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BEWARE assault. After an animal lives The Midwest Cattleman · April 1, 2021 · P15
continued from page 4 a full life, and exits the world and affiliations behind these by the American Veterinary
naturally and humanely, this actions to be extremely con- Medical Association, would
heavily affiliated with. Kes- initiative does not prohibit a cerning. Shawn Martini, the still make you a criminal ani-
sler’s appointment has been farmer from processing and Colorado Farm Bureau Vice mal abuser,” he said in an ar-
of great concern for multiple distributing their body for President of Advocacy, voiced ticle print in The Fence Post.
groups, including the Colora- consumption.” his concerns about the seri- In the same article, Exec-
do Livestock Association. In Animal Welfare Experts ous issues of directly crimi- utive Vice President of the
October 2020, Ellen Kessler Believe Colorado nalizing the tools producers Colorado Cattlemen’s Associ-
personally reported on her Initiative 16 is Harmful and veterinarians use to ef- ation, Terry Fankhauser, also
social media platforms that to Animals ficiently and humanely pro- expressed his concerns. “If
she participated in a “disrup- For good reason, true an- duce food to fulfill consum- this were to make it onto the
tion” at Costco with the rad- imal welfarists and those ers’ demand. “Anything you ballot, the consumers in the
ical group Direct Action Ev- involved with animal ag- do, even if it is a generally state who are accustomed to
erywhere. riculture find the wording accepted practice endorsed continued on page 30
Brent Johannes – PETA
Associate
The other concerning
co-founder on this ballot is
Brent Johannes – a known
PETA associate. He has been
active in animal extremist
work for some time. In 2019,
he was one of the PETA rep-
resentatives urging the Col-
orado State University Pres-
ident to end experiments
done on crows.
A look through his social
media likes and support
shows his affiliation with
other well-known animal ex-
tremist groups, including Di-
rect Action Everywhere.

Boiler Plate Animal
Extremist Activity in
Other States
This type of animal ex-
tremist legal action is, unfor-
tunately, not limited to Colo-
rado. The vegan and animal
extremist Jane Unchained
recently released a Facebook
video sharing that another
proposed ballot initiative is
coming soon for Oregon – the
Initiative Petition 13.
The language is startlingly
like what is on the Colorado
ballot. It specifically targets
animal husbandry practices,
such as artificial insemina-
tion, as falling under the um-
brella of sexual assault. The
website’s about section is
very telling in how it directly
targets animal agriculture:
“This initiative would not
ban the sale of meat, leath-
er, or fur. It would, however,
radically change how every-
one treats animals, including
those who work in animal
agriculture. It would create
a system in Oregon where
farmers were no longer ex-
empt from animal cruelty
laws. It would require that
animals be allowed to truly
live a good life free from
abuse, neglect, and sexual