Animal Welfare Group Will Target Rep. Joe Knollenberg in Michigan’s 9th District

WASHINGTON (Aug. 11, 2008)—Citing their leadership and support of animal protection policies, the Humane Society Legislative Fund announced its endorsement of 11 Michigan candidates for U.S. Congress in the general election. The group also announced that it will run an independent campaign to defeat Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-9th), one of the leading enemies of animal welfare in Congress.

“In order to have humane laws, we need to elect humane lawmakers,” said Sara Amundson, executive director of Humane Society Legislative Fund. “We urge Michigan voters to elect candidates who support the humane treatment of animals.”

Several members of Michigan’s federal delegation, both Democrats and Republicans, have been leaders for the humane treatment of animals. For example:

• Sen. Carl Levin (D) introduced S. Res. 118, a resolution urging the Canadian government to end the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of baby harp seals for their fur pelts, and he is the leader of an annual effort to secure adequate funding for the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, and the federal law to combat dogfighting and cockfighting.
• Rep. John Conyers (D-14th) is the lead author of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 6598, which seeks to stop the export of American horses for slaughter in foreign countries, and the Animal Cruelty Statistics Act, H.R. 6597, which would require the collection of data on animal cruelty crimes nationwide.
• Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-11th) authored a resolution, H. Res. 419, recognizing National Dog Bite Prevention Week and calling on communities to adopt dog bite injury prevention programs and laws encouraging responsible dog ownership.
• Rep. Dale Kildee (D-5th) has consistently received a perfect score of 100 percent on the annual Humane Scorecard for his support and co-sponsorship of animal protection bills.

HSLF has endorsed two challengers looking to unseat incumbents who are enemies of animal welfare. The group is supporting Gary Peters (D) over Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-9th) and Mark Schauer (D) over Rep. Tim Walberg (R-7th). Peters and Schauer both supported common-sense animal protection policies in the state legislature, while Knollenberg and Walberg have among the worst records on animal cruelty issues in Congress.

HSLF plans to launch an independent campaign in the 9th District to inform Oakland County voters of Rep. Knollenberg’s terrible record on animal welfare. Throughout his career in Washington, he has opposed modest animal welfare reforms, including efforts to halt horse slaughter for foreign consumption; stop the processing of animals who are too sick or injured to walk to slaughter and pose a greater threat of spreading “mad cow disease;” stop wealthy American trophy hunters from shooting threatened polar bears in the Arctic; stop the trophy shooting of bears over piles of grease and jelly doughnuts on national forests and other federal lands; stop the use of steel-jawed leghold traps and wire neck snares on national wildlife refuges—inhumane and unsporting practices opposed by responsible hunters; and protect dolphins from drowning in tuna nets.

Although he claims to be a fiscal conservative, Knollenberg voted to use tax dollars to promote the trophy hunting of elephants in Africa, and to give a $2 million annual subsidy to the luxury mink coat industry. He voted twice to spend millions of dollars to kill predators with cruel traps and poisons as a government subsidy for private ranchers, and he sought to de-fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s enforcement of the federal law to combat animal fighting—the same law that was later used to break up Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring.

Walberg, in his first term, has also been terrible on animal protection issues. He scored a 17 on the most recent Humane Scorecard, and voted to allow the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses, to promote the trophy hunting of threatened polar bears, and to continue the trade in dangerous primates as exotic pets.

HSLF is a nonpartisan organization that evaluates candidates based only on a single criterion: where they stand on animal welfare. HSLF does not judge candidates based on party affiliation or any other issue.

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Media contact: Heather Sullivan: 301-548-7778, hsullivan@hslf.org

The Humane Society Legislative Fund is a social welfare organization incorporated under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and formed in 2004 as a separate lobbying affiliate of The Humane Society of the United States. The HSLF works to pass animal protection laws at the state and federal level, to educate the public about animal protection issues, and to support humane candidates for office. On the web at hslf.org.

Paid for by Humane Society Legislative Fund and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. HSLF, 519 C Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.