As we ring in the new year tonight, let’s celebrate the progress made for animals in 2009. It was a record-breaking year for animal protection lawmaking, with 121 new state laws enacted, including major public policies to crack down on animal fighting, puppy mills, factory farming, and other large-scale cruelties.
As the first half of the 111th Congress comes to a close, the Humane Society Legislative Fund today released a preliminary look at how federal lawmakers performed on animal issues in 2009. I hope you’ll check out the 2009 Humane Scorecard, and see whether your own representative and senators made the grade. We will post the final report card in early January, which will include some last-minute additional cosponsorships on scored bills.
It’s been another record-breaking year for animal protection lawmaking, with 121 new state laws for animals on the books in 2009. We’ve identified the top 12 that we believe are most significant, setting new public policies dealing with puppy mills, animal fighting, animal cruelty, dog tethering, factory farming, fur labeling, and more.
When I talk to leaders of animal shelters around the country, I’m surprised how many think they are not allowed to lobby for animal protection laws. Or, they are just so consumed with the daily operations of animal care and control in their communities, that they don’t have the time or resources to advocate for better public policies.
In the world of animal use, some issues are so black-and-white that there is no real debate over the right course of action in society: Dogfighting and cockfighting, for example, are conducted only for gambling wagers and the titillation of spectators who enjoy the bloodletting, and there is no redeeming social value for staged animal combat.
A two-year-old Florida girl was killed by a Burmese python who escaped from an aquarium in her home. Thousands of escaped or released pythons are now living in the Everglades, and are becoming the dominant predator in the ecosystem. These former “pets” can grow more than 20 feet long, weigh 200 pounds, and swallow an entire leopard.
Wisconsin last week became the tenth state in 2009 to enact legislation cracking down on abusive puppy mills, when Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill to require licensing, inspection, and basic standards of humane care at large-scale dog breeding operations. The measure was introduced by Rep. Jeff Smith, D-Eau Claire, and Sen.
In the world of wildlife killing, there is perhaps no method more inhumane and more indiscriminate than the steel-jawed leghold trap. This was confirmed once again in Connecticut last week when a federally protected barred owl was caught in one of the barbaric devices—the bird was emaciated and unable to hunt after being stuck in the rusty trap for a long period of time. A veterinarian could not save the animal.
It’s Thanksgiving week, and millions of American families are talking turkey as they prepare for their holiday meals. But they probably haven’t thought much about how 250 million American turkeys get from farm to table each year (at least not since Sarah Palin’s photo op last Thanksgiving of a turkey being slaughtered on camera).
Congress made advances this week on two major conservation bills to protect predators of the sky and the sea. The measures cleared important committees with bipartisan support, and if enacted into law will greatly enhance law enforcement efforts to crack down on cruelty to sharks and raptors.
