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. Matt Gaetz for re-election in the race for Florida’s 1st congressional district.
The group lauded the congressman 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 and was later upheld in a U.S. Supreme Court opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee.
“Matt Gaetz has always been a staunch supporter of animal protection, and that’s why so many of us in Florida’s first congressional district back him,” said Laurie Hood, Florida state director of Animal Wellness Action and founder of Alaqua Animal Refuge.
“Matt Gaetz 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’s done so throughout his legislative work in Tallahassee and in Washington, D.C. He is one of the top Republican lawmakers on anti-cruelty reforms.”
Pacelle commended Rep. Gaetz’s support for the Kangaroo Protection Act (H.R. 4995) to end the commercial sale of products made using kangaroo skins and other kangaroo parts and the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons (SAW) Act (H.R. 9568) to outlaw recreational killing and maiming of wildlife with snowmobiles and other motor vehicles on federal lands.
Rep. Gaetz also won praise for his principled voting record on animal welfare issues. Earlier this year, he stood up to his party’s leaders by voting against two bills they brought up on the House floor 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 and became the inspiration for the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons (SAW) Act, which Rep. Gaetz co-sponsored. He also bucked his party’s leadership by voting against a bill (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.
In his previous term, Rep. Gaetz was a key supporter of two critical animal welfare bills President Biden signed into law in 2022. The Big Cat Public Safety Act ended the trade in big cats such as lions and tigers, including cubs, sold at roadside zoos, and the FDA Modernization Act lifted an outdated animal testing mandate for new drug development, paving the way for a future of cruelty-free pharmaceuticals.
“Animal Wellness Action urges voters in the 1st congressional district of Florida who care about animal welfare and who abhor animal cruelty to back Rep. Gaetz this fall,” Pacelle said.
The full endorsement letter for Rep. Gaetz may be viewed here.