Lawmaker is one of the top animal welfare advocates in Congress, with a perfect voting record
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today Animal Wellness Action announced its endorsement of U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA-1st, because of his outstanding advocacy on animal welfare issues, including his efforts to crack down on puppy mills and the abuse of big cats and primates for the pet trade, Just his week, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, a bill he’s backed to ban race-day doping of Thoroughbreds in the racing industry, passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate.
In the 116th Congress, he is the lead Republican on four animal welfare bills — the Welfare of Our Friends (WOOF) Act, the Puppy Protection Act, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, and the Captive Primate Safety Act. He has cosponsored a series of winning amendments on the House floor to promote humane population management of wild horses, to stop horse soring, and to ban dogfighting and cockfighting in the U.S. territories (just yesterday, a federal court in Guam upheld the constitutionality of the law). He is a cosponsor of the Greyhound Protection Act, the Bear Protection Act, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act (to stop horse slaughter), and other animal welfare reforms. He has also pledged to co-lead legislation to ban any U.S. trade in kangaroo parts, which are used by Nike, adidas, and other athletic shoe companies to make soccer cleats. Private interests kill 2 million kangaroos a year in their native habitats for the global skin trade.
He was an original cosponsor of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act and the Rescuing Animals With Rewards Act. Both measures have been signed into law this Congress. Fitzpatrick was also a key architect of the Great Outdoors Act, which guarantees funding for the Land and Water Conservation Act for habitat protection. That measure, too, has just been signed into law.
He is a cosponsor of the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act, which passed the House last summer. And he is an original cosponsor of the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, which seeks to stop the intentional injuring of the forelimbs of Tennessee Walking horses to cause them to exaggerate their gait.
Last Congress, he was one of just a dozen or so Republicans to oppose efforts to repeal U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service rules to prohibit the aerial gunning of bears and the shooting of mother bears and wolves in their dens on 100 million acres of national wildlife refuges and national preserves in Alaska.
“Brian Fitzpatrick is the leading animal welfare advocate in the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “We’ve never had a better and more consistent voice for animal protection.
“If you care about animals, vote for Brian in November,” said Marty Irby, executive director of Animal Wellness Action.”
Congressman Fitzpatrick is a former FBI agent whose law enforcement portfolio focused on rooting out public corruption.