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October 11, 2006

Animal Welfare Group Urges 4th District Voters to Re-Elect Shays to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7

WASHINGTON -- Citing him as a leader on animal welfare policy in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Humane Society Legislative Fund announced that it has endorsed U.S. Representative Chris Shays in Connecticut’s 4th District congressional race.

“The humane community has perhaps no greater friend in Congress than Representative Chris Shays,” said Richard Patch, political director for the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “He has demonstrated consistent and committed leadership of a number of animal protection bills. Voters in Connecticut’s 4th District who care about animal welfare should support his re-election.”

Representative Shays is the Co-Chair of the Congressional Friends of Animals Caucus, and he is currently a lead sponsor of three key pieces of animal protection legislation. Just this year, he championed the passage of the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act, H.R. 3858, which he introduced with Representative Tom Lantos of California.  Introduced in response to the tragedy of tens of thousands of animals being lost or abandoned during Hurricane Katrina, the PETS Act requires state and local communities to have disaster plans for pets and service animals.

Representative Shays also introduced legislation this year, with Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon, to protect millions of animals in our nation’s factory farms. His bill, the Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act, H.R. 5557, would require that producers of meat, eggs, and dairy must meet a basic set of humane standards if they want to do business with the federal government. Since our tax dollars are spent on food for federal prisons, the military, school lunches, and other programs, the federal government can have a major impact on the marketplace and how farm animals are treated.

He also worked with Representative Sam Farr of California to author the Sportsmanship in Hunting Act, H.R. 1688, which seeks to halt the interstate traffic of exotic mammals for the purpose of shooting them within fenced enclosures for trophies. Several states, including Connecticut, have banned these cruel and unsporting “canned hunts,” and Representative Shays’ bill will crack down on the supply of trophy animals for this drive-thru killing.

Representative Shays has consistently scored a perfect 100% on the Humane Society Legislative Fund’s Humane Scorecard. In addition to his leadership on animal welfare legislation, he is also supporting bills to strengthen the penalties for illegal dogfighting and cockfighting, to end the slaughter of tens of thousands of American horses for food exports, to stop the sale of sick and injured farm animals who cannot stand or walk to slaughter, to increase funding for improved enforcement of animal welfare laws, to require the addition of a bittering agent to sweet-tasting engine coolant and antifreeze to prevent poisoning of pets and children, and to stop unscrupulous “Class B” dealers from trafficking in stolen pets for animal research.

HSLF is a nonpartisan organization that evaluates candidates based only on a single criterion: where they stand on animal welfare. HSLF does not judge candidates based on party affiliation or any other issue. A complete list of HSLF’s endorsements is available online at www.humanevoting.com.

Editor’s Note: HSLF has a three-minute video on its web site featuring Representative Shays and the Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act. It is available at the links below:

http://stream.luxmedia.com/?file=/clients/hsus/video_features/shays-procurement.rm (Real Player)

http://stream.luxmedia.com/?file=/clients/hsus/e-community/shays-procurement.wmv&type=wmv (Windows Media)

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Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF) is a social welfare organization incorporated under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. HSLF works to pass animal protection laws at the state and federal level, to educate the public about animal protection issues, and to support humane candidates for office. Contributions or gifts to 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. On the web at www.fund.org.