Humane Society gives Wisconsin Democrats high marks on animal advocacy

It’s a tale of two parties when it comes to the Wisconsin congressional delegation and animal protection.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan — both Democrats — scored perfect 100s on the Humane Society Legislative Fund’s 2017 congressional scorecard.

Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, received an 83.

But then there are the Republicans. Sen. Ron Johnson received a zero rating, as did Reps. Sean Duffy and Glenn Grothman. Reps. Mike Gallagher and F. James Sensenbrenner received scores of 8.

Republican Rep. Paul Ryan did not receive a score because, as Speaker of the House, he typically doesn’t vote or sponsor bills.

Released in late October, the scorecard is a rating for the first session of the 115th Congress.

The HSLF called the scoring a “preview” and “snapshot” of each federal legislator’s votes on “key matters that affect the lives and well-being of animals, along with their efforts to help animals through co-sponsorship of priority bills and support for adequate funding of animal welfare enforcement.”

The lawmakers also earned “extra credit for pro-animal leadership.”

Bills on the scorecards included:

S. 322 and H.R. 909, the Pet and Women Safety Act, which HSLF says would help protect battered partners and their pets by extending current federal domestic violence protections to include pets, and authorizing grant money to help domestic violence shelters accommodate pets. Currently, only 3 percent of these shelters allow pets.
S. 654 and H.R. 1494, the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, which would strengthen the federal animal-crush video law enacted in 2010. The 2010 legislation banned the creation, sale and distribution of videos that show live animals being intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled or subjected to other heinous abuse by prohibiting those same extreme acts of animal cruelty when they occur in interstate or foreign commerce.
S. 1706 and H.R. 113, the Safeguard American Food Exports Act, which would protect horses and consumers by prohibiting the transport and export of U.S. horses to slaughter for human consumption. This predatory industry doesn’t “euthanize” old, sick horses. Young and healthy horses are purchased and killed to sell the meat to Europe and Japan.
H.R. 1406, the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act, which would amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the domestic slaughter, trade and import or export of dogs and cats for human consumption — and provide penalties for individuals involved in the dog or cat meat trade.
H.R. 2790, the Humane Cosmetics Act, would phase out the testing of cosmetics on live animals and the sale of animal-tested cosmetics in the United States.
S. 793 and H.R. 1456, the Shark Fin Trade/Sales Elimination Act, which would help fight the precipitous decline in shark populations, better protect sharks from cruelty and preserve fragile ocean ecosystems by prohibiting trade, both domestic and international, in shark fins.
H.R. 1847, the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act, which would crack down on the practice of “soring,” in which unscrupulous trainers deliberately inflict pain on the hooves and legs of Tennessee walking horses and related breeds to force them to perform an unnaturally high-stepping gait in order to gain competitive advantage at horse shows.