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NRA Poster Boy Pleads Guilty to Poaching—Again
Ted Nugent, the NRA’s longest-serving board member and a featured speaker at the NRA’s recent convention in St. Louis a couple weeks ago, has pleaded guilty in federal court for transporting an illegally killed black bear in Alaska. He reportedly shot a bear with a bow and arrow, but failed to kill the animal. Four days later, he shot another bear in violation of the law.
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Senate Subcommittee Hears Bill to End Chimp Research
Just following Earth Day and the release of the Disney Nature documentary Chimpanzee, which features chimpanzees in the wild where they belong, Congress considers the fate of the approximately 950 chimpanzees currently languishing in six U.S. laboratories.
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House Votes to Shoot Down Conservation Laws
The U.S Congress has a lower approval rating than polygamy and pornography, and sometimes it’s easy to understand why. When it comes to creating jobs, passing a budget, and meeting other important challenges for the American people, there is little more than gridlock and partisan bickering. But when it comes to bilking the American taxpayers to benefit special interests such as the trophy hunting lobby, there’s just no stopping them.
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Shoot Down Polar Bear Trophy Hunts and Other Radical Proposals
As early as next week, the U.S. House of Representatives may consider H.R. 4089, the so-called “Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012,” a highly controversial omnibus bill that combines several radical hunting proposals into one awful package. Among other things, the legislation seeks to allow importation of polar bear trophies taken in sport hunts in Canada; mandate that the Department of Interior and the U.S.
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Don’t Turn the Clock Back on Animal Welfare Enforcement
Congress made important progress last year addressing serious gaps in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s enforcement of key animal welfare laws by providing the agency much-needed funding to allow for better inspection programs.
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Tiger Mascot Costs Too Much to Tackle
Nearly five months after Terry Thompson sent about 50 tigers, lions, bears, and other dangerous exotic animals to their deaths by setting them free in the community of Zanesville, Ohio, state lawmakers now have a bill in front of them to crack down on the problem of exotic pets. Senate Bill 310, introduced by Sen.
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Recognizing Humane Legislators on Capitol Hill
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., who received
a Legislative Leader Award, and his dog, Cali
photo: Bill Petros Photography
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Egg Bill Helps Consumers
It’s a rare thing in Washington when two enemies lay down their swords and work together to find a way forward.
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House Panel to Vote on Constrictor Snakes
The House Judiciary Committee tomorrow is scheduled to vote on H.R. 511, a bill introduced by Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., to add nine species of large constrictor snakes to the list of injurious species under the Lacey Act.
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Another Pet Snared in Cruel Federal Trap
It’s rare for a family pet to survive a close encounter with one of the deadly predator control devices set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program.
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Canine Craziness in Idaho
Good ideas, and bad ideas, often originate in state legislatures. Last year I singled out a Utah bill to allow the killing of any animal thought to be feral—with bludgeoning, shooting, and decapitation—as raising the bar for legislative lunacy. Fortunately that misguided proposal was sent to the legislative litter box, and Utah lawmakers instead passed a forward-thinking bill to sanction trap-neuter-return (TNR) policies for feral cats.
