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​[link removed] [[link removed]]Monthly Accomplishments and Update
Center for a Humane Economy
August-September 2024

Summary

*
Soon,
4.5
million
voters
will
receive
their
ballots
in
Colorado
and
then
decide
the
outcome
on
Prop
127
to
protect
mountain
lions
and
bobcats
from
trophy
hunting
and
commercial
trapping.
Mountain
lions
could
save
the
state
billions
of
dollars
by
cleansing
a
deadly
disease
afflicting
deer
and
elk
and
by
keeping
herds
healthy.
*
*
In
a
proceeding
that
started
in
the
farthest
territorial
outpost
in
the
United
States,
the
U.S.
Court
of
Appeals
for
the
Ninth
Circuit
rejected
a
former
politician’s
scheme
to
nullify
application
of
the
national
animal
fighting
law
to
the
Northern
Mariana
Islands.
That
case
affirms
that
animal
fighting
is
forbidden
on
every
inch
of
U.S.
soil.
Continued
animal
fighting
in
these
jurisdictions
signals
a
lawlessness
and
criminal
element
that
will
retard
economic
development
and
other
measures
of
progress
in
these
jurisdictions.
*
*
Wyoming
is
putting
its
massive
wildlife-watching
industry
at
risk
by
not
supporting
efforts
to
ban
running
down
wolves
and
other
wildlife
with
snowmobiles.
In
September,
leading
animal
welfare
Republicans
and
Democrats
in
the
U.S.
House
to
introduce
the
Snowmobiles
Aren’t
Weapons
Act,
in
the
wake
of
a
key
panel
in
Wyoming
seeming
to
clear
the
way
for
individuals
to
use
snowmobiles
to
run
over
wolves
and
other
wildlife.
*
*
We
are
working
to
usher
in
a
new
era
of
human-biology
drug
screening
in
place
of
primate
and
dog
testing,
and
demanding
that
pharmaceutical
companies
start
offering
cruelty-free
drugs
to
patients
in
need.
Nine
U.S.
senators
introduced
legislation,
as
a
companion
measure
to
a
similar
House
bill,
to
give
the
FDA
a
precise
timeline
to
implement
the
FDA
Modernization
Act
2.0,
passed
nearly
two
years
ago.
*
*
The
German-based
Adidas
and
Japan-based
Mizuno
and
ASICS
are
feeling
the
pressure
to
end
their
use
of
kangaroo
skins
to
make
soccer
cleats.
Two
U.S.
Senators
have
introduced
new
legislation
to
ban
any
domestic
trade
in
kangaroo
skins
and
other
parts.
If
they
change
their
sourcing
practices,
they’ll
join
Nike,
Puma,
New
Balance
and
others
in
shedding
skins
of
native
wildlife.
*
*
The
U.S.
Fish
and
Wildlife
Service
formally
approved
its
plan
to
massacre
450,000
barred
owls,
a
North
American
native
species
engaging
in
human-induced
range
expansion.
We
promptly
announced
our
plan
to
sue
the
federal
government
to
stop
it.

HALTING TROPHY HUNTING
Prop 127 is only the second trophy hunting measure ever on the ballot in U.S.
With just about 30 days until the close of the national election, all eyes for the animal welfare movement and the trophy hunting industry are on Colorado, where Prop 127 is on the ballot. Under the banner of Cats Aren’t Trophies (CATs), Animal Wellness and the Center helped form a coalition in Colorado to ban trophy hunting and commercial trapping of mountain lions and bobcats. It is the first time any state has considered a ballot measure to halt the trophy hunting of species currently subjected to that abuse.

The Center’s Jim Keen, D.V.M., Ph.D., issued reports here [[link removed]] underscoring that lion populations are self-regulating [[link removed]] and also here [[link removed]] providing evidence that lions play a role in dramatically limiting the spread of a deadly and incurable brain-wasting prion, causing Chronic Wasting Disease, that threatens the future viability of deer and elk populations in 34 states and provinces. Lions can save rural Colorado billions in losses by protecting the long-term viability of deer and elk herds.

Meanwhile, opponent of 127 are working to whitewash the term “trophy hunting” from their literature and promotions, and we have answered their obfuscations, including in this essay [[link removed]] . In addition to 100 organizations, former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe [[link removed]] , legendary actor Robert Redford, Jane Goodall [[link removed]] , nearly two dozen professional wildlife scientists, politicians across the political spectrum (including former Democrat Senator Mark Udall [[link removed]] and former GOP Congressman Tom Tancredo), and a raft of hunting enthusiasts [[link removed]] have endorsed Prop 127. The campaign website is www.CatsArentTrophies.org [[link removed]] . Please forward this electronic postcard [[link removed]] to Colorado voters.

ANIMAL FIGHTING IS THE PITS
Federal courts affirm animal fighting is a crime on every inch of U.S. soil
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit tossed aside a challenge [[link removed]] by a political leader on the Northern Mariana Islands, affirming that the national animal fighting law applies to every inch of U.S. soil. The loss represents the final chapter [[link removed]] in a years’ long effort by cockfighters in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the CNMI to keep cockfighting alive in the U.S. territories.

All three legal efforts have resulted in unambiguous losses at the District Court and federal appellate court levels. The federal courts noted that Congress, lobbied by Animal Wellness Action on this point, has determined that cockfighting is bound up with interstate commerce and it is a matter of national interest because cockfighters have repeatedly spread avian diseases at great cost to American taxpayers and to bird life.

Meanwhile, we continue to build unprecedented and extraordinary support [[link removed]] for the FIGHT Act, which provides a provision to create a private cause of action to allow private citizens to bring animal fighters to court. It has now attracted nearly 750 endorsing agencies and organizations, building on the prior endorsements from the National Sheriffs’ Association [[link removed]] , the National District Attorneys’ Association, 17 state sheriffs association, the United Egg Producers [[link removed]] , and the American Gaming Association [[link removed]] .

KANGAROOS ARE NOT SHOES
Adidas, Mizuno, and ASICS feeling pressure to shed kangaroo skins
In the wake of the introduction of the landmark Senate legislation by Senators Tammy Dukworth, D-Ill., and Cory Booker, D-N.J. — a measure to cut off the U.S. marketplace to parts of kangaroos — the Japan-based ASICS told us that the company is “actively testing and evaluating alternatives that meet our stringent quality and performance standards, with the goal to eliminate the use of kangaroo leather.” We applaud the company for announcing its intention to exit the kangaroo skin trade, but no more “testing and evaluating alternatives” is needed. The bill though is partially aimed at Adidas [[link removed]] , which continues to be a massive contributor to kangaroo killing, given the volume of skins needed just to make a small set of soccer shoe models.

Big brands are already kangaroo-free, and our read-out on the shoes worn by the world’s top soccer players shows very few wear kangaroo-skin shoes any longer. Back in 2022, the Center for a Humane Economy determined that the vast majority — 94.6 percent — of all World Cup goals scored that year were from players wearing shoes made from human-made fabrics, and just 5.4 percent were scored with kangaroo-based shoes.

Last year, the Center for a Humane Economy secured commitments from Nike, Puma, and New Balance to stop their sourcing of kangaroo skins for soccer cleats. Earlier this year, the U.K.-based Sokito halted sales.

PROTECTING ALL FOREST OWLS
We’ll do all within our power to prevent this largest-ever attack on raptors anywhere
The Fish and Wildlife Service formally approved [[link removed]] its plans at the end of August to proceed with the largest-ever plan to slaughter raptors [[link removed]] anywhere in the world. With a coalition of organizations now nearly 200 strong, we announced [[link removed]] that we’ll be leading a legal challenge to that plan to stop the shooting of 450,000 barred owls in three Pacific Coast states. The plan includes hunters entering America’s some of America’s most iconic national parks — including Crater Lake NP, Olympic NP, and Redwoods NP — and shooting North American owls engaging in human-induced range expansion. Our coalition includes Audubon societies throughout the Northwest and the rest of the nation, opposing the measure.

PROTECTING WOLVES
Lawsuit filed to restore protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies
Wyoming markets itself as a wildlife mecca, but the state’s political leaders don’t even have the mortal fortitude to ban running down wolves and other wildlife with snowmobiles. In response to that political timidity, Animal Wellness Action worked with a bipartisan set of lawmakers [[link removed]] to introduce the Snowmobiles Aren’t Weapons (SAW) Act [[link removed]] . Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Don Davis, D-N.C., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Troy Carter, D-La., authored the bill, which is now endorsed by more than 125 groups, including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Running over a wolf or a coyote with a snowmobile is an act of sadism, and anyone who commits this kind of malice is a threat to the well-being of other animals and even people. There is already a federal law — the Airborne Hunting Act — that restricts the use of aircraft in aiding hunting of wildlife.

Awareness of the barbaric and cruel practices of “whacking” or “thumping” came to light after revelations about a wolf torture incident committed by Cody Roberts. The Wyoming mountain lion trophy hunter and cattle rancher used a snowmobile to run over and capture an adolescent female wolf. Roberts publicly tormented the wolf in front of patrons at a bar, celebrated the abuse on social media, and shot the animal to death in Daniel, Wyo.

Since then, other footage of snowmobile-related torment of animals has surfaced — including this video [[link removed]] (graphic) of a snowmobiler repeatedly running over a coyote. Meanwhile, we are in federal court suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its failure to assure minimum protections for gray wolves in the West, in violation of the ESA and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

MODERNIZE TESTING
Nine senators introduce legislation to compel FDA action on 2022 animal testing reform
You’ve heard of “cruelty-free cosmetics,” but not “cruelty-free drugs.” That’s because, when it comes to the latter category, there’s been a federal mandate for animal tests to screen all new drugs for 84 years. We are demanding that the pharmaceutical industry — the business sector conducting most of these animal tests — work with us to compel FDA to revamp this paradigm.

In September, nine U.S. Senators — five Democrats, four Republicans — introduced legislation in September to demand that FDA get on with implementing the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, which Congress passed, and the president signed, in 2022. New legislation is needed because the technocrats and scientists at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, seemingly apathetic about the suffering of beagles, primates, and other animals used in drug testing experiments, have stubbornly refused to update its regulations to conform to the new law. Pharma has been on the sidelines as this debate has played out, and it's time for major companies in this space to get off the sidelines.

It’s time now to turn the page on the primitive era of inhumane animal experiments, along with the breeding and collecting of animals that precedes invasive procedures. The bipartisan group of senators, including Cory Booker [[link removed]] and Rand Paul [[link removed]] , strongly criticized the FDA for disregarding Congress’s directive and slowing progress toward a new era of non-animal testing. Pharma should be listening.

Wayne Pacelle [[link removed]] Wayne Pacelle
President
Center for a Humane Economy
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