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Joe Pyrah
Sen. Jon Greiner just can't reconcile giving animal torturers harsher sentences than child killers.
The Ogden Republican and police chief said negligent homicide of a child is a class A misdemeanor, whereas proposed legislation would make a first offense of knowingly or intentionally torturing a companion animal (domestic dog or domestic cat) a third-degree felony.
But Greiner's opposition stood in the face of a compromise the likes of which is rarely seen on Capitol Hill.
The bill has such momentum that at one point, Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo, called on the body to pass the bill, then voted "aye on two," signaling that he has problems with it. He later said everyone has problems with it but that it's the nature of compromise and that he'll press for its final passage.
It passed the second reading 22-6.
Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, is sponsoring the bill and has watched the Utah Farm Bureau and the Humane Society fight like cats and dogs for months before hammering out the compromise.
"I am extremely happy to bring this before you, mostly so that I can get rid of it," he said Tuesday.
The bill makes torture of a cat or dog a first-offense felony and includes negligence and recklessness for livestock.
"I think we have something that we can all live with in this bill," Christensen said. "I've compromised a long way."
Like Greiner, not everyone could live with the bill.
"I realize there's an awful lot of emotion involved in this issue," said Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George. "But good, sound reason tells me we have gone too far."
The bill still has far to go with another vote in the Senate, several votes in the House and the governor's signature. But Senate leadership said it has "strong commitments" from both sides of the aisle in the House that the bill will pass as-is.
SB 297
Sponsored by: Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden
Animal Torture and Cruelty Amendments -- This bill would amend provisions of the Utah Criminal Code relating to animal cruelty. |
