I recently wrote about a sign-on letter circulating in the U.S. House, which called for funds to ensure that the U.S. Department of Agriculture can adequately enforce key animal welfare laws. With your help, we got a strong bipartisan showing on that, with 120 Representatives covering 32 states, two U.S.
The congressional backroom budget deal that stripped gray wolves of their Endangered Species Act protections was a shameful example of politics at its worst. And now we’re seeing the impact, as the state of Idaho puts measures in place to begin the trapping and aerial gunning of wolves, according to the Lewiston Tribune, as soon as this week.
There are important bills in Congress to address some of the worst problems in animal research, such as the costly invasive research on chimps and the trafficking in stolen pets for research. But the state legislatures, too, have been working to address important laboratory animal welfare issues.
I just concluded a press conference on Capitol Hill with Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., and other animal advocates to announce today’s introduction of the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act.
Congress and the White House averted a government shutdown Friday night, but the casualties in the deal are endangered gray wolves. A provision snuck into the budget compromise and supported by lawmakers of both political parties will strip wolves in the Northern Rockies of their federal protections for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011, clearing the way for Montana and Idaho to open sport hunting and trapping seasons on these creatures.
A government shutdown is looming if Congress and the White House don’t reach agreement on the budget crisis or pass another short-term extension to fund federal operations by midnight tonight. In a shutdown, “non-essential” federal workers are furloughed, while some “essential” operations continue. Several people have asked how a government shutdown would affect animals, either by suspending critical animal welfare functions or providing a temporary reprieve from government killing programs. Here’s a brief rundown on some of the effects that we expect a shutdown could have on animals:
As Congress focuses on cutting federal spending, we have proposed several ideas for easing the burden on taxpayers while simultaneously helping animals. There’s plenty of indefensible spending that should be curbed—such as massive subsidies for well-off operators of huge factory farms, taxpayer-financed poisoning of wildlife, rounding up wild horses to keep them in long-term holding pens, and warehousing chimpanzees in costly laboratories.
Today marks the release of Wayne Pacelle’s book, The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them, published by William Morrow/Harper Collins. It draws on Wayne’s quarter-century of leadership in the animal welfare movement, and seeks to disentangle the contradiction between the love and celebration of animals in our society and the tolerance for businesses, enterprises and individual practices that harm pets, wildlife, and farm animals on a massive scale.
Last evening HSLF and HSUS hosted our annual congressional Humane Awards, where we honored a bipartisan group of legislators who led the way for animals during the last year. Several dozen members of Congress and their staff attended the event in the U.S. Capitol, and we celebrated the federal lawmakers who are using their time and talents to make the world a better place for animals. Click here to view photos from the event.
A journalist goes to prison for broadcasting undercover video footage. A worker is persecuted for blowing the whistle on sexual harassment. It’s not the Middle East—it could happen right here in America.
