22.05.12
The Coalition to Ban Ohio Dog Auctions submitted 154,082 signatures to the Secretary of Stately for certification in a ballot initiative to outlaw dog auctions.
The state must find that at least 115,570 of the signatures were penned by registered Ohio voters in degree for the petitions to be valid. The decision is expected early next month, when the question major would then be presented to state legislators.
If lawmakers fail to enact the ban before the end of April, the coalition -- with a diminished army of 940 volunteer petition circulators -- will penury to quickly gather 115,570 more valid signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. The company plans to also use paid circulators.
It took more than two years for the group to deduce the submitted signatures.
Currently, the auctions are held in just Holmes County (video) and mean about 2,500 dogs and puppies a year. Activists report seeing ill, poor, dirty, injured and genetically-flawed dogs at the auction, where cameras and room phones are not allowed.
Source: Plain Dealer (blog)