WASHINGTON (March 19, 2014) -- The Humane Society Legislative Fund, the nation’s leading political advocacy organization for animal welfare, announces its endorsement of U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich., for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat. Peters has consistently led efforts to strengthen the nation’s laws on animal cruelty and abuse. Citing his effective leadership and strong support of animal protection policies, the Humane Society Legislative Fund urges Michigan voters to support Gary Peters.
“Gary Peters has been a determined and effective leader in protecting animals from cruelty and abuse, from his time in the Michigan legislature to the U.S. Congress,” said Michael Markarian, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “He has stood up for the values of kindness and compassion, and we urge Michigan voters who care about the humane treatment of animals to support Gary Peters for Senate.”
Peters has been a champion for animal protection in Congress, and has helped to advance new policies to stop animal cruelty and abuse. Among his efforts, Peters has:
- Worked to defeat the dangerous and overreaching “King amendment,” which threatened to nullify state and local laws on animal welfare and agriculture and was nixed from the 2014 Farm Bill
- Sponsored and successfully passed legislation to ban commerce in videos showing the intentional torture of puppies, kittens and other live animals for the sexual titillation of viewers (P.L. 111-294)
- Led the fight to end the use of live monkeys in chemical warfare training by the U.S. Army by replacing those animals with non-animal alternatives
- Sponsored an amendment to protect threatened polar bears in the Arctic and prevent the import of sport-hunted polar bear trophies from Canada (H.AMDT.1008/H.R. 4089)
- Sponsored an amendment to save millions of taxpayer dollars by reducing the use of toxic poisons and other inhumane methods of killing predators as a subsidy for private livestock ranchers (H.AMDT.471/H.R. 2112)
- Co-sponsored the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments, H.R. 1731, to ban barren battery cages in the egg industry and improve the treatment of hundreds of millions of laying hens
- Co-sponsored the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, H.R. 1094, to prohibit the slaughter and export of horses for human consumption overseas
- Co-sponsored the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R. 1518, to strengthen the federal law against the “soring” of show horses—using caustic chemicals and other painful substances to injure the horses’ hooves and legs to induce a high-stepping gait
- Co-sponsored the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, H.R. 366, which was included in the 2014 Farm Bill, making it a federal crime to attend or bring a child to a dogfight or cockfight
- Co-sponsored the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety (PUPS) Act, H.R. 847, to protect dogs and consumers by cracking down on large-scale puppy mill abuses
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HSLF is a nonpartisan organization that evaluates candidates based only on a single criterion: where they stand on animal welfare. HSLF does not judge candidates based on party affiliation or any other issue.
The Humane Society Legislative Fund is a social welfare organization incorporated under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and formed in 2004 as a separate lobbying affiliate of The Humane Society of the United States. The HSLF works to pass animal protection laws at the state and federal level, to educate the public about animal protection issues, and to support humane candidates for office. Visit us on all our channels: on the web at hslf.org, on our blog at animalsandpolitics.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/humanelegislation and on Twitter at twitter.com/HSLegFund.
Paid for by Humane Society Legislative Fund and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. HSLF, 1255 23rd Street, NW, Suite 455, Washington, DC 20037.
