Congressman deserves support for track record of commitment to animal welfare
Washington, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action, a national policy and political organization seeking to enhance and advance legal protections for animals, has endorsed Rep. Adriano Espaillat for re-election in the race for New York’s 13th congressional district.
The group commended his work as the author of the Mink: Vectors for Infection Risk in the United States (VIRUS) Act (H.R. 3783) to address the public health threat posed by domestic mink farming. The U.S. market for mink fur coats collapsed more than a generation ago, yet a handful of U.S. mink farms continue to operate an export-driven business to meet a consumer demand from elites in foreign countries such as China. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, minks were shown to be able to contract the SARS-CoV-2 virus and transmit it back across the species barrier to humans, proving that the risks of mink farming far outweigh any purported benefits.
“Andriano Espaillat fights for animal welfare at every turn,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “He understands that cruelty to animals matters, whether the victims are wild or domesticated animals, and he’s working hard to drive policies to address these societal problems.”
Pacelle also commended Rep. Espaillat for co-sponsoring the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 3475) to end the slaughter of horses for human consumption, and for signing a letter of opposition to the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act (H.R. 4417), which would federally overturn certain voter-approved state laws ensuring the humane housing of farm animals, including California’s Proposition 12, which passed in a landslide ballot measure in 2018. Prop 12 was ultimately upheld by a bloc of conservatives and liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court in an opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee. Nevertheless, the EATS Act remains a top priority for foreign agribusiness giants, including the Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods, as it would allow them to undercut a multi-million-dollar investment many California family farmers have already made in more humane animal housing systems.
“Animal Wellness Action urges voters in the 13th congressional district of New York to return Rep. Espaillat to Congress this fall,” Pacelle said.
The full endorsement letter for Rep. Espaillat may be viewed here.