Please Tell Me How This Happens..........

Rep. Jason Smith, who's gutting the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act, happens to be the son of dog breeders

By Peter Rugg

Jason Smith's family makes money on the dog breeding that voters want regulated.
​Well, this is a funny coincidence. Earlier this week, Missouri's House Agriculture Committee unanimously agreed on a bill that completely guts the voter-approved Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act. The committee felt that Missouri's residents just weren't educated enough to really understand how providing things like "necessary veterinary care" or removing "feces" from drinking water would be bad for dog breeders.

That committee hearing was unique because the bill's leading proponent, Rep. Jason Smith, sat in and argued for it even though he wasn't actually a member of the committee. As the majority whip, the Salem Republican can get in on any committee he wants at any time as an ex officio member. But you know what's even weirder? It turns out that Smith's mom owns a puppy mill outside Salem! Isn't that funny?

I know what you're thinking: "Wow. That is a crazy coincidence." It gets even crazier!

You know how the bill, which Smith is leading the charge to gut, is supposed to prevent unsanitary conditions and animal cruelty? Well, get this. Smith's mom, kennel owner Mary Ann Smith, was actually cited by the Humane Society of the United States as one of the 12 worst puppy mills in the state last year, or "Missouri's Dirty Dozen." The Humane Society report said Smith's operation had a history of repeatedly violating USDA regulations for more than a decade. Citations included "unsanitary conditions; dogs exposed to below-freezing temperatures or excessive heat without adequate shelter from the weather; dogs without enough cage space to turn and move around freely; pest and rodent infestations; injured and bleeding dogs, dogs with loose bloody stools who had not been treated by a vet."

Loose bloody stools, and not treated by a vet. Huh. It really is a small world, isn't it?

Surely none of this has in, any way, influenced his decision to completely ignore the will of the voters in a lawful election. Life's just funny sometimes.

Do you think this could be the truck he drives ???