Note to Illinois Dems: Saying You CAN Do Something is Not the Same as Saying You MUST Do Something

Pat Quinn has come out against Bill Brady today for allegedly sponsoring a bill that would…kill puppies. I’m not making this up. The ad says that Bill Brady’s first priority after winning the Republican primary was to sponsor a bill that would call for the mass euthanization of animals in shelters.

Politifact has already noted a couple of problems with the ad, which it rates as “Half True.” However, the text of the bill itself, SB2999, mandates nothing. Rather, it allows for the possibility of mass euthanasia, and leaves that up to the discretion of animal shelters. And obviously, allowing something to happen doesn’t mean you think it should happen. In fact, even Brady doesn’t even think it ought to happen. Here’s Politifact:

We think a viewer watching the ad could come away thinking the bill is still active, and that Brady continues to back it. In fact, just days after sponsoring the measure, Brady backed off after opposition by the Humane Society of the U.S. and its allies prompted several unflattering news articles. In one Chicago Sun-Times story, Matyas was quoted saying, “I have no idea why Sen. Brady introduced a bill that would allow as many animals as you want to be put into a gas chamber and they’d be exposed to one another. Under his legislation, you could have 10 dogs in one box, gasping for air, at the same time fighting, at the same time fearing for their lives.”

A Quad City Times story quoted Brady explaining his decision to back off. “It’s not ready,” Brady said. “And the political games were distracting from the discussion.”

So there you go. Bill Brady is not a puppy killing monster, nor is his bill some sort of Josef Mengele-meets-Lassie nightmare. Everybody go home.