Yesterday, voters in Missouri passed legislation that is aimed at large scale breeding facilities. Is it perfect? No. Personally, I wish the restrictions were much tighter and the penalties greater. What disturbed me the most were the special interest groups that were flooding the media and the internet with false accusations. Many people in agriculture thought that this would somehow apply to farm animals, even though the proposition clearly spelled out "dog" in every legal way.
People on both sides of the issue continued to spread lies and exaggerations, while very few actually read the proposed legislation.
Sadly, the bill did not pass in a landslide... I was really hoping that Missouri legislators were going to get a wake up call about how Missouri feels about puppy mills. However, many people who are against puppy mills voted no, after hearing the scary and crazy propaganda like the ones that suggested if a crumb of food fell in your pet's water bowl, you would go to jail. I think many more people would have voted yes if they had just taken the time to read it, line by line.
At a recent dog show, a fellow agility enthusiast suprised me by saying "I do not back the legislation... I don't think the government has any business telling me what I can do with my dogs." Thankfully, I recovered from my shock fast enough to tell her, "that is probably what Michael Vick thinks as well."
As long as we have puppy mills, dog fighting, and people that mistreat their animals, we need legislation to limit the abuse. Thanks Missouri voters for getting us a step closer.
I mentioned in an earlier post that she wrestles with Ree a lot, I have to separate them every so often, just to give them both a break. But every day she gets faster and smarter, so it won't be long until Ree has her hands (paws) full. Well, if she stays with us that long.
I think this is a cute picture of them playing together, but honestly the only thing I can think of when I look at it is "why don't you put the camera down and clean your yard!"
Does it get any cuter than this? I don't think so...
Poor Ree will let the pup catch her once in a while, but you can tell she doesn't really enjoy it. She will let Killian maul her for a while and even bite a little... but once those teeth sink into Ree's ear or leg, Ree gives her a quick reprimand and Killian is back to her best behavior... for a little while.
Killian is still available for adoption through 
napped and looked sweet and innocent. By the end of the first day, she was racing around the back yard, wrestling with Ree, and even drug a big tennis shoe a couple feet before we noticed and traded for a toy. She is going to be very bold and tough. I have to stop the bigger dogs from playing rough with her, but she has never even whimpered... she gives it back to them as much as she can. 
