The Republic | azcentral.com
(Editor’s note: Posting opinion pieces is strictly for purposes of discussion.)
The sponsor of a bad bill worried that “uninformed animal rights folks” might make a hearing on the bill “contentious.”
Republican Rep. Brenda Barton should be more concerned that her bill would prevent the people of Arizona from being better informed about the food they eat.
More than 104 people signed in to testify on the bill before the House Agriculture and Water Committee OK’d it Tuesday. Only a handful was heard.
The bill is ostensibly about animal hoarding, an egregious offense that lawmakers attempted to address last year. This bill offers concessions to overcome livestock industry objections that doomed last year’s effort.
UPDATE: 2 busted on 7 counts of animal cruelty
Statement by Rose Law Group equine attorney Adam Trenk: “I am glad to see there are legislators who understand the importance of the equestrian industry in their state, and that are acting to protect industry participants from unintended economic consequences flowing from a court decision. For the appellate court to brand all equines as vicious because of an isolated incident is beyond logic. Horses, like dogs and even people are living breathing creatures, who react to their surroundings differently at different times based on an incalculable number of variables. See Legislation: Horses are not vicious
If you’d like to discuss equine law, contact Adam Trenk, atrenk@roselawgroup.com
