North Dakotans have voted for a law that protects the state’s agricultural industry from activist groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
On Nov. 6, 67 percent of voters supported Measure 3, an amendment to the state’s constitution barring new laws that “abridge the right of farmers and ranchers to employ agricultural technology, modern livestock production and ranching practices.”
The North Dakota Farm Bureau sponsored the measure because organizations like the Humane Society of the United States have successfully introduced legislation on farming practices in other states, such as California.
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“Their long-term goal is to make everyone a vegetarian or a vegan and try to shut down meat consumption,” Jeff Missling, North Dakota Farm Bureau executive vice-president, told The Western Producer this summer. “They’re going about it incrementally by… trying to attack our animal agricultural industry.”
Missling said agricultural leaders in several other states have inquired about the so-called “right to farm” measure, so the North Dakota approach may become a template for other jurisdictions.
North Dakotans also voted on another measure connected to the Humane Society on election day. Animal welfare advocates in the state had sponsored Measure 5, which would have made it a felony for any individual to “maliciously and intentionally burn, poison, crush, suffocate, impale, drown, blind, skin, beat to death, drag to death, exsanguinate, disembowel, or dismember any living dog, cat, or horse.”
North Dakota is one of two states in America, along with South Dakota, that treats extreme acts of animal cruelty as a misdemeanor offense, but 65 percent of voters in the state rejected the measure.
Agriculture groups, including the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association, opposed the changes to the state’s animal cruelty regulations.
On their website the Stockmen said the law wouldn’t protect animals and it was funded by the Humane Society of the United States, “an out of state animal rights group known for its anti-agriculture agenda.”
“If you look at the ballot language it only addresses three species of animals – dogs, cats and horses,” said Julie Ellingson, executive vice-president of the Stockmen’s Association. “We really think a proper care and treatment law should be something that is applicable across all species.”
