The Michigan Legislature has been on summer recess since June. Advocates were able to respond to a push to pass the “Puppy Mill Bills” (HR 5916 and 5917, described below) which would both approve the sale of puppy mill puppies in pet shops and pre-empt local government efforts to regulate the practice. We will continue our efforts to prevent a vote in the House this fall.
Meanwhile, we’ve been watching with concern possible Congressional actions:
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the King Amendment to the Farm Bill could negate many state and local animal welfare, public health and safety, and environmental laws, by forcing states to authorize the sale of “any agricultural product,” broadly defined, that is not prohibited under federal law. It’s a race to the bottom: all states would be forced to accept the practices established by the state with the lowest standards no matter how unsafe or harmful it is. Read our list of Michigan laws that could be on the chopping block if the King Amendment becomes law.
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efforts to weaken, and even re-write, the Endangered Species Act. A draft circulating would revise the Act to make it harder to list a species, require more state input (thereby creating a patchwork rather than national approach), and devaluing science.
