To Secure Good Laws for Animals, We Need Lawmakers Who Care About Animal Welfare
If you vote with animal welfare in mind, we can tackle factory farming, animal fighting, horse slaughter, owl killing, and do so much more.
- Wayne Pacelle
Our national elections are upon us, and Animal Wellness Action is poised to help elect lawmakers who care about animal welfare to public office. And we are poised to oust lawmakers from office who don’t give a damn about animals — the ones who follow a trail of cash that leads directly to factory-farming multinationals, animal research labs, and the trophy hunting lobby.
During our eight years of work, Animal Wellness Action has played a pivotal role in ousting a raft of federal lawmakers who stood in the way of mainstream anti-cruelty proposals or tried to overturn protections we put in place for animals. We are going to add more names to that set of political casualties. We must have accountability on animal cruelty and we are built for that work.
We don’t play for the red team or the blue team; we just call balls and strikes on animal cruelty.
- We are working to defeat U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, in a tossup race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. She wrote a bill to federally overturn state laws passed by 10 million voters in California and Massachusetts that protect farm animals from spending their short lives in tiny crates where they cannot even turn around. Go here to watch our television ad now running in Iowa.
- We are also investing resources to defeat U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., in his race for governor of the Badger State. As a state senator, Tiffany wrote a merciless bill to allow wolves to be chased down in darkness by trophy hunters using night vision goggles, teams of attack dogs, steel-jawed leghold traps, and neck snares. These sickening practices will automatically become legal if Congress strips federal protections for gray wolves, and Tiffany made it a top priority in Congress to do just that. See our ad against Tiffany here.
- We are backing U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., in his bid to continue representing the Philadelphia suburbs of Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District. One of the top leaders in Congress on animal welfare, he is the author of bills to stop the trade in kangaroo parts, to crack down on puppy mills, and to stop the cruel practice of intentionally injuring Tennessee Walking Horses’ hooves for shows. In a decade in Congress, he’s never cast a vote against animal welfare. See our ad for Brian Fitzpatrick here.
- Also in Pennsylvania, we are working to oust first-term U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Penn., in his race to continue representing the commonwealth’s Scranton-based 8th District. Unlike Hinson and Tiffany, he has not actively worked to harm animals, but he has shown he’s not willing to stand up for them when it counts — voting to gut a bill to crack down on dogfighting and cockfighting after he had already signed onto it! See our ad against Rep. Bresnahan here.
We are also backing upstart animal advocates, including Democratic challengers Amish Shah in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District and Manny Rutinel in Colorado’s 8th District. Meanwhile, we are working to reelect incumbent GOP Reps. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y. (battling against overturning Prop 12), Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J. (leading the fight against horse slaughter), and Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y. (leading the fight to bar federal funding for experiments on beagles and helping our efforts to shut down Marshall BioResources).
Your Votes Affect the Lives of Millions of Animals
Animals do not have a voice in this election, but you do. They need you to speak for them. They need you to vote with conscience. They need you to rally your friends and neighbors to elect candidates up and down the ballot who will work to end their suffering, not make it worse.
Ashley Hinson does not belong in the U.S. Senate. Tom Tiffany does not deserve to be Wisconsin’s chief executive. Rob Bresnahan should be replaced with someone who keeps promises. These lawmakers want to expand factory farming. They’re okay with cruelty to wildlife. And they want to give a get-out-of-jail-free card to thugs who put innocent dogs and roosters in fighting pits to tear each other apart.
On the other hand, we desperately need strong leaders like Brian Fitzpatrick, Andrew Garbarino, and Nick Langworthy to stay in Congress so they can keep fighting the good fight for animals.
We have new tools to measure the performance of all 535 members of Congress on animal issues. Please consult our legislative narratives and records for all federal lawmakers, check out our endorsements, and vote with a conscience.
We need your civic engagement for animal protection right now.
Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, is the author of two New York Times bestselling books, “The Bond” and “The Humane Economy.”