Update: Great news! The Senate version of this bill, S 3529, was signed into law on August 28, 2007.
Bill Description: This bill would prohibit the intentional use of electrocution to stun or kill a fur-bearing animal. Anal and genital electrocution are two of the primary methods of killing animals farmed for their fur. Violators would face a misdemeanor penalty.
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Wild animals are bred and raised on farms for their fur. On fur farms, these animals spend their entire lives stacked on top of one another in small, barren cages with nothing beneath their feet but wire mesh. Studies have shown that as many as 85% of the animals confined in these facilities develop behavioral abnormalities such as rocking, head-bobbing, and self-mutilation due to boredom, anxiety, and the inability to have their instinctual needs met. After suffering through years of confinement, animals are killed and skinned for their pelts. Killing methods, including gassing, strangulation, and anal or genital electrocution, are typically cheap, crude, and performed in such a way so as not to damage the animal’s fur. Anal and genital electrocution are cruel, unacceptable methods of putting animals to death and they should be banned.