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

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?