to be a done deal, but it isn't. Enter Missouri State Senator Bill Stouffer, who last month filed a bill to repeal Proposition B lock, stock and barrel.

I'll explain his reasoning, then we can mock it together. Basically, in Stouffer's world, Prop B passed, but he doesn't much care for the people who voted it in. The referendum passed in November largely on the strength of urban and suburban voters, while rural voters generally voted against it. According to Stouffer, the fact that rural voters overwhelmingly opposed Prop B is reason enough to scrap the whole thing. Or, to put a finer point on it, Bill Stouffer believes that if you live in the city, your vote ought to be worth less than if you live out on the farm.

To hear Stouffer tell it, he's just listening to his constituents, but it's not outside the bounds of credibility to wonder if he's been listening to some of the pro-puppy mill propagandists. You know, the guys who compared Prop B to "Obamacare" and further compared puppy mills to apartment buildings. As we know, the pro-cruelty crowd just can't take a fair loss without whining, and they've wanted to repeal this thing ever since they realized that they blew several million bucks on TV ads for a losing campaign.

Perhaps instead of listening to the bankrolls behind this particular political football, Stouffer ought to listen to the legions of grassrootsy types who spent countless hours organizing voters to do the right thing by dogs in Missouri. Better yet, he ought to listen to the majority of the voters who said they were ready for change. It doesn't matter whether they live in a cornfield or a cul de sac. Democracy wins, or at least it ought to.

There's one last irony about this that you ought to think about before you take action. One big argument against Proposition B as policy is that it's another example of unnecessary government regulation. (It isn't, and there are a few million abused breeding dogs in Missouri who would probably agree.) To its opponents, Proposition B is all about the government taking power away from citizens.

But what could be a bigger power grab than repealing a law passed directly by a majority of the voters? Bill Stouffer probably doesn't have an answer to that one.

Photo credit: abbynormy

Martin Matheny is a political consultant and animal welfare writer based in Athens, Georgia