Missouri is a beautiful state, both for our natural beauty and for our people. Missouri is also an ugly state because of the imposed tyranny of a GOP supermajority that has had its boot on our neck for 22 years. The party that has harmed our social safety nets. From SNAP to puppy mills. From Medicaid to animal abuse.
Cruelty abounds.
But the ugliest thing I can say about Missouri is that we mistreat the most defenseless and at risk among us — the most vulnerable. Children and animals.
What does it say about us when Missouri repeatedly ranks among the worst states for vulnerable children and abused animals? What does it say about the party who has controlled the state for two decades?
Missouri leads the nation in the annual “Horrible Hundred” list, with 31 Missouri commercial dog breeders cited in the latest report from 2026. In fact, the report notes that Missouri has ranked at the top of the list for 14 consecutive years.
14 years in a row…my god. It’s sickening.
It didn’t have to be this way. In fact, Missouri voters tried to eliminate the cruelty in many puppy mills way back in 2011.
*This story will sound familiar with those of you who have kept up with the way the supermajority regularly refuses the will of Missouri voters.
Missouri voters passed a ballot measure in 2010 called the “Puppy Mill Cruelty and Prevention Act.” The act specified appropriate living conditions for breeding operations with at least 10 female breeding dogs. It also capped the number of animals that a business could use for breeding at 50.
A pretty small demand in my opinion, but too much for the GOP.
The very next year, Missouri lawmakers passed a bill sponsored by then-state-senator Mike Parson, who eventually became Governor, that stripped several parts of the new law — including the cap on the number of breeding dogs.
Parson’s bill cut the teeth out of the cruelty bill, and it even renamed the bill to the “Canine Cruelty Prevention Act” from the previous “Puppy Mill Cruelty and Prevention Act.” I think it was to lessen the impression that puppies suffer in many of these puppy mills.
We know puppies suffer.
There is no reason Missouri should be the puppy mill torture capital of the country. Missouri voters crafted legislation to prevent cruelty to dogs, but we were undermined from the beginning by lawmakers who were lobbied by Big Ag to reject regulations for fear that regulating any sort of animal operation would impact folks who raise livestock.
What’s worse…the Missouri Department of Agriculture employs only 15 animal care inspectors who oversee thousands of facilities — not just facilities with dogs. Weakening the original act passed by voters created this terrible situation.
Missouri’s status on the Horrible Hundred list is especially awful as a dog lover. We have adopted all of our dogs from local shelters, and at least one of them is thought to be from an irresponsible breeder. We can and should do better for dogs in Missouri.
My sweet shelter-adopted dog, Winnie.
If this were only a story about dogs, it would be heartbreaking enough, but the same pattern appears in the way Missouri treats children and families…
The same lawmakers who ignored Missouri voters on puppy mills and cruelty to animals have spent years weakening the safety nets that children and their families depend on. The target changed, but the design is the same…protect wealth from taxation and dismiss the vulnerable.
Beginning October 1, Missouri is imposing new requirements for SNAP. The Missouri Department of Social Services announced in late August that it will require additional documentation for eligibility. This policy change comes at a time when almost 18,000 children in Missouri have already lost food assistance under the additional requirements imposed on SNAP recipients.
The new requirements are not federal requirements. This is a new state requirement that will surely result in even more hungry children in the state — we should also remember that the average SNAP benefit for a Missouri family is less than $400/month.
Missouri is ranked at the bottom of the barrel for state spending on education. Our current rankings place us at 49th for starting teacher pay (up from 50th last year) and 48th in educational funding. While our GOP supermajority stripped $190 million from public schools, they allocated $60 million to private religious schools (up from $50 million last year.)
We are publicly funding religious indoctrination while forcing bake sales to partially fund our public schools…
The result is schools that do not have the resources to work as well as they once did. We struggle to recruit and retain teachers because of pay and funding issues. Missouri was once known for our schools and the good education kids received in our schools. In fact, Missouri opened the first publicly funded, successful kindergarten in the United States in St. Louis in 1873.
We are failing our children and grandchildren while under the guise of being a “pro-life” state. I know you know that means that my Republican lawmakers believe in forced birth, but they do not believe in social safety nets to protect families and children…not even babies.
Missouri ranks 10th in the nation for the number of children in the foster care system. We currently have about 13,000 children in the system with about 3,000 waiting for adoption.
The situation is untenable, and Missouri Republicans have placed abortion back on our ballots in a few weeks. We can’t take care of the children currently in the system while refusing to educate them or feed them.
Missouri can’t call itself “pro-life” while children go hungry and public schools struggle to pay teachers and thousands of children remain in an overloaded foster-care system. Protecting life requires more than controlling women. It requires feeding children and educating them and keeping them safe and supporting the families who care for them.
We can fix the terrible legacy by voting for lawmakers who listen to constituents rather than lobbyists. For lawmakers who respect our will. For lawmakers who care about animals and children and our state.
We can’t vote for one more Missouri Republican. They’ve shown us they don’t care.
We have a choice in November. We don’t have to fail the most vulnerable children and animals. We can and should do better.
~Jess
this is one of the strongest points in your post. Caring about life cannot stop at birth. If children are brought into this world, then society has a responsibility to make sure they have food, education,safety,and a chance for a decent future. I also think your comparison with the treatment of animals is important. A government shows its values by how it treats those who cannot protect themselves. That should matter to people far beyond party politics
And that is the reality, isn't it? Republicans don't really care. Republicans are deliberately cruel. Selfish and at their core evil.
It wasn't always like this...