Upland hunters, conservationists and dog enthusiasts recently shared their concerns after a provision in the farm bill draft showed unintended consequences for the hunting community.
H.R. 5017, commonly called the Greyhound Protection Act, contained vague language that seemingly set a precedent against the hunting community and would severely impact sporting dog training.
Read about the concerns from this vague language here.
Now, lawmakers have clarified the vague language within H.R. 5017 by removing some sections and rewriting others. As a result, hunting and conservation groups are celebrating the changes, which they say center the bill purely on greyhounds.
Grey2K USA, a nonprofit organization working to protect greyhounds, shared the following with Farm Progress: “The House Agriculture Committee reported the farm bill to the Rules Committee for full consideration by the House of Representatives in the coming weeks. We appreciate the work of the committee and our legislative champions to clarify that the Greyhound Protection Act provision protects greyhounds and does nothing else.”
One organization calling for change in H.R. 5017 was the Sportsmen’s Alliance, which partners with many organizations to improve legislation for conservation and hunting.
“We’re grateful for [House Agriculture Committee] Chairman [G.T.] Thompson’s leadership on the farm bill generally and, more specifically, his concerns for hunters and conservationists, and his efforts to remove the anti-hunting language from the farm bill,” Torin Miller, associate litigation counsel at the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, shared in an online statement from the group. “We’ll now focus our efforts on getting a clean farm bill passed on the House floor.
“The farm bill is an incredibly important piece of conservation legislation, and with hunting dog bans removed, we’re looking forward to advancing conservation programs and funding on behalf of all hunters, anglers and trappers.”
Still, some want H.R. 5017 removed from the farm bill entirely.
“I am strongly opposed to the Greyhound Protection Act, and I voted against it being included in the farm bill,” said U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., who serves on the House Committee on Agriculture. “I am working hard to get it removed from the farm bill, and I’m confident we will be successful.”
Looking forward, the message is clear. Everyone shares the same desire: To get a good farm bill passed, and soon.
