The rural-urban divide in Colorado, as reflected in "Meat Out" v. "Meat In"

A guest essay in the Washington Post headlined "The gulf between urban and rural Coloradans is widening in a battle over livestock," speaks to the chasm that is growing in relation to animals and meat consumption.  The "MeatOut" that author Maddy Butcher speaks about is Governor Jared Polis' recent proposal that "Coloradans should call attention to greenhouse gases by abstaining from eating meat."  Butcher also describes the counter "Meat In" movement:  

The political and cultural gulf between urban, liberal-leaning Coloradans and more conservative rural residents is only widening, with the current battleground involving the state’s livestock industry. Perhaps sensing that the measure would alienate too many voters, Polis has said he opposes it. Now the state Supreme Court is refereeing the Initiative 16 effort.

Introduced by two Denver-area animal-rights activists, the initiative could redefine as a “sexual act” the artificial insemination or pregnancy-checking of a cow. It would require ranchers and farmers, with potentially ruinous financial effect, to keep their livestock for years longer than is current practice. Cows, five years. Chickens, two.

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I’m dismayed to see yet another issue in Colorado is cutting so divisively along urban-rural lines. As a horse owner, I’m all for animal welfare, but disheartened by an initiative that appears to be about taking better care of animals yet would almost certainly precipitate worse care and outcomes.

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News reports about livestock abuse might stir their alarm, but most ranchers and farmers are careful, responsible people. It’s their livelihood, after all, and putting stress on animals hurts the owners’ bottom line.

Butcher quotes Sheryl King, professor emeritus at Southern Illinois University, where she directed the animal science program:  

People who haven’t been raised around livestock or working animals have a natural instinct to revert to the human perspective.  In a way, I feel sorry for them. These are people who love animals but don’t understand them.

This divide reminds me of the recent tweets of a female northern California rancher, who's always also struggling on one side of that divide.  All of these were taken on June 17, 2021 except the last one, which was taken late on the night of June 18, 2021, as a fire blazed near Chico, California, apparently in reasonably close proximity to Megan Brown's ranch.