Here’s Where Federal Lawmakers Stand on Animal Protection

Animal Wellness Action doesn’t just help pass laws and see that they are enforced. This 501(c)(4) organization — the most effective lobbying force for animals — works to evaluate the performance of lawmakers on animal protection issues. And with that information, we work to elect pro-animal candidates and to defeat lawmakers who work against mainstream anti-cruelty policies.

We helped oust three anti-animal lawmakers in the last election for Congress in 2024, as well as helping dozens of our allies hold onto their seats. We’ve been chiseling away through the biennial elections to shape a Congress more to our liking, calling balls and strikes on lawmakers regardless of party or political ideology.

We want every one of you to know how your lawmakers stand on animal issues.

We’ve built that tool for you.

Over the course of many months, our team has undertaken exacting work and examined the records of members of Congress on animal welfare.

The result is our new 2026 Congressional Profiles, now available on the Animal Wellness Action website.

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Voting Records Matter

The actions of elected officials are often literally life-and-death matters for animals.

Federal lawmakers decide whether we strengthen laws against dogfighting and cockfighting, curb abusive animal testing and factory-farming practices, stop horse slaughter and horse soring, crack down on puppy mills and the bear-parts trade, protect wolves and barred owls, and so much more.

And on these issues, it is not enough to know what a politician says.

We should know what they do. Animal Wellness Action has initiated 20 major policy initiatives in Congress in the last four years. We are measuring the performance of lawmakers on those issues.

Champions of Animal Welfare — And Lawmakers Who Don’t Give a Damn

You’ll find no better advocate for animals in the entire Congress than U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. In recent years, he led the effort to enact the Shark Fin Trade Elimination Act, the Parity in Animal Cruelty Enforcement Act (banning animal fighting in the U.S. territories), and the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 to eliminate the 84-year-old animal-testing mandate for experimental drugs. In August, he blocked an effort on the Senate floor to remove federal protections for wolves. And he’s been leading the fight for years — successfully so far — to defend Prop 12 and Question 3 to keep our nation’s most important farm animal protection laws in place. You can read more about him here.

From the other side of the aisle in the Senate, John Kennedy, R-La., leads the FIGHT Act to strengthen enforcement against dogfighting and cockfighting and has supported measures addressing horse slaughter, wildlife protection, animal-cruelty enforcement, and the transition away from mandatory animal testing in drug development. He’s the undisputed leader of the plan to nix the grisly scheme by our government to kill half a million North American barred owls. You can read about him here.

In the House, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., is the lead author of four animal protection bills. His record includes efforts involving puppy mills, horse soring, kangaroo products, primate trafficking, animal fighting, horse slaughter, greyhound racing, and federal anti-cruelty enforcement. Animals have no more reliable advocate in the House than Brian. You can read about him here.

Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., is the leading animal welfare Democrat in the House. He championed the FISCAL Act to eliminate the cow’s milk mandate in the National School Lunch Program – with millions of the fluid tossed in the lunchroom by lactose-intolerant kids, meaning that cows suffer on factory farms for no good reason at all. He’s co-leading efforts against animal testing, animal fighting, wolf killing, and more. You can read about him here.

We also hold lawmakers accountable for actions inimical to animal welfare.

Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, is on the wrong side of the divide on animal issues. She’s running in this election cycle for U.S. Senate, and she’s been shamelessly leading the effort in the House to repeal the nation’s most important farm animal welfare laws. Not only does her Save Our Bacon Act seek to return mother pigs to cages barely larger than their bodies, but she’s closing off critical markets for farmers who more responsibly rear animals. She’s shilling for China’s Smithfield Foods, and she’s taken cash from them and other multinational factory farming interests.

And Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has become the most outspoken anti-animal lawmaker in Congress. He was just as active as Hinson in pushing for the repeal of Prop 12 and Question 3 on farm animals. But he also used his chairman’s role to block consideration of amendments on the House floor to strike the Save Our Bacon Act, to pass the FIGHT Act, and the SAFE Act to stop horse slaughter. The lawmaker who wants to unwind the votes of 10 million Americans, it turns out, doesn’t want to allow his colleagues in the House to have an up-or-down vote on these policies. He knows he would have lost every one of those votes. Backroom politics at its worst.

Glenn Thompson was, for years, a much more measured lawmaker on animal issues, but he’s taken in gobs of cash from domestic and foreign-owned factory farming and chemical companies and other special interests. He’s made it a political priority to promote cruelty to animals.

Our tool is built for you to hold lawmakers accountable.

Spend a few minutes exploring the profiles of your two U.S. senators and your U.S. representative. Please share this resource.

Send the link to friends and family. Share it with fellow animal advocates. Post it on social media.

Animals have no vote in Congress. But the people who care about them have a voice, and we must be unrelenting in advocating for better outcomes for them.

Thank you for standing with us and for making animal protection a priority.