If Betty Dwiggins had known Proposition B would be on the ballot come November, she would not have retired from her day job. Proposition B, the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act, intends to prevent animal abuse. However, this law will thwart Betty’s plan to enjoy her twilight years operating the family business, Hometown Family Pets.

Hundreds of legitimate kennels are outraged at the scrutiny the act would enforce in Missouri, the country’s most prolific dog breeding state. “We have to live in fear” Betty says, arguing humane businesses like hers cannot continue operation when it would be a class C misdemeanor to have a piece of dog food fall into a water bowl, or when medications breeders have long administered themselves would have to be dispensed by veterinarians.

Betty and her employees believe their neighbors in Macon support their business, but fear voters in urban areas who have never seen a kennel firsthand will not consider the interests of humane breeders. Not only would the passage of Proposition B mark the end of the Dwiggins’ business, but forced closures of kennels around the state would also leave more than 300,000 dogs without homes. For the dog devotees at Hometown Family Pets, defending the kennel industry is paramount to protecting the animals they love.

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A puppy at the Dwiggins’ kennel Hometown Family Pets plays outside. All puppies eight weeks and older stretch their legs and burn excess energy once a day in the outdoor pens.