Press Release

Animal Wellness Action Endorses Luz Rivas in Race for California’s 29th Congressional District

Candidate deserves support for her strong commitment to lead on animal welfare issues.

Washington D.C. — Animal Wellness Action, a national policy and political organization seeking to enhance and advance legal protections for animals, has endorsed Luz Rivas in the race for California’s 29th congressional district.  She is expected to succeed Rep. Tony Cárdenas, who was without question one of the leading animal welfare advocates in recent times in the Congress.

The group lauded her strong commitment to be a leader on animal welfare issues. She pledged that if elected she would co-sponsor the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking (FIGHT) Act (H.R. 2742) to combat illegal animal fighting, the Greyhound Protection Act (H.R. 3894) to end greyhound racing in the United States, and the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 3475) to end the slaughter of horses and mules for human consumption.

“Luz Rivas can be expected to follow Tony Cárdenas’s outstanding leadership on animal welfare issues in the U.S. Congress,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “She understands that cruelty to animals is wrong and that it’s typically bound up with other forms of social violence.”

Pacelle expressed special appreciation for Rivas’s strong pro-animal welfare voting record in the California State Assembly, noting that she voted to restore wildlife habitats, promote beaver restoration programs, reduce testing on animals, address the use of dangerous pesticides, and prohibit octopus aquafarming for human consumption.

“We urge voters in the 29th congressional district of California to back Luz Rivas this fall,” Pacelle said.

The full endorsement letter for Assemblywoman Rivas may be viewed here.

Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) whose mission is to help animals by promoting laws and regulations at federal, state and local levels that forbid cruelty to all animals. The group also works to enforce existing anti-cruelty and wildlife protection laws. Animal Wellness Action believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @AWAction_News