While the U.S. Supreme Court tomorrow will consider a landmark case on the commercial sale of videos showing illegal acts of animal torture, another decision just issued by a federal court in Louisville could also have a meaningful impact on animal protection policies nationwide.
There’s no question that we as a society need to do more to help homeless dogs and cats find loving families, and we are even seeing the issue of pet adoption enter the public policy arena.
I testified this morning at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, opposing a bill by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) that would allow hunters to import trophies of sport-hunted polar bears from Canada.
I met 14-year-old San Diego student Ben Byrom last year, when he was volunteering for the campaign to pass Proposition 2 and ban inhumane factory farming practices.
Politico’s Erika Lovley reported yesterday on a new study conducted by researchers at Stanford University and the University of Chicago, indicating that women in Congress tend to be more effective than male lawmakers. The study examined the performance of House members over two decades, and found that on average, women introduce more bills and attract more cosponsors for their legislation.
The economic downturn is having ripple effects in nearly every part of American life, but the impact on animal shelters has been especially acute. Struggling families are relinquishing more dogs and cats to shelters, as they find they can no longer afford the costs of pet care, or they are evicted from their homes and cannot find pet-friendly housing. At the same time, municipal governments are cutting local services, and charitable giving is on the decline, so both public and private shelters have less funding.
Members of Congress return to Washington today after a month-long recess, and they’ll get back to work on health care reform and other top-tier issues. But animal protection has also been on the agenda, and many of our key priorities have already made meaningful progress during the 111th Congress.
Today I’d like to give you a snapshot of where we stand after the first eight months of the congressional session, and what we still need to achieve in the remainder of 2009 and 2010. The following bills have cleared at least one major hurdle already:
How many times have you heard about a cruel or abusive practice involving animals, and wondered, “How can that be legal? Isn’t there a law against that?”
When Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell signed a bill yesterday—surrounded by dogs and dog lovers—to curb some of the worst puppy mill abuses, he knew he was taking a major step forward for man’s best friend. What he probably didn’t know was that his humane action was part of a record-breaking year for animal protection lawmaking all across the country—with HSUS and HSLF doing heavy lifting from coast to coast.
When mourning dove hunting season begins next week—in most states except Iowa and Michigan which have resisted the entreaties of the gun lobby, and nearly all of the Northeast where the gentle songbirds have long been protected—hunters will once again discharge enormous amounts of toxic lead shot into the environment.
