If Oda's odious bill passes, it will be a shame for Utah

In Utah, state Rep. Carl Oda (R-Clearfield) has authored a bill that, if passed, will enable residents of the state to kill feral animals, including cats, "by shooting, clubbing or decapitating" them. (Source) Not surprisingly, Oda has been bombarded with emails from animal rights activists recently. Of the 500 such emails he's received in recent days, about 50 of have been "nasty, vile and vicious." As Oda revealed to the Salt Lake Tribune:

Some e-mails were on the edge. Some said ‘I’d rather see you dead than a cat.' They didn’t say they were coming to hurt me, but that they’d rather see me dead. These are the same people that want to put animals above human beings, who really would want to see a human being dead rather than an animal dead.

Blogger Amy Boshnack, who "is not an animal rights activist by any stretch of the imagination," put it best when she explained the ultimate significance of this law:

This proposed law is over-the-top, especially since the animal doesn't even have to be noticeably aggressive or sick to be shot. It just has to be considered, by the shooter, to be feral. It seems terribly dumb to give rights to every person in the state to shoot or kill these animals by way of clubbing, decapitation, or a bow and arrow. Yes, you read that correctly. I mean, if you can't afford a gun you should be able to participate too! (Source)

The good news is that Oda's bill has triggered a firestorm of criticism. Even the moderate Ogden Standard Examiner editorialized:

Davis County state Rep. Curt Oda is simply not qualified to make decisions as to how feral animals should be killed. His proposal to change Utah animal cruelty laws to allow feral animals to be quickly killed -- in a violent manner -- should die in the Legislature for lack of oxygen.

We can only hope this bill dies. But I am familiar enough with Utah to know that this bill stands a good chance of passing. This is the same state whose Supreme Court in 2006 overruled a ban on students bringing guns onto the University of Utah's campus. (Source) Alas, allowing Utahns to be animal-murdering vigilantes can't be that far off.

Fighting the Good Fight in My Old Home State

Having grown up in Utah and lived there most of my life, I can vouch that states don't come much more conservative. So it was heartening to see the animal rights movement shaking things up in the old home state. Militants are targeting the University of Utah's various animal testing programs. And they're making a difference. The Davis County Animal Shelter, just north of Salt Lake City, is no longer sending animals to the U of U's research labs. Once upon a time, animal shelters provided the 150 to 200 dogs needed per year at the University of Utah. But new state laws have made it so these shelters no longer have to participate. (Source)

Kudos to the Davis County Animal Shelter for protecting its animals.

And then yesterday - in recognition of World Week for Animals in Laboratories - University of Utah students and local activists protested the treatment of animals in the university's laboratories. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) investigators detailed the abuses that occur on a regular basis inside the U of U's laboratories:

Thousands of animals are still suffering inside University of Utah laboratories. Dogs have their necks cut open and medical devices implanted inside. Cats, monkeys, and rats are forced to endure invasive experiments in which their skulls are cut open and electrodes are inserted into their brains, and mice are given enormous tumors and painful, deadly illnesses. PETA’s complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleging multiple violation of animal protection laws is still under investigation. (Source)

I have a particularly strong interest in this latest wave of protests because the University of Utah is my alma mater. And I am thrilled to see students and animal rights activists there coming together to demand an end to the terrible treatment of animals at the university's labs.

A hundred years ago today, the great American author Mark Twain died. During his lifetime, Twain often made his compassion toward animals known in his writings. He felt especially strongly about animal testing. As he once wrote, "I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't.... The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further."

No doubt that if Mark Twain were still alive today, he would be cheering on the protests at the University of Utah.