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4 CapitalPress.com February 27, 2015 Proposed limits on animal prizes worry cattlemen’s group Bill would restrict ‘rabbit scrambles’ and similar events By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Proposed restrictions on “rabbit scrambles” and similar contests that award live ani- mals as prizes have alarmed the Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso- ciation, which fears impacts on rodeo events. House Bill 2641 is intended to prevent injuries to animals during “scramble” competi- tions, in which young children try to catch rabbits or other small animals to keep as pets. Such contests also cause problems after the event, when the prize animals are given to shelters after people decide they don’t want to care for them, said Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, who intro- duced the legislation. The bill was inspired by the controversy over a rabbit scramble in Lane County but Gomberg said he did not want to limit the provisions to that species or region. Under HB 2641, animals could not be “chased, kicked or otherwise subjected to of- fensive physical contact” during the contest. The event’s organizer would also have to allow con- testants to return the animals up to six months after the competition. Violating the statute by “unlawfully awarding an an- imal as a prize” would be a Class B misdemeanor, pun- ishable by up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine. The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association is in “protective mode” regarding the bill be- cause the group does not want it to infringe on rodeo events, said Jim Welsh, its political advocate, during a Feb. 19 hearing of the House Com- mittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. While the OCA does not support the legislation as cur- rently written, it would favor a “work group” to improve the language, he said. Glenn Kolb, executive director of the Oregon Vet- erinary Medical Association, said his group was also un- easy about provisions in the bill. Specifically, the bill re- quires that “minimum care” be provided to animals before the contest, but veterinarians can only attest to the condi- tion of an animal during the time of examination, so this provision is impractical for event organizers, he said. Also, the OVMA dislikes the provision allowing the prize winners to return ani- mals for six months, as this would let them shirk respon- sibility, Kolb said. Gomber told the commit- tee that he’d be willing to amend the legislation, such as exempting fish from the bill or creating a minimum weight for animal prizes so that “greased pig” contests are not banned. Sports medicine test holds promise for cattle industry NE Washington to Olympia: Action on wolves can’t wait By JOHN O’CONNELL By DON JENKINS Capital Press Capital Press POCATELLO, Idaho — Idaho State University and Montana State University re- searchers believe a common blood test for evaluating the performance of elite athletes could help the cattle industry better assess the dispositions of livestock. The project, conducted in 2012 at Nebraska’s Chappell feedlot, utilized readily avail- able, low-cost sport perfor- mance meters that instantly estimate lactate levels from a single drop of blood. Their findings have been published online by Meat Science and will appear in the journal’s May 2015 print publication. Blood lactate accumulates when exercise, or stress, trig- gers anaerobic metabolism — when oxygen delivery to tissue is insufficient to meet normal metabolic demands. In hu- mans, a lower lactate reading following strenuous exercise indicates an athlete is in excel- lent shape and well equipped to handle the stress of compe- tition. Michael Meyers, an associ- ate professor of sports science at ISU, reasoned the same, sim- ple test could measure stress in steers, enabling the industry to breed animals with the most OLYMPIA — A Stevens County commissioner Feb. 18 told legislators that northeast Washington counties may in- tervene to stop predation by wolves if state wildlife man- agers fail to protect livestock. “If you don’t come up with a solution, we will come up with our own solution,” the commissioner, Wes McCart, told the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Com- mittee. McCart said later in an interview that county com- missioners have talked with county prosecutors about what they can do to manage wolves. “It’s not an idle threat,” he said. “I have folks who cry almost everyday because of their losses, and that’s not go- ing to continue.” McCart didn’t outline a plan of action, but he said he’s been asked before about spe- cifics. “My answer is, we will take the appropriate action at the appropriate time, and it will be legal,” he said. “We know that if we don’t — if we go off by ourselves — it puts us in a defensive position and vulnerable to a lawsuit. “We will declare a defensi- ble action,” he said. “We don’t just shoot from the hip.” With time running out on this session for wolf-related legislation, northeast Wash- ington legislators are making a last push for relief from wolves killing sheep and cat- tle. “I can’t go back home and tell people we’re not go- ing to do anything for a year or two,” Okanogan County Rep. Joel Kretz said. “Social acceptance (of wolves) in my district started low and has plummeted.” Kretz’s proposals to take wolves in northeast Washing- John O’Connell/Capital Press Michael Meyers, an associate professor of sports science at Idaho State University, visits the ISU Hu- man Performance Laboratory to demonstrate a quick blood test used to evaluate athletic performance that he’s now utilizing to evaluate the disposition of cattle, working in partnership with the Montana State University Department of Range Sciences. docile dispositions, evaluate individual animals and monitor how handling and facility de- signs affect cattle stress. Meyers, who also has a background in animal sciences, explained other studies have shown stress reduces weight gain in livestock and may even decrease tenderness. The industry standard for evaluating animal stress entails recording an animal’s speed at moving through a chute and also assigning a score based on its behavior. In theory, slow- er-moving, less-irritable live- stock have a calmer disposition, which should correlate with low stress and tender meat. “Some (cattle) just freeze in the chute and don’t move at all. We wanted to move away from subjective scoring with human error in it to some bio-marker,” said Meyers, who is also a vis- iting research faculty member with MSU’s Department of An- imal and Range Sciences. Meyers is optimistic his lac- tate test will eventually become widely adopted as the industry seeks to stay on the cutting edge of animal welfare technology. Jane Ann Boles, an associ- ate professor of meat sciences at MSU and the lead research- er on the lactate project, found a correlation between lactate levels and chute score and ve- locity. Cattle in the experiment were also evaluated postmor- tem for tenderness. Cattle with fast chute scores tended to yield tougher meat. Boles said cattle with low lactate levels generally yielded tender meat, and animals with medium lactate were tougher. She was surprised, however, to find animals with the highest lactate levels were also tender — she hypothesizes they’re ac- customed to high lactate levels and predisposed to quickly rid their systems of it postmor- tem. She advises high lactate animals should, nonetheless, be screened out due to oth- er problems associated with stress. Don Jenkins/Capital Press Stevens County Commissioner Wes McCart stands outside a hearing room Feb 18 on the Capitol Campus in Olympia after telling a House committee that northeast Washington counties are preparing to take action if state game managers fail to curb livestock predation by wolves. ton off the state’s endangered species list or transfer wolves closer to Western Washington to hasten recovery don’t have enough support in Olympia. More recently, he intro- duced House Bill 2107, which would require the Washington Department of Fish and Wild- life to reopen the state’s wolf recovery plan and measure the plan’s success by count- ing packs instead of breeding pairs. Kretz said the plan needs to be reconsidered because wolves have packed his cor- ner of the state, but not the entire state. Until, wolves are more widely distributed, they will remain a protected spe- cies, according to the recov- ery plan. WDFW supports the bill, but it’s opposed by envi- ronmental groups. Defend- ers of Wildlife Northwest representative Elizabeth Ruther told lawmakers they should let the current plan play out. A citizens’ advi- sory group already gives the department guidance on wolf recovery, she said. “We respectfully think this is the wrong time for the this bill.” Researchers look at cider apples, mulches MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Qualities of cider apples, consumer preferences of cider and the effects of bio- degradable mulches on fruit quality will be evaluated by Washington State University researchers at Mount Vernon. The separate cider and mulch studies, each $40,000 grants, were among eight grants recently awarded by the WSU College of Agri- LEGAL Request for Proposals Fiscal Year 9-5/#14 July 1, 2015 - June 30, 2016 The Oregon Beef Council is soliciting proposals for projects in the following areas: 1) Positive Producer Image 2) Studying Legislation 3) Education related to beef 4) Generic promotion of beef Any individual or organi- zation may propose projects in any of the categories listed above. Projects must meet the Beef Council’s mission of enhanc- ing the beef industry’s image of profitability of Oregon’s beef industry. Approved pro- jects must comply with the Beef Promotion and Research Act and O.R.S. 577 To present a proposal you must complete and submit an Authorization Request Form by March 20, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Download an Authorization Request Form from orbeef.org or by contacting the Oregon Beef Council office (503) 274- 2333 or via e-mail at julie@orbeef.org. legal-8-2-2/#4 cultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences to study agricultural issues. “The cider industry will gain a better understanding of the impact of growing envi- ronment, location and harvest method on fruit quality and whether or not these differ- ences are valued by the cider maker or detectable by con- sumers,” said Carol Miles, horticulture professor, lead on the cider study and involved in the mulch study. Miles has been investigat- ing cider apple production at Mount Vernon since 2007. Researchers will evaluate quality of cider apple vari- eties to look for differences due to environment. They will consider tannin levels, a bit- ter-tasting organic substance higher in cider apples and will see if consumers can detect differences in cider due to lo- cation or harvest method. In a separate project, re- searchers will examine the ef- LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 3/11/2015. The sale will be held at 10:00 am by SAVEON TRANSPORT 4410 SWEET LANE, SALEM, OR 2009 Acura TL VIN = 19UUA86529A018489 Amount due on lien $3,200.00 Reputed owner(s) Shukri Diriye Shukri Diriye Capitol One Auto Finance Legal-9-2-4/#4 Courtesy of Washington State University Cider qualities are evaluated at the Washington State Univer- sity Mount Vernon processing lab. A new study will look at qualities of cider apples and consumer preferences in cider. fects of biodegradable mulch- es on fruit quality. Mulches are used in orchards to control weeds and preserve mois- ture. The study will consider migration of chemical con- stituents from deteriorating mulches to developing fruit. LEGAL NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announces a meeting of the Washington State Technical Advisory Committee on March 24, 2015 from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm, 316 W. Boone Ave., Suite 450, Spokane, WA. Remote access is available. For more information contact Sherre Copeland, (360) 704-7758. 9-2/#4