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LANDMARK LEGISLATION PASSES!
UTAH NOW 44TH STATE WITH FELONY-LEVEL ANIMAL LAW
Today history was made in the Utah State Legislature when SB 297, the compromise bill that makes the deliberate torture of a cat or dog a third-degree felony on the first offense, passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 62-6, with 7 members absent, after having gone through the Senate with 21 supporting votes and only 6 opposed. "This is a landmark piece of legislation," said Gene Baierschmidt, Executive Director of the Humane Society of Utah, whose efforts to get such a law has been ongoing for years. A statewide independent poll showed that 74% of the population wanted an animal-protection law with some teeth in it. "This bill sends the message that anyone who commits acts of torture on a dog or cat will pay a significant price," Mr. Baierschmidt said. "It reflects the respect and affection that our culture feels for companion animals — we no longer perceive them as ‘things,’ but as living beings with feelings, with individual characteristics. Sixty-one per cent of all Americans keep a companion cat or dog or both; protecting these animals from torture matters to a lot of people. This legislation helps our society in general to take another step backward from tolerating violence."
Once Gov. Jon Huntsman has signed the bill, Utah will officially become the 44th state in America to have such a law on its books. Says Mr. Baierschmidt "The passage of this very intelligent, forward-looking law brings us further into the mainstream of the rest of the country’s attitudes." Intensive research over the past thirty years has established a strong link between animal torture and criminal violence against other human beings. Animals are frequently involved in domestic-abuse situations, and the overwhelming majority of those animals are cats and dogs — the ones specifically targeted by SB 297. The Humane Society expressed its deep thanks to the community for its support of this issue, as well as to the legislators who passed it into law. |
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Thanks to all of you for your help. |
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