Kettle Falls’ Brandon Hatch silenced the room this morning, telling what he saw recently when he visited a lifelong friend who happened to be running a puppy mill breeding operation in Gold Bar.

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Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles’ SB 5651 is aimed at these sorts of operations. It would limit the number of breed-able dogs that people could own, require regular veterinary visits, and set standards for how the dogs are housed.

Also testifying Monday were other dog breeders, who suggested that the bill is too strict and will wrongly criminalize legitimate, sensible dog-breeding practices.

Declaring that dogs “are neither a commercial crop nor commodity,” several senators are proposing legislation to require humane practices in commercial dog breeding.

“Without proper oversight, puppy mills can easily fall below even the most basic standards of humane housing and husbandry,” says Senate Bill 5651, prime sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles.

No state agency regulates the operations, Kohl-Welles says, and abuses can lead to unnecessary suffering and an expensive problem — abandoned or neglected dogs — for local authorities.

The bill would ban people from having more than 25 dogs, unless they’ve been neutered or spayed or are under the age of four months.

For anyone with 11 or more such dogs, the bill spells out how much space the dogs should get, and how much exercise and how often (no treadmills. Seriously.). It requires adequate ventilation, a working smoke alarm and fire suppression and lighting, Temperatures would have to be kept between 50 and 85 degrees

It requires annual veterinary exams, details the size and construction of kennels and runs, and limits female dogs to one litter a year. There are exemptions for animal shelters, researchers and other facilities. 

The bill’s been referred to the Senate labor committee.