A law that takes effect Wednesday gives dog breeders six months to register with the Indiana Board of Animal Health and obtain a license for their facilities.
In a visit to Goshen Monday, state Attorney General Greg Zoeller said that Indiana was previously one of the few states that had few commercial breeder regulations, leading to breeders from states with restrictions to move here and set up shop in an atmosphere that was lax.
Local representatives Jackie Walorski, R-Elkhart, and Tim Neese, R-Elkhart, co-authored the bill that was passed. Enforcement of the law will not begin until Jan. 1, according to Zoeller, to give breeders a chance to comply and to bring their operations into compliance.
"Really, unethical breeders are best advised to just pack up and leave Indiana," Zoeller said, in light of what he promised will be strict enforcement of the law.