RELEASED BY THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES: 

WASHINGTON (March 1, 2007) - The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund presented an award to U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) for his advocacy on animal welfare issues considered by the Congress in 2006. 

The HSUS and HSLF recognized Sen. Akaka for his leadership in sponsoring the Downed Animal Protection Act, which seeks to ensure that "downer" farm animals - animals too sick or injured to walk - are not allowed into the human food supply. Downers are often dragged to slaughter with ropes, chains, or bulldozers, and are known to be at higher risk for transmissible diseases such as BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or "mad cow disease"), E. coli and salmonella.

Akaka was also the lead sponsor of the Pet Safety and Protection Act, which prohibits research facilities from purchasing animals from "Class B dealers" who traffic in family pets for research. Historically, Class B dealers have been notorious for various unsavory practices, such as acquiring dogs from free-to-good home ads under false pretenses, stealing pets and housing animals under inhumane conditions.

Sen. Akaka was successful in passing two amendments to an agriculture spending bill by voice vote in September, on the downer farm animals and Class B dealer issues, but both were unfortunately removed from the final bill in a conference committee.

"We are tremendously grateful to Senator Akaka for his leadership and support for animal protection policies," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "In order to pass humane laws, we need humane lawmakers. Senator Akaka deserves this important recognition for his compassion."

The HSLF has published its annual Humane Scorecard, which is available online at http://www.humanescorecard.org/.  For the 109^th Congress, which spanned 2005 and 2006, legislators were scored on their votes to protect pets in disasters and stop horse slaughter for food exports; their co-sponsorship of bills to crack down on animal fighting and stop the sale of "downer" farm animals who are too sick or injured to walk; their signing of a letter requesting funding for enforcement of animal welfare laws; and their leadership on animal legislation.

Leaders of The HSUS and HSLF presented the awards at a reception on Capitol Hill last evening.

Facts:

• The HSUS and HSLF recognized 134 federal lawmakers -one-third of the Senate and one-quarter of the House of Representatives - for leading efforts in Congress to protect animals. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn./4^th) received the top honor of Humane Legislator of the Year for his leadership on legislation to provide disaster planning for pets, set animal welfare standards for meat, dairy, and egg products purchased by the federal government and crack down on "canned hunts" of exotic animals in fenced enclosures.

• In addition to the Humane Legislator of the Year Award, The HSUS and HSLF gave 21 Humane Champion Awards for lawmakers who both sponsored animal protection legislation and scored a perfect 100 percent on the Humane Scorecard; 39 Legislative Leader Awards to those who sponsored pro-animal legislation; and 73 Humane Advocate Awards to those who scored 100 percent. The bipartisan group of award recipients includes 33 Senators (21 Democrats, 11 Republicans, one Independent) and 101 Representatives (74 Democrats, 26 Republicans, one Independent) covering 37 states.  The full list of awardees is available online at www.fund.org/pdfs/Leaders_109th.pdf.  

• Two major priorities of The HSUS and HSLF were enacted into federal law in 2006. Besides the PETS Act, Congress also passed legislation championed by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) to shut down a taxidermy tax scam in which wealthy trophy hunters took huge tax deductions by shooting rare animals and donating them to phony museums. HSUS investigators had discovered 800 "donated" trophy mounts gathering dust in an old railroad car. Closing this tax loophole is expected to save taxpayers $49 million over the next decade.

• The HSUS and HSLF are working in the 110^th Congress to enact legislation on which the 109^th Congress did not complete action, such as bills to end horse slaughter, stop illegal animal fighting, end the slaughter of "downer" farm animals too sick or injured to walk, crack down on "puppy mills" where dogs are treated like production machines, prohibit the use in research of dogs and cats obtained from random sources including pet theft, curb the practices of canned hunting and Internet hunting, require labeling of all fur-trimmed garments and help enforce the ban on dog and cat fur and bar interstate commerce in captive primates for the exotic pet trade. The groups are also working on new areas of legislation such as establishing pet trusts, requiring the use of alternatives to animal tests and banning imports of sport hunted polar bear trophies.

• Highlights from the 2006 Humane Scorecard include:

• The average Senate score was 49, with Senate Democrats averaging 71, and Senate Republicans averaging 32.
• The average House score was 57, with House Democrats averaging 73, and House Republicans averaging 42.
• Twenty-two Senators scored 100 or 100+ (18 Democrats, 4 Republicans).
• Nineteen Senators scored zero (4 Democrats, 15 Republicans).
• Eighty-seven Representatives scored 100 or 100+ (70 Democrats, 16 Republicans, one Independent).
• Fifteen Representatives scored zero (1 Democrat, 14 Republicans).
• The New England region led the pack with an average Senate score of 85 and an average House score of 91.
• The Rocky Mountains were at the bottom with an average Senate score of 14 and an average House score of 30.
• California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Washington are the only states in which both Senators scored 100 or 100+.
• Alabama, Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico and Wyoming are the only states in which both Senators scored zero.
• Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont are the only states with an average House score above 90.
• Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma and Utah are the only states with an average House score below 20.
• State-by-state averages and more statistics are available online at www.fund.org/pdfs/Stats_109th.pdf.

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Media Contact: Belinda Mager, bmager@hsus.org, 646-469-4987.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization - backed by 10 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the  protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty -- On the web at http://www.humanesociety.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 http://www.hslf.org/.