Thursday, February 12, 2009

OK Tries To Protect Producers

Regulations for livestock could become Oklahoma duty
BY JULIE BISBEE
Published: February 10, 2009

Allowing livestock in the city limits could create major problems, city leaders say, but under a bill passed out of a Senate committee Monday, only the state could rule on the conditions under which livestock live.

Under Senate Bill 452 filed by Sen. Mike Schulz, R-Altus, all local livestock rules would be overturned, and the state would regulate livestock. If the bill becomes law, it would take effect immediately. The bill passed the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development committee in an 11-0 vote Monday, despite protest from the U.S. Humane Society, which said the bill limited local entities’ power to address the treatment of livestock in their areas. The bill now goes to the full Senate.

Schulz said the bill was filed at the request of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, which wanted to protect the state’s agriculture industry from sweeping provisions on livestock treatment. Schulz cited California’s voter-approved Proposition 2, which outlines farm animals treatment, including requirement for ample room for caged and pinned animals.

"I understand the concerns about this bill,” Schulz said. "But I’m concerned about cities annexing into rural property and telling me how I’m going to farm my livestock.” Read More

This may be what ag states need to resort to in order to protect producers from HSUS, and protect Americans from eliminating their food supply. So far, the consequences to the consumer for voting for something like Prop 2 have been little to none. However, that can’t continue to happen when more states fall for the mis-guided attempts at animal welfare.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the question you need to ask yourself is why might a local entity (council, zoning board, etc) need to tell a producer what he can and cannot do? Fortunately in America, most legislative entities recognize that laws and ordinances need to be crafted to protect the majority of constituents. Although individual legislators frequently try to dodge this (often profiting directly and indirectly), we can only hope they are unsuccessful, and and we can certainly dictate the length of their political careers!