Oh thank gosh!!!!!!! I was waiting for this as I love animals and and know all of you lovely people do as well :-)

PLEASE READ HOW PALIN IS VERY DANGEROUS FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS. Even if you’re not a fan of Obama, please keep in mind that animals do not have a voice and are depending on us.

www.hslf.org

Humane Society Legislative Fund Endorses Obama-Biden

One of the guiding principles of the Humane Society Legislative Fund is
that we evaluate candidates based on a single criterion: where they stand
on animal protection policies. We don’t make decisions based on party
affiliation, or any other social issue, or even how many pets they have.
We care about their views and actions on the major policy debates relating
to animal welfare.

It stirs controversy to get involved in candidate elections. But we
believe that candidates for office and current lawmakers must be held
accountable, or they will see the animal protection movement as a largely
irrelevant political constituency. In order to have good laws, we need
good lawmakers, and involvement in elections is an essential strategy for
any serious social movement, including our cause.

While we’ve endorsed hundreds of congressional candidates for election,
both Democrats and Republicans, we’ve never before endorsed a presidential
candidate. We have members on the left, in the center, and on the right,
and we knew it could be controversial to choose either party’s candidate
for the top office in the nation. But in an era of sweeping presidential
power, we must weigh in on this most important political race in the
country. Standing on the sidelines is no longer an option for us.

I’m proud to announce today that the HSLF board of directors—which is
comprised of both Democrats and Republicans—has voted unanimously to
endorse Barack Obama for President. The Obama-Biden ticket is the better
choice on animal protection, and we urge all voters who care about the
humane treatment of animals, no matter what their party affiliation, to
vote for them.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has been a solid supporter of animal protection
at both the state and federal levels. As an Illinois state senator, he
backed at least a dozen animal protection laws, including those to
strengthen the penalties for animal cruelty, to help animal shelters, to
promote spaying and neutering, and to ban the slaughter of horses for
human consumption. In the U.S. Senate, he has consistently co-sponsored
multiple bills to combat animal fighting and horse slaughter, and has
supported efforts to increase funding for adequate enforcement of the
Animal Welfare Act, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, and federal laws to
combat animal fighting and puppy mills.

In his response to the HSLF questionnaire, he pledged support for nearly
every animal protection bill currently pending in Congress, and said he
will work with executive agencies such as the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to make their policies more
humane. He wrote of the important role animals play in our lives, as
companions in our homes, as wildlife in their own environments, and as
service animals working with law enforcement and assisting persons with
disabilities. He also commented on the broader links between animal
cruelty and violence in society.

Obama has even on occasion highlighted animal protection issues on the
campaign trail, and has spoken publicly about his support for animal
protection. In reaction to the investigation showing the abuse of sick and
crippled cows which earlier this year led to the largest meat recall in
U.S. history, he issued a statement saying “that the mistreatment of
downed cows is unacceptable and poses a serious threat to public health.”
He is featured in Jana Kohl’s book about puppy mills, A Rare Breed of
Love, with a photo of Obama holding Baby (shown above), the three-legged
poodle rescued from an abusive puppy mill operation, and his political
mentor, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), is the author of the latest federal
bill to crack down on puppy mills.

Importantly, Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) has been a
stalwart friend of animal welfare advocates in the Senate, and has
received high marks year after year on the Humane Scorecard. Biden has not
only supported animal protection legislation during his career, but has
also led the fight on important issues. He was the co-author with Sen.
Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in the 108th Congress on legislation to ban the
netting of dolphins by commercial tuna fishermen. He was the lead author
of a bill in the 107th Congress to prohibit trophy hunting of captive
exotic mammals in fenced enclosures, and he successfully passed the bill
through the Senate Judiciary Committee.

On the Republican ticket, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has also supported
some animal protection bills in Congress, but has been inattentive or
opposed to others. He has voted for and co-sponsored legislation to stop
horse slaughter, and voted to eliminate a $2 million subsidy for the
luxury fur coat industry. But he has largely been absent on other issues,
and has failed to co-sponsor a large number of priority bills or sign onto
animal protection letters that have had broad support in the Senate.

The McCain campaign did not fill out the HSLF presidential questionnaire,
and has also not issued any public statements on animal welfare issues. He
was silent during the downed animal scandal and beef recall, which played
out during a high-point in the primary fight. Yet he did speak at the NRA
convention earlier this year, and is the keynote speaker this weekend in
Columbus, Ohio, at the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance rally—an extremist
organization that defends the trophy hunting of threatened polar bears and
captive shooting of tame animals inside fenced pens.

While McCain’s positions on animal protection have been lukewarm, his
choice of running mate cemented our decision to oppose his ticket. Gov.
Sarah Palin’s (R-Alaska) retrograde policies on animal welfare and
conservation have led to an all-out war on Alaska’s wolves and other
creatures. Her record is so extreme that she has perhaps done more harm to
animals than any other current governor in the United States.

Palin engineered a campaign of shooting predators from airplanes and
helicopters, in order to artificially boost the populations of moose and
caribou for trophy hunters. She offered a $150 bounty for the left foreleg
of each dead wolf as an economic incentive for pilots and aerial gunners
to kill more of the animals, even though Alaska voters had twice approved
a ban on the practice. This year, the issue was up again for a vote of the
people, and Palin led the fight against it—in fact, she helped to spend
$400,000 of public funds to defeat the initiative.

What’s more, when the Bush Administration announced its decision to list
the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, Palin filed
a lawsuit to reverse that decision. She said it’s the “wrong move” to
protect polar bears, even though their habitat is shrinking and ice floes
are vanishing due to global warming.

The choice for animals is especially clear now that Palin is in the mix.
If Palin is put in a position to succeed McCain, it could mean rolling
back decades of progress on animal issues.

Voters who care about protecting wildlife from inhumane and unsporting
abuses, enforcing the laws that combat large-scale cruelties like
dogfighting and puppy mills, providing humane treatment of animals in
agriculture, and addressing other challenges that face animals in our
nation, must become active over the next six weeks to elect a president
and vice president who share our values. Please spread the word, and tell
friends and family members that an honest assessment of the records of the
two presidential tickets leads to the inescapable conclusion that
Obama-Biden is the choice for humane-minded voters.

Paid for by Humane Society Legislative Fund and not authorized by any
candidate or candidate’s committee.

Contributions or gifts to the Humane Society Legislative Fund (“HSLF”) are
not tax deductible. Your donation may be used for lobbying to pass laws to
protect animals, as well as for political purposes, such as supporting or
opposing candidates. HSLF does not accept contributions from business
corporations or labor organizations.
Copyright © 2008 Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF) | All Rights
Reserved.
Humane Society Legislative Fund | 519 C Street, NE | Washington, DC 20002
humanesociety@hslf.org | 202-452-1100 | www.hslf.org