BOISE, Idaho — Under threat of a voter initiative, an Idaho cattle group says it supports legislation to punish third-time animal cruelty offenders with a felony.
The Idaho Cattle Association's feeder council voted unanimously at a recent meeting to pursue the bill in 2012, according to the association's July newsletter.
Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota are the only states without felony animal cruelty penalties. Agriculture groups have long been wary of removing Idaho from that list, for fear any new law could be used by groups opposed to ranching or animal agriculture to fight these traditional activities.
The association's feedlot group says getting behind legislation now will help it control the outcome — and show the public that cattle producers take pride in caring for their animals.
A phone call to the Idaho Cattle Association wasn't returned. But according to the newsletter, "Members felt as though it was important for the ICA to take initiative on the matter so that the association can control the outcome of the bill."
The association says the feeder council's vote will serve as a policy guide that will be taken up at the Idaho Cattle Association Annual Convention in Sun Valley in November.
The Idaho Humane Society, Stop Torturing Our Pets, and other animal welfare groups are now gathering signatures for a 2012 ballot initiative under an umbrella group they're calling Idaho 1 of 3.
Their initiative, on file with the Idaho Secretary of State's office, would define animal torture and make such crimes a felony on the first offense. For animal cruelty, the measure would increase misdemeanor fines to $400 for a first offense, up from a current $100 fine, and triple fines for a second offense to $600.
It would also make a third animal cruelty conviction within a 15-year period a felony, punishable by between six months and three years in prison and a $9,000 fine.
Virginia Hemingway, president of Idaho 1 of 3, said any measure — regardless of whether it's a bill in 2012 or an initiative that November — should address animal torture. She said her group may support a bill next legislative session, but it will depend on how it is written.
"We're after two groups of people: People who torture animals, and the repeat offenders," Hemingway told The Associated Press.
Jeff Rosenthal, Idaho Humane Society director, said Wednesday the Idaho Cattle Association council's vote was good news and likely reflects a common-sense, locally crafted approach to a long-unresolved issue.
"They're very much a major player in the state, and if that represents their collective stance, that's very encouraging," Rosenthal said.
In 2009, an animal cruelty bill that teamed Idaho's agricultural community and animal welfare advocates including Hemingway went nowhere, in part due to opposition from the national group Humane Society of the United States that feared it left a loophole for puppy mills.
The Humane Society of the United States is separate from Rosenthal's group, but its involvement in past debates — and the perception among Idaho agriculture groups that the organization has a radical agenda — has the Idaho Farm Bureau leery of any new measure, too.
The Idaho Farm Bureau successfully helped scuttle previous efforts to make animal cruelty a felony in the Idaho Legislature. Its spokesman, John Thompson, said Wednesday he'd seen the results of the Idaho Cattle Association's recent vote, but that his group hasn't taken up the matter itself.