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Tom Callan and Nicole Gonzales reporting An animal cruelty bill was recommended today by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Bill 117 would make it a felony to torture certain animals on the second offense within a five year period.
This bill is in response to a tougher bill that's had a hard time getting passed over the last few years. That bill, Senate Bill 102, was also supposed to be discussed today by the committee, but they ran out of sometime. As you can imagine, these bills bring a lot of emotional testimony, which does take a lot of time.
A man whose dog was shot and killed yesterday spoke this morning. He said and he thinks this more lenient bill just isn't right. "You get caught the first time--it's been going on for three or four times before you get caught, before the first time--so I think it should be stiffer the first time as well," Jeff Stoddard said.
Another issue with SB117 is that it originally excluded animals in zoos, rodeos and livestock. In today's meeting, livestock was added back into the bill for fear that abusive ranchers and farmers could get away with poor treatment of their animals.
The Utah Farm Bureau originally supported the bill, but with the new amendment officials aren't so sure. "How we care for cats and dogs is inherently different than how we care for cattle--would they be dairy, or sheep, or goats, or even horses. And the difference between those two needs to be described in codes," said Todd Bingham, of the Utah Farm Bureau.
Animal rights advocate Anne Davis says she actually would prefer the tougher bill that wasn't discussed today. "It would make intentional animal cruelty or torture a felony, third-degree felony, on the first offense," she said.
Sen. Gene Davis, sponsor of the tougher SB102, says SB117 sets Utah back 20 years in the fight against animal cruelty. "If you're taking care of your animals appropriately, you don't have anything to fear," he said.
SB117 will move forward and be heard on the senate floor soon. As for SB102, the more aggressive animal cruelty bill, Davis says it most likely won't be heard until next year.
