Post by RealPitBull on Dec 9, 2008 12:49:03 GMT -5
Humane Society's power grows
Animal welfare gaining attention
News Messenger and • Gannett News Service reports • December 6, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Federal bans on animal fighting and the importation of puppies headlined the successes of animal rights advocates in the two-year session of Congress ending this month.
In particular, the Humane Society of the United States demonstrated its growing political reach by:
· Earning congressional attention for these and several other proposals that did not pass, including a ban on the slaughter of horses for meat.
· · Spending heavily in several congressional campaigns and claiming a decisive role in earning victories for candidates it supported.
· · Funding successful state ballot initiatives, including Proposition 2 in California requiring that calves, hens and pregnant pigs in confinement be allowed to lie down, stand up and turn around.
· · Aiding in the passage of a record 91 state laws on animal welfare in 2008.
· "We've really amped things up," said society chief executive officer Wayne Pacelle, who is credited with a vast expansion of the society's lobbying power since he took over in 2004. "We are as sophisticated as the other social reform movements out there."
Provisions included in the farm bill passed this year make it a crime to possess or train animals for fighting and increased the possible prison sentence for offenses from three to five years.
Another provision requires any dog imported in the U.S. to be at least 6-months-old and in good health. The Humane Society supported both issues.
Local animal-rights activists hope these national gains will have some effect on helping animals in Sandusky and Ottawa counties.
Denny Hammond, Sandusky County humane officer, said humane societies need more money and support to handle the growing number of abuse and neglect cases. Since the economy took a nosedive this year, Hammond has been busier than ever investigating cases of starving dogs and cats.
"People get animals, and they can't afford them," he said. "They get emaciated, and they can't feed them. It's sad."
Other people lose their homes to foreclosure and leave their pets behind to fend for themselves, he said. Currently, the Sandusky County Humane Society runs solely on donations to care for the 25 dogs and 130 cats being housed there, he said.
Barb McGrady, president and founder of the Society for the Protection of Animals in Fremont, wants the gains in Washington to bring more attention to major issues in Ohio, especially a law being considered in the Ohio House to ban pit bulls from the state and the growing number of backyard dog breeders.
The pit bull law, proposed by State Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati, would give owners 90 days to move their pit bulls out of Ohio, or the dogs will be confiscated and euthanized. The society, which is a shelter for abandoned animals, believes the proposed law unfairly targets a breed of dogs that is incorrectly branded as viscous.
During the past 10 years, the society has rescued hundreds of dogs, and the pit bull is the only breed it has helped that has not shown aggression toward people, she said. McGrady said she uses a female pit bull in outreach education programs because it is so gentle and people-friendly.
"She is the only dog that we trust 110 percent around children," McGrady wrote in a letter to Yates. "Her temperament is solid as steel, and she is one of the most even tempered dogs I have ever met."
Like McGrady, Megan Feicht, shelter manager for the Ottawa County Humane Society in Port Clinton, is concerned about the pit bull law and stereotypes regarding the breed. The shelter has five pit bulls and has more difficulty finding them homes than any other breed of dog, she said.
McGrady also believes puppy mills are a major concern because she said some breeders keep dogs in small cages with poor sanitary conditions. Laws regulating these businesses should be stricter to create more humane conditions for the puppies, she said.
As the national Humane Society takes its issues to Washington, even its political opponents, such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, acknowledge the group's growing power in Washington and across the country.
"They have really become a behemoth, a force to be reckoned with," said Kelli Ludlum, director of congressional relations for the federation.
Through increased fundraising and mergers with other groups, such as the Doris Day Animal League, the Humane Society now has assets of more than $233 million.
Pacelle estimates the group spent about $20 million this year on political activity -- by lobbying through its recently formed political wing, the Humane Society Legislative Fund; by helping fund the Humane USA Political Action Committee; and by supporting state organizations formed to push ballot initiatives. The group was spending about $1 million a year on political activity when Pacelle took over.
"As we evolve asa society ... we hopefully are less scientifically ignorant than we have been," Moran said. "We understand that they (animals) can suffer and they can play a very positive role in our lives."
Almost two thirds of households, or 71.1 million homes, include a pet, according to a recent survey by the American Pet Products Association. Americans will spend more than $43 billion on their pets this year, the survey found, nearly double the total from a decade ago.
www.thenews- messenger. com/article/ 20081206/ NEWS01/812060303
Animal welfare gaining attention
News Messenger and • Gannett News Service reports • December 6, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Federal bans on animal fighting and the importation of puppies headlined the successes of animal rights advocates in the two-year session of Congress ending this month.
In particular, the Humane Society of the United States demonstrated its growing political reach by:
· Earning congressional attention for these and several other proposals that did not pass, including a ban on the slaughter of horses for meat.
· · Spending heavily in several congressional campaigns and claiming a decisive role in earning victories for candidates it supported.
· · Funding successful state ballot initiatives, including Proposition 2 in California requiring that calves, hens and pregnant pigs in confinement be allowed to lie down, stand up and turn around.
· · Aiding in the passage of a record 91 state laws on animal welfare in 2008.
· "We've really amped things up," said society chief executive officer Wayne Pacelle, who is credited with a vast expansion of the society's lobbying power since he took over in 2004. "We are as sophisticated as the other social reform movements out there."
Provisions included in the farm bill passed this year make it a crime to possess or train animals for fighting and increased the possible prison sentence for offenses from three to five years.
Another provision requires any dog imported in the U.S. to be at least 6-months-old and in good health. The Humane Society supported both issues.
Local animal-rights activists hope these national gains will have some effect on helping animals in Sandusky and Ottawa counties.
Denny Hammond, Sandusky County humane officer, said humane societies need more money and support to handle the growing number of abuse and neglect cases. Since the economy took a nosedive this year, Hammond has been busier than ever investigating cases of starving dogs and cats.
"People get animals, and they can't afford them," he said. "They get emaciated, and they can't feed them. It's sad."
Other people lose their homes to foreclosure and leave their pets behind to fend for themselves, he said. Currently, the Sandusky County Humane Society runs solely on donations to care for the 25 dogs and 130 cats being housed there, he said.
Barb McGrady, president and founder of the Society for the Protection of Animals in Fremont, wants the gains in Washington to bring more attention to major issues in Ohio, especially a law being considered in the Ohio House to ban pit bulls from the state and the growing number of backyard dog breeders.
The pit bull law, proposed by State Rep. Tyrone Yates, D-Cincinnati, would give owners 90 days to move their pit bulls out of Ohio, or the dogs will be confiscated and euthanized. The society, which is a shelter for abandoned animals, believes the proposed law unfairly targets a breed of dogs that is incorrectly branded as viscous.
During the past 10 years, the society has rescued hundreds of dogs, and the pit bull is the only breed it has helped that has not shown aggression toward people, she said. McGrady said she uses a female pit bull in outreach education programs because it is so gentle and people-friendly.
"She is the only dog that we trust 110 percent around children," McGrady wrote in a letter to Yates. "Her temperament is solid as steel, and she is one of the most even tempered dogs I have ever met."
Like McGrady, Megan Feicht, shelter manager for the Ottawa County Humane Society in Port Clinton, is concerned about the pit bull law and stereotypes regarding the breed. The shelter has five pit bulls and has more difficulty finding them homes than any other breed of dog, she said.
McGrady also believes puppy mills are a major concern because she said some breeders keep dogs in small cages with poor sanitary conditions. Laws regulating these businesses should be stricter to create more humane conditions for the puppies, she said.
As the national Humane Society takes its issues to Washington, even its political opponents, such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, acknowledge the group's growing power in Washington and across the country.
"They have really become a behemoth, a force to be reckoned with," said Kelli Ludlum, director of congressional relations for the federation.
Through increased fundraising and mergers with other groups, such as the Doris Day Animal League, the Humane Society now has assets of more than $233 million.
Pacelle estimates the group spent about $20 million this year on political activity -- by lobbying through its recently formed political wing, the Humane Society Legislative Fund; by helping fund the Humane USA Political Action Committee; and by supporting state organizations formed to push ballot initiatives. The group was spending about $1 million a year on political activity when Pacelle took over.
"As we evolve asa society ... we hopefully are less scientifically ignorant than we have been," Moran said. "We understand that they (animals) can suffer and they can play a very positive role in our lives."
Almost two thirds of households, or 71.1 million homes, include a pet, according to a recent survey by the American Pet Products Association. Americans will spend more than $43 billion on their pets this year, the survey found, nearly double the total from a decade ago.
www.thenews- messenger. com/article/ 20081206/ NEWS01/812060303
I look forward to learning much here