MoFed Says Thank You To Legislators With Annual Day
by Jessica Nelson
The third floor of the Missouri State Capitol building buzzed with extra energy Wednesday as the Missouri Federation of Animal Owners [MoFed] hosted their annual 'thank you' day in the rotunda.
Karen Strange, president and co-founder of MoFed, said the annual event hasn't been around for very long but does have a purpose.
“This is the fourth or fifth year, I'm not really sure. It's both a thank you and an introduction to those who don't know us,” said Strange. “We have food set up so they can come out and enjoy it, mingle and learn more about who we represent and what we're about.”
MoFed's primary goal of the day is to educate the legislators and their staff about the work they do, according to Strange. The group works with major agricultural interest groups, including the Missouri Cattlemen's Association, Missouri Pork Producers and the Missouri Farm Bureau, as a coalition to educate the Legislature and public about the animal rights movement.
House Rep. Tom Loehner (R-Dist. 112) supports the principles of MoFed. A farmer from Koeltztown, Mo., he said a lot of the new animal rights movements can be traced back to having fewer people actively farming.
“More and more people are removed from agriculture. It used to be, when I was growing up, even if you weren't directly on the farm, your grandpa or your uncle was. Everybody was associated with farms and knew a little about agriculture,” said Loehner. “Now, we've got very few people who get to work on a farm in the summertime; they get a job somewhere else that pays more and we have less and less farmers.”
Loehner said with less people working on farms, more people don't understand what really goes on and therefore the decisions they want made are actually worse for the industry.
“We need to have our people in agriculture making these decisions and not making it so easy for everybody else to come in and tell us what to do,” said Loehner.
Loehner said one major issue that has come up in recent years is the animal rights movement groups calling all dog breeding facilities “puppy mills.”
“There are dog breeding facilities that are doing a great job. There are a couple that don't do a great job but that happens in every field of business,” said Loehner. “We have politicians that do a great job and politicians who do a terrible job, but we don't throw the whole lot out and try to ban it.”
Started in 1991 by Strange and Anne Edwards, MoFed is a political lobbying group dedicated to protecting the rights of animal owners and enthusiasts against the animal rights movement, according to Strange. The animal rights movement includes People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA] and the Humane Society of the United States [HSUS].
“We represent agriculture, hunting and fishing interests, medical research and everything involving responsible animal ownership, use and enjoyment,” said Strange. “We do believe that if a person responsibly takes care of their animal, they have the right to own the animal and participate in enterprises.”