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Sunday, December 24, 2000
By Karen MacPherson, Post-Gazette Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- From house pets to the great apes of Africa, animals of all types won new protections from Congress this year.
Lawmakers passed bills reducing animal testing, creating preserves for chimpanzees used in federally funded labs and banning importation and sale of dog and cat fur products. They also approved measures to advance animals' air travel safety, boost federal animal inspectors and send nearly $1 million to wildlife projects in Asia and Africa protecting chimps, gorillas and orangutans.
Overall, Congress passed -- and President Clinton signed into law -- 10 pro-animal bills. That sets a new record, animal rights advocates said.
"There was enormous progress made in enacting legislation in Congress to protect animals from cruelty and exploitation," said Wayne Pacelle, a senior vice president at the Humane Society of the United States, which bills itself as the "country's largest animal protection organization."
Sara Amundson, deputy director of the Doris Day Animal League, was even more effusive about this year's victories. "I think this session was perhaps the most prolific with regard to animal rights in maybe the history of our movement's work on Capitol Hill," she said.
Animal rights advocates also are celebrating the passage of three state ballot initiatives in last month's elections.
In Washington state, voters approved a law restricting use of certain kinds of traps. In Montana, they outlawed "canned hunts," in which tame exotic animals are shot in a confined setting. And in Alaska, voters banned a certain type of wolf hunting.
Two major factors have contributed, Pacelle said, to the numerous victories scored this year by animal rights advocates: "No. 1, there is an emerging public consciousness about protecting animals. No. 2, we are actively organizing this mass constituency."
For example, the Humane Society and other animal advocates this year formed the first political action committee devoted to animal protection issues. The Humane USA PAC raised more than $100,000, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Humane USA used the money to contribute to several congressional campaigns, and gave its official blessing to others. Of the 238 Democratic and Republican candidates that the PAC endorsed -- monetarily or otherwise -- all but 10 were victorious, Pacelle said.
Besides giving money to candidates, Amundsen said, "we are choosing carefully the sorts of issues that will not only create protection for animals but also attract the support we need to get them passed."
She said a mix of Democrats and Republicans helped pass many of the bills this year.
Despite this year's success, animal advocates stress that they have much work to do when the 107th Congress convenes next month. Among the top issues are efforts to ban cockfighting, prohibit interstate shipment of bear gall bladders and end use of steel-jawed leghole traps in national wildlife refuges.
As animal advocates look back at this year in Congress, they note that one of their most potentially far-reaching victories was legislation focused on animal testing. Sponsored by Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, the measure promotes use of alternatives to animal testing for consumer products like cosmetics and cleaning supplies.
The new law, also supported by companies like Procter & Gamble and Gillette Co., gives permanent status to a now-temporary federal interagency committee that focuses on alternative testing methods.
Making the committee permanent, DeWine said, cements the federal commitment to alternative testing methods, which could save millions of animals.
Three other bills approved by Congress this year give special protection to animals used in federal programs: lab chimps, military dogs and federal police dogs and horses.
For the 1,000-plus chimps once used in federal AIDS experiments, lawmakers voted to establish a national sanctuary system, which would be funded by a public-private partnership.
Another new law ends mandatory euthanization of retired military dogs and lets them be adopted by current or former military dog trainers.
House pets also won special protections from Congress. One new law bans the import, export and sale of dog or cat fur products in the United States, and provides penalties of as much as $10,000 per violation.