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February 26, 2016 CapitalPress.com 9 Idaho lawmakers work on animal cruelty bill By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press 8::68VWXGLHVFRQÀLFW on killing problem wolves WSU researcher: Results a ‘biological impossibility’ David Knutson said it isn’t unusual to have studies reach FRQÀLFWLQJ FRQFOXVLRQV 7KH UHYLHZ SURFHVV LV FRQ¿GHQ- tial, but the editor took into “careful consideration” the By MATTHEW WEAVER comments provided by all re- Capital Press viewers, he said. “(The UW article) un- Washington researchers dis- derwent a thorough peer re- agree whether removal of prob- view as well as our standard lem wolves will reduce or in- process for manuscripts that FUHDVHFRQÀLFWVZLWKOLYHVWRFN dispute published work,” A recent University of Knutson said. “Both research Washington study published groups have noted that further in PLOS ONE, an internation- research is necessary in this al online journal, claims that area and we welcome future more killing of wolves leads to submissions reporting addi- fewer killing of livestock than tional analyses which con- expected. tribute to knowledge in this The study, by UW research- UHVHDUFK¿HOG´ ers Niraj Poudyal, Nabin Baral Wielgus continues his and Stanley research on Asah, questions the effects and contradicts Online of non-lethal WKH¿QGLQJVRID 8:VWXG\KWWSMRXUQDOV practices on study by Wash- SORVRUJSORVRQHDUWL- wolf-live- FOH"LG MRXUQDO ington State SRQH stock con- University re- ÀLFWV +H LV searchers Rob- :68VWXG\KWWSMRXU- analyzing ert Wielgus and QDOVSORVRUJSORVRQH data from DUWLFOH"LG MRXUQDO Kaylie Peebles, pone.0113505 several states. also published He expects to by PLOS ONE release an up- in 2014. date in the summer. Wielgus’ study found that “It does make me happy to killing a wolf one year in- see that scientists can look at creased the potential for con- the same data set and come up ÀLFWV WKH QH[W \HDU :LHOJXV with a different conclusion,” argued that the breeding pair — said Jack Field, executive vice the dominant male and female president of the Washington in a pack — suppresses repro- Cattlemen’s Association and duction in the other wolves in a member of the Washington the pack. If they are killed, the Department of Fish and Wild- pack’s structure fractures and life’s wolf advisory group. some of the remaining wolves Field said the UW study’s become breeding pairs, which conclusion would be much can be more inclined to attack more broadly accepted and livestock if natural prey is not understood by the livestock available. The number of live- industry than WSU’s study. stock depredations increases “It certainly lets us know until 25 percent of the wolves there’s more than one way to in the pack have been killed, look at the issue,” he said. Wielgus said. The UW study states that wolves killed may lead to IN M! fracture of pack structure and W A increased breeding pairs, but O SH N E the effects may be “rather R short-term phenomena.” G Baral, a research associate at UW, said the researchers wanted to verify the accuracy of the WSU study. “We found that when you kill one wolf, more sheep are NLOOHG LQ WKH ¿UVW \HDU DQG fewer cattle and sheep in the years following that,” Baral said. “Based on the statisti- cal models built to capture the complex reality, it is fair to conclude that killing more wolves this year would re- duce the loss of livestock dep- redations by wolves next year. In case of sheep, killing more wolves this year is also asso- ciated with more sheep killed within the year.” The social disruption the- ory should be tested at the wolfpack level, Baral said. “Our goal in writing the rebuttal was to verify the sci- ence,” Baral said. “We would like to tell the audience that this paper is not about for or against wolves, it is about proper time series analysis.” The director of WSU’s large carnivore conservation laboratory in Pullman, Wash., Wielgus said the new study says the number of wolves and breeding pairs and live- stock at risk had no effect or a EHQH¿WRQGHSUHGDWLRQV “If you believe their re- sults that refuted my results, you have to believe the num- ber of wolves has no effect on GHSUHGDWLRQ RU LV EHQH¿FLDO´ he said. “Their results are a biological impossibility.” Wielgus claims the UW paper was rejected by four of six reviewers, and yet was still published by PLOS ONE. PLOS ONE spokesman 6HDQ(OOLV&DSLWDO3UHVV 5HS.HQ$QGUXV5/DYD+RW6SULQJVLVVKRZQEHIRUHWKHVWDUWRI WKH+RXVH$JULFXOWXUDO$IIDLUV&RPPLWWHHPHHWLQJ)HE$QGUXV chairman of the committee and a rancher, introduced legislation GXULQJWKHPHHWLQJWKDWZRXOGDPHQGWKHVWDWH¶VDQLPDOFUXHOW\ODZ tural Affairs Committee mem- bers that the input provided by the farm groups made his bill better. “I am happy for their input (because) this, in my opinion, is much better legislation than what we had in the past,” said Andrus, the committee chair- man. Idaho’s current animal cru- elty law, which makes a third offense for animal abuse a fel- ony, addresses companion an- imals and exempts production agriculture. Andrus’ bill includes a sec- ond-offense felony provision DQGLWGH¿QHVWRUWXUHDQGGH- scribes what a companion an- LPDO LV ,W LQFOXGHV D ¿UVWRI- fense felony provision if the person has been convicted of causing bodily injury to an- other person within the last 10 years. The bill adds some new language to the current statute and deletes other language to ensure that if agriculture ever lost its exemption, “produc- tion agriculture and livestock would still be safe,” said Ida- ho Cattle Association Exec- utive Vice President Wyatt Prescott. For example, it removes the words “over-drive, over- load, drive when overloaded, overwork, drive, ride or other- Food industry denies ‘scheme’ to skirt disclosure law members’ First Amendment rights to band together and speak as one, just like any trade association or union. In counter motions heard in By DON JENKINS Thurston County Court, the At- Capital Press WRUQH\ *HQHUDO¶V 2I¿FH DVNHG OLYMPIA — Attorneys Judge Anne Hirsch to summar- battled Feb. 19 over whether ily declare GMA guilty, while food companies knew for sure GMA’s lawyer, Matt Gardner, WKH\ZHUH¿QDQFLQJDFDPSDLJQ asked her to dismiss the case to defeat a 2013 GMO-labeling without a trial. initiative in Washington, a key After the two-hour hearing, issue in allegations that the Hirsch said she will review the Grocery Manufacturers Associ- arguments and issue a written ation schemed to hide the elec- decision. She didn’t give a time WLRQLQÀXHQFHRIFRQVXPHUVHQ- frame. sitive businesses. The case may turn on in- The state attorney general’s terpreting GMA’s intentions suit against GMA seeks at least when it formed the Defense of $14 million, and up to $42 mil- Brands fund on Feb. 28, 2013, lion, for it allegedly violating the state’s disclosure law by not timely reporting the sources of $11 million spent on a success- ful campaign against Initiative 522. I-522 would have been a groundbreaking victory for ad- vocates of labeling food prod- XFWV ZLWK JHQHWLFDOO\ PRGL¿HG ingredients. By contributing heavily to I-522’s defeat, GMA contends it was exercising its Attorney general sues for at least $14M to oppose GMO-labeling pro- posals nationwide. GMA’s lawyer, Matt Gard- ner, said GMA members only knew that opposing a ballot initiative in Washington was a possibility. Polling to determine wheth- er a “no” campaign would be ZRUWKZKLOH ZDVQ¶W ¿QLVKHG until March, and I-522 wasn’t put on the fall ballot until April when the Legislature failed to adopt it, Gardner said. Once GMA decided to con- tribute to “No on I-522,” it was acting like other groups that spend dues to advance their members’ interests, he said. Gardner said it was hardly a secret that GMA got the money from the food industry. “The ‘scheme’ the state is constantly talking about simply didn’t exist,” he said. Senior Assistant Attorney General Linda Dalton said GMA members were well aware that I-522 was going to be a critical battle when it agreed to form Defense of Brands. She said GMA represents hundreds of companies, but it was trying to shield the iden- tities of the 34 companies that contributed to the fund. The maneuver violated Washing- ton’s “simple and direct” law requiring campaigns to report contributions and expenditures, she said. ROP-8-2-1/#14 Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife $:DVKLQJWRQ'HSDUWPHQWRI)LVKDQG:LOGOLIH¿OHSKRWRVKRZVD PHPEHURIWKH7HDQDZD\ZROISDFN6HSDUDWHJURXSVRIUHVHDUFK- HUVDW:DVKLQJWRQ6WDWH8QLYHUVLW\DQGWKH8QLYHUVLW\RI:DVK- LQJWRQKDYHFRQÀLFWLQJRSLQLRQVRQZKHWKHUUHPRYDORISUREOHP ZROYHVZLOOUHGXFHRULQFUHDVHFRQÀLFWVZLWKOLYHVWRFN BOISE — Idaho lawmakers have voted to print a bill that would strengthen the state’s animal cruelty law and pre- sumably stave off the need for animal rights groups to push a statewide ballot initiative. The bill was introduced Feb. 18 by Rep. Ken Andrus, a Re- publican rancher from Lava Hot Springs who believes toughen- ing Idaho’s animal cruelty stat- ute would prevent the need for a ballot initiative, which some groups say is necessary because they don’t believe the law is stringent enough to deter abuse. A similar proposal by An- drus died in 2013 after facing opposition from farm groups that were concerned any effort WRDPHQGWKHODZZDVWKH¿UVW step in a chipping away process that would ultimately harm pro- duction agriculture. But Idaho’s main beef, dairy and wool growers associations worked with Andrus to alter his bill in a way they feel affords added protection to agriculture. “It strengthens the position of production agriculture,” Idaho Dairymen’s Association Executive Director Bob Naer- ebout said about the legislation. Andrus told House Agricul- wise use an animal when same LVXQ¿W´IURPWKHGH¿QLWLRQRI cruelty in the current law. The bill adds language that requires a judge to order a pre-sentencing psychological evaluation for people convict- ed of animal cruelty. Humane Society of the United States Idaho State Di- rector Lisa Kauffman said her group supports the legislation and with the exception of a few changes, it is the same bill she has worked with Andrus on for several years. She said the law and new bill do nothing to harm agri- culture. “This is not an ag bill; this is a companion animal bill,” she said. Prescott said the industry wanted to ensure production agriculture was protected in any legislation that amends that state’s animal cruelty law and Andrus’ bill accomplishes that. The legislation will be op- posed by Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s largest general farm group. Farm bureau members are uncomfortable with increas- ing the penalties for animal cruelty, said IFBF Director of Governmental Affairs Russ Hendricks. 9-7/#4x