Sponsors: Senator Scott Sandall, Rep. Snider
UT H.B. 114—Theft Defense Amendments
Sponsors: Senator Evan Vickers, Rep. Albrecht
Two dangerous bills are moving quickly in Utah and your help is needed TODAY to stop them. If passed, these bills would make it harder to prevent animal cruelty in your state and even criminalize Good Samaritans who provide aid to sick and injured farm animals.
Large farming corporations are pushing legislation that is in their best interest—not the people or animals of Utah. There’s still time to stop them, but your lawmakers need to hear from you.
Senate Bill 113 would strip communities across Utah of their ability to regulate large-scale animal enterprises, which are businesses that use or sell animals or animal products for profit, food, research, testing and more. Factory farms—which can house hundreds of thousands of animals in one facility—are an example of a harmful animal enterprise in dire need of regulation. Communities across the country have increasingly been taking action to combat the negative impacts of factory farms. Rather than reform their destructive practices, these corporations are responding by pushing preemption laws to insulate themselves from liability or oversight.
S.B. 113 would reverse the progress Utahans have made in protecting animals from cruel, exploitative industries like these. If passed, local governments within Utah would lose their right to enact laws that prevent harm to people and animals in their communities.
House Bill 114 would further criminalize Good Samaritans who rescue sick or injured farm animals in need of medical attention. If H.B. 114 passes, people who rescue sick or injured livestock would be charged with a higher-level crime and their defense would be restricted from citing the animal’s need for medical attention. This bill is unconstitutional; it would take away people’s right to due process after taking measures to help injured farm animals.
H.B. 114 is an impulsive overreach by politicians who are clearly re-writing the law to appease Smithfield and the powerful agriculture lobby in Utah. It comes in the wake of a jury acquitting two activists for rendering aid to sick pigs being confined in inhumane conditions. Rather than address the abuses of factory farms, some legislators are attempting to criminalize care for farm animals and take away people’s rights because they don’t agree with the jury’s decision.
The Utah Legislature has PASSED this terrible bill, and now the fate of H.B. 114 is in the hands of Governor Spencer Cox. There is still time to convince him to veto it! Please use our form below to send Governor Cox a pre-drafted email urging him to oppose H.B. 114.
What You Can Do
These bills are moving fast and so should we. Please help us stop these dangerous bills from becoming state law. Use our easy form below to send a pre-drafted email to your lawmakers in Salt Lake City, urging them to vote NO on S.B. 113 and urging Governor Cox to veto H.B. 114.
