CONCORD, N.H. (September 16, 2024) – Today, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, the nation’s leading animal protection organization, announced its endorsement of Kelly Ayotte for governor of New Hampshire.
“As a U.S. senator and as New Hampshire’s attorney general, Kelly Ayotte has been an advocate for animals, and a leader on particularly complex issues,” said Sara Amundson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “She worked to crack down on illegal animal fighting, to end the cruel practice of horse soring, and to ensure that domestic violence survivors and their families remain with their companion animals. We urge voters to elect Kelly Ayotte as the next governor of New Hampshire.”
As attorney general of New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte worked to combat animal fighting in the state—in 2008, Ayotte and the Humane Society of the U.S. held a joint press conference, where she announced a new program that would award $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any New Hampshire citizen involved in animal fighting.
In the 113th Congress, as a U.S. senator, Ayotte served as lead sponsor of the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act (S. 1406) to outlaw the cruel practice of horse soring. This egregious abuse in the Tennessee walking horse show industry involves the intentional infliction of pain to a horse's legs or hooves, forcing the horse to perform an artificial, exaggerated gait.
In the 114th Congress, Ayotte served as lead sponsor of the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act (S. 1559), to protect the human and animal victims of domestic violence and support the work of women’s shelters to accommodate pets. Two years later, the bill was included in the 2018 Farm Bill and signed into law.
Additional pro-animal actions taken by Ayotte as a U.S. senator include:
- Cosponsoring the Prevent Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act (S. 1831), to make malicious animal cruelty a crime on federal property and in interstate commerce.
- Cosponsoring the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act (S. 1214), to prohibit the slaughter and export of horses for human consumption overseas.
- Cosponsoring the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act (S. 666), to establish misdemeanor penalties for knowingly attending an organized animal fight and felony penalties for knowingly bringing a minor to such a fight.
- Voting against an amendment to the 2016 Energy Bill (S. 2012) to undermine the authority of the president to declare national monuments, a power originally provided more than a century ago by the Antiquities Act. Our national monuments are irreplaceable national treasures, which preserve countless acres of habitat land and sea.
- Voting for the FY 2016 omnibus funding bill (H.R. 2029), the final package of which contained many vital animal protection provisions and excludes other provisions that would have been extremely detrimental to animals.
- Voting for an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations bill (H.R. 2112) to end direct payments to farmers whose annual incomes exceed $1 million. Massive factory farms—which thrive on taxpayer giveaways that keep animal feed artificially cheap—jeopardize public health, the environment, and animal welfare, while also driving smaller and more humane, sustainable family farms out of business.
- Voting for an amendment to the 2012 Farm Bill (S. 3240) to establish misdemeanor penalties for knowingly attending an organized animal fight and felony penalties for bringing a minor to such a fight.
- Voting against any of four procedural votes to move forward on the Sportsmen’s Act of 2012 (S. 3525), a pro-hunting package with several harmful wildlife provisions. Notably, the bill would have allowed importation of polar bear trophies taken in sport hunts in Canada, even though polar bears are listed as a “threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act and would strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its ability to protect the public and environment from toxic lead through ammunition exposure.
Media Contact:
Emily Ehrhorn | eehrhorn@hslf.org
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.
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.
