House ag committee tables dog and cat breeders license bill
The House Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Finance Committee this morning (March 27) tabled a bill by Rep. Tom Tillberry, DFL-Fridley, that sought to license cat and dog breeders in Minnesota not currently covered by federal law.
Supporters of the bill argued the bill was necessary because some cat and dog breeders operated without any oversight at all — and this is a big business, they argued.
They highlighted instances of animal cruelty.
But critics of the bill styled it poorly designed, questioned whether the state had money to implement it, and saw it as threatening hobby breeders.
Keith Streff, a Minnesota Humane Society investigator, said that he had been pushing for passage of the legislation for six years and joked that maybe the seventh would be the charm.
Streff thought opposition to the bill, besides focusing on a general dislike of licensing, didn’t focus on any one item. Indeed, Streff opined the opposition often seemed based on things not even in the bill.
“It’s dead,” he said of this year’s efforts to pass the bill.
