Michael Markarian: Animals & Politics

Feral Fray in Utah

At the start of this year’s state legislative season, the Colbert Report singled out a Utah bill by Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, for raising the bar on legislative lunacy. Oda’s bill, HB 210, would allow people to kill cats, dogs, and other animals believed to be feral, through shooting, blows to the head, or decapitation. Never mind if people’s pets get caught in the crossfire because a neighbor believes them to be unowned. It’s basically a free pass for the killing of any animal, and Utah could become a legal training ground for people who want to get their start in animal cruelty.

It looked like this bad idea had been put to sleep, but Oda’s bill had nine lives. A House committee rightfully stripped the bill of its feral-killing provisions, but then Oda was able to restore much of the legislation—this time only allowing the rampant killing to occur in unincorporated areas of counties where hunting is not prohibited—on the House floor. The House passed HB 210 by a vote of 44-28, and it’s now pending in the Senate. 
 
Several lawmakers have spoken out against this putrid policy. Minority Assistant Whip Brian King, D-Salt Lake, pointed out that the bill encourages people who want to “satisfy their own perverse sense” by torturing animals for fun, and House Minority Leader Dave Litvack, D-Salt Lake, called it “an embarrassment” to the state of Utah.
 
There’s now a real threat that this measure will become the law of the unincorporated land, and would represent a major step backward at a time when there are more effective methods than ever to address the management of feral animals by humane means. Trap-neuter-return programs, for example, can bring communities together to improve the health and quality of life for feral cats and prevent more from being born into this dangerous and difficult existence.
 
Rather than bring people together to solve problems, however, the Oda bill would likely turn neighbor against neighbor. People could shoot each other’s pets at will in neighborhood disputes as long as they can claim they had a “reasonable” belief that the animal was feral. And as Stephen Colbert asked, “Who better to decide what’s reasonable than someone willing to club a collarless cat to death?”

HSLF Launches TV Ads to Support Animal Welfare Leaders

The midterm elections are just two weeks away, and there are dozens of competitive races around the country that will have an impact on animal protection. The Humane Society Legislative Fund has endorsed more than 300 candidates in the upcoming contests, and today launched four television ad campaigns supporting congressional champions for the humane treatment of animals in key districts from the Inland Empire to the Great Lakes to the Bayou.

The HSLF ads showcase the leadership of two Democrats and two Republicans who are standing up for animals in a very determined way, and who have demonstrated effectiveness and skilled policymaking in advancing reforms to protect animals from cruelty and abuse. HSLF strives to be entirely non-partisan, and our endorsements reflect that approach. I hope you will watch each of the four TV ads, supporting David Vitter for Senate in Louisiana, Mary Bono Mack for California’s 45th district, Gary Peters for Michigan’s 9th district, and Betty Sutton for Ohio’s 13th district.

Vitter sponsored the Captive Primate Safety Act to stop the trade in dangerous primates as exotic pets, and the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety Act to establish better standards for the care of dogs at large-scale puppy mills. He has actively pushed a number of animal protection bills in the Senate, including the 2007 federal law establishing felony-level penalties for dogfighting and cockfighting, and he publicly supported a ban on cockfighting in Louisiana, the last state to outlaw the activity.

Bono Mack sponsored the Truth in Fur Labeling Act, to require accurate labeling of garments trimmed in animal fur so consumers aren’t deceived by unlabeled jackets falsely advertised as “faux.” And with her help, this animal welfare and consumer protection bill passed the House this year by a voice vote. She has actively supported a raft of other bills, on animal fighting, banning horse slaughter, and other issues.

Sutton sponsored the Dog Fighting Prohibition Act, and thanks to her work, many of the provisions from her bill were adopted as part of the Farm Bill passed by Congress in 2008. The legislation increased the federal penalties for dogfighting and cockfighting up to five years in prison, and banned the possession and training of animals for the purpose of fighting. She has supported a wide range of animal protection efforts in Congress, including efforts to crack down on puppy mill abuses and stop the inhumane treatment of “downer” cattle too sick or injured to walk.

Peters, in his first term in Congress, led the fight to ban the trafficking in obscene animal “crush” videos, after the Supreme Court invalidated a previous federal law on video depictions of animal cruelty. His new, more narrowly crafted legislation passed the House this year by a vote of 416-3. Peters, too, has supported a number of animal protection bills, on horse slaughter, chimps in research, fur labeling, and puppy mills.

HSLF took out TV ads in this suburban Detroit district two years ago, and helped to defeat then-Rep. Joe Knollenberg, who had one of the worst records on animal cruelty in the entire Congress. Knollenberg had voted time and time again opposing common-sense animal protection bills, and we exposed his record of siding with animal abusers. Peters’ opponent this time around, Rocky Raczkowski, voted to allow the target shooting of mourning doves for the first time in a century when he served in the Michigan Legislature, but thankfully Michigan citizens later rejected this attempt by Raczkowski and his allies to trample over 100 years of dove protection, voting 69-31 statewide against shooting doves.

We need all of these leaders back in Congress next year to continue their animal protection work, and HSLF is fighting hard to help them and other humane lawmakers around the country win reelection. We need every person who cares about animals to support humane candidates at the polls, and stand up for the people who are standing up for animals. Please send these TV ads to your friends and family, and consider making a donation to help HSLF keep the ads on the air and continue our critical work in elections around the country. And please visit our Voter Guide to find HSLF-backed candidates in your area.

Catch Highlights of the Genesis Awards This Weekend

If you didn’t get to attend The HSUS’ 24th annual Genesis Awards in Beverly Hills, or see the one-hour show broadcast on Animal Planet, you can still watch highlights of the event this weekend in the comfort of your own living room. The syndicated TV show “Animal Rescue” with Alex Paen, which airs in more than 200 media markets, will feature the Genesis highlights this weekend, August 7th and 8th. Check here to find your local station.

It’s the animals’ answer to the Academy Awards, and a star-studded event with Emily Deschanel, Jon Lovitz, Kristen Bell, Teri Hatcher, Robert Davi, Keely and Pierce Brosnan, and other celebrity presenters helping to honor people in the news and entertainment media who use their talents to advance animal protection issues. Other stars for animals at the packed gala included Los Angeles firefighter Joe St. Georges who rescued Lucky from the L.A. river during the floods, Major Brian Dennis who rescued Nubs from Iraq after the dog was maimed by insurgents, and lawmakers who are fighting for animal protection polices, including State Senator Dean Florez, State Assemblyman Pedro Nava, and Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz.

We see so much animal abuse in our work, and the worst of the human spirit when we confront “crush” videos, dogfighting, puppy mills, and other large-scale cruelties. With The Genesis Awards, we get to see the best of the human spirit, and we celebrate the victories for animals and the people who are making them happen. I hope you’ll tune into “Animal Rescue” this weekend, for a special event that will be uplifting and motivating for any animal lover. And here’s a video from the 24th Genesis Awards so you’ll know what to expect.

P.S. To keep up with the stars who are working for animal protection, check out the new Celebrities Who Support The HSUS fan page on Facebook.

Blog Favorites So Far in 2010

I’m always curious about which blog posts resonate most with you—the readers. Traffic to my blog is a good indicator of what subjects are top of mind for animal advocates. So, below, I list the top ten most popular blog posts so far for the first half of 2010. In first place (by a mile) is my January blog on the release of our 2009 Humane Scorecard. Many of you want to know where your legislators stand on key animal protection issues—and our annual report card is a great place to start. My take on a major cockfighting raid earlier this year in Texas, and the lawmaker who derailed legislation to upgrade the state’s anti-cockfighting law, came in second, followed by my post on Animal Planet’s airing of the 24th Genesis Awards, an uplifting celebration of the people in the news and entertainment industries who use their extraordinary talents to advance animal issues.

You’ve enjoyed the Q&A interviews with advocates who are making a difference for animals, such as Angela Moxley of Small Angels Rescue and Sarah Baeckler of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, as well as hearing what other blog readers had to say in the “Talk Back” entry. The critical public policy issues for animal protection in Congress caught your attention, whether it’s our work to promote the development of alternatives to animal testing, crack down on the brutal practice of shark finning, or strengthen penalties for the killing of federally protected raptors. Finally, rounding out the list is my post about the extraordinary benefits of factory farming reforms—for both animals and rural communities.

1. Hot Off the Press: The 2009 Humane Scorecard
2. A Taste for Cruelty
3. Watch The Genesis Awards this Weekend
4. A Pathway to End Animal Testing
5. Even the Smallest Creatures
6. Talk Back: Greyhounds, Puppies and Acts of Kindness
7. The Lucky Seven: Q&A with Sarah Baeckler
8. Increasing Penalties for Killing Protected Birds
9. The Finning Must End
10. How Farm Animal Reforms Also Benefit Residents

Putting Teeth into Shark Protections

Christina Wilkie of The Hill reported yesterday that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is teaming up with the Discovery Channel during the hugely popular “Shark Week” in August to promote legislation cracking down on cruel and wasteful shark finning. There has been good news and bad news for sharks in recent months, and the renewed push for shark conservation could not come at a more critical time for these declining ocean predators.

A new Hawaii law took effect last week making the state the first to ban the sale and possession of shark fins, helping to dry up the demand for fins and remove the financial incentive for killing these creatures at sea. We are grateful to state Sen. Clayton Hee (D-Kahuku, La'ie, Ka'a'awa, Kane'ohe) for championing the pathbreaking bill, and to Gov. Linda Lingle (R) for signing it into law. Hawaiians revere this sacred animal, also known as “manō,” a protector of the oceans and Hawaii’s fisherman, and now they’ve set a standard for other states to follow.

Tens of millions of sharks are hauled up on the decks of fishing boats around the world every year, only to have their fins hacked off, often while they’re still alive. The mutilated sharks are then thrown back into the ocean, because the meat of most shark species is unpalatable and fishermen don’t want to use up freezer space by storing their bulky carcasses. The fins, on the other hand, fetch a very high price in East Asia, where they’re used to make shark fin soup.

Unfortunately, the nations participating in the fifteenth meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Doha, Qatar, in March had the opportunity to increase protections for imperiled shark species, but failed to do so. Palau and the United States had submitted proposals to give crucial protections to the hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks—two of the most over-exploited species for the international trade in fins—but the proposals were tanked under pressure from Japan, China and their allies.

While the public policy results have been mixed, some leaders in the fishing industry are reeling in progress for sharks on their own. Dozens of marinas in the United States, the Caribbean and the South Pacific have registered as Shark-Free Marinas, prohibiting the landing of any shark on their premises, and the organizers of the recent Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge off the southwest Florida coast opted for a completely catch-and-release tournament. It’s a welcome move away from the gruesome shark killing contests held up and down the U.S. shores.

Sen. Kerry and Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) have introduced the Shark Conservation Act to strengthen the enforcement of the federal shark finning law. Congress banned shark finning a decade ago, but enforcement is complex and there is a major loophole that currently permits a vessel to transport fins obtained illegally as long as the sharks were not finned aboard that vessel. The legislation to upgrade the law has passed the House of Representatives and the Senate Commerce Committee, and is awaiting action by the full Senate. Don’t wait for “Shark Week” to contact your two U.S. senators and tell them to pass the Shark Conservation Act, before it’s too late for sharks.

Watch The Genesis Awards this Weekend

If you didn’t get to attend The HSUS’ 24th annual Genesis Awards in Beverly Hills, you can watch it this weekend in the comfort of your own living room. The one-hour special will air on Animal Planet this Saturday, April 24, at noon ET/PT, and Sunday, April 25, at 1:00pm ET/PT.

Teri Hatcher presents an award at The 24th Genesis
Awards. Be sure to catch the awards show this weekend on
Animal Planet.

It’s the animals’ answer to the Academy Awards, and a star-studded event with Emily Deschanel, Jon Lovitz, Kristen Bell, Teri Hatcher, Robert Davi, Keely and Pierce Brosnan, and other celebrity presenters helping to honor people in the media and entertainment industry who use their talents to advance animal protection issues. Other stars for animals at the packed gala included Los Angeles firefighter Joe St. Georges who rescued Lucky from the L.A. river during the floods, Major Brian Dennis who rescued Nubs from Iraq after the dog was maimed by insurgents, and lawmakers who are fighting for animal protection polices, including State Senator Dean Florez, State Assemblyman Pedro Nava, and Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz.

We see so much animal abuse in our work, and the worst of the human spirit when we confront “crush” videos, dogfighting, puppy mills, and other large-scale cruelties. With The Genesis Awards, we get to see the best of the human spirit, and we celebrate the victories for animals and the people who are making them happen. I hope you’ll tune into Animal Planet this weekend, for a special event that will be uplifting and motivating for any animal lover.

Ellen: A Stellar Voice for Animals

Sarah Palin and Ellen DeGeneres might not have much in common when it comes to their views on animal protection. But what they do share is their role with other prominent women and political figures—including Hillary Clinton, Caroline Kennedy, Michelle Obama, and Condoleezza Rice—whose biographies are featured in the “Female Force” series of comic books by Bluewater Productions.

Comic gets her own comic: Animal advocate Ellen DeGeneres is featured in “Female Force.”

Ellen’s comic goes on sale March 31, and because of her strong commitment to the protection of animals, she has chosen The Humane Society of the United States to benefit from 30% of the net profits from sales of the book. The issue, written by Sandra C. Ruckdeschel and penciled by Pedro Ponzo, follows the comedienne from her youth in Louisiana, through the endless smoke-filled comedy club circuit, to her breakthrough sitcom and finally as an Emmy-winning daytime talk show host. The book sells for $3.99 and is available at comic book stores as well as book stores at many airports, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million, and online.

I’ve commented before on women lawmakers who are leaders for animal protection in Congress, and it’s no surprise that a strong animal advocate is now featured in a series about strong women in politics. Ellen has long been a force for animals, and was instrumental in the passage of California’s Proposition 2 in 2008. She covered the issue on her nationally syndicated talk show, hosted a Los Angeles fundraiser at a critical time for the campaign, and appeared in TV ads urging voters to support the measure—which passed overwhelmingly and phases out the extreme confinement of farm animals in crates and cages so small they can barely move an inch for their entire lives. 

Ellen and Portia de Rossi were honored in 2009 as joint recipients of The HSUS’s Wyler Award, which is given to public figures who have made news on behalf of animals. And just last weekend, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” won the Genesis Award for Best Talk Show, for an episode exploring the inhumane treatment of animals in factory farms and featuring Ellen’s interview with Eating Animals author Jonathan Safran Foer.

We are grateful to Ellen for using her talents to make the world a kinder place for animals. Check out “Female Force” and celebrate Ellen’s life story and the powerful impact she has made.

A Game-Changer for Shelter Pets

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. In California, for example, Assemblyman Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita) introduced a bill to allow a tax deduction for adopting an animal from a shelter, and Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) offered a resolution declaring September 2009 as “Adopt a Shelter Pet Month.”

But today we are celebrating the greatest investment of resources the animal protection movement has ever made to end the euthanasia of millions of healthy and treatable dogs and cats. The Ad Council, The Humane Society of the United States, and Maddie’s Fund have launched The Shelter Pet Project, a national public service advertising campaign urging pet lovers to make shelter adoption their first choice. You can read about the pathbreaking campaign for pets on Wayne Pacelle’s blog, and watch the first two TV ads—“Ditched” and “White Collar”—here.