Congressman hailed for independence and reliability on animal welfare policies
Washington, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action, a national policy and political organization seeking to enhance and advance legal protections for animals, has endorsed Rep. Chris Smith for re-election in the race for New Jersey’s 4th congressional district.
The group lauded the congressman for introducing the Pet Safety and Protection Act (H.R. 208) to ban the sale of dogs and cats to research labs by unscrupulous random-source dealers. The bipartisan measure would prevent lost or stolen pets from being sold for use in scientific experiments.
Rep. Smith also won praise 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 governing the humane housing of farm animals including California’s Proposition 12, which passed in a landslide ballot measure in 2018. The California law against extreme confinement was ultimately upheld by a bloc of conservatives and liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court in an opinion penned by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee.
“Chris Smith is one of Congress’s most consistent leaders on animal welfare,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “He fights for mainstream policies to protect both domesticated and wild animals, and he is one of the top Republican lawmakers on anti-cruelty reforms.”
Pacelle also commended Rep. Smith for supporting the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking (FIGHT) Act (H.R. 2742) to crack down on organized dogfighting and cockfighting, the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 (H.R. 7248) to promote animal-free testing in drug development, the Greyhound Protection Act (H.R. 3894) to phase out greyhound racing in the United States, and the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 3475) to end the slaughter of horses for human consumption.
“Animal Wellness Action urges voters in the 4th congressional district of New Jersey who care about animal welfare and who abhor animal cruelty to back Rep. Smith this fall,” Pacelle said.
The full endorsement letter for Rep. Smith may be viewed here.