U.S. Presidential Candidates and Animal Rights
Obama, Biden, McCain, and Palin - Records on Animal Protection
Oct 31, 2008
Cats for Obama hosts pictures of felines showing their owners’ support for Barack. If American cats could vote in federal elections, given the candidates’ records on animal protection, they would do well to support the Obama-Biden ticket.
Barack Obama
Barack Obama has been quoted as saying: "I think how we treat our animals reflects how we treat each other." To support this philosophy, he has pledged support for many animal protection initiatives, including increased penalties for animal cruelty and mandatory counselling for offenders. He has voted for more than a dozen animal protection laws and initiatives, including developing trusts that would ensure the long-term care of pets and requiring veterinarians to report animal fighting rings and other acts of cruelty. Other initiatives Obama has supported include:
- Ending federal funding for and supporting legislation against the slaughter of horses
- Increasing penalties for cockfighting and dogfighting
- Requesting increased funding to enforce the Humane Methods of Slaughter and Animal Welfare Acts
- Supporting laws against puppy mills
Obama received a score of 67% on the most recent Humane Scorecard. However, he has also stated his commitment to protecting sports hunting rights, and despite pledging support for humane treatment of downed livestock, he has failed to co-sponsor the Downed Animal Protection Act, which would mandate humane euthanasia for livestock that cannot walk due to severe injury or illness, and prevent such animals from being used for human consumption. This bill should be supported because if livestock producers can’t make money from downed animals, they will have a financial incentive to treat their livestock more humanely in order to prevent illness and injury.
Obama has supported the extremely important Class B dealers bill, which would prohibit research labs from buying cats and dogs from Class B (random source) dealers. Such dealers often steal family pets from yards and alleys or obtain them via “free to a good home” ads.
Joe Biden
Joe Biden is one of the few politicians to receive a score of 100+% on the Humane Scorecard for supporting every major animal protection initiative. Biden has also been very supportive of a number of environmental protection initiatives, which garnered him a score of 95% from the League of Conservation Voters, and he has supported the prohibition of commercial whaling.
John McCain
John McCain’s score on the Humane Scorecard has fallen to 17% (from a high of 40%), as he has failed to back a number of key initiatives including those regarding downed animals and Class B dealers. Animal protection initiatives that he has voted for and/or co-sponsored in the past include:
- Legislation to end horse slaughter
- Elimination of a large mink industry subsidy
- Stopping the shipment of birds to be used for cockfighting
- Prohibiting the trade of bear body parts
He has also opposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and is dedicated to helping stop global warming through initiatives such as supporting tougher emission regulations. However, he has also supported harmful legislation, including a California Desert Protection Act amendment to allow sport hunting in Mojave National Park.
Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin has an abysmal record when it comes to animal protection. An ally of the elite hunters’ organization Safari Club International, which defends practices that most real hunters are against such as trophy hunting and the use of leghold traps, Palin regularly fights environmental and animal protection initiatives.
Palin has encouraged the killing of Alaska’s predators so that caribou and moose populations will be artificially boosted, thus providing more targets for trophy hunters. She has even gone so far as to offer a bounty of $150 for each wolf killed, a program that had resulted in the slaughter of over 600 wolves by spring 2007, and has vehemently opposed the Protect America’s Wildlife (PAW) Act, which would prevent the shooting of Alaska’s wildlife from helicopters and airplanes.
Palin has also fought against protecting salmon from mining industry contamination, and has sued the U.S. government in an attempt to prevent Alaska’s polar bears from receiving protection under the Endangered Species Act. Although Palin is not ranked on the Humane Scorecard, given her record, she would likely receive a very low score if she were.
Further Reading
For more information on the dangers posed by Class B Dealers, see Preventing Pet Theft. For evidence of the link between animal abuse and societal violence, see Animal Cruelty Linked to Violence Against People.
References:
- Humane Society Legislative Fund. (2 January 2008). “The Presidential Files: Evaluating the Elephants.” hslf.typepad.com.
- Humane Society Legislative Fund. (31 December 2007). “The Presidential Files: Barack Obama and the Dog-acity of Hope.” hslf.typepad.com.
- Markarian, Michael, Humane Society Legislative Fund. (16 September 2008). “Sarah Palin’s Shocking Animal Cruelty.” Alternet.org.
- OnThe Issues.org. & the Speak Out Foundation. (2008). “Barack Obama,” “Joe Biden,” “John McCain,” and “Sarah Palin.”
- Pickler, Nedra. (16 January 2008). “Obama Pledges Support for Animal Rights.” Time.com.
- The Associated Press. (22 March 2007). “Alaska puts $150 bounty on wolves.” MSNBC.msn.com.
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