There were about a dozen different animal rights-related initiatives on state ballots around the country last week. Here’s a rundown of some of the more high profile ones:
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Arizona: A measure that would have required a 2/3 supermajority vote for any initiative relating to wildlife protection failed overwhelmingly (62% opposed the measure).
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Massachusetts: A measure to ban dog racing and betting on dog racing barely failed 51% to 49%. In this race animal activists circulated heart wrenching pictures of mistreated greyhounds. The tactic backfired when it was revealed that the dogs weren’t from Massachusetts or even the United States, but rather from Italy of all places.
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Montana: Barely passed a ban on canned hunts, 52% to 48%.
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Oregon: A measure to ban steel-jawed leghold traps as well as sodium cyanide was voted down 61% to 39%.
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Virginia: Voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment establishing a “right to hunt, fish, and harvest game.”
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Washington state: an initiative to ban steel-jawed leghold traps and sodium cyanide passed 54% to 46%.