Wayne Pacelle: A Humane Nation

Is Violence in Our World on the Rise or Decline?

2013-05-24T11:45:54-04:00

In his magisterial work “The Better Angels of Our Nature,” Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argued that our time is the most peaceful era in human history. Average life expectancy, at least for people in western nations, has broken the 80-year mark. With better nutrition and sanitation and medical treatment, we are spared from many lethal diseases, and no longer powerless to fend or fight them off. We are much less likely to die from a violent act. In the last few decades, the world has been free of war between democracies. When wars or revolutions do occur, the body count is smaller than in earlier times.

It’s a provocative thesis, even if it seems counterintuitive. On the news, we see round-the-clock coverage of violence, such as murders, rapes and school shootings. In the post-9/11 era, there is an almost universal fear of terrorism and an intense focus on national security.

There can be no doubt that we still live in a violent time. But it compares favorably to the cataclysms of the great world wars of the 20th century, the U.S. Civil War, or the routine violence and death that occurred in the Middle Ages or, looking back further to pre-agricultural times, in tribal societies. Things have gotten better – and, Pinker argues, we’ve been through a “civilizing process,” a “humanitarian revolution,” and, most recently, a “rights revolution.”

In recent centuries, we’ve seen the emergence of democracy and human rights, and successful campaigns to end slavery, dueling, corporal punishment, wife-beating, and many other forms of coercion or violence that were once commonplace. In recent decades, we’ve seen an enormous expansion in political rights, a rise in literacy, an enhancement in per capita income and trade and commerce, and a substantial rise and growth in charity and empathy. All of these things help to make the world a better and safer place to live in.

Pinker does not exclude animals from his wide-angle lens. He recognizes the legal revolution against malicious animal cruelty and animal fighting of the last 150 years as part of our humanitarian progress. In the last three decades, we’ve seen a dramatic decline in rates of euthanasia in healthy and treatable animals, and newly energized campaigns to combat the biggest forms of institutionalized cruelty, such as factory farming, animal testing and the wildlife trade.

But even with this unmistakable progress, it’s hard to argue that things are better for animals across the board. While we’ve seen the first series of laws to restrict extreme confinement of farm animals in the European Union and the United States, factory farming occurs on a vast and expanding scale worldwide. We are mining the oceans of fish, and killing sea turtles, sea birds and marine mammals in the process. We are tough on the terrestrial wildlife, too, killing off predators and exploiting others for bushmeat, trinkets, trophies and pelts.

We are living at an odd moment in human history. There are more expressions of love and compassion for animals than ever before – with a larger-than-ever network of charities and a growing body of animal protection law. But there is still an extremely high level of exploitation and harm. So much of this is explained by the power we wield over animals and the vast number of human beings on the planet, settling so many habitable portions of Earth.

But just as we’ve seen extraordinary changes in human-to-human relations, we are bound to see more changes for the better in human-to-animal relations. The humane movement, rooted in so many communities, is too powerful a force to be denied, the core values of our movement are too embedded in society, and there is also the ingenuity and creativity of the human mind that can transform so many traditional or seemingly essential forms of animal use into obsolete and archaic ones.

This kind of change – grand in its ambition and challenging because it calls for sacrifice – is not self-executing. It can only happen because good people, and the institutions they serve, demand good outcomes. It happens when they struggle, when they organize, and when they pursue the vision for, and then work to build, a truly humane society.

Talk Back: Fork in the Road for Michigan Wolves

2013-05-23T12:23:20-04:00

Hundreds of you wrote me after I asked your opinion about the road ahead in Michigan, where the state legislature is hell bent on allowing trophy hunters and pelt trappers to kill wolves. All but two of you urged The HSUS to pursue a second referendum campaign to block hunting of wolves.

Alamy

Let me remind you of the details. In 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed federal protections for wolves in the Great Lakes and handed off management responsibility to the states. State wildlife agencies in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin quickly took steps to open up hunting and trapping seasons, with Michigan lawmakers passing a bill in December 2012 to give the Natural Resources Commission the go-ahead for a fall 2013 season.

The HSUS and pro-wolf organizations, part of a broad coalition that also included Indian tribes in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, launched a referendum drive, and within 67 days those petitioners collected more than a quarter million signatures of registered voters who believe it is cruel and premature to open a season. Yesterday, the Michigan secretary of state certified the petition and approved the referendum for the November 2014 ballot, staying the December 2012 law and allowing voters to nullify it by voting against a wolf season 18 months from now.

But in between the signature submission date of March 27th and yesterday’s certification, state lawmakers rammed through a second law in an attempt to subvert the referendum and make it moot. Their second measure, SB 288, gives authority to the NRC to open hunting and trapping seasons on any protected species, except mourning doves.

We believe the vote of the people on the original referendum in November 2014 should be binding, and that the NRC and the Michigan legislature should heed the will of the state’s citizenry. But, as a legal matter, they may not be bound to follow the vote. Thus, we are faced with the idea of launching a second referendum, to send an unmistakable signal about the legislature’s abuse of power and the people’s wish to keep Michigan wolves protected. We are still getting feedback from our supporters and donors, but here is a sampling of your opinion:

It is absolutely important to mount another effort to protect wolves and to have the rights of American citizens respected. Legislators need to be reminded that they work for ALL of us, rather than exclusively for a handful of special interest groups who have no concern for their fellow citizens or wildlife.
- Annoula

Absolutely pursue this again! This is beyond the wolf hunting issue now, our democratic rights are being endangered... and we are furious. We were volunteers and collected 3,175 signatures from 67 counties in Michigan and 10 counties in the Upper Peninsula. People wished to vote on this issue and now that’s been taken away from us.
- Judy and Curt Brock, Northville, MI

First, a most heartfelt and sincere thanks for the effort mounted by you and The HSUS. I live in Michigan. My home is downstate in a rural area, but I kayak and camp in the Upper Peninsula, which is the home of our beleaguered wolves. I respect living near wild animals, and I like and respect my fellow citizens in the U.P. I know a number of responsible hunters who are appalled at the idea of a wolf hunt. I have followed the issue of the wolf as a game animal and the important need to allow the citizens' right to petition via ballot referendum, which was cynically circumvented. We need, and must, fight back on all these issues. WE ARE FIRED UP & READY TO GO! I pledge my support and my actions to circulate a second round of petitions.
- Deborah de Lorenzo, Superior Twp MI

This fight has become more than just a fight for wolves, but a fight for all wildlife and for democracy. We cannot let the Michigan legislature think that every time they want to silence the will of the voters that they can just pass new bills to circumvent them.
- Don Hughes

I am very angry at what the Michigan governor and state legislature have done signing SB 288 into law. They show a lack of compassion for wolves in addition to their lack of regard for the more than a quarter of a million of us who signed the petition, and for those who worked with great dedication to collect the signatures. They cheated so they could have a wolf execution season outside the oversight of voters.
- Jenny Sykora

In regards to mounting the second wave of protests against killing these majestic animals, I do believe we have to continue doing everything in our power, since they cannot speak for themselves. It does get incredibly frustrating working with some of these organizations & politicians who do not listen to what the people are screaming for. Some of these horrors & injustices stay in my mind for what seems like an eternity, until I hear we have made a difference, and there are those of us who will continue the fight.
- Jody Armstrong, Pollock Pines, CA

I am in awe of your ability to not tire in the wake of defeat such as this! You have my support; monetarily, emotionally, and energetically. I pray for our majestic wolves consistently, as well as all other sentient beings that share this planet we live on. While it may appear daunting and impossible, I am a staunch believer in the power of people banding together for a cause (even if that means multiple times). I feel that we (HSUS and supporters) cannot afford to back down and sit this one out.
- Stacey Bolar

I wholeheartedly support and encourage you and The HSUS to mount another initiative and do everything possible to protect wolves. I do not live in Michigan, I live in Montana, where wolves have been hunted and trapped for 3 years now. It is horrible what our FWP is allowing to happen to this keystone species. I do, however, have many friends in the great state of Michigan who not only hit the pavement to help gather signatures, but most certainly will do the same again. I even sent financial contributions to help with their efforts, and will do so again.
- April Lane, Whitefish, MT

Puppy Mill Horror Uncovered in Mississippi

2013-05-22T15:14:03-04:00

Puppy mills, by definition, come up short on animal welfare, taking moral and practical shortcuts in order to churn out dogs for the pet trade – by confining animals indefinitely, breeding them every heat cycle, and denying them proper veterinary care. But the conditions our rescue team witnessed at a raid in Mississippi on Monday were nothing short of appalling. It was, in a word, a nightmare for the animals.

Chuck Cook/The HSUS

When our staff arrived on the scene with the Walthall County Sheriff’s Office, they found live dogs sharing cages with the bodies of dead ones. Surviving dogs suffered from terrible injuries, including one dog with a severed leg. Blankets of feces covered the bottoms of the cages, and scattered throughout the property were the skeletal remains of many dogs for whom help arrived too late.

We were able to pull 104 dogs out of that hellhole. They have been safely transported to the Humane Society of South Mississippi where they are being treated by a team of veterinarians and other animal care professionals. Those nursed back to health will be screened for adoption so they can enjoy new, better lives.

Over the past five years, we’ve partnered with law enforcement to help close down dozens of mills. Nearly all of them were selling puppies online. This sales strategy requires no federal license, and in Mississippi and other states with no rules governing mills, commercial breeders who sell puppies online are subject to no oversight whatsoever.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture only inspects dog breeders that sell to pet stores, but it is currently in the process of making final a rule change that would require large-scale breeding facilities that sell puppies online to be federally licensed and inspected as well. If the USDA could inspect all large-scale commercial breeders, regardless of their means of commerce, it would be in a position to prevent a house of horrors like the one we witnessed in Mississippi.

Additionally, Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. and David Vitter, R-La., along with Reps. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa., Sam Farr, D-Calif., Bill Young, R-Fla., and Lois Capps, D-Calif., reintroduced the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act, S. 395/ H.R. 847, which would require direct sellers of 50 or more puppies to be federally licensed and inspected for basic humane standards of care. The PUPS Act would also require that licensed facilities let dogs out of their cages for at least an hour a day.

This Mississippi case reminds us of what’s at stake, and why it’s so critical that we adopt this policy.

Watch the video:

Reading is Fundamental – For Animals

2013-05-21T11:24:54-04:00

Our mission statement is both clear and compelling: Celebrating animals, confronting cruelty. While the confrontation side of our work gets most of the headlines – through investigations or corporate or public policy campaigns – we never forget that animals do so much to enrich our lives, our community, and our world.

This month, for the second year, our friends at Penguin USA are kicking off the summer reading season with Read Humane, which features six of Penguin’s best-selling romance and mystery titles produced as special Read Humane editions. Each of the authors – including Read Humane spokesperson, Jill Shalvis, along with Linda O. Johnston, Miranda James, Leann Sweeney, Judi McCoy, and Ali Brandon – feature animals in their story lines. These are entertaining books, but Read Humane also has a serious purpose: Penguin USA is donating $25,000 to The HSUS’ Animal Rescue Team, and using the promotion to raise awareness of our work to rescue animals. You can read a review of Linda O. Johnston’s book, “Hounds Abound,” in the current issue of All Animals, and there’s an excerpt from it on the iPad version of our magazine. You can find out more about all of the books, as well as where to buy them, on the Read Humane webpage.

The Read Humane authors don’t just write about animals. From having their own pets, to promoting adoption and rescue or educating people about puppy mills, they celebrate the bond in their personal lives as well. And they are not alone.

Photographer Robin Layton, along with authors Kimi Culp and Lisa Erspamer, created a wonderful book, “A Letter to My Dog: Notes to our Best Friends.” Filled with Robin’s beautiful photos and touching notes to their dogs from celebrities and ordinary dog lovers, the book is sure to move you. The authors have also pledged a percentage of their royalties to support The HSUS, and Robin donated her services as a judge in our recent Pet Pageant photo contest.

Another Pet Pageant judge, photographer Seth Casteel, hit the New York Times Best Seller list with his photo book, “Underwater Dogs.” We’ve all seen a water-loving dog dive exuberantly into a pool after a ball. But Seth has captured what goes on beneath the water’s surface in amazing and hilarious photographs.

As successful as the book has been, in our opinion, it may not be Seth’s most important work. For several years, Seth has volunteered with animal shelters and rescue groups to take transformational photos of adoptable pets. Instead of “mug shots,” his photos reveal each animal’s personality in photos beautiful enough to put on any wall. Take a look at some of his before and after photos and you’ll see what I mean. Seth is now expanding this important project by conducting photography workshops (with the assistance of Greater Good, The Animal Rescue Site, The PetFinder Foundation, John Paul Pet, Halo and Free Kibble) to conduct workshops for shelters and rescues so every pet can be showcased in photos that literally show them in their best light.

I hope you’ll join us, and these remarkable authors and publishers, in celebrating animals.

Hope for Hens in India

2013-05-20T10:48:36-04:00

India is known throughout the world as a nation of vegetarians, and vegetarianism is indeed very common there. In recent years, however, this growing economic power, even with its strong, animal-friendly religious and cultural traditions, has seen meat eating on the rise, and the worst elements of factory farming are taking hold. There are an estimated 140 to 200 million egg-laying hens living in conventional battery cages in the world’s largest democracy.

When I went to India last November to launch our new offices on the subcontinent, I visited nearly a half dozen battery cage facilities. I saw hens living in space allotments smaller than a sheet of printer paper. I saw filth and flies and overcrowding. And I saw animals who would never make it out of their cages alive.

Erin Van Voorhies

Such confinement violates the provisions of Section 11(1)(e) of the 1960 national Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which requires that animals confined to cages be provided with reasonable opportunity for movement. Guided by the plain language of this foresighted statute, the Animal Welfare Board of India issued an advisory a year ago to all state governments stating that battery cages should not be used, and that existing battery cages should be phased out by 2017.

Humane Society International India has been following up with all of the state animal husbandry departments in the country, convincing them to issue a directive that it is a violation of the PCA Act to confine hens in battery cages. Accordingly, a majority of them have issued directives to their officers, and poultry farmers have been instructed to phase out and avoid battery cages, and not to make any investments in these extreme confinement facilities.

In India, there is a big gap between what the law says and what happens on the ground, and that’s especially true when it comes to animals. But in this case, the law is unambiguous, and we know that there are other ways to raise birds. This correction may take a while, but the trajectory is clear. Our staff members in India are determined to see this through. No nation that values animals, as India does, can indefinitely confine more than 100 million birds in these kinds of conditions.

Speak Up For Hens! Tell India’s Government to Enforce the Ruling >>

The HSUS: A Leader in Endangered Species Protection

2013-05-17T14:57:29-04:00

The HSUS is known as an anti-cruelty organization, and many assume that our primary concern is domesticated species. But we also work hard to protect wild animals from a variety of threats, and our work on that front is wide-ranging.

Alamy

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act – one of a raft of visionary animal protection and conservation laws passed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that collectively signified a new approach and commitment to nature and to wild animals. Today we celebrate Endangered Species Day, a reminder that we humans have all the power in our relationship with wildlife and that we must take intentional actions to protect species from a variety of human-caused threats. The ecologist Aldo Leopold explained that the first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts.

Here are some of the ways that we fight for rare species:

The HSUS’ Wildlife Land Trust protects thousands of acres of habitat for endangered and imperiled wildlife. We now protect lands in 38 states for both abundant and endangered wildlife. Ultimately, preservation of habitat is the foundation of all efforts aimed at saving wildlife.
In the last decade, lawsuits filed by The HSUS have successfully prevented efforts to eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves on seven different occasions. But recently the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed wolves in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes from the list of federally protected species, allowing states to assume control over management. State fish and wildlife agencies, pushed by the hunting and ranching lobbies, almost immediately decided to open up hunting and trapping seasons, with Montana now seeking to have a wolf season that lasts for more than half the year. We are back in court again fighting to restore federal protections for wolves. In the broadest sense, we are fighting for the protection of predators, since these apex species play such critical roles in balancing ecosystems.
We petitioned the Department of Interior to list the African lion under the Endangered Species Act, saving lions from American trophy hunters who kill the cats and bring them home for bragging rights.
Earlier this year, we successfully defended the Endangered Species Act listing of polar bears in court, and are working to prevent Congress from weakening the Endangered Species Act by allowing trophy hunters to import parts of threatened polar bears. More broadly, we are working with the United States and Russia to promote policies to end the international trade of polar bear hides and parts.
Not long ago, there were only a few dozen surviving California condors. Today there are a few hundred, and still dangerously scarce. One of the major threats to the condor is lead poisoning from ammunition left behind by hunters. We are sponsoring California AB 711 to require non-lead ammunition for hunting, and that bill passed the California Assembly just yesterday. We are also working to ban other deadly toxins, including the use of Compound 1080, used by the USDA in its predator control programs.
We are lobbying the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to block imports of five species of large constricting snakes. These species have been identified as an invasive species risk. Already, in the Everglades, Burmese pythons have wiped out large numbers of mammals and they threaten the prey base for the highly endangered Florida panther. The pythons are a direct threat to other endangered species as well.
We work across the country to give full ESA protections to captive animals where their wild counterparts are listed. Just this year we helped pass a ban on the keeping of chimpanzees and other primates as pets in Arkansas, and work to end the private possession of tigers, chimpanzees, wolves, and other dangerous wild animals. We also work to end the killing of endangered antelope who are shot for trophies at captive hunting facilities right here in the U.S.
Only a few hundred right whales swim off of our coasts, and The HSUS leads the fight to stop ship strikes, fatal entanglement and protect habitat for these sea monarchs.
Our unparalleled anti-poaching campaign provides several hundred thousand dollars in rewards for tips on poaching cases, including for ESA-listed Mexican gray wolves, whooping cranes, Canada lynx and Steller sea lions, and allows us to partner with federal law enforcement on wildlife trafficking investigations.

King, Animal Fighting Amendments Approved by House Committee Last Night

2013-05-16T16:46:08-04:00

Last night, during a marathon round of voting on amendments to its version of the Farm Bill, the House Agriculture Committee approved a destructive and constitutionally questionable amendment, offered by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, that threatens to wipe out important state laws banning the cruelest factory farming practices, and leave a raft of other state laws and rules regulating agriculture hanging in the balance.

The committee, over the objections of its leadership, did approve an amendment led by Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., by a vote of 28-17, building on the existing federal law against animal fighting by making it a crime to knowingly attend or bring a child to an animal fight (the vote tally is pasted below). The Senate Committee on Agriculture, which took up its version of the Farm Bill on Tuesday, included a similar provision in its bill, thanks to the efforts of committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and ranking member Thad Cochran, R-Miss. With both versions of the Farm Bill including the same core provisions on animal fighting, it should be included in any final bill approved by the Congress.

Agriculture Committee chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and former chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, spoke out against the animal fighting bill. Goodlatte said he felt the McGovern amendment provides too severe a penalty for perpetrators, and argued that parents who brought a child to a dogfight would be separated from their children and that was something he couldn’t support. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon, one of the two veterinarians in the House, said he worried much more about not interceding when a parent brings a child to an animal fighting spectacle, with the violence and other forms of criminality all right out in the open. Ironically, Goodlatte touted his support for a prior upgrade of the federal animal fighting law in 2007, making interstate transport of animals for fighting a federal felony. Someone arrested for that crime has as much a chance of being separated from a child as an individual arrested for a bringing a child directly to a fight. The argument made little sense, and appeared to be just another attempt to stand in the way of any progress for animal welfare.

Goodlatte also joined Rep. King’s gambit to wipe out numerous state animal protection laws, including those regarding factory farm confinement, horse slaughter and shark finning, along with others related to food safety, environmental protection, worker safety and more. King’s measure passed by a voice vote after a contentious debate. There were forceful arguments raised against it by Reps. Jim Costa, D-Calif., Jeff Denham, R-Calif., John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Schrader.

If passed by the full House, King’s amendment could allow the overturning of every voter-approved animal welfare ballot measure relating to agriculture, including Proposition 2 in California (banning extreme confinement crates for pigs, veal calves and laying hens), Proposition 6 in California (forbidding the sale of horses for slaughter for human consumption), Proposition 204 in Arizona (banning veal and pig gestation crates) and Amendment 10 in Florida (outlawing pig gestation crates). The amendment could also nullify six other state bans on gestation crates, horse slaughter bans in six states, comprehensive animal welfare standards adopted by the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, and a raft of anti-downer laws and other animal protection laws designed to shield farm animals from abuse and extreme confinement.

The Senate version of the Farm Bill does not contain any language similar to the King amendment. The HSUS and other groups will work to strip the King amendment from the House Farm Bill on the floor, and also push for adoption of the landmark agreement between animal welfare groups and the egg industry in phasing out the use of conventional battery cages, and creating minimum care standards for the welfare of laying hens. The battle over the Farm Bill is just now gearing up and now all members of Congress, and their constituents, can have input on the process.

Animal Fighting Amendment Votes:

We're There: The HSUS 2012 Annual Report

2013-05-15T10:41:51-04:00

View our interactive 2012 Annual Report.

Today we’re officially releasing The HSUS’ 2012 Annual Report, which pulls together the many strands of work of the world’s largest animal protection organization and bundles them together in a single place. We’re committed to transparency in the communication of our results and the management of our affairs. As you’ll see by reading this report, there really is no organization like The HSUS in the world – with program departments focused on companion animals, farm animals, equine, wildlife and marine mammals, and animal research and testing issues. In addition, via Humane Society International, there is a far-reaching enterprise extending the impact of our programs throughout the world. Our staff consists of veterinarians, wildlife biologists, issue experts, educators, investigators, lawyers, lobbyists, animal care specialists, and so many others, united in their passion for halting human-caused cruelty and providing care and protection to all animals.

In 2012, The HSUS and its affiliates provided direct care for more than 100,000 animals – making us the largest provider of direct services to animals in the country. We care for animals through the work of our Animal Rescue Team, our traveling veterinary teams, our Animal Care Centers, our Pets for Life programs, our Humane Wildlife Services team, and our Wildlife Innovations and Response Team. As with our advocacy work, it’s the most diverse set of animal care programs you’ll find anywhere. We run six animal care centers, and we also run dozens of companion animal shelters, principally temporary shelters we set up after we raid the sites of large-scale animal cruelty or neglect.

But if we only conducted rescue, we’d be failing in our mission. Our greatest purpose is to prevent cruelty by challenging legal, institutionalized forms of animal abuse. It’s this work that leads us into the domains of factory farming, the fur trade, wildlife cruelties, puppy mills, the exotic animal trade, horse slaughter and soring, and so many other areas. In 2012, we made historic progress in our campaign to eliminate the use of gestation crates on factory farms, in getting chimpanzees out of laboratories and into sanctuaries, and in exposing horse “soring” abuses that shocked the nation.

I hope you’ll carefully peruse this report in order to understand the breadth of our work and, we hope, to be a strong ambassador for the organization. The Annual Report also provides a roadmap for where we are taking society on the fundamental question of our relationship with the other animals who share our world. Thank you.

Agriculture Policy Issues In the Cooker

2013-05-14T14:53:56-04:00

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s veto of a proposed “ag-gag” bill yesterday almost overshadowed progress toward a milestone in our anti-gestation crate campaign: the New Jersey legislature gave final approval to Senate Bill 1921 to bring the Garden State that much closer to being the 10th state to ban the extreme confinement of breeding sows. Championed by state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, the bill enjoys broad partisan support – having passed the Senate 29 to 4 and the Assembly 60 to 5. Now it awaits Gov. Chris Christie’s signature.

The HSUS

This legislative progress comes just two weeks after Canada’s top eight supermarkets agreed to phase out their purchases of pork from operations that confine sows in this extreme way. That’s in addition to the 50-plus companies in the U.S. that have made similar pledges – from McDonald’s to Costco to Cracker Barrel.

There’s a lot of talk by some within the pork industry that these confinement crates are humane. But how can a housing system be humane if the animals are immobilized for almost their entire lives? Isn’t it a priori inhumane to deny an animal the opportunity to engage in the most basic behaviors, including the opportunity to turn around?

As the states and so many North American corporations work to give pigs more space and better lives, there are some in Congress who are trying to subvert this elemental progress. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, one of the most anti-animal welfare politicians in modern history, is planning to offer an amendment tomorrow during votes in the House Agriculture Committee to nullify all state and local laws to protect farm animals (the measure is so radical it would also nullify state rules and laws related to worker safety, environmental protection, and food safety).

I have to laugh when politicians like King throw out their bromides, in their windy discourses on other issues on the House floor, about “protecting states’ rights.” The fact is, when they don’t like what the states do, they are quick to become advocates of federal supremacy. That’s not a case of principle, but of ideological opportunism and deception. Let’s hope that if members of the House Agriculture Committee do not place sufficient importance on animal welfare, at least they’ll pay attention to federalism and the other principles of our American Constitution.

Tenn. Ag-Gag Bill Vetoed – But King Amendment Looms in Congress

2013-05-13T14:36:50-04:00

NEWS ALERT: This morning, Governor Bill Haslam of Tennessee vetoed the legislature’s proposed ag-gag bill, squelching the only state anti-whistleblower measure that made it to a governor’s desk this year. See our full statement on this major outcome for our cause – preserving our right to conduct investigations and to document animal cruelty.

Now comes another sweeping, menacing attack against our movement – this time in Congress. An Iowa congressman wants to force a vote to repeal the rights of citizens to regulate how their food is produced. The traditional responsibilities of state legislators to establish laws governing food safety, animal husbandry and worker protections would be eliminated, wiped from the books – in both existing law and any future law. County and local ordinances? Eliminated.

Shocked? I am.

iStockphoto

This is the work of Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. Typically, conservative Republicans like King vigorously defend states’ rights. But not, it seems, when they can serve special interests. In this instance, conservative values are tossed to the wind so that King and his allies can strong-arm the states aside. Yes, this is an almost unheard-of power grab, but it’s not a matter of King wanting the federal government to establish strong, uniform standards for agriculture. In fact, he’s dead-set against that too, as evidenced by his opposition to pending legislation establishing space requirements for laying hens and labeling standards for eggs (the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2013 - S. 820/H.R. 1731). No, in King’s world, weak or nonexistent standards would take the place of states’ rights – consumers and animals be damned.

You may have heard of the King amendment last year – when he advanced it as part of the 2012 Farm Bill. Well, the Farm Bill was sidetracked by election-year politics. But this year, Congress is likely to act and complete work on the bill. That means the King amendment is no longer a debating point, or a simple sop to the big ag lobby. It’s a threat to every consumer and to every animal in agriculture. The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to vote on it Wednesday. This same committee voted in favor of a virtually identical King amendment last time around.

King’s goal is to overturn every voter-approved animal welfare ballot measure relating to agriculture – Prop 2 in California (banning extreme confinement crates for pigs, veal calves, and laying hens), Prop 6 in California (forbidding the sale of horses for slaughter for human consumption), Prop 204 in Arizona (banning veal and gestation crates), and Amendment 10 in Florida (outlawing gestation crates). The amendment could also nullify six other state bans on gestation crates, horse slaughter bans in a half-dozen other states, the comprehensive animal welfare standards adopted by the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, and a raft of anti-downer laws and other animal protection laws designed to shield farm animals from abuse and extreme confinement.

But the reach of his amendment goes further. It seeks to nullify every state, county, or local law that creates any standard or condition relating to an agricultural production activity – so we’d have no state laws for agricultural facilities relating to worker rights, animal welfare, environmental protection, or public health. It’s hard to overstate how sweeping and far-reaching the King amendment is.

King thinks it’s fine to spend taxpayer money doling out billions to corporate farmers in the way of direct payments, crop insurance, predator control programs, and other subsidies. He’s built a reputation on it. But he doesn’t want the agriculture community to have to abide by any rules related to food safety, animal welfare, or environmental protection. In his mind, the federal government is a bank for the farm lobby, and not a protector of society’s broader interests in a safe, humane, and sustainable food supply.

He’s also spent his 10-year congressional career attempting to block any and all animal welfare laws. He favors killing horses for human consumption, killing American bison in Yellowstone National Park, and trophy killing of polar bears, even though they are an endangered species. He is the best friend that dogfighters and cockfighters have in Congress, trying to stop any law-and-order bill to make life tougher on these criminals. And get this: he was even one of a handful of lawmakers to oppose legislation that seeks to include pets in disaster planning.

We need level-headed members of Congress to stop this craziness now, before it becomes part of the billions of dollars in horse trading that any new Farm Bill produces. Contact your representative today and tell them to overthrow the King amendment.