Vern Buchanan to co-chair Congressional Animal Protection Caucus

Sarasota Republican Vern Buchanan announced on Monday that he will co-chair the bipartisan Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, a group dedicated to the preservation of wildlife and humane treatment of animals. The co-chair will be Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer.

“Stopping animal cruelty and protecting endangered wildlife should be a bipartisan issue important to all of us,” Buchanan said. “I’m looking forward to working with Congressman Blumenauer and the caucus to help protect endangered species and animals at risk of being abused.”

The caucus also works to raise awareness of animal welfare issues in Congress by sponsoring nonpartisan forums and briefings and providing members of Congress and their staff with information on animal welfare issues. Among the priorities that Buchanan says he’d like to overturn in the country include having dogs and rabbits subjected to painful experiments in the development of cosmetics, long an issue with animal rights activists.

He also says he wants to stop the prevalence of small animals being stomped to death in the production of fetish videos, and horses being maimed by trainers to make them high-step for competition shows, a practice known as soring.

“How we treat animals is intrinsically linked to how we treat each other. We have a moral obligation to our fellow creatures,” Blumenauer said. “Fortunately, animal welfare is a unifying issue on Capitol Hill, and we’ve been able to make progress. I look forward to working with Congressman Buchanan to continue bipartisan support for animal protection in this new session of Congress.”

Buchanan is one of the leading animal welfare advocates in Congress, receiving the U.S. Humane Society’s Legislator of the Year award last year.

The Sarasota Republican has introduced the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act in the House, a bipartisan bill that permanently bans the transport of horses to slaughterhouses in Mexico to be sold around the world. He also’s fought to stop U.S. slaughterhouses from killing horses for human consumption.

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6 comments

Helene
January 31, 2017 at 4:14 pm

I agree there should be more severe punishments for those who mistreat animals. These people are despicable.
wayne
February 3, 2017 at 3:23 pm

Just like people that kill unborn babies
Ann Got
February 4, 2017 at 8:02 am

Listen, under this Congress the number 1 animal killed by trophy hunters is the American Black Bear, according to National Geographic. How shameful is that to this country! Very shameful! Shame on the USA! And our governments and Congress let that happen for kickbacks from gun and ammunition manufacturers. A unifying issue? Doesn’t look like it to me. When wildlife commissions are filled with only hunters, like Florida, the thrill of the kill and the money is unifying! Gandhi said “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress is judged by the treatment of its animals”. There is a real sickness in this country and it is the joy of killing our wildlife! And BTW there is no right to hunt given in the 2nd Amendment! Read it! And any country that sits by and let’s New Jersey allow lactating mothers and cubs be killed in their hunts is a shameful!
Lee
February 6, 2017 at 12:21 pm

I agree with this. we should protect all life. it is precious and we only get one go around. animals have feelings. the cruelty in this state I have seen is horrible. please help all the animals including these so called animal shelters who thrive on killing unwanted pets. Vern Buchanan you should run for president.
Marianna Basile
February 8, 2017 at 11:57 am

Congressman Vern, I am one of your voters. I respond to almost all of your surveys you send out. Those tell me you care about what your constituents think. I volunteered to work for the ASPCA (certified by the state of Florida) in Jacksonville when the sheriff arrested the owner of Kit and Caboodle. The sheriff turned over the care of 700 cats to the ASPCA. On my last day of certification to work for SARC, we were warned of PTSD. I didn’t understand but I figured I could handle it since I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD for a long time. I was wrong. The days I worked in medical intensive care, my heart broke again for seeing the undeserved major injuries of these cats. I had nightmares for about a year and if I go look at the real picturez, released after the case was adjudicated, memories of specific cats will come back to me. I actually say down with a couple of towels on my lap with a cat so small and not a kitten that was about to take her last breaths. I have her all the love and letting and soft whispering to her as I could. She was skin and bones, eyes were so infected and inflamed she could barely open them.I could actually feel her pain with every breath she took . I held her close enough to hear my heartbeat and kept her as warm as I could. I say there with her for 2 hours. At one point she looked straight into my eyes and gave me a silent meow as if she was saying thank you. Then she died in my arms. Even as I write this years come to my eyes.
I have read Florida ‘s Statute for cruelty to animals and it’s only a misdemeanor unless the animals die,then it’s a felony with not much penalty.
Senator, these animals feel pain, they cry from their pain, they sense danger and they sense fear. But they also feel happiness and love and return it lovinly.
I would like for you to work on changing every statute in every state to declare animals sentient beings as the state of Oregon did but only with dogs. You know there are people that stomp on rabbits, set cats on fire, break necks to get a rush of seeing something in pain and death.
Right now as our Florida statute reads animals have no rights. For it to be a misdemeanor to chain a young dog corners to attack it should be felony. All this heinous abuse against animals should be felonies that go on record, you could be recording fingerprints of a future murderer of a human being.
I’m begging you to declare that animals have rights as went beings (not to be confused with salient beings). Please, please work hard on this and if you’re not convinced of anyone else isn’t, take them to anywhere the ASPCA is now sheltering abused animals in a current legal case. See if for yourself, in your face and tell me they don’t deserve the rights of sentient beings?

Sincerely,
Marianna Basile
Bradenton, FL
- Marianna Basile
  February 8, 2017 at 12:02 pm
  
  Congressman Vern Buchanan,
  I am one of your voters. I respond to almost all of your surveys you send out. Those tell me you care about what your constituents think. I volunteered to work for the ASPCA (certified by the state of Florida) in Jacksonville when the sheriff arrested the owner of Kit and Caboodle.
  
  The sheriff turned over the care of 700 cats to the ASPCA.
  On my last day of certification to work for SARC, we were warned of PTSD. I didn’t understand but I figured I could handle it since I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD for a long time. I was wrong. The days I worked in medical intensive care, my heart broke again for seeing the undeserved major injuries of these cats. I had nightmares for about a year and if I go look at the real pictures, released after the case was adjudicated, memories of specific cats will come back to me.
  
  I actually sat down with a couple of towels on my lap with a cat so small and not a kitten that was about to take her last breaths. I have her all the love and letting and soft whispering to her as I could. She was skin and bones, eyes were so infected and inflamed she could barely open them.I could actually feel her pain with every breath she took . I held her close enough to hear my heartbeat and kept her as warm as I could. I say there with her for 2 hours. At one point she looked straight into my eyes and gave me a silent meow as if she was saying thank you. Then she died in my arms. Even as I write this years come to my eyes.
  I have read Florida ‘s Statute for cruelty to animals and it’s only a misdemeanor unless the animals die,then it’s a felony with not much penalty.
  Senator, these animals feel pain, they cry from their pain, they sense danger and they sense fear. But they also feel happiness and love and return it lovingly.
  
  I would like for you to work on changing every statute in every state to declare animals sentient beings as the state of Oregon did but only with dogs. You know there are people that stomp on rabbits, set cats on fire, break necks to get a rush of seeing something in pain and death.
  
  Right now as our Florida statute reads animals have no rights.
  For it to be a misdemeanor to chain a young dog for other dogs to attack it should be felony.
  All this heinous abuse against animals should be felonies that go on record, you could be recording fingerprints of a future murderer of a human being.
  
  I’m begging you to declare that animals have rights as sentient beings (not to be confused with sapient beings). Please, please work hard on this and if you’re not convinced of anyone else isn’t, take them to anywhere the ASPCA is now sheltering abused animals in a current legal case. See if for yourself, in your face and tell me they don’t deserve the rights of sentient beings?
  
  Sincerely,
  Marianna Basile
  Bradenton, FL