Originally posted as a Greene County Daily World column authored by Kegan Inman.

Two versions of very similar bills related to a controversial animal welfare topic are currently their way working through Indiana legislature. I have been following these bills and after recent action in the Indiana Senate, I felt it was important to discuss them and their implications.

The bills from the 2023 Indiana Legislative session are SB 134, the retail sale of dogs and HB 1121, the sale of companion animals.

The State Senate version of the bill was passed February 20 with a vote of 29 in favor to 18 not in favor.

I would like to specify that the State Senator representing Greene County, Eric Bassler, was a nay vote.

In the simplest form, the bills prevent cities and counties from banning the sale of dogs at retail pet stores. Thirteen communities currently have bills of this sort.

While Greene County does not, to my knowledge, have any retail stores that sell dogs, there are stores within a short drive that do.

Many pet stores that you think of, such as PetSmart, do not sell dogs but rather allow local rescue organizations to feature their adoptable dogs. It is important to note that bans do not prevent this from happening. On the other hand, some pet stores such as Petland in Terre Haute, do sell puppies to customers.

This is where it becomes controversial.

The reason many communities ban the sale of dogs at pet stores is many of those sold are sourced from dog-breeding operations considered by many to be unethical “puppy mill” operators.

It has been widely reported that the bill’s primary supporter is Petland. I searched 2022 campaign contributions and could not find evidence that Petland directly contributed to any Indiana campaigns.

Puppy mills are very controversial because of the conditions under which dogs are kept and how they are treated. It is important to note that you cannot paint a broad stroke over all breeders, as many do so by ethical means. In Indiana, breeding operations unfortunately do not face much regulation. Currently, to be required to register as a breeder with the Indiana Board of Animal Health, you must either sell more than 500 dogs and puppies annually or maintain more than 20 unaltered females over the age of 12 months. The USDA also requires breeders to register and their restrictions are a bit more strict, in that breeders must have more than four breeding females and have to sell puppies wholesale and sight-unseen to pet stores, brokers and/or online dealers.

If they personally meet up with each customer to deliver the puppy, they would not be required to have a license under this regulation.

I could only find one USDA licensed breeder in Greene County, with a license that expires in 2025.

I did find 1 source that claimed that they have 31 dogs, but I could not verify that. The startling one near us is in Daviess County. A report from September 2021 showed 50 registered kennels and over 1,450 adults used for breeding. Many of these breeders are in or around the Amish community near Odon. Digging deeper, I actually found a report of one dog broker, Levi Graber, who is affiliated with Blue Ribbon Puppies in Odon and is one of the largest dog brokers for Petland.

Graber is known to have been associated with an outbreak of Campylobacter that made over 118 puppy-store customers sick.

While I need to write an entire column related to puppy mills, the important topic right now is in relation the bills currently being considered. The Senate bill is actually much more robust than the House bill and does have some positives.

As for preventing cities and counties from passing ordinances banning the sale of puppies at pet stores, it does prevent them from banning the sale of puppies at pet stores that come from a state-licensed breeder, a USDA-registered breeder or a hobby breeder, which it defines as a person who maintains at least five but not more than 20 unaltered female dogs at least 12 months of age.

The bill does add some protections for consumers who buy dogs from pet stores.

It requires that the pet store provide the purchaser with:

• The price, including fees and charges

• The dog’s breed, age, date of birth, sex and color

• The dates of any vaccinations or medical treatments

• The name of the commercial dog breeder, if applicable

• If the dog is eligible for a pedigree registration, the name of the sire and dam as well as their registered addresses

• A copy of the store policy regarding warranties, refunds and returns

• Proof the dog is microchipped and registered

• The sale cannot be to a person under 18 years of age

Stay tuned to Viewpoints next Friday, March 10, for Part Two of this column.

Kegan is the president of the Greene County Humane Society Board of Directors.