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

WASHINGTON (Aug. 11, 2008)—Citing their leadership and support of animal protection policies, the Humane Society Legislative Fund announces its endorsement of seven Washington candidates for U.S. House of Representatives in the general election.

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

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

• Rep. Jay Inslee (D-1st) is the lead author of the Polar Bear Protection Act, H.R. 2327, which seeks to close a loophole in the Marine Mammal Protection Act exploited by wealthy trophy hunters who shoot threatened polar bears in the Arctic and import their heads and hides into the United States. He has consistently received a perfect score of 100 percent on the annual Humane Scorecard.
• Rep. Norm Dicks (D-6th), chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, has led numerous efforts to protect wildlife and the environment, such as stopping the inhumane and unsporting aerial shooting of wolves, and encouraging the contraception of wild horses on public lands to manage their populations humanely and prevent the round-up and slaughter of the animals. He has consistently received a perfect score of 100 percent on the annual Humane Scorecard.
• Rep. Dave Reichert (R-8th) is a lead sponsor of the Great Ape Protection Act, H.R. 5852, which would phase out the use of chimpanzees in invasive research in the United States, and retire the approximately 600 federally owned chimps to permanent sanctuary. He has co-sponsored numerous animal protection bills including measures to stop the slaughter of horses for human consumption and to require accurate labeling of fur-trimmed garments, and he has supported legislation to strengthen the laws against animal fighting, to stop the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses, and to protect threatened polar bears from trophy hunting.

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.