A bill to make animal torture a felony has finally passed Utah's Senate, which had previously blocked legislation from the House. It was a fairly close vote at 15-11, and opponents were certainly going overboard in their attempts to shoot down the bill:
“It almost establishes animal rights, which is a chilling idea under our Constitution,” said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper.I have no idea what this dimwit was talking about. How does making animal torture a felony affect our constitution? I can't fathom his concern. For that matter, how does protecting the rights of animals not to be treated as property affect our constitution? I don't see the connection. There's nothing chilling about this, other than Sen. Stephenson's ignorance. Sure the bill provides greater punishment for harming animals, and I'm happy with that, but it has nothing to do with actual animal rights.
This same scaremonger goes on to suggest that Utah is mirroring the sci-fi film “Minority Report,” in which police arrest people before crimes are committed.
“What this bill seems to establish is a pre-cog indictment of anybody who has ever been cruel to an animal that they are going to commit further crimes against people, and I reject that notion,” he said. “This is a dangerous, dangerous step.”He must be responding to the evidence that activists have used to push this bill forward, that people who abuse animals go on to harm humans. Fortunately, Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, has more sense:
“I don’t think the analogy is quite right. Here’s why: This bill does not find an animal torturer and predict this person will move on and harm and torture human beings and punish them in advance,” McCoy said. “Let’s not confuse this. This bill is punishing behavior that must be proven to have happened.”Senate Bill 190 defines torture as intentionally or knowingly inflicting on an animal extreme physical pain or serious bodily injury and doing so with extreme cruelty or depravity.
Utah is one of eight states where torturing an animal is not a felony. Animal cruelty charged as a class A misdemeanor holds a maximum penalty of only one year in jail, but cases are often charged as lower class B or C misdemeanors and jail time is rare. However, a third-degree felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
The bill needs one more formal reading before heading to the House, where it has a strong chance of passing.
Labels: animal cruelty, animal law
