Senate Bill 434 - Killed
Deschutes County Commisioners Ordinance
The Anti-Dog Livestock Lobby
A letter to Oregon Senator Neil Bryant
SB 434 was passed overwhelmingly by the Oregon Senate, however it was held up in the Oregon House at the end of the legislative session. In June, the bill was approved in committe and moved out for a final vote on the House floor. However, House Majority Leader Lynn Snodgrass maneuvered the bill back to committee where it languished until the legislature adjourned July 5th.
The bill, had it passed, would have given dogs which chase livestock without any result of injury or damage a second chance. Current Oregon law mandates a death sentence for dogs, even if they playfully chase livestock with no intent of harm. Since the bill died in committee, the current cruel medieval law will remain in effect. Remember this law can be applied to anyone's companion animal. If your dog inadvertantly gets out and playfully runs after a horse, sheep, goat, etc. he can be immediately impounded and killed with the blessing of the State of Oregon.
The original version of this bill would have saved dogs currently on death row such as Nadas. However, it was watered down to the point that, even if it had passed, it would have given counties discretion in implementing the bill, which in effect lets counties do exactly what they are doing now.
Be sure to contact Rep. Snodgrass and tell her what you think of her legislative maneuvering to keep such a cruel law on the books. You can send her mail at Snodgrass.REP@state.or.us or call her at (503) 986-1400. Tell her you will not forget about this at election time.
This page will be updated in the near future to indicate how your representative voted on this bill. Stay tuned.
When the bill was being considered in the State Senate, Senator Neil Bryant (R, Bend), who introduced the bill, allowed an animal advocate, Carey M. Theil, to speak briefly.
In his statement, he put Nadas into public record, and also into the back of the minds of the committee members.
Sen. Bryant: Thank you gentlemen. We also have a gentleman who wanted to make a brief public statement in support of the bill.
Carey M. Theil: Mr. Chair, Committee Members: My name is Carey Theil, and I am an animal activist. I represent various groups from across the state. I really didn't know this was going on today, so I don't have a written statement. I wanted to add very quickly that I issued a press release about a mongh ago on behalf of 17 organizations, the Humane Society of the Willamette Valley here in Salem, the SafeHaven Humane Society, In Defense of Animals, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, thanking Deschutes County and the Commissioners down there for passing changes to the County Code, and in support of similar state legislation. I think it's very important that the laws be adjusted to a growing public awareness and concern about animal welfare.
There's another dog, I'm not sure if everyone knows this, but there's another dog in Jackson County named Nadas, that has been handed down the same fate. He has been sentenced to die without any damage or injury to livestock, or any proof that he even chased livestock.
This is a very good bill, and the seventeen organizations that I aforementioned, vetrinarians, dog breeders, dog trainers, are in firm support of this bill, so I wanted to issue a very firm thank you.
Sen. Bryant: Thank you.
The Deschutes County Commissioners passed an ordinance that spares the lives dogs that are caught either chasing or nipping at sheep, however only for first offenses. A second offense is punishable by death. The Deschutes dogs owned by Lynn Stone were freed as a result of this ordinance passing and the courts ruling that the dogs were seized without due process.
However, this ordinance only applies to Deschutes County. Read about another dog on death row since September, 1996 for allegedly chasing a horse. The media has largely ignored this tragic story.
The livestock industry's insistence that dogs who chase livestock be executed reflects both an "eye for an eye" mentality and a conscious disregard of the other remedies which Oregon law provides livestock owners. To anyone familiar with the uncommon rights already possessed by those whose livestock is harmed by dogs, it is clear that the only justification for the industry's focus upon death is vengeance.
Current laws grant owners of livestock "killed, wounded, injured, or chased" by dogs two remedies-- the opportunities to sue the dog owner for double the actual economic loss or to recover the actual loss without suit from the county "dog fund"-- and two retributive rights --the right to shoot the offending dog on sight or, for the more faint-hearted, the right to demand that the county take on that chore. Only the right to sue for double damages requires proof of owner fault; all other options exist without regard to the circumstances or causes of the incident. In contrast, the families of people injured or killed in the surprisingly frequent automobile accidents caused by "livestock at large" must prove owner fault and have neither license to kill the offending animal nor right to demand capital punishment.
The livestock industry's demand for death when there are other ways to assure responsiblility reflects an arrogant indifference to American democratic values. The claim to entitlement to vengeance because of the sentimental costs of possible harm to livestock destined for the butcher is hypocritical in the extreme. Under Oregon's laws, both dogs and livestock are "property." The owners of both deserve to be treated equally.
Livestock owners should be required to content themselves with recovery of their commercial losses. The livestock industry has no need for and should not possess the summary right to kill. If the Legislature lacks the will to stand up to industry pressures, it is time for a boycott of Oregon meat and an initiative that will assure the welfare of companion animals throughout Oregon. Let's see if the livestock industry really believes that the deaths of a few dogs are worth the cost.
Write your State Senator and Representative (Salem Legislative Information is available at 503-986-1180). Tell Governor Kitzhaber what your think. Above all, let the livestock people know that the costs of their cruelty will be high. Those people include:
Oregon Suffolk Breeders Attn: Diana Benitz 13960 Fishback Rd. Monmouth, Or 97361 Pygora Breeders Ass'n Attn:Chris Utterback PO Box 1112 Clackamas, Or 97015 Oregon Farm Bureau Attn: Andy Anderson 3415 Commercial St., SE Suite G Salem, Or. 97302 Oregon Purebred Breeders Assoc. Attn: Sandy Ricksger 6622 South Miller Rd. Hubbard, Or 98032 Cattlemen & Oregon Beef Council 1200 NW Front Street, Suite 290 Portand, Or 97209