Can you believe it? President George W. Bush has gone out
of his way to attack animal advocates on his presidential campaign
website!
That�s right, in their bid for reelection to the White
House, the Bush-Cheney 2004 team posted a report for hunters titled �John
Kerry on Hunting,� which attacked not only the Democratic nominee, but
also the entire animal protection community! The Bush-Cheney website
includes these direct quotes:
� �John Kerry has the highest rating on the Humane
Scorecards 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.�
� �HSUS� 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 America�s
Hunting Heritage, August 1995).�
(All quotes from �GeorgeWBush.com :: John Kerry on
Hunting,� www.georgewbush.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=2930 ; viewed 7/20/04)
Based solely on the positions that animal advocates take
against the recreational shooting of animals, the President�s campaign
took aim at groups that work on a broad range of animal issues � from pet
overpopulation to animal fighting to protecting habitat. He�s slamming two
organizations that work to protect animals from cruelty, and he�s
belittling his opponent for having a strong record on matters relating to
the humane treatment of animals.
President Bush, though, has always portrayed himself as a
friend to trophy hunters. He recently hosted leaders of about 20 hunting
organizations, including the Safari Club International, National Rifle
Association, and U.S. Sportsmen�s Alliance, at his ranch in Crawford,
Texas. And as Governor of Texas, he was named �Governor of the Year� by
the Safari Club � one of the world�s most influential and extreme trophy
hunting organizations.
Among its other notable programs, the Safari Club provides
29 �hunting achievement� awards to its members who kill animals throughout
the world. For instance, to win the �Africa Big Five� award, a hunter must
kill a lion, a leopard, an elephant, a rhino, and a Cape buffalo. The
hunter gets credit whether he shoots the animal in the wild or at a canned
hunting facility either here in the United States or at one in South
Africa.
To win all 29 �hunting achievement� awards, a Safari Club
hunter would have to kill 322 different species and subspecies of mammals.
The number of hunters in this pantheon of shame increases every year. It�s
just sickening.
After President Bush assumed office in Washington, D.C.,
he appointed Matt Hogan to be the deputy director of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service � the number two position at the very agency charged with
protecting wildlife and enforcing laws such as the Endangered Species Act.
Mr. Hogan was not only a trophy hunter himself, but he also happened to be
the former chief lobbyist for the Safari Club.
So, it�s Hogan who now helps shape federal wildlife
policies and who often represents the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on
Capitol Hill. It is the equivalent of Dracula guarding the blood bank. The
very people who kill and otherwise exploit wildlife are setting the rules.
President Bush has not only appointed bad people to
positions of power, but he�s also been hostile to the environment in which
wild animals live. He has advocated drilling for oil in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, and he has reversed a ban on road building in 58
million acres of our national forests. With more roads blazed through our
national forests, we�ll see more poachers, more hunters, and more loggers
despoiling our natural heritage.
Those are just some of the reasons why Humane USA is
endorsing John Kerry in the presidential race. In truth, we are
disappointed that John Kerry is also a hunter, and that his campaign has
pandered so much to hunting groups. We need to look toward a day when all
politicians recognize that the animal-friendly vote is much more crucial
to political success that the hunting lobby.
But in terms of public policy, if not in personal
participation, John Kerry is the clear choice for people who care about
animals. He has been a strong advocate and supporter of pro-animal
legislation throughout his political career. He has regularly scored high
ratings on the Humane Scorecard, most recently scoring 100+ during the
108th Congress. Among his efforts to secure protection for animals:
� 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 Kerry�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.
Next year, we expect the Congress to consider bills that
would crack down on �puppy mills� � where dogs are housed in squalid,
overcrowded conditions and bred relentlessly to supply the pet trade, even
though there are thousands of healthy and adoptable animals at shelters.
The Congress is also expected to take up legislation to
require that antifreeze manufacturers add a bittering agent to their
product. Tragically, thousands of pets and dozens of children each year
die from ingesting sweet-tasting, yet toxic antifreeze that spills in
garages, driveways, or roadways.
And the Congress will probably take up legislation to ban
the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Every year, more than
50,000 horses are slaughtered in the United States, and they are sold to
France, Belgium, and Japan for human consumption.
Finally, Congress is expected to consider legislation
banning the �canned hunts� of exotic animals such as zebras and giraffes,
where the animals are raised in captivity, hand-fed, trapped behind
fences, and shot by trophy hunters at point-blank range. These are the
same �canned hunts� promoted by President Bush�s friends at the Safari
Club! We need to take the White House back from the Safari Club and their
cronies!
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About Humane USA - http://www.humaneusa.org/about/index.asp Formed in late
1999, Humane USA is the nation's first major political action committee
devoted to the task of electing humane-minded candidates to public office
at the federal and state levels. Humane USA has been formed by leaders of
major animal protection organizations, 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, and others. Its board of directors, advisory board,
and advisors are top grassroots and national animal protection leaders.
Strong animal protection laws are produced by humane-minded elected
officials, and the best way to secure a large crop of humane-minded
legislators is to support them during their election campaigns.
Go on to Bill Clinton
Pays For His Choices
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