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Ohio Rules for Breeding Dogs and Selling Puppies Initiative (2018)
| Ohio Rules for Breeding Dogs and Selling Puppies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Treatment of animals | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Ohio Rules for Breeding Dogs and Selling Puppies Initiative was not on the ballot in Ohio as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.
Supporters suspended their campaign for the ballot initiative after negotiations with the state legislature resulted in House Bill 506, which included some of the standards for dog breeders that the initiative would have required.[1][2]
The measure would have required persons who keep, house, or maintain dogs for breeding and selling their puppies to provide the dogs and their puppies with certain levels and types of exercise, socialization, housing, food and water, and veterinary care.[3]
The measure would not have applied to breeders with fewer than eight unspayed female dogs.[3]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article XV, Ohio Constitution
The measure would have added a Section 13 to Article XV of the Ohio Constitution.[3]
Full text
The full text of the initiative is available here.
Sponsors
Stop Puppy Mills Ohio led the campaign in support of the initiative. The campaign said the following about the initiative:[4]
| “ | Ohio is an infamous puppy mill state and is home to hundreds of commercial breeding facilities. Ohio’s current law has failed to solve Ohio’s massive puppy mill problem. In puppy mills, dogs spend their whole lives in small, filthy wire cages without adequate veterinary care, socialization, or exercise. Breeding dogs are treated as nothing more than puppy-making machines and puppies as nothing more products.
This ballot measure will alleviate the suffering of tens of thousands of dogs languishing in Ohio puppy mills by vastly improving their standards of care. It requires commercial breeders (those with 8 or more breeding females) to provide dogs with nutritious food and clean water, proper veterinary care, housing, exercise, socialization, protection from extreme temperatures, and more. It also prohibits commercial breeders and other sellers, regardless of where they are located, from selling dogs to Ohio consumers unless they meet these humane standards of care. With a resounding yes vote in November 2018, Ohio, will take a strong stand against animal cruelty and show the rest of the nation how to effectively tackle the puppy mill problem.[5] |
” |
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Ohio, the number of signatures required to get an initiated constitutional amendment placed on the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Ohio also requires initiative sponsors to submit 1,000 signatures with the initial petition application. Ohio has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures be gathered from at least 44 of Ohio's 88 counties. Petitioners must gather signatures equal to a minimum of half the total required percentage of the gubernatorial vote in each of the 44 counties. Petitions are allowed to circulate for an indefinite period of time. Signatures are due 125 days prior to the general election that proponents want the initiative on.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2018 ballot:
- Signatures: 306,591 valid signatures were required to get an indirect initiative on the ballot, including 1,000 signatures to file the proposal and 305,591 signatures for the initiative.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit the signatures was July 4, 2018.
County boards of elections are responsible for verifying signatures, and the secretary of state must determine the sufficiency of the signature petition at least 105 days before the election. If the first batch of signatures is determined to be insufficient, the petitioners are given a ten-day window to collect more signatures.
Details about this initiative
Petitioners submitted a petition, along with 2,427 signatures, for the initiative to the Ohio attorney general on September 6, 2017.[3] Attorney General Mike DeWine certified the initiative petition as fair and truthful on September 15, 2017.[6] He then forwarded the petition to the Ohio Ballot Board. On September 22, 2017, the board determined that the petition met the state's single-subject rule, allowing sponsors to begin to collect signatures.[7]
Supporters suspended their campaign for the ballot initiative after the state legislature passed House Bill 506, which included some of the standards for dog breeders that the initiative would have required.[1]
See also
- 2018 ballot measures
- Ohio 2018 ballot measures
- Laws governing the initiative process in Ohio
- Treatment of animals on the ballot
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Humane Society of the United States, "Ohio General Assembly strengthens animal welfare standards for puppy mills," June 20, 2018
- ↑ Dayton Daily News, "Ohio law strict on puppy mills, but enforcement of new standards questioned," July 29, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ohio Attorney General, "The Ohio Puppy Mill Prevention Amendment," September 6, 2017
- ↑ Stop Puppy Mills Ohio, "Homepage," accessed September 12, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ohio Attorney General, "Initiative Petition Certification," September 15, 2017
- ↑ WVXU, "Ballot Board Gives Animal Activists OK To Start Collecting Petition Signatures For Puppy Mill Issue," September 22, 2017
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