Stan Boyd, lobbyist for the Idaho Cattle Association and Idaho Wool Growers, is pitching SB 1303 on animal cruelty to the House Agriculture Committee this afternoon, saying the Senate-passed bill is complementary to HB 650, Rep. Ken Andrus' animal cruelty bill that passed the House this morning. Boyd said, "It's been pointed out many times, Idaho is one of only three states that doesn't have a felony provision for animal cruelty. We join North Dakota and South Dakota with that distinction. The livestock industry ... is very proud of the way we treat our animals. ... We're very proud to bring forward a bill that would place animal cruelty, the third offense in 15 years, as a felony."

Andrus' bill bans cockfighting and creates a felony penalty for a third offense of torturing a companion animal, such as a pet dog or cat. Boyd's bill, which passed the Senate 31-1 last month, would make a third offense of intentional and malicious animal cruelty a felony punishable by a year in prison, for any animal; all agricultural practices would be exempt. The felony penalty in the bill is only for the “intentional and malicious infliction of pain, physical suffering, injury or death upon an animal.” Maliciously overworking, starving, and abandoning animals would remain misdemeanors. Representatives of the cattle industry told lawmakers they tried tougher legislation in past years, but it didn't pass.