(Radio Iowa) – Republican Congressman Zach Nunn of Bondurant is leading a bipartisan group that’s sponsoring two bills to crack down on so-called puppy mills. Nunn says responsible dog breeders support closing the legal loopholes that have allowed Iowa to be ranked by the Humane Society as the second worst state in the country for puppy mills. “There’s no reason that Iowa should be at the bottom of this pile,” Nunn says. “More importantly, I think this is something that anyone who’s ever had an animal in their home as a companion animal, a dog specifically, wants to see these animals growing up in this hardship.”

One of the bills, called the Puppy Protection Act, would set standards of care for federally licensed dog breeders — requiring that animals get regular check-ups with a vet, adequate housing and a healthy diet. Nunn points to the case of Daniel Gingerich, who was charged with 120 violations of the Animal Welfare Act after USDA inspectors found dead and malnourished on a property near Seymour. “This idea that you would bring puppies into a confinement facility, stack them multiple crates high (to) urinate and defacate on animals below them and then sell that puppy off to become part of a family member’s home — no livestock farmer would treat their livestock that way,” Nunn says.

The other bill Nunn is co-sponsoring, called Goldie’s Law, was introduced two years ago by Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne, who Nunn defeated last November and Nunn is trying to advance it this year. The bill is named for a golden retriever that U-S-D-A inspectors saw was emaciated, but the agency did not order removal of animals from the Wayne County property until months later, when it was too late to save Goldie. Nunn says the local sheriff, who wanted to act sooner, supports the bill.

Cong. Zach Nunn. (Iowa PBS photo)

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture had notified the farm several times that they were in violation, but never followed up, so this is as much as holding the bad actors accountable as it is the federal government,” Nunn says. “…This is something that we’ve picked up and we’ve expanded on with the Puppy Protection Act just to make sure that there are clear guidelines, so that growers know what they can do, realy sets a best practice out there.” Nunn made his comments this weekend on “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS.

More than 500 animals were removed from the Gingerich property in Wayne County in Septemer of 2021. Gingerich, who now lives in Ohio, pleaded guilty to two counts of animal neglect last year.