The federal Farm Bill passed in 2008 included several animal welfare provisions, with one strengthening the federal law against dogfighting and cockfighting and building on the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act which was enacted a year earlier.

An editorial in yesterday’s Columbus Dispatch called on Ohio lawmakers to crack down on the trade in dangerous exotic pets, referencing not only the problems in their own backyard but also the problems 1,000 miles away—as Burmese pythons, Nile monitor lizards, and other imported species interfere with Florida’s ecosystems.

Every month that goes by, we see more heinous and illegal killing of federally protected migratory birds. In February, two red-tailed hawks were gunned down in the Puget Sound area of Washington state. In March, a golden eagle was tortured in central Utah and the bird’s tail feathers were ripped out.

I hope you’ll have the opportunity to join HSLF this Sunday, May 2, at one of the many Party Animals events held around the country, rallying in support of H.R. 1326, the Great Ape Protection Act, to phase out invasive research on chimpanzees and retire the remaining federally owned chimps to sanctuaries. We’ll be speaking to animal advocates on a nationwide conference call, and will be joined by Rep.

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.

The big news this week was the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a federal law barring the commercial sale of videos depicting extreme animal cruelty. The measure—originally introduced by Rep.

Since California’s overwhelming passage of Proposition 2 in 2008 underscored the clear sentiment of voters that all animals deserve humane treatment, including animals raised for food, state lawmakers in Sacramento have advanced a number of policy reforms to stop cruelty and abuse.

Florida became the first state to ban gestation crates for breeding pigs in 2002, and since then, six other states have followed suit on the extreme confinement of farm animals. The Broward-Palm Beach New Times published a feature story this week by Kristen Hinman looking at the national debate over farm animal welfare, which began in Florida eight years ago.

In a year that could spell trouble for long-serving incumbents, as voters are fed up with Washington insiders and politics as usual, it seems unlikely that a former seven-term congressman with ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff could stage a comeback. But that’s what former Rep. Richard Pombo is trying to do—by moving to another district.

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.