February 26, 2016
CapitalPress.com
9
Idaho lawmakers work on animal cruelty bill
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
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on killing problem wolves
WSU researcher:
Results a ‘biological
impossibility’
David Knutson said it isn’t
unusual to have studies reach
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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
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practices on
study by Wash- SORVRUJSORVRQHDUWL-
wolf-live-
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ington
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stock
con-
University re-
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searchers Rob- :68VWXG\KWWSMRXU-
analyzing
ert Wielgus and QDOVSORVRUJSORVRQH
data
from
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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
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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
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chairman of the committee and a rancher, introduced legislation
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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
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scribes what a companion an-
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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
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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.
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Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
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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
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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.
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