Daily Archives: September 6, 2004

Humane USA Endorses John Kerry

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Humane USA recently endorsed Democrat John Kerry for president in the upcoming U.S. election. According to its web site, Humane USA is a political action committee formed by leaders of animal rights groups including The Humane Society of the United States, The Fund for Animals, Farm Sanctuary, ASPCA, Doris Day Animal League, Animal Welfare Institute, The Ark Trust, Animal Rights Foundation of Florida.

In a press release announcing its endorsement, Humane USA said,

  • Kerry was the co-author with former Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) of the successful effort to halt an annual $2 million subsidy for the mink industry – terminating a taxpayer give-away to the corporate mink industry. Kerry and Smith shepherded this amendment through the Senate during debate on the Fiscal Year 1995 Agriculture Appropriations Act, and they have repelled subsequent efforts by legislators aligned with the mink industry to revive the taxpayer boondoggle.
  • Kerry has a notable record of co-sponsoring animal friendly legislation, including support of measures to combat cockfighting, bear baiting, canned hunts, puppy mills, the bear parts trade, the exotic pet trade, steel-jawed leghold traps, and the abuse of “downed” livestock.
  • Kerry has also exerted leadership in securing important funds for animal protection. In recent years, he and Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) co-authored letters sent to the leaders of the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture Appropriations to increase funding for existing animal protection laws, including the Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Slaughter Act. Thanks in part to KerryÂ’s leadership – and his collaboration with the powerful senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) – the Congress has provided more than $26 million in new funds for animal protection programs in recent years.

    • The President of the United States has a major impact on public policies that affect the lives of animals. The Animal Welfare Act, Humane Slaughter Act, Horse Protection Act, and a long list of other federal laws need proper enforcement if their original purposes are to be fulfilled. The president also shapes how Congress views new legislative proposals to protect animals from cruelty and abuse. We need John Kerry – not George W. Bush – in the White House.

Interestingly, as Humane USA points out, the Bush campaign’s web site also highlights the support Kerry has received from animal rights groups the Humane Society of the United States and the Fund for Animals,

John Kerry has the highest rating on the Humane Scorecard sponsored jointly by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Fund for Animals. Both groups are firmly committed to ending hunting in this country.

  • HSUSÂ’ website says “sport hunting – the killing of wild animals as recreation – is fundamentally at odds with the values of a humane, just and caring society” (emphasis added). (www.hsus.org/ace/12035; viewed 7/5/04).
  • Heidi Prescott, the National Director of the Fund for Animals, said in a 1995 speech that the Fund for Animals is “unalterably opposed to the killing of animals for sport” (emphasis added). (Speech by Heidi Prescott to the 4th Annual Governors Symposium on North AmericaÂ’s Hunting Heritage, August 1995)

Sources:

Humane USA Endorses John Kerry for President. Press Release, Humane USA, Undated.

John Kerry on Hunting. Press Release, GeorgWBush.com, July 10, 2004.

Maryland Bear Hunt to Begin as Scheduled

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Despite a 12-7 vote against Maryland’s proposed bear hunt by the Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said the bear hunt would go forward as planned this October.

The Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee is charged with reviewing rules and decisions by stage agencies, and it voted 12-7 in late August to oppose the Maryland Department of Natural Resources plans to allow a bear hunt. The vote means that Gov. Ehrlich must personally approve the bear hunt, and a spokesman for the governor said the DNR would be allowed to proceed with the planned hunt.

Paul F. Schurick, spokesman for Gov. Ehrlich, told the Baltimore Sun,

The governor is going to allow DNR to move ahead with their plan. The governor asked the scientists at DNR for a recommendation, and the science has not changed.

Animal rights groups claimed the bear hunt was simply a quid pro quo reward to the National Rifle Association for its support of the governor. Humane Society of the United States president Wayne Pacelle told The Baltimore Sun,

This hunt amounts to a political payback by the governor to the NRA and other trophy-hunting advocacy groups who have supported him.

Paul Peditto, director of DNR’s Wildlife and Heritage Service, countered that the justification for the bear hunt was based on sound scientific management practice. Peditto noted that the DNR currently receives about 150 complaints a week about bear activity and told The Baltimore Sun,

We now average more than 30 bears who are hit and killed by cars in Western Maryland a year, often injuring drivers. To our mind, the time has come to stabilize our bear population so that people and bears can coexist.

Maryland’s bear hunt is scheduled for Oct. 25 through Oct. 30 with a limit of 30 bears to be killed. If 30 bears are not killed in October, an additional season from Dec. 6 to Dec. 11 is planned.

Source:

Governor says fall black bear hunt will go on. Tom Pelton, The Baltimore Sun, August 26, 2004.

Legislative panel hears arguments to halt bear hunt. Gretchen Parker, Associated Press, August 25, 2004.

Panel Votes Against Bear Hunt. David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post, August 26, 2004.

Bush/Kerry — No, I’m the Bigger Sportsman

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Animal rights activists can see just how relevant they are by noting the ongoing battle between presidential candidates George W. Bush and John F. Kerry to demonstrate which is the bigger supporter of hunting.

In July, Kerry described himself as a deer hunter and has tried to reassure rural voters that his longstanding support for gun control does not mean preventing hunters from buying and owning guns.

Meanwhile, as the Republican National Convention opened in New York, the Bush administration announced that it was opening up land at 17 national wildlife refuges and wetlands to hunting and fishing.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced on August 30 that it would open four national wildlife refuges to hunting and fishing — Mount Long Leaf in Alabama; Cypress Creek in Illinois, Red River in Louisiana, and Waccamaw in South Carolina. It also opened up six wetland management districts to hunting and fishing — Devils Lake in North Dakota; Huron, Lake Andrews, Madison, Sand Lake, and Waubay in South Dakota.

In addition, the USFWS announced it was expanding land and mashes open to hunting and fishing at seven other wildlife refuges. In all, the USFWS opened up an additional 243,500 acres for hunting and fishing.

USFWS directory Steve Williams told The Associated Press,

This is just another example of the president’s commitment to sportsmen. . . . By law, Congress directed the service to consider and provide opportunities for hunting and fishing where it’s compatible on the refuges. We take that quite seriously.

Source:

Bush opening more lands to hunting and fishing. John Heilprin, Associated Press, August 31, 2004.

New AVMA President Calls for More Leadership on Animal Welfare Issues

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Incoming American Veterinary Medical Association president Dr. Bonnie Beaver said at that group’s convention that the AVMA must more directly engage in issues of animal welfare or risk ceding that territory to the animal rights movement.

In an July 23 speech to the AVMA House of Delegates, Beaver outlined her vision of the AVMA’s role in promoting animal welfare saying (emphasis added),

The third area of importance to AVMA is animal welfare. Veterinarians are the ultimate authorities in animal welfare. It is important that we retain this authority in light of challenges by animal rightists and humane organizations, as has been evident in recent newspaper attacks. Peter Singer, president of the Animal Rights International which was one of the sponsors of the New York Times ad, told the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee that when his group goes to a legislative body asking for a new law, one of the first questions he gets is “What does AVMA think about this?” When it becomes clear our positions differ, our position was chosen over his. Mr. Singer made it clear to the Committee that he was determined to remove obstacles in the way of his issues. As the world changes, our need to become more outspoken in this area has increased so that the image of the veterinarian being the one true advocate for the animal is not lost. Animal rightists are pushing their agenda in small increments under the guise of animal welfare and with mistruths, but the public is not aware of the slippery path ahead. Just as happens in many of the other areas we touch, we have accomplished a lot for a little. As an example, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has a $17 million budget with a staff of 200. The Humane Society of the United States has a $70 million budget, 300 staff members, and no animal shelters to support. Other animal rights organizations have a combined income of over $14.5 million. How about the AVMA? As you know, our $24 million budget is divided into many areas. Currently we devote around $200,000 and one FTE to animal welfare activities! Truly, a mouse that roars.

For several years the issues associated with animal welfare have been on our radar screen, but as you know they have become increasingly visible over the last few years. In the Executive Board visioning sessions during this past year, animal welfare moved into the highest concern for issues we face. The Executive Board then reemphasized the importance of AVMA’s role in the animal welfare arena, with veterinarians as the experts. Only in this way can we serve our biggest public–the animals.

Good for Dr. Beaver.

Sources:

New AVMA president calls for leadership in animal welfare. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, September 1, 2004.

Building for the Future by Serving Society. Bonnie Beaver, September 1, 2004.

Mourning Dove Hunting Season Opens in Minnesota

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On September 1, Minnesota’s first mourning dove hunting season in 58 years opened. The state banned dove hunting in 1946, but a law passed in May of this year made Minnesota the 40th state to create a mourning dove season.

The Associated Press reported that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources expects 30,000-50,000 hunters to participate in the 60-day mourning dove season. There are an estimated 10-12 million mourning doves in Minnesota.

Rep. Joe Hoppe (R) introduced the Minnesota House version of the bill authorizing the hunt and also turned up on opening day with shotgun in hand to participate in the hunt. Hoppe told the Associated Press,

If hunting hurts the dove population, the DNR certainly will step in and do something about it, and I’ll be the first one to say we shouldn’t hunt doves if that happens.

Animal rights activist Linda Hatfield, however, told the Associated Press that there was no need for a mourning dove season,

There’s no need for it. It’s strictly a target bird. No one claims they need to control mourning doves.

Hatfield’s group, the Animal Rights Coalition, held a vigil the evening before the start of the seasons “to show your opposition to this needless bloodshed and to memorialize the innocent birds who will die this year in Minnesota’s first Mourning Dove hunting season in 56 years.”

Source:

Minnesota opens first mourning dove season in 58 years. Associated Press, September 2, 2004.

Mourning For Mourning Doves Vigil. Animal Rights Coalition, August 2004.

Activist Pleads Not Guilty to Trespassing, Obstruction

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New Jersey animal rights activist Angi Metler, 47, plead not guilty this month to charges of trespassing and obstructing a government function. Metler locked herself to a bear trap in August and police had to remove part of the cage to arrest her.

According to the New Jersey Herald, Metler and another activist with Bear Education and Resource Group visited a home that had recently been broken into by a bear. State wildlife officials had set up a trap outside the home in hopes the bear would return.

The New Jersey Herald reported that,

Words were apparently exchanged between [the homeowner] and the activists, and Metler’s solution was to jump into the cage to prevent the death of the bear, which would be killed if caught and positively identified as the problem animal.

Wildlife officials believe that one or two bears is responsible for numerous home break-ins in the area.

Source:

Caged BEAR activist ready to go to trial. Brendan Berls, New Jersey Herald, September 1, 2004.

Bush/Kerry — No, I'm the Bigger Sportsman

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Animal rights activists can see just how relevant they are by noting the ongoing battle between presidential candidates George W. Bush and John F. Kerry to demonstrate which is the bigger supporter of hunting.

In July, Kerry described himself as a deer hunter and has tried to reassure rural voters that his longstanding support for gun control does not mean preventing hunters from buying and owning guns.

Meanwhile, as the Republican National Convention opened in New York, the Bush administration announced that it was opening up land at 17 national wildlife refuges and wetlands to hunting and fishing.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced on August 30 that it would open four national wildlife refuges to hunting and fishing — Mount Long Leaf in Alabama; Cypress Creek in Illinois, Red River in Louisiana, and Waccamaw in South Carolina. It also opened up six wetland management districts to hunting and fishing — Devils Lake in North Dakota; Huron, Lake Andrews, Madison, Sand Lake, and Waubay in South Dakota.

In addition, the USFWS announced it was expanding land and mashes open to hunting and fishing at seven other wildlife refuges. In all, the USFWS opened up an additional 243,500 acres for hunting and fishing.

USFWS directory Steve Williams told The Associated Press,

This is just another example of the president’s commitment to sportsmen. . . . By law, Congress directed the service to consider and provide opportunities for hunting and fishing where it’s compatible on the refuges. We take that quite seriously.

Source:

Bush opening more lands to hunting and fishing. John Heilprin, Associated Press, August 31, 2004.