Animal Welfare Group Urges California Voters to Choose Humane candidates for Office

WASHINGTON (May 29, 2008)—Citing their leadership and support of animal protection policies, the Humane Society Legislative Fund announced its endorsement of 39 California candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives.

"In order to have humane laws, we need to elect humane lawmakers," said Michael Markarian, president of Humane Society Legislative Fund. "We urge Golden State voters to elect candidates who care about the humane treatment of animals."

The slate of endorsements for the U.S. House includes 36 incumbents who have consistently supported animal protection legislation and have received high marks on the annual Humane Scorecard.

HSLF has also endorsed Democratic challenger Dr. Bill Durston in his bid to unseat incumbent Representative Dan Lungren (R-3rd). And in the 4th Congressional District race to succeed retiring Representative John Doolittle, HSLF has endorsed former Representative Doug Ose in the Republican primary and Charlie Brown in the Democratic primary.

Ose's primary opponent, state Senator Tom McClintock, has been one of the leading enemies of animal welfare in the California state legislature. McClintock has opposed nearly every common-sense policy to protect animals from cruelty and abuse. He voted against bills, for example, to toughen the penalties for illegal cockfighting, to crack down on abusive puppy mills, to require a bittering agent in antifreeze to stop poisoning of children and pets, and even to prevent the shooting of live animals over the Internet.

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.

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Media contact: Heather Sullivan: 301-548-7778, hsullivan@hslf.org

The Humane Society Legislative Fund is a social welfare organization incorporated under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and formed in 2004 as a separate lobbying affiliate of The Humane Society of the United States. The 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. On the web at www.hslf.org.

Paid for by Humane Society Legislative Fund and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. HSLF, 519 C Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.