As a political tactic, it’s been almost foolproof. You draw a line around entirely urban jurisdictions and then float a change in an agriculture practice that most voters will have never previously thought about. With all those urban voters, your spin carries the day.
A group called “Pro-Animal Future” is counting on this tactic to ban slaughterhouse and fur sales in the City and County of Denver. Unlike some past ballot measures by animal activists that changed animal housing practices for all impacted producers, the Denver Slaughterhouse ban would apply to just one — the employee-owned Superior Farms. Suppose the ballot measure forces the closure of Superior Farms, with as much as 20 percent of the nation’s lamb market.
In that case, the Regional Economic Institute at Colorado State University (CSU) figures $861 million in current economic activity and 2,787 jobs will be lost. Superior Farms is one of only a few lamb processors in the United States. If forced to shutdown, Superior’s loss would impact the U.
S. lamb supply chain, according o the CSU study..
The reduced volume will likely be made up of foreign imports. Beyond Superior Farms, Colorado has 21 USDA-inspected sheep and lamb slaughter facilities with an annual capacity of 400,000, with Superior accounting for 300,000. Superior Farms is located north of the intersection of Colorado’s two major Interstate highways, among other industrial uses.
There is no zoning issue. It is one of the nation’s larges.