Interesting new legislation in CA
From the
Tri-Valley Herald:
bq. Animal-rights activists are sneaking into barns to snap photos of penned-up pigs, freeing chickens from cages and vandalizing farm equipment.
bq. In response, farm groups and rural law enforcement agencies launched a massive lobbying effort this year to push a bill through the Legislature to strengthen trespassing laws on farms and ranches. They did it in the name of homeland security.
bq. Led by state Sen. Chuck Poochigian, a Fresno Republican who represents a giant swath of San Joaquin Valley farm country, supporters argued that animal rights groups could be infiltrated by terrorists trying to contaminate the nation's food supply.
bq. Effective immediately, a trespasser on land or buildings where "cattle, goats, pigs, fowl or any other animal is being raised, bred, fed or held for the purpose of food for human consumption" can be fined $100 for a first offense and, for a second offense, up to $1,000 and sentenced to six months in jail.
bq. Under the old law, "our officers can do nothing more than cite such trespassers with a $10 fine and ask them to leave the property," said Stanislaus County Sheriff Les Weidman in a letter to lawmakers, echoing the main argument to strengthen the penalty.
There was a case a few months ago where members of the 'Animal Liberation Front' broke into a Mink ranch near Seattle (Sultan, WA to be exact) and 'liberated' 10,000 hybrid minks. Their rationally was that the minks could survive just fine in the wild on their own. The minks could not.
Cluebat application time...
Posted by DaveH at January 5, 2004 1:38 PM