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11 Habits of Highly Effective Lobbyists
Congressional town hall meetings are erupting in violence over the health care issue. A lobbying firm for the coal industry forged letters supposedly from local groups unhappy with climate change legislation. It seems that grassroots lobbying is getting a bad rap these days.
Uncategorized /
Missing the Mark on Anti-Cruelty Law
This fall, for the first time in more than 15 years, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a major animal protection case. The high court will decide whether to uphold a 1999 federal law that bans the commercial sale of videos depicting extreme and illegal acts of animal cruelty, such as dogfighting and other deliberate and malicious acts.
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Aquatic Accommodations
It’s been a good week for marine life. The House of Representatives emphatically passed two bills to protect sea otters and turtles.
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Animals on the Hill, and in “The Hill”
The Hill, a “must read” newspaper for Washington policy makers, this week published a special edition on animal welfare for the first time in its 15 years of publication.
Uncategorized /
Congress Oughta Protect Otters
Legislation can move slowly in Congress, but there are several wildlife protection bills moving with the speed and grace of a cheetah.
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Healing Heroes and Helping Hounds
The bond between people and animals is a strong one—and can even be a healing one. Pets are good for our emotional and physical health, and studies show that having a pet can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Caring for a companion animal provides a sense of purpose and fulfillment and lessens feelings of loneliness and isolation in people of all ages.
Uncategorized /
Obstructionist Lawmakers Harm Animals and the Economy
The U.S. House of Representatives this morning passed H.R. 1018, the Restore Our American Mustangs Act, by a vote of 239-185.
Elections /
Putting a Hold on Compassion
The confirmation process for federal appointments can be a long row to hoe, as we are now seeing with the Supreme Court nomination hearings for Sonia Sotomayor. But the agriculture metaphor is even more relevant for Cass Sunstein, the Harvard Law School professor and constitutional scholar who is President Obama’s pick to be regulatory czar, or more technically the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
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Strong Federal Law Brings the Hammer Down on Dogfighters
Yesterday’s coordinated dogfighting raids across eight states vividly demonstrate why we worked so vigorously and for so long to pass a federal law making animal fighting a felony crime.
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Legislation to Ensure Bird Killers Become Jailbirds
It was one of the most shocking and sickening scourges of bird-related crime since Congress passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918. A 14-month undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s law enforcement division revealed that thousands of peregrine falcons, Cooper’s hawks, and red-tailed hawks were deliberately killed in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Talk Back /
Talk Back: Wildlife Abuse, Fur and Turtle Safety
Today I’d like to share some of your responses to past blog posts. I recently wrote about the Sportsmanship in Hunting Act, which would ban the remote shooting of live animals over the Internet and the trophy shooting of exotic mammals held captive inside fenced enclosures:
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Down Fur the Count
The New Jersey state legislature last week gave final approval to a bill requiring the labeling of all animal fur garments, making it the fifth state—after Delaware, Massachusetts,
