The Idaho Senate is set to vote on a change in the state’s animal cruelty law that would give local police the primary role in examining potential abuse to pets and companion animals, which would reduce investigations by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. The high number of abuse calls to the department about horses is driving the legislation.
“It just relieves the department’s responsibility to respond to every call,” said Sen. Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, who is sponsoring the plan. He said 90 percent of the complaints the Department of Agriculture fields deal with horses. “This bill helps define who is responsible for what.”
The legislation splits animals into production animals, which are used for agricultural or commercial purposes, and companion animals. Horses could be either a production or companion animal. Some dogs, specifically guard dogs or stock dogs, could also be considered production animals.
Brackett said local law enforcement is already involved in complaints on companion animals, since they must take steps to prosecute any potential offenders.
The Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee approved the legislation Wednesday. It now faces a full Senate vote. It’s supported by the Idaho Farm Bureau as well as the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. Officials with both groups said it’s been a long process to change the state animal cruelty law.
Wally Butler, a range and livestock specialist with the Farm Bureau, said his group doesn’t want all horses to be considered livestock because it supports constructing new horse processing plants that could humanely slaughter horses that are neglected or have no useful purpose. Butler said labeling horses as companions could harm those efforts.
Brackett’s legislation, which doesn’t mention horse slaughter, now faces a full Senate vote.
UPDATE: The Senate approved the legislation on a 32-0 vote on March 22. It now heads to the House for consideration.
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There are so many reasons why SB 1144 would be a really positive force for the State of Idaho.
Did you know that according to the American Humane Association, “71 percent of battered women in shelters who have animal companions reported that their abusers had harmed, killed, or threatened those animals. Studies also show that up to 40 percent of battered women have delayed their escape because of concern for their animal companions’ safety.”
Many of those companion animals are horses, but even if they are not, this law would give law enforcement some “teeth” to do something about the abuse and neglect being heaped on horses. God knows they deserve some help, they have done nothing but help us.
This law makes 2 classes of horses which will be governed by 2 sets of rules. If we made a law that dealt with people like this there would be riots and screams of racism. Horses are livestock period. If the animal cruelty laws are not sufficent then change them for all horses not some. This is a slippery slope that if we start down it there will be no way back.
Such a strange notion to bestow certain privileges to certain animals because we can extract certain benefits from their exploiting their bodies. Not unlike sexism, ageism, racism and other bigotry, this bares all the ills of speciesism. Horses are sentient beings period. No different in their desire to live than the dog, cat, rabbit, cow, frog or man.