Thirty-six states and Washington, D.C. have begun their 2008 legislative sessions, and eight legislatures will convene later this year. One animal issue is already hot on the agenda, and we can thank Michael Vick. The Humane Society Legislative Fund expects 25 states to tackle legislation to crack down on animal fighting this year, and Congress is also working to upgrade the federal anti-dogfighting law.
Congress returns to Washington today after winter recess, and one of the issues on the agenda will be the trade in pet primates. Every month that goes by, the need becomes more urgent: Just before the holidays, a convenience store clerk was attacked and bitten by a customer’s pet monkey in North Carolina. Two months earlier in Missouri, a pet monkey
In 2007, state legislatures passed 86 new laws to protect animals. Louisiana and New Mexico became the last two states to ban cockfighting. Illinois shut down the nation’s only operating horse slaughter plant. There were bills on animal cruelty, disaste
The U.S. House of Representatives will come back from winter recess next week, and the U.S. Senate the week after, to begin the second session of the 110th Congress. It’s time to look ahead at the fight for animal protection in Congress in 2008, but also look back at what we accomplished in 2007.
When I travel around the country
and visit animal shelters and rescue organizations, I see first-hand the
fantastic work that these groups do in their communities: animal adoptions,
spaying and neutering, humane education, anti-cruelty law enforcement, and much
more. But when I ask if local groups are
involved in lobbying efforts to protect animals, I often hear the same response:
“But we’re a nonprofit charity and we’re not allowed to lobby!”
In the spirit of Christmas, I’m going to take a short break from presidential politics, and share a pair of stories that inspired me this year. They are stories about two members of Congress, from different political parties, who both helped American families remember their loved ones and celebrate the human-animal bond.
