California Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday signed Senate Bill 1221 into law, which bans the hound hunting of bears and bobcats—the inhumane and unsporting practice of using packs of radio-collared dogs to chase large mammals into a tree, so a trophy hunter can follow the radio signal on a handheld telemetry device and shoot the frightened animal off a tree branch at point-blank range.
Congress recessed last week for the election, leaving much business unfinished and not reaching any agreement on deficit-reduction legislation. This failure to act is likely to trigger sequestration cuts of $1.2 trillion in government spending over the next nine years, beginning in January 2013.
Steve King is on the defense and is pressuring TV stations in Iowa not to run the Humane Society Legislative Fund’s new TV ad critical of his voting record on animal fighting policy issues in Congress.
Today, the Humane Society Legislative Fund launched a new TV ad campaign in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, opposing Steve King’s reelection to Congress. King has one of the most extreme records on animal cruelty in Congress, and has worked harder than any other lawmaker to block legislation cracking down on illegal dogfighting. Our new TV ad highlights his opposition to a ban on taking children to dogfights.
Tonight at the Democratic National Convention, President Obama will accept his party’s nomination for election to a second term, and the pundits will be analyzing his speech and looking back at his record. It’s an opportune time to take a look at what the Obama administration has done so far in 2012, and throughout his presidency, on animal welfare issues.
2012 Overview
Just two decades ago, only seven states had felony-level penalties for animal cruelty (California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin). Fortunately, there has been a steady drumbeat of lawmaking on this issue over the last 20 years, mostly led by The HSUS, HSLF, and state and local animal welfare groups, and now 48 states punish some forms of animal abuse as a felony offense, with Mississippi and Idaho being the most recent states to upgrade their anti-cruelty statutes.
Since U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., was named Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential running mate a couple weeks ago, his background and policy positions are now subject to an extraordinary degree of scrutiny. While it’s been widely reported that Ryan is an avid bowhunter and a previous co-chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, not much has been said about his other animal welfare positions.
Tuesday was a disappointing day for dogs on the east coast, as Maryland lawmakers and Miami-Dade County voters in Florida both missed an opportunity to correct policies discriminating against pit bull-type dogs and their families.
A number of states held primary elections yesterday, including competitive open seats and incumbent-versus-incumbent races, and there were several important outcomes for animal protection advocates. Here is a wrap-up of some of the noteworthy election results:
The presidential campaign is in full swing, and animal lovers have surely noticed there is more talk about dogs than in previous elections: Mitt Romney’s family vacation in the 1980s in which Seamus, the Irish setter, became sick during a 12-hour trip on the roof of a station wagon; and Barack Obama’s writing that, as a child, living with his stepfather in Indonesia, he once ate
