Joe Pyrah

Lawmakers participated in a drawn-out and often painful debate with the public before passing a controversial animal-torture bill.

That wasn't nearly enough for animal-safety and activist groups, but agricultural groups said they were throwing them a bone.

The hearing started off with bill sponsor Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, first saying he received hundreds of e-mails and then blasting the Humane Society for using "twisted facts and outright lies."

"I'm trying to temper this very emotional issue with some common sense," he said.

Gene Baierschmidt, executive director of the Humane Society of Utah, has read the bill and claims it would be disastrous for animal-cruelty law.

"We believe this is an appalling piece of legislation," he said. "It will give us some of the weakest cruelty laws in the country."

The society believes it should be a felony on a first offense of animal torture and was concerned that livestock torture was left out of the bill. The livestock provision is now included in the bill, added in an amendment.

Christensen addressed his bill's stance on animal torture.

"Many people do stupid, thoughtless things that they later regret," he said. "That doesn't make them a career criminal."

The animal groups countered with the argument that much like other crimes, the first time a person is caught is rarely the first time they've done it.

They also have a beef with how ranchers and dairy farmers treat their livestock.

Several people testified that it's not uncommon to see cows with hooves that haven't been clipped. That in turn forces them to curl under, causing the cows to essentially walk on their ankles.

Livestock owners and advocates forcefully rebuked the attack saying that not only do they care for them but understand them best.

For example, police often get calls of abused cows apparently so poorly fed that their ribs are showing. But that's typical, and healthy, for dairy cows.

"We support the issues dealing with domesticated pets," said Todd Bingham of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation. "We maintain that agricultural producers understand their animals."

The cause of domestic animals was punctuated by testimony of David Reynolds, whose dog was stabbed earlier this week and Jeff Stoddard, whose dog was shot and killed Thursday.

Over the protests of the animal groups, Senate Bill 117 was passed by the committee 4-2 for debate on the Senate floor.

The other animal-cruelty bill, which is backed by the animal-rights groups, is Senate Bill 102, which wasn't heard Friday because of the time spent on the first bill. That bill will be discussed at a later date.