Journalist: Sydni Callaway (OSU)
Animal testing in laboratories is a serious issue faced throughout society. Rep. Caden Jolliff (TU), presented House Bill No. TU-504 to the House, which focuses on using alternative test methods for animal testing, as well as ensuring that animals are treated properly and without negligence.
Jolliff shared what her bill is about. “My bill is about preventing inhumane animal testing in the state of Oklahoma, so that means any cosmetic testing, and then it allows for medical research,” said Jolliff. In the bill, she does reference instances when medical research is prohibited. That being, testing an ingredient that has formerly been used in a drug, has formerly been tested or proposed for use in a medical product as stated in her bill.
Jolliff also summarizes more on what her bill is about. “It repeals old laws that allow companies to take pound animals and test on them, and they would sometimes return them if they were still alive to the pound,” said Jolliff. Humanity is the main point of her bill, as she wants to fix the animal testing methods to be the most humane way possible without unnecessary reasons to send animals back to the pound.
Her inspiration for this bill comes from her “looking through the statutes to just trying to find things I didn’t agree with,” said Jolliff. With inspiration from other state laws, she was inspired to write this legislation to apply more to the state of Oklahoma. “I thought that because we are an animal heavy and a livestock heavy state, that this would be really good because I know that a lot of us care about animals, and we have a lot of members here in FFA and really work closely with them,” said Jolliff.
Ultimately, her bill passed the House with the vote of 44-0. Jolliff described how she felt about the House passing her bill. “I was thoroughly surprised. I am an eight star and passed a bill in the House since my one star session. So I was very surprised that it passed, especially by such a large margin,” said Jolliff.
Reflecting upon her bill as a whole, Jolliff describes the entire process as a whole. “I think that it’s really important. I worked really hard on this one. I’ve been working on it since last spring, updating it, making sure that I’m really happy with it, making sure that it’s correct, and I worked really hard on it and it’s really nice to see that they like it as well” said Jolliff.
As her bill did pass with a unanimous vote, her bill waits to be heard before the Senate.