Animal Advocacy - What does it mean and what can you do to advocate for animals?
What does animal advocacy mean?
Animal advocacy is the fight for the humane treatment of animals and the prevention of their suffering.
Who are animal advocates?
Animal advocates are people that campaign for animal rights and animal weather. Animal advocates cover a wide array of issues, including wildlife conservation, the protection of endangered species from extinction, cleaning up ocean plastic to prevent ingestion by marine animals, eradicating the illegal wild animal trade, preserving animal habitats in the Amazon rainforest, ending the use of euthanasia in shelters, and instituting regulations on how animals are treated at zoos, breeders, shelters, and farms. If it helps an animal, it counts as animal advocacy!
How can you advocate for animal rights?
Through our organization-wide goal of providing a voice to the voiceless in politics, we can help you spearhead a campaign for an issue that you care about. By joining existing coalitions of animal rights activists, Lobbyists 4 Good will ensure your voice is heard and show that support for this issue extends to everyday Americans, not just dedicated animal campaigners. Our efforts also stand up to corporate lobbyists who often vastly outspend nonprofit organizations when lobbying to limit regulations over caring for animals in need. Lobbyists 4 Good brings your ideas to the halls of Congress to ignite real change benefiting animals everywhere.
What animal rights legislation is currently being considered?
There is a lot of legislation out there right now that can impact how animals are treated in the future. The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019 aims to ban the sale of shark fins for any purposes and the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act of 2019 wants to close loopholes in current regulations preventing soring of horses. The Farm System Reform Act of 2019 intends to eradicate concentrated animal feeding operations and the PUPPERS Act of 2019 proposes the prohibition of inhumane experimenting on dogs by the Department of Veterans Affairs. These are by far not the only laws in this session of Congress that address animal rights, and Lobbyists 4 Good is eager to assist you in advocating for any animal welfare issue that sparks your interest. While animal advocacy is not a hot-button issue right now, expanding definitions of human rights mean people are coming to expect similar rights for animals. Animal advocacy is no longer the purview of only far-left organizations, especially as more and more people begin to support biodiversity and habitat protection in the face of climate change. By creating an animal advocacy campaign with Lobbyists 4 Good, you can make your voice heard in the fight to protect animals.
Who advocates for animals?
Currently, numerous national and local organizations advocate for animal welfare laws across the nation. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society of the United States, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have all lobbied Congress in the last year in support of improving animal quality of life. Local organizations have joined the fight too, with the Animal Rescue League of Boston supporting animal welfare legislation in the Massachusetts General Court. At the same time, organizations like the American Sheep Industry Association have been lobbying for a reduction in national regulations and the delisting of wolves and grizzly bears as endangered species.
Are there famous animal rights activists?
Yes, many celebrities and famous people are heavily involved in animal rights. PETA has a list of 263 celebrities who are supporters of animal rights, including Keanu Reeves, Alicia Silverstone, Penelopy Cruz, and Casey Affleck. The most famous animal rights activist at the moment has got to be Joaquin Pheonix, who gave an impassioned speech about veganism after accepting the award for Best Actor at the Oscars in 2020. He frequently speaks out about animal rights issues and attends protests and rallies to support animal rights.
Animal Advocacy Laws
The PACT (Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture) Act was passed in 2019 to strengthen the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act, which outlaws the creation and distribution of animal crush videos. The law makes crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating, impaling, or subjecting animals to serious bodily injury a federal crime. When defining “subjecting to serious bodily injury”, the law references federal laws relating to humans, which include sexual exploitation. Individuals found guilty could face fines and up to seven years in prison. One drawback is that the law does not address neglect because it focuses only on intentional acts of abuse. Additionally, customary agricultural and veterinary practices, medical and scientific research, hunting and fishing, protecting human life or property, and slaughtering animals for food is exempt. However, the law closes loopholes in enforcement, meaning in states where animal abuse can sometimes occur beyond the reach of the law, animals all over the country are equally protected. It also has the potential to help catch abusers early, as 71% of domestic abuse survivors who owned pets reported the threatening, injuring, or killing of their pets by their abusers. The PACT Act goes a long way in protecting both animals and humans, and lobbyists were instrumental in its creation and passage. The Humane Society of the United States helped sponsors draft the legislation and along with other organizations, including the National Fraternal Order of the Police and the American Veterinary Medical Association, lobbied on its behalf for almost ten years.
Animal Advocacy Issues
During Australia’s 2019-2020 Summer season, the world watched as bushfires swept across southeastern Australia. A recent report by the World Wide Fund for Nature estimates that nearly 3 billion animals were either killed or displaced as a result. Research has led global experts to believe that the inhumane treatment of animals at wildlife markets caused the spread of COVID-19 to humans. Overfishing of chinook salmon off the west coast of the United States has meant a lack of food resources for Southern Resident killer whales. This whale pod has only successfully reproduced twice in the past five years. Each year about 1.5 million dogs and cats are euthanized in U.S. pet shelters alone, robbing them of the chance to be placed in loving homes. 95% of drugs tested on animals fail in human trials, yet more than 25 million animals are still subjected to cruel experiments every year.