Livestock Care Bill to become Law

Hoosier Ag Today online is reporting that in the Hoosier state both the state Senate and the state House passed, without amendment, HB 1099. This means the legislation can proceed immediately to the Governor's desk for signature, where Hoosier Ag Today predicts it will be signed.

The bill is an attempt to avoid efforts from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and other animal rights groups to pass alternative legislation or a constitutional amendment that would change how animals could be confined. To prevent this, the Indiana legislature is seeking to pass legislation that would establish in the law who has the authority to set animal care standards, which in this case would be the Board of Animal Health. They would have the sole authority to set the regulatory standards for animal care.

Hoosier Ag Today reports that "most livestock organizations," and the Indiana Farm Bureau, support the bill. The supporters hope "the bill will prevent the kind of issues that have impacted Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri livestock sectors, where radical animal rights groups tried to regulate the livestock care standards [.]"

To read the Hoosier Ag Today report, click here.

Posted: 03/01/10