Congressman deserves support for spearheading landmark animal welfare measures
Washington D.C. — Animal Wellness Action, a national policy and political organization seeking to enhance and advance legal protections for animals, has endorsed Vern Buchanan for re-election in the race for Florida’s 16th congressional district.
As the Republican leader of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, Rep. Buchanan has secured the passage of landmark animal welfare laws such as the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, the nation’s first federal anti-cruelty statute; the FDA Modernization Act, the most significant federal bill to reform animal testing since the 1960s; and the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act.
“Vern Buchanan is one of the leaders on animal welfare in the U.S. Congress,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action. “He understands that cruelty to animals is wrong and that it’s typically bound up with other forms of social violence.”
Pacelle lauded Rep. Buchanan for his work this term as the author of the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 3475) to end the slaughter and export of horses for human consumption. He also praised the congressman as a key supporter of the Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking (FIGHT) Act (H.R. 2742) to combat illegal dogfighting and cockfighting, the Greyhound Protection Act (H.R. 3894) to phase out greyhound racing in the United States, the Minks in Narrowly Kept Spaces (MINKS) are Superspreaders Act (H.R. 7670), to address the public health threat posed by domestic mink farming, and the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 (H.R. 7248) to ensure the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully implements the animal testing reforms of the original FDA Modernization Act (the original measure he authored and that was signed into law).
“We urge voters in the 16th congressional district of Florida to back Rep. Buchanan this fall,” Pacelle said.
The full endorsement letter for Rep. Buchanan may be viewed here.