BOISE – An amended version of two different House-passed bills on dog racing – one allowing an exception from Idaho’s strict ban on dog racing for non-betting exhibition races at county fair side shows, and another allowing an exception for sled-dog racing and training – passed the Senate Wednesday on a unanimous vote.

Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, told the Senate, “The communities and the dogs will thank you.”

The Senate amended a bill that dealt with the county fair side-shows, and combined it with another, the sled-dog bill from Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, in part to fix some wording, and in part because the dog sled-dog bill hadn’t specified that no betting is permitted.

The combo bill now must go back to the House.