Humane Society Endorses Obama, Criticizes Palin’s “Retrograde Policies on Animal Welfare and Conservation”

I’ve previously noted how Sarah Palin’s history of mistreatment of animals led to The Defenders Action Fund airing commercials opposing her. Adding Palin to the ticket also led to the Humane Society Legislative Action Fund making its first ever endorsement of a presidential ticket. They note both Obama and Biden’s record of strong support for animal protection legislation. They write that John McCain has supported some animal protection bills but “has  been inattentive or opposed to others.” Then there’s the Palin problem:

While McCain’s positions on animal protection have been lukewarm, his choice of running mate cemented our decision to oppose his ticket. Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R-Alaska) retrograde policies on animal welfare and conservation have led to an all-out war on Alaska’s wolves and other creatures. Her record is so extreme that she has perhaps done more harm to animals than any other current governor in the United States.

Palin engineered a campaign of shooting predators from airplanes and helicopters, in order to artificially boost the populations of moose and caribou for trophy hunters. She offered a $150 bounty for the left foreleg of each dead wolf as an economic incentive for pilots and aerial gunners to kill more of the animals, even though Alaska voters had twice approved a ban on the practice. This year, the issue was up again for a vote of the people, and Palin led the fight against it—in fact, she helped to spend $400,000 of public funds to defeat the initiative.

What’s more, when the Bush Administration announced its decision to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, Palin filed a lawsuit to reverse that decision. She said it’s the “wrong move” to protect polar bears, even though their habitat is shrinking and ice floes are vanishing due to global warming.

The choice for animals is especially clear now that Palin is in the mix. If Palin is put in a position to succeed McCain, it could mean rolling back decades of progress on animal issues.

It appears the prospect of Sarah Palin ever becoming president is a terrifying thought to a wide variety of people.

2 Comments

  1. 1
    Anonymous says:

    Please note that Obama is NOT endorsed by the American Humane Society, but rather the Humane Society Legislative Fund — a fat-cat lobby group out of Washington.

    The Humane Society Legislative Fund organization is NOT politically neutral. They openly state their ENEMIES include the American Farm Bureau, the National Pork Producers Council, Safari Club International, and Ringling Bros. They are NOT associated with the American Humane Society or the SPCA (both of which I support).

    Here’s the link to the Humane Society Legislative Fund  site: http://www.fund.org/index.html

    And here’s the REAL American Humane Society page: http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageServer

  2. 2
    Pete Adoption says:

    » Humane Society Endorses Obama, Criticizes Palin's 1CRetrograde … http://bit.ly/bnamGf

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