This commentary is by Alana Stevenson of Charlotte.
There are two bills currently in the Vermont Legislature, H.626 — an act related to animal welfare — and S.258 — an act relating to the management of fish and wildlife.
S.258 has passed the Senate, and H.626 has been stalled in the House Appropriations Committee. The governor is opposed to these two pieces of legislation.
Gov. Phil Scott so far has vetoed 47 pieces of legislation passed by the Legislature. These bills took an enormous amount of time and resources for people to pass.
How much taxpayer money has Scott wasted? How many people, who have worked tirelessly on these bills, has he thumbed his nose at?
Scott is a lot like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who vetoed bills that prohibited the use of gestation crates on pregnant pigs (also known as the “pig crate ban”) in 2013 and 2014. These bills overwhelmingly passed the New Jersey Legislature.
God forbid a female pig should have the right to stand up, lie down, turn around or extend her limbs while she lives in filthy conditions with no light provided or kindness given to her. The pork producers had Christie’s loyalty, and there were “only” 9,000-ish pigs in New Jersey who would have been affected.
Such an infinitesimally small welfare improvement, but Christie wanted his bacon with as much suffering as possible.
Scott is no different. Apparently, he believes that hounds do not need justice and baby goats do not need food. He believes that female bears should be shot for recreation and cubs don’t need mothers (the Fish & Wildlife Department denied a petition to ban the intentional killing of sows).
Animal abuse is rampant in Vermont. People have tried to fix a ridiculously inept and broken system, which operates more like backwoods Arkansas than any progressive state when it comes to animal protection laws and wildlife reform. In Charlotte, goats were starved for months on end and, ultimately, died of starvation in 2023, which prompted H. 626. Animals are routinely abused, but if the “owner” voluntarily relinquishes that animal, they face no charges.
Wild and farmed animals are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to empathy and consideration given to them. The Fish & Wildlife Department’s definition of “humane” is taking five minutes for a beaver or muskrat to die from intentional drowning.
Scott chooses the Fish & Wildlife’s board and commissioner — hand-picked by him according to his personal whims and friends list. He chooses board members who don’t submit applications. Those who submit applications and have backgrounds in science are ignored. The commissioner doesn’t need any training or background in science.
Dogs and other animals (including protected and endangered ones) have been killed and injured by body-gripping traps. It’s only a matter of time before a person or a child gets caught in one. Scott is against body-gripping traps having setbacks or being marked for public safety.
A woman and her dog were attacked by coyote hounds in 2021. A couple and their dog were attacked by bear hounds in 2019 — all suffered injuries. No apologies from Scott to the victims. It’s his policies that were directly responsible.
Scott supports hounding. He does not side with property owners who repeatedly deal with hounders trespassing on their property or the victims of hound attacks.
If Scott does veto this legislation, I hope our legislators will override it.