WASHINGTON (Oct. 28, 2014) – The Humane Society Legislative Fund, the nation’s leading political advocacy organization for animal welfare, announced the launch of a new television advertising campaign urging Michigan voters to elect Gary Peters, D-Mich., to the U.S. Senate. The ad began airing today in the Detroit and Grand Rapids markets and will run through Election Day.
“Gary Peters has been an effective leader in stamping out cruelties such as animal crush videos and working to crack down on puppy mills and animal fighting,” said Michael Markarian, president of HSLF. “He’s stood up for the values of kindness and compassion and will continue this important work to protect Michigan families and their pets in the U.S. Senate.”
In Congress, Rep. Peters has advocated for a number of common-sense animal protection policies, including:
- Sponsored and successfully passed legislation to ban commerce in animal “crush” videos showing the intentional torture of puppies, kittens and other live animals for the sexual pleasure of viewers (P.L.111-294).
- Co-sponsored the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act (H.R.366), which was included in the 2014 Farm Bill and made 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.
- Led a group letter opposing the dangerous and overreaching “King amendment,” which threatened to nullify hundreds of state and local laws on food safety, animal welfare and agriculture. The amendment was nixed from the 2014 Farm Bill.
- Urged the USDA's Inspector General to audit the agency's controversial “Wildlife Services” lethal predator control program, which spends millions of our tax dollars as a subsidy for private ranchers who want the federal government to kill wildlife with cruel methods like toxic poisons and steel-jawed leg-hold traps.
- Co-sponsored the Prevent All Soring Tactics 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 Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R.2856) to prohibit the interstate commerce in chimpanzees and other primates in the exotic pet trade, which poses a danger to animal welfare and to public health and safety.
- Co-sponsored the Safeguard American Food Exports Act (H.R.1094) to prohibit the slaughter and export of horses for human consumption overseas.
- Co-sponsored of 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.
- Supported efforts to provide adequate funding for the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, Horse Protection Act, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act and federal animal fighting law, as well as for programs to address the needs of animals in disasters and to ease a shortage of veterinarians in rural and inner-city areas and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture through student loan forgiveness.
Media Contact: Martin Montorfano, (202) 676-2347, mmontorfano@hslf.org
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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.
