BISMARCK — Lawyers in cages. Many of you may have seen the Humane Watch ad that ran on Superbowl Sunday as the spoof, kind of, to ASPCA, HSUS and all their ads about, “Oh for $19 a month, you can save this animal.” Well, for $19 a month you can give a lawyer a job and keep them out of their cage and let them roam free, and free to make a bunch of regulations and laws in states that inhibit animal ownership of all kinds.

I have many friends that don’t have livestock and just have pets, that really question me when I tell them about HSUS wanting to eliminating animal ownership of all kinds. Here’s a quote from Wayne Pacelle, “There’s no ethical obligation to preserve a breed.” And within that quote he comes right out and says, “We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals.”

But they use pets to drive a wedge between the pet owner versus the animal owner on the farms; to create that sympathy to raise money for their lawyers and lobbyists to make laws that inhibit the way we do business. Even right here in North Dakota, as they now have a full-time lobbyist working the halls of the capitol, day in, day out, every day of the legislative session. And introducing many bills, whether its trying to do away with dissection of animals in classes to enhance someone’s science knowledge. Or if was the bad piece of legislation that passed four years ago in 2013. That bill created a very tough position for our county law enforcement to have to make a decision whether or not animals were being abused.

Our members told us in our policy last fall, that they wanted certified veterinarians specialized in large animal health to be utilized to determine animal neglect or abuse prior to charges and seizures. And I’m glad to say that we at NDFB were the first ones to stand behind that legislation – House Bill 1348 – that puts, kind of, the hammer down on false claims. And puts the responsibility in a professional with expertise in the field of animals.

And that’s the way you care for animals. Not being happy if all domestic animals would be extinct.

For questions or comments, please contact Dawn Smith-Pfeifer.

— Daryl Lies, president of North Dakota Farm Bureau

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