NEW ORLEANS (Oct. 15, 2015) The Humane Society Legislative Fund, the nation’s leading political advocacy organization for animal welfare, has launched a new TV ad campaign urging Louisiana voters to support David Vitter for Governor. The TV ad, which will run through the Oct. 24 primary election, can be viewed below:
Sara Amundson, executive director of HSLF, said: “David Vitter has been an effective leader in fighting for common-sense policies to protect animals. He has led bipartisan efforts to crack down on illegal dogfighting and abusive puppy mills, and is standing up for pets and the families who love them. A vote for David Vitter is a vote for the humane treatment of animals.”
Both in Congress and at home in Louisiana, David Vitter has strongly advocated for numerous animal protection policies. Vitter has:
- Protected families and their pets: After Hurricane Katrina, he worked to ensure pets are included in disaster plans, and increased the capacity for animal welfare and disaster relief in the Gulf region.
- Opposed animal fighting and the associated violence and crime: He sponsored legislation to strengthen the penalties for interstate animal fighting activities, and he successfully criminalized attending and bringing a child to a dogfight or cockfight.
- Cracked down on abusive puppy mills: He sponsored the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety (PUPS) Act and worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set standards of animal care for large-scale commercial dog breeders selling puppies via the Internet.
- Stopping malicious cruelty and torture: He cosponsored successful legislation in 2010 to ban commerce in animal “crush” videos showing the intentional torture of puppies, kittens and other live animals for the sexual pleasure of viewers, and cosponsored new legislation (the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act) to make malicious animal cruelty a crime on federal property and in interstate commerce.
- Reduced chemical testing on animals: He sponsored legislation to update chemical safety tests and reduce the testing of chemicals on animals, bringing the chemical industry and environmental and animal protection groups together to find solutions.
- Enforced animal protection laws to stop cruelty and abuse: He led the multi-year effort to step up enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, the Horse Protection Act and the federal animal fighting law, as well as implement 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.
- Protecting horses from abuse: He cosponsored the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act 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.
- Protected public health and safety from exotic animals: He sponsored the Captive Primate Safety Act 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.
Media Contact: Stephanie Twining, stwining@hslf.org, 301-258-1491
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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.
