VIDEO: Iowa Senate sends pet protection legislation to the governor

State Senator Matt McCoy’s closing statement and the final vote count on HF 2280, a bill designed to better protect pets and pet owners from irresponsible pet breeders won final approval tonight in the Iowa Senate.

Last fall the bipartisan Care of Animals in Commercial Enterprises Study Committee unanimously recommended that state inspectors begin inspecting USDA-licensed dog breeders in response to complaints.

State action is needed because the USDA doesn’t have enough inspectors to get the job done. This legislation solves that problem by modestly and responsibly raising fees on pet breeders—currently just $20 a year—to fund state inspectors from the Iowa Department of Agriculture.

Iowa has more than 20,000 dogs in breeding operations, making our state home to the nation’s third largest dog breeding industry. Yet we still haven’t followed the lead of our neighbors—Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska—which already provide state inspection of USDA-licensed breeders.

This new legislation will:

• Empower state agriculture inspectors to investigate complaints at Iowa’s federally licensed facilities.
• Increase penalties for unlicensed facilities and violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act
• Require continuing education for breeders with violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
• Increase enforcement of uncollected sales tax on the sale of dogs and cats.

By cracking down on the bad actors in the industry, we’ll help responsible breeders and protect pet owners by making sure all companion animals raised in Iowa are healthy and safe.