Candidate’s record shows potential to become a national leader on 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 Amish Shah in the race for Arizona’s 1st congressional district. The organization also announced an independent expenditure campaign to elect to Congress the state legislature’s leading animal welfare advocate.
The group lauded Mr. Shah’s work in the Arizona State House of Representatives on efforts to crack down on puppy mills, halt the declawing of cats, and stop the commercial sale of products made using kangaroo skins and other kangaroo parts.
“Amish Shah has a real chance to become one of Congress’s leaders on animal welfare issues,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “He has stood up for anti-cruelty policies in the Arizona State House, and I hope voters send him to Congress so he can build on that record at the federal level.”
Pacelle noted that Mr. Shah’s opponent, incumbent Republican David Schweikert, has been a good advocate for animal welfare throughout his career but voted with his party leaders in favor of two reckless bills in 2024 that would have been disastrous for wildlife. The first bill (H.R. 764) would have stripped Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across much of the lower 48 states, opening the door to trophy hunting and commercial trapping. Such a policy might also expose wolves to being recreationally run over with snowmobiles – a practice that came to light earlier this year in Wyoming. Schweikert also supported a measure (H.R. 615) to restrict land management officials from regulating the use of hazardous lead ammunition on public lands and waterways. Every year, ingested spent lead poisons millions of wild scavenger species, including our nation’s iconic bald eagles.
“Rep. Schweikert has been hobbled in his animal welfare work by Republican party leaders who stymie the advance of pro-animal welfare bills to the floor and instead tee up measures that abet suffering to wildlife and repeal our states’ most important farm animal welfare laws,” added Pacelle. “I feel confident Amish Shah will never support efforts to repeal state anti-cruelty laws, to block science-based efforts to phase out lead ammunition, or to wipe out critical protections for endangered species.”
The full endorsement letter for Mr. Shah may be viewed here.