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California Dreamin’
Animal advocates know that last November’s overwhelming passage of Proposition 2, the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, was a watershed moment for the cause and a marker for our progress. It not only creates a new law in California banning the cruel confinement of veal calves, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens in tiny crates and cages on industrial factory farms, but also is galvanizing efforts in other states to achieve similar results.
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No Good Reason to Shoot Doves
A new campaigner is making the rounds in Iowa today, telling
lawmakers there’s no good reason to open a
dove hunting season. His name is “Dave the Dove,” and he’s the star of a
one-and-a-half-minute animated video, which you can watch below.
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A Great Tragedy for Great Apes
The HSUS released the results of its latest undercover
investigation yesterday, and ABC’s
Nightline broke the story of what it’s like behind closed doors at one of
the nation’s largest primate labs. A brave HSUS investigator spent nine months
at the New Iberia Research Center outside of Lafayette, La., which confines
more than 300 chimpanzees and about 6,000 monkeys for research.
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More Horsepower to Get Over the Finish Line
I attended a hearing this morning in the House Subcommittee
on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands on H.R. 1018, the Restoring
Our American Mustangs (ROAM) Act. This bill, introduced by Natural
Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and Subcommittee Chairman
Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), would save wild and free-roaming horses and burros
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Investing in the Animals’ Future, and Our Own
With the current economic downturn and competing national
priorities for federal spending, it’s a tough time to request money for animal
protection. But we’ve seen time and time again that the animals’ fate is
intertwined with our own, and that addressing animal welfare policies helps to
safeguard all of us.
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Moving the Ball Forward for Primates, Polar Bears
The federal government took two major steps today—one congressional and one regulatory—to protect wild animals from cruelty and abuse. It’s an example of how both the legislative and executive branches of government have a meaningful role to play when it comes to animal welfare and conservation.
Talk Back /
Talk Back: Primates, Palin, Fur Sellers, and Pet Dealers
Today I’d like to post a selection of comments that have come into the blog. Even before Travis the pet chimp critically mauled a Connecticut woman this week, I’d written about the need for Congress to pass the Captive Primate Safety Act, and many of you responded:
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Taking a Bite out of Fur in the Big Apple
This morning, during the height of New York’s Fashion Week, I led a press conference in Bryant Park to announce the results of a new HSUS investigation uncovering more deception in the fur fashion industry. Joined by New York State Assemblymember Linda B.
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Congressmen, Canines Honored on the Hill
I previously told you the
heartwarming stories of Reps. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.)
helping military families remember their loved ones by bringing back dogs from
Iraq. At a touching ceremony last night on Capitol Hill, The Humane Society of
the United States honored Hodes and Jones for their work in assisting the
grieving families of Army Spc. Justin Rollins and Marine Cpl. Dustin Jerome Lee
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Hoyer Speaks on Our Love of Dogs
One of the most touching moments of last night’s Congressional
Canine Awards was when House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) took the
podium to speak about his late dog, Charlotte. The beloved English springer
spaniel typically came to work with Hoyer on the Hill and even had her own bed
in his office. After many years of loyal companionship, Charlotte passed away
in 2007 at the age of 15.
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Shooting the Bird of Peace into Pieces
I traveled through Iowa today with HSUS state director Carol Griglione, getting the word out in opposition to a bill that would allow the hunting of mourning doves for the first time in 90 years. After meeting with lawmakers at the state capitol in Des Moines, I appeared as a guest on the Jan Mickelson Show on WHO Radio, and visited with other media outlets across the state.
