Utah rep. wants to exclude feral animals from cruelty laws

Salt Lake City, Utah

-- Feral animals won't fall under protections against animal cruelty in Utah if Rep. Curt Oda (R-Clearfield) has his way.

Oda is sponsoring a bill that would remove rodents, pests and feral animals from the protection of animal cruelty laws.

HB 210 would also remove shooting from the definition of torture, when the intent is to humanely kill an animal -- especially “if the person doing the shooting or killing has a reasonable belief that the animal is a feral animal.”Oda calls no-kill methods for controlling feral and pest populations -- like catch, neuter and release -- inefficient and expensive.

The bill is waiting for official introduction in the Utah House of Representatives.