I just attended my first the Humane Society of the U.S.’s ‘Taking Action for Animals‘ (TAFA) conference in Washington DC, in July. What a great experience. I had the chance to learn about all the wonderful ways HSUS and volunteers are helping abused animals. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet compassionate, like-minded people, who love animals and are helping with animal welfare issues through animal advocacy. There were many conference sessions that enlightened us on topics such as the legislation process, and learning how to deal with compassionate fatigue. I met many district directors including from my state in NY and the many district leaders who volunteer.
The Humane Society Legislative Fund provided us with information in preparation for Lobby Day regarding the critical bills that we discussed with the legislators at the Capitol Hill. These were related to Representative Steve King’s cruel amendment to the Farm Bill. We discussed the benefits of the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act to allow abused women take their pets to shelters, the Parity in Animal Cruelty Enforcement (PACE) Act to stop the cruel animal fighting (cock fighting) in the U.S. territories, the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act making it illegal for the U.S. to eat dog and cat meat. We also reviewed the attacks on the ESA and Wildlife to keep endangered species protected.
We viewed a special screening of “The Last Pig”, a heart-wrenching movie produced by Allison Argo. She is an amazing film producer who focused on animal issues in many of her films.
Would you like to keep up with what is happening globally? Visit www.helpingabusedanimals.info.
Want to go vegan? Visit www.JustVegan.Shop for great vegan products.
