Animal Welfare Report: Rejection

by | Nov 20, 2012 | Audio

This is the second report in a three-part series on animal welfare.
Right-click on the audio players below to download audio.

The issue of animal welfare isn’t confined to disputes between groups like the Humane Society of the United States and Protect the Harvest. In this year’s elections, if states like Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania were battlegrounds in the race to the White House, North Dakota was a battleground state for animal welfare. There, voters were presented with Ballot Measure 5, the text of which would have made malicious and intentional harm against a cat, dog or horse a class C felony. In North Dakota, class C felonies are reserved for crimes such as possession of drug paraphernalia and assisted suicide. Ballot Measure 5 was rejected with 65% of voters opposed.

Wayne Yocum, Senior Consultant with Protect the Harvest, says the rejection of the measure was, in part, a rejection of HSUS, whose affiliate organization, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, supported it.

Wayne Pacelle, CEO and president of HSUS, says Ballot Measure 5 was rejected not because of opposition to his organization, but because many in North Dakota felt the legislation was too narrow.

Pacelle is also careful to point out that “normal, customary slaughter practices” would not have been affected by Ballot Measure 5, nor does HSUS oppose them.

Keep an Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network tab open to be the first in reading the final report in this three-part series on animal welfare.