Dear Editor,
The Humane Society Legislative Fund expresses its thanks to Congressman Larry Kissell for voting in favor of an amendment to crack down on inhumane and appalling practices of dogfighting and cockfighting. Specifically, the amendment, considered during committee debate over the Farm bill, makes it a crime for an adult to attend or to bring a child to a staged animal fight.
In addition to humane organizations, the Fraternal Order of Police, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and nearly 200 law enforcement agencies from across the country support the effort in Congress to quash illegal dogfighting and cockfighting. And with good reason. A three-year study by the Chicago Police Department found that 70 percent of people involved in crimes of animal cruelty had also been arrested for other felonies, including domestic and aggravated battery, illegal drug trafficking, and sex crimes.
It’s awful to think of a parent bringing a child to watch animals kill each other, as if it’s just another day at the park. We must be concerned about the values we impress on our children, and also be mindful of our responsibilities to all of God’s creatures, including the dogs and birds.
Thanks to Congressman Kissell, we now may have a chance to crack down on the spectators who knowingly enable the crime of animal fighting, make the enterprise profitable through admission fees and wagering, and help conceal and protect the handlers and organizers.
Michael Markarian
President
Humane Society Legislative Fund
Washington, D.C.
Alaskan Congressman Don Young refused an award this evening from The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Humane Society Legislative Fund that would have honored his work for animals in 2010.
He was quoted as saying "While capitalizing on the good work of local humane societies that shelter, spay, and neuter animals, the HSUS does not own, operate, or directly control a single animal shelter in our country, despite a budget of well over $100 million.
HSUS are hypocrites, plain and simple, and I will not join them by accepting this award,” said Rep. Young. “Local animal shelters and humane societies do excellent work by caring for neglected and homeless animals, and through their spaying and neutering programs. This organization, however, has absolutely nothing to do with animal welfare. Instead they prey on the emotions of big-hearted Americans. They flash images of abused animals on our television screens to raise money that will eventually go to pay their salaries and pensions, not to helping better the lives of these animals. They run anti-hunting and anti-trapping campaigns and are of the same cloth as PETA and other extremist organizations. I can only guess that I was to receive this award due to my support of the Wildlife Without Borders program, which develops wildlife management and conservation efforts to maintain global species diversity. That program is true conservation; what this group wants is preservation. To accept this award would be supporting their manipulative ways and misguided agenda, and I want no part of that.”