111th Congress Starts With Important Animal Protection Measures

20

January 27, 2009

Dear Humanitarian:

Welcome to the 111^th Congress!  With President Obama in the White House and a fresh Congress that witnessed the return of many animal-friendly legislators plus the addition of several new potential animal champions, this is an exciting time for all of us.  In addition, AWI continues to grow its legislative staff and to provide you with multiple resources to assist with your animal advocacy, including an enhanced Compassion Index (www.compassionindex.org), our online action center.

The end of the last Congress saw significant movement on two issues of great importance to AWI and its supporters.  House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN) introduced the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, a bill to ban horse slaughter, which passed out of the Chairman’s committee. The House of Representatives also passed a measure to strengthen the Shark Finning Prohibition Act.  However, the Senate was unable to take action on either measure before the session ended, necessitating the recent reintroduction of both.

The good news is that both have been reintroduced and are clear priorities for their sponsors.  Nevertheless, we need your help to ensure their successful passage.  Please take a moment to contact your US Representative to ask for support on both issues.

HORSE SLAUGHTER

Although most Americans oppose horse slaughter and the few remaining US plants have been shut down under state law, the absence of a federal law means that more than 100,000 American horses were exported to Mexico and Canada last year where they suffered a most brutal death.

Fortunately, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN) have taken up the reins of this cause and committed themselves to ending horse slaughter by reintroducing the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503).

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please write or email your Representative today, urging him or her to support H.R. 503, the Conyers-Burton “Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act”.  Chairman Conyers and Congressman Burton intend to do what they can to move this measure.  For more information about the bill or to find your legislator, please visit: http://www.awionline.org/legislation.

SHARK FINNING

In 2000, the US Congress passed a law intended to ban the practice of shark finning -yet the cruelty has continued.  During the process of finning, the fins of a living shark are cut off and the animal is thrown back in the water. The shark endures a horrifically slow and painful death, ultimately sinking to the bottom of the ocean to die.  The fins are then dried and used in preparing shark fin soup, a traditional Asian delicacy.  Not only is the practice overtly cruel, but it also upsets the fragile balance of the marine ecosystem by removing these apex predators.  Since the original bill’s passage shark finning has been illegal in US waters but enforcement has been hampered by loopholes in the law.

Thankfully, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU), who chairs the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans, has reintroduced the=2 0Shark Conservation Act of 2009 (H.R. 81) to combat this practice. Please contact your US Representative today and ask him/her to cosponsor this bill and close the loopholes for good.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please write or email your Representative today, urging him or her to support H.R. 81, the Shark Conservation Act of 2009.  Be sure to mention the facts above and those found here: http://www.awionline.org/legislation.

If you need help finding the name of your US Representative, you can find and contact them at www.compassionindex.org, contact your local library or call AWI at (202) 337-2332 for assistance.

Address your letters to:

The Honorable (Last Name)

US House of Representatives

Washington, DC  20515

Please be sure to provide your Representative with your name and mailing address, and as a constituent, request a response on this issue. Please also share our “Dear Humanitarian” eAlert with family, friends and co-workers, and encourage them to contact their legislators, too. As always, thank you very much for your help.

Sincerely,

Cathy Liss
President
www.awionline.org
www.compassionindex.org

For over 57 years, AWI has been the leading voice for animals across the country and on Capitol Hill. Please join us in our ongoing campaigns to reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. Sign up for AWI eAlerts to receive the latest news on what you can do to help us protect all animals: http://www.awionline.org/joinus.

AWI has moved.  Please note our new address and telephone number.

Animal Welfare Institute
900 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20003
Tel:  202-337-2332
Fax:  202-446-2131
www.awionline.org

Hi Rebecca!I want to thank you for being such a great animal person!  I think you are doing a great job but I wonder if you can make people aware of this.  A friend of mine who has a cat and two dogs found a real friend young female cat at lunchtime and took her to the Lakewood Animal Hospital.  She was never told they would destroy her in 72 hours – the vet should of said if you want to leave this cat here and we take it to the shelter – there is a good chance it will be destroyed – do you want to leave the cat?  She would have never left this poor friendly cat.  She said she was real friendly and sweet – here is her story:Yes - it was Lakewood Animal Hospital.  And, No, they didn’t tell me itwas a kill shelter.  Also, when I went to visit the cat at the Shelter,they had all the wrong information on the cat.  They kept telling methey had no cat from Lakewood.  They had down that the cat had beenpicked up in Westlake and I guess they call the Police Dept. in whatevercity they find an animal in case someone is looking for it.  I don’tknow if they ever then bothered to call Lakewood. We took the cat to theVet Wed morning.  I visited the cat Thursday afternoon so that was 2days that they had the wrong information.  I told her at the Shelter thatthe cat was found in Lakewood (she said she was the one that picked thecat up from the Animal Hospital so why didn’t she know it wasLakewood?).  She finally figured out which cat it was and they had it inthe back (where the public couldn’t see it to even adopt it).  It thinkit is a quarantine area or something - because it had fleas.  There wasanother cat back there that she said was old and had a thyroid problem.I think they probably thought she was unadoptable because she such a badflea allergy - she had a lot of hair missing on her legs due to thefleas.  They had put a flea collar on her.  Anyhow, I wish they wouldhave told me about the 72 hour thing too.  She told me sometimes if theyare not adopted within a couple of weeks, they are put to sleep so Ithough I had more time.  Then I called Monday to see if anyone hadadopted her and they said she was gone - either claimed, adopted, oreuthanized.  I said “which is it?”  She said “are you sure you want toknow?”  I said “yes”.  She checked the records and said she waseuthanized.  So, she wasn’t even given a week.  It is sad.   I’m sure my kitty would not havehad much of a chance if they only keep them 72 hours.   I know they are overburdenedwith cats but I should have been told especially by the VET so I could make a betterdecision – I am just sick about this!I am sick about this vet not telling her what would happen if she left this nice kitty – maybe more people wouldn’t leave these poor stray cats if they knew what was going to happen.  This Vet’s office should have been up front with her.  She was trying to do the right thing on her lunch hour from work.I was just starting to look for a home for this poor kitty and if I knew that it was going to be destroyed that quickly I would have done something.  Especially a friendly cat!Maybe if more people are aware of this – we can stop destroying so many great animals.Thanks for your time!Linda 

This came from my friend Kathy who wrote:

 Bec, long time no email.  I got tired of talking to myself, so I thought about getting myself a buddy, but before I did that, I have been volunteering at Lake County Humane Society.  This was one of the cats that I have played with and was going to call the cat Grayzee – but left his name as Jay.  Well, I am still talking to myself because he goes into hiding mode forever – he was a stray but at one time was someone’s really good indoor cat – he is declawed.  Check him out!

I saved this from the holidays from listener Sue….it was just too cute not to share!!

 My favorite picture of the holiday season so far….notice there are hardly any ornaments left on the tree. 
Can you spot the little reason why??

Okay, not really but check out this email I received!!

Hi Rebecca,
Here is a video in which a lady is making knit purses out of the shaved hair of Persian kitties.  Since you love your cats so much, I thought you might find it interesting. 

http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/01/02/cat-fur-sweaters-for-everyone/

Elizabeth in Avon