A bill that would require more regulation of the so-called puppy mills is now on the way to the governor after passing the Iowa Senate Monday. The Humane Society pushed hard for the passage of the bill. Senator David Johnson, a Republican of Ocheyedan, voted against the bill.

Johnson says history in other states shows this is the start of efforts to regulate agricultural livestock. “They’re going to be back next year friends and colleagues. They’re going to ask to restrict layer cages. They’re going to ask to eliminate gestation crates for sows. They’re going to make sure that our livestock has access to open air at all times something like that, it’s coming,” Johnson says.

Senator Dick Dearden, a Democrat from Des Moines, also said the bill would lead to attempts at more regulation. “And next thing you’re gonna know, you know, we’re gonna have to have a certain size place for your chickens,” Dearden said, “these folks, it’s not about Fluffy and Spot. These people , they’re out to stop hunting. They’re gonna change agriculture if they have their way. And you’ve already seen it in California.”

But Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, who managed the bill on the floor of the senate calls the critics warnings “baloney.” He says the critics are indulging in a conspiracy theory. McCoy says the bill explicitly exempts animal agriculture from the new oversight.

The bill will make more Iowa dog breeders subject to state oversight, and it raises license fees on breeders to pay for the new inspections.