Bill strengthens punishment for livestock cases

A Cache County representative's bill, if passed into law, would create a new criminal offense for poaching and other types of "wanton destruction of livestock," such as cattle, calves, horses, mules, sheep, goats, hogs and domesticated elk.

HB240, sponsored by Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove, R-Garland, punishes the offender with a second-degree felony if the livestock value is more than $5,000; a third-degree felony if the value is $1,000 to $5000; a class A misdemeanor if the value is $300 to $1,000; and a class B misdemeanor if the value is under $300.

The offender's vehicle and weapon can be seized, according to the bill, and the offender can lose his hunting license if he committed the crime while hunting. Currently, such crimes are prosecuted as criminal mischief offenses, but criminal mischief laws don't necessarily allow seizure of assets or loss of hunting licenses, Menlove said.

"This is a serious issue for agriculture and one that we need to be addressing," Menlove said Thursday to the House Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee, which passed the bill unanimously.

Skull Valley cattle rancher Martin Anderson spoke to the committee about the need for Menlove's bill. Last spring, Anderson lost 10 cows, including a week-old calf.

"This kind of incident that occurs is just devastating, the magnitude of loss, in my case $9,000 or $10,000," he said. "It almost wipes out your profits for the year."

Anderson recalled the horror of seeing small 2-month-old cattle lying dead next to their mothers. He says the bill promotes humanity toward animals. "It's the hope of this bill that someone that does this kind of activity is ultimately caught, prosecuted and convicted," he said. "There's a little more teeth in it."

E-MAIL: lhancock@desnews.com