Do No Harm
Krayton Kerns
2.28.07
There is a rule in medicine, “Above all, do no harm.” This implies that most of time, if you are not certain what to do; do nothing. Mother Nature is pretty good at what she does if you don’t screw it up first. This general rule applies to many things in life and the legislature is no exception.
We are now at the transmittal date in the 60th legislature. That means we are half way through the process and all of the 2,562 newly requested laws have been heard, amended, dropped, tabled or passed to the next chamber. I have reviewed hundreds of pages of legislation and occasionally I spot a phrase that promotes a position I am diametrically opposed to. Using the “Above all, do no harm,” rule I vote to kill the bill. I think that position is safest to all Montanans. Here are two hot button issues we heard in this last week:
HB720: An Act Creating Laws Governing Facilities That Breed and Sell Dogs.
This was the “puppy-mill bill” targeted towards folks who indiscriminately breed dogs to flood a temporary market. Wanting a quick dollar, these pups are sold without regard to health or genetic desirability. The aim of this bill was to force these people out of business. It didn’t do that. What it did was require every responsible breeder in Montana to register with the state, construct kennels to standards and criteria yet to be established, allow unannounced inspection by deputy state veterinarians and do all of the above at their own expense. (How is that for an unfunded mandate?) We killed this bill.
Certainly there are puppy mills around the state, and I received a scathing e-mail from Missoula opposing my position. However, the dog breeders I know are conscientiously trying to improve their respective breed. They go to great lengths and expense to test their breeding stock and select the highest quality individuals for their programs. Expect to pay more for their pups, but rest assured it will be money well spent. These people should not be penalized for the actions of the few.
HB726: An Act Revising The Law Related to Animal Cruelty; Including Companion Animal Hoarding.
To me this bill brought forth two interesting points. In reference to code 45-8-211, previous legislation established that “participating in an animal race of more than 2 miles” is considered the offense of cruelty to animals. This means every morning when Druann and I take our Australian Shepherd for our 7 mile run we are breaking the law. That is ridiculous. When “Cash” sees us putting on our running gear she goes nuts. If we left her home she would eat the sofa. This proves that regardless of the legislation we pass in this session, nothing could be as ridiculous the 2-mile rule.
The Companion Animal Hoarding section is new law that states if you have over 20 domestic companion animals, dog, cats, ferrets, rabbits, or birds in your residence and have complete disregard for their welfare you are guilty of cruelty to animals. I am not convinced this legislation will change the behavior of animal hoarding but this bill passed out of the Ag. Committee.
