October 10, 2006

Animal Welfare Group Urges 20th District Voters to Re-Elect Sweeney to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7th

WASHINGTON — Citing him as a leader on animal welfare policy in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Humane Society Legislative Fund announced that it has endorsed U.S. Representative John Sweeney in New York’s 20th District congressional race.

“In order to pass humane laws, we need humane lawmakers like Representative Sweeney,” said Sara Amundson, executive director for the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “Voters in New York’s 20th District who care about animal welfare should support his re-election.”

Rep. Sweeney is the lead sponsor of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, H.R. 503, which would stop the slaughter of tens of thousands of American horses every year for food exports. Americans don’t eat horse meat, but our thoroughbreds, carriage horses, family ponies, and other horses are killed every year in foreign-owned slaughterhouses so their meat can be exported to France, Belgium, and other countries.

“It’s a grim and painful end for these American icons and treasured companions,” added Amundson. “Horses are crammed into cattle trucks and shipped more than 1,000 miles across the country. These frightened animals are prodded into chutes, hoisted by a rear leg, and bled out with a sharp cut to the throat, just to be turned into a delicacy for foreign gourmands.”

Thanks to Rep. Sweeney’s strong leadership, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted five times in the 109th Congress to stop the slaughter of horses, including final passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act by a landslide vote of 263-146 in early September. If the Senate takes action on Sweeney’s legislation, it will save tens of thousands of horses every year.

In his eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives, John Sweeney has been a strong supporter of animal welfare. He has also, for example, co-sponsored legislation to strengthen the penalties for illegal dogfighting and cockfighting, making it a felony to transport animals across state lines for these gruesome and barbaric fights. And he has voted in support of legislation to stop the trophy hunting of bears over piles of food on our federal lands, an unsporting and inhumane practice that is prohibited in New York and most other bear hunting states.

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. A complete list of HSLF’s endorsements is available online at www.humanevoting.com.

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Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF) is a social welfare organization incorporated under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. 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. Contributions or gifts to HSLF are not tax deductible. Your donation may be used for lobbying to pass laws to protect animals, as well as for political purposes, such as supporting or opposing candidates. HSLF does not accept contributions from business corporations or labor organizations. On the web at www.hslf.org.