Animal Welfare Group Urges Tennessee Voters to Choose Humane Candidates for Office

WASHINGTON (August 4, 2008)—Citing their leadership and support of animal protection policies, the Humane Society Legislative Fund announces its endorsement of five Tennessee candidates for U.S. Congress, including two in the upcoming Aug. 7 primary.

“In order to have humane laws, we need to elect humane lawmakers,” said Michael Markarian, president of Humane Society Legislative Fund. “We urge voters in the Volunteer State to elect candidates who support the humane treatment of animals.”

For this week’s contested primary races, HSLF has endorsed Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe in the Republican primary for the 1st District, and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen for the Democratic primary in the 9th District.

While Mayor Roe is an advocate for animal protection, incumbent Rep. David Davis has consistently opposed common-sense animal welfare reforms, and received a score of zero on the Humane Scorecard during his first year in Congress. Davis was one of only 39 representatives who voted on the side of dogfighters and cockfighters by opposing stronger penalties for animal fighting. He also voted against measures to protect wild horses from commercial sale and slaughter, save threatened polar bears from trophy hunting, and stop the trade in dangerous primates as exotic pets.

Rep. Cohen has been a leader for animal protection issues, both at the federal and state levels. In Congress, he is the lead author of the Sportsmanship in Hunting Act, which seeks to stop captive trophy hunts of exotic mammals trapped behind fences. He earned a perfect score of 100 on the Humane Scorecard, voting with animals on every issue and cosponsoring a number of animal protection bills dealing with animal fighting, horse slaughter, fur labeling, and other subjects. In honor of his leadership on animal protection issues, he received the Legislative Achievement Award from the Tennessee Humane Association in 2006, and the Humane Champion Award from the Humane Society Legislative Fund in 2007.

In addition to Roe and Cohen, HSLF has endorsed three other incumbent lawmakers for reelection: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R) and Reps. Jim Cooper (D-5th) and Bart Gordon (D-6th).

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.