Last week I had the opportunity to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre. They were going to vote on HB 1146 that was being pushed by the Humane Society of the United States that would change the penalties for animal cruelty.
As someone who has been around livestock my entire life and have studied animal husbandry, I will be the last person to defend someone who has abused an animal. However, this bill didn’t do enough to protect agriculture from being prosecuted for practicing normal animal husbandry procedures. The current law had been formed 18 years ago through a cooperative effort by agriculture, researchers, veterinarians, and local animal shelters. And for 18 years, it has worked well. However, HSUS thought they could shove this through our small state without the input of most groups that would be affected. Fortunately, they were wrong.
After the testimony of livestock producers, veterinarians, dog breeders, and ag organizations that exposed HSUS for who they are and what they are trying to accomplish, the bill was effectively killed by a unanimous vote of 12-0.
The major problem I had with the bill is that HSUS has been trying to redefine normal livestock practices as cruel, torture and accusing us of mutilation. These were offenses that were spelled out as being a felony offense in the proposed bill. I am not a felon. The practices we employ on the ranch are ones that benefit the animal. In turn, these practices also let us produce a safe, affordable beef supply for this country.
This was an obvious attempt by HSUS to further their radical animal rights agenda in South Dakota, and I am proud to say that the citizens of our state overwhelmingly rejected their efforts.