The House of Representatives is likely to take up the nutrition assistance portion of the Farm Bill again this week. While the House has not yet named its conferees and much work has yet to be done to negotiate a final House-Senate package, there’s growing opposition to one toxic provision in the broader bill, which was offered by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, and is the last thing they need if they want to get Farm Bill programs done this year.
The Obama administration today took a major step to improve the treatment of thousands of dogs languishing in large-scale commercial puppy mills. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a final rule to close a loophole in the Animal Welfare Act regulations which currently requires breeders selling wholesale to pet stores to be federally licensed and inspected, but leaves those selling directly to the public over the Internet completely unregulated.
President Obama this week announced the addition of a new First Dog, Sunny, who joins Bo as part of the First Family. We congratulate the Obamas on their new pet, and wish them years of joy and companionship.
Congress is on recess in August, but facing the remaining task to iron out a final Farm Bill and decide the outcome of Rep. Steve King’s, R-Iowa, destructive provision seeking to nullify state rules relating to agricultural standards. In addition to repealing protections for farm animals, horses, sharks, and dogs, the King amendment could also wipe out of hundreds of state laws protecting food safety, crop protection, fire safety, and more.
Let’s talk about progress, and how to get there.
Two U.S. Senators are asking their colleagues to work with them to crack down on the rampant cruelty of “soring” in Tennessee walking horse show competitions. This week, U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced the bipartisan Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, S.
When private citizens keep wild animals—such as lions, tigers, bears, chimpanzees, and monkeys—as exotic pets, it never turns out well. The private possession of dangerous wild animals is a ticking time bomb for the owners and other people who live and work in their neighborhoods, and relegates the animals to wholly unnatural living conditions.
Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., in his weekly “Correspondence Corner” video series, took a question from a constituent who emailed him in support of H.R. 847, the Puppy Uniform Protection and Safety (PUPS) Act, to crack down on abusive puppy mills. Joined by his special guest, Arbor, a rescue dog adopted by one of his staffers, Rep. Paulsen took the opportunity to answer the question from Dick in Bloomington, and talk about not only his co-sponsorship of the puppy mill legislation, but also his co-sponsorship of the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, H.R.
Though the work is far from done, this is shaping up to be a very encouraging year for animals on the appropriations front. We already reported on the House Appropriations Committee’s approval of solid funding levels to support USDA’s enforcement of key animal welfare laws, as well as its inclusion of much-needed language to stop horse slaughter plants from operating in the U.S.
A bipartisan group of 62 House members—led by U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Grace Meng, D-N.Y.—sent a letter to the Obama Administration urging it to revise a proposed federal rule that could undermine state bans on buying or selling shark fins.
