HUMANE PA

Humane PA Scorecard

We have been asked numerous times “where can I find how my legislator voted on animal bills.” Well, here it is, the Humane PA Scorecard! We have created an easy to read list of how your legislators voted to protect animals.

This is a working list of each animal bill that has been introduced in both the House and Senate this session and how your legislators have voted. A final score will be made at the end of each legislative session. If a bill has not been voted on, we have at least included the Prime Sponsor (PS) and the Co-Sponsors (CS), so you know if your legislator has already made a firm commitment to protect animals and support the legislation. We think you’ll find it easy to tell who are PA’s leading humane legislators.

It is important for every voter in PA to know how their legislator has voted on animal protection bills in order to make informed decisions during elections. Feel free to print and distribute the Humane PA Scorecard in your local party committees and at the polls. Please share this link on your legislators Facebook page, on Twitter, or in an email.

The Humane PA Scorecard will be updated as votes happen and a final score will be given at the end of each legislative session, so make sure your legislators take note that they will be scored on their overall votes. It is time to take the animal vote to a new level and hold our legislators accountable.

Also note that this will be used when considering endorsements for legislators who are running for re-election.

Please fill in the fields below including your email address to start receiving our monthly e-newsletter and our action alerts when animal bills are coming up. Our e-newsletter will also give you the ability to share this information with your friends who are not on Facebook. We would also like to know what  District you are in to target our alerts more effectively.

Your Name(required)

Your Email(required)

State Senator(required)

State Representative(required)

If you don’t know who your legislators are you can look them up here. Remember this is for your state legislators that represent you in Harrisburg, not your federal legislators that represent you in Washington.

*Please note all information is confidential and we do not share your information with anyone else.

Porcupines killed in PA are the latest victim of illegal meat trade in Southeast Asia. Last year the Pennsylvania Game Commission lifted a ban on porcupine hunting, but after learning about the black market sales, last week revised the decision to allow 10 per year. What is bothersome is that according to Uldis Roze, professor emeritus, Queens College, the porcupine is a nocturnal creature that have a low reproductive rate and produce no more than one offspring per year, are slow moving and easy to kill. It could take many years to rebuild their population, especially since they have such a low population density that any trapping or killing could wipe out an entire forest of these animals.

Sarah Speed, HSUS PA State Director is calling for a moratorium on hunting porcupines until there is further study on the porcupine population. Last year she requested the PGC reject a proposal that classifies porcupines as a nuisance species. She states “The HSUS is deeply concerned about this proposal and asks for further examination as to why it is necessary and/or warranted.  Based on our analysis of the information received by the Commission, population data is non-existent and reports of conflicts with porcupines is very minor.  The PGC’s own website notes that the apparent range of the porcupine does not extend across the state, and porcupine-caused damage over large areas is insignificant.”

 In the meantime, Roze recommends the following measure be taken to minimize or eliminate damage caused by porcupines:

•Don’t build plywood camps or cabins in the woods. Use natural wood, which is not attractive to porcupines. Existing plywood structures can be shielded by application of a basal layer of 1-inch chicken wire.

•Since the primary porcupine-human conflict involves porcupine attraction to human salt sources, offer alternate salt sources such as scrap plywood or particle board placed some distance from the target. I have had good success in reducing porcupine roadkills along a salted stretch of NY highway by using this technique.

•Shield neoprene tires and hoses, which contain sodium and are attractive to porcupines.

•Porcupine winter damage to timber is concentrated near den sites and in young tree plantations. Porcupines can be trapped at their dens and removed.

If you want to help protect porcupines then contact the PGC and tell them “Please reconsider the decision to open a season on porcupines and restore their protection.” Comments can be sent to: pgccomments@pa.gov.

While we may not be a super PAC yet, because of the dedication and engagement of the people who have joined and volunteer, Humane PA is the largest and fastest growing state PAC for animals in the country. Humane PA has grown exponentially since it first began in 2008 and are now 20,000+ members strong!

Part of our mission is helping to elect animal friendly candidates who are committed to passing stronger animal protection laws. There are two things that help influence elections, votes and money. We know the legislators and their records well and we take the time to survey candidates about their views on animal issues and give endorsements based on their responses and their records.  In addition to helping animal friendly candidates we also provide useful candidate profiles and general information about the electoral process to our humane voters.

We ARE the animal vote and over the past few years we have gained clout in Harrisburg and now we need to translate that clout into the kind of influence that will help make it easier to pass anti-cruelty bills and kill bills that are bad for animals.

So how do we increase our influence? We as a community are doing everything right  in increasing our engagement.  We must increase our voice by supporting  the campaigns of candidates who have a proven track record of leading humane legislation, or potential leaders in an attempt to level the playing field for animals. In order for us to help candidates we must take our organization to the next level of influence and yes, by influence we mean dollars.

Our opponents use fear, fear, and money to influence candidate’s votes on their issues.  Although we are on the moral highground, to play in today’s political world we must be able to compete, by also financially supporting our champions.  Any donation amount is appreciated to help give animals a voice in Harrisburg.  All donations go directly to supporting animal friendly candidates either by sending representatives from Humane PA to attend fundraisers for these candidates, where we can meet them in person and to speak with them one on one about animal protection bills we want them to support, co-sponsor, vote for and ultimately pass.

Election season is in now in full-swing. Candidates are busy gathering signatures for petitions to be put on the ballot for the primary in April and then they will be fundraising for their campaigns. You can help them by carrying petitions, voting or volunteering for the candidates’ campaigns…and by making a donation to Humane PA.  We are all volunteers at Humane PA. We have the most amazing, dedicated people who use their passion, involvement and creativity to bring awareness to animal protection issues. Now we need to put our money into action for the animals. Please consider making a donation to Humane PA today to help us elect more humane legislators, to pass more animal protection laws.

Your contribution, no matter how small or big, will make a difference. Donations can be made to Humane PA on our website via PayPal or mailed:

Humane PA
PO Box 352
Red Lion, PA 17356-0352

The animals thank you for your support.

We hope you won’t give up either. We are counting on you to help us put an end to one of the most senseless and cruel practices in Pennsylvania, live pigeon shoots. Join us on Monday January 30th for End Live Pigeon Shoots call-in day when we are asking for you to call your state Representative and state Senator to urge them to “please vote in favor of all legislative efforts to end live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania.”  Because the legislature considers this one of the most controversial animal bills to ever be voted on in PA, we need to engage as many people as possible, so please share call in day on your page and invite your friends to also participate. This bill will take a village.

It has been more than a month since the House voted to send SB 71 with the pigeon shoot amendment on it back to the House Gaming and Oversight Committee. You can see how your legislator voted here: vote count.    We urged all of you to call and either thank your legislators for their ‘No’ vote and to ask those legislators who voted ‘yes’ to send it back, why they would vote to get rid of the bill. What we have learned is yes, there were some legislators who were confused about the bill and why it was being attached to a bill that had already passed. Some legislators even thought they were saving the bill from being killed entirely. We will give those who were confused the benefit of the doubt, but regardless of their reasons, the first real chance we had in over a decade to end the practice was scuttled. Moving forward, we urge them to finally bring this bill to the floor for a vote.

We have had several victories this week with the House passing the Exotic Animal bill and the Senate moving the Gas Chamber bill to appropriations. We hope to finally see pigeon shoots addressed as well, but we need your calls to do so.

Don’t know what a live pigeon shoot is? Click here to watch: Live Pigeon Shoots If you are as saddened by this senseless display of cruelty as we are – please share with others who may not know this still takes place in Pennsylvania. Thank you.

Humane PA is committed to electing humane candidates. We have already received many requests for endorsements, but before we can endorse any candidate we must determine if they meet our requirements.  We have created an online Humane PA 2012 Candidate Survey .

Tuesday January 24th kicks off Pennsylvania’s election season as the first date that candidates have to circulate and file nomination petitions. They must be filed three weeks later on February 15th. Petitions are necessary to ensure each candidate can obtain the required number of signatures to be nominated. The PA Dept. of State has more information on the nominating and election process at: Voting and Elections. If you or someone you know is interested in running for office please visit PA Dept. of State Running for Office

Remember, candidates are always looking for volunteers to help with petitions!  It is a great way to get to know your candidates and let them know that you are interested in the humane treatment of animals.  You can get more information from your local party headquarters (many candidates have Facebook pages linked on the HumanePA Facebook page too).

If you want your candidate to be considered for an endorsement please direct them to our Humane PA 2012 Candidate Survey to get a jump on our endorsement process!  Thank you all for helping to keep humane issues in front of candidates!

*Please note this survey is for candidates only.

Become a Humane  PA Coordinator to help us”Give Animals a Voice in Harrisburg.”

You are probably reading this because you care about animals and want to do something effective to fight animal cruelty.

You are probably reading this because there are so many times you have thought “there ought to be a law”

You are probably reading this because you know that in order to get laws passed to protect animals; we need elected officials who are both compassionate and committed to pursuing, sponsoring and advocating for humane, anti-cruelty legislation.

 At Humane PA, we are an all-volunteer non-partisan committee. We are committed to electing or re-electing candidates with either a proven record of compassionate advocacy or who pledge support of anti-cruelty measures and to pursuing laws to end cruelty to animals. We have grown exponentially in 2011, and are determined to continue to increase our efforts and effectiveness in helping animals by participation in and impacting our state political process. We are currently seeking Coordinators to work with Humane PA Directors to assist with some of the following. Please note: Coordinators are not expected to do all of the items, but be part of our team working towards these goals:

•    Mobilize and enlist friends, family members, neighbors, and  other members of your community to use the power of their vote and influence as constituents to advocate for anti-cruelty laws by any or all of the following actions:

-       Work to elect more animal friendly legislators

-       Assist animal friendly candidates in their campaigns (campaigns always need volunteers and by volunteering we can help to get elected officials who understand the issues that are so important to us and are committed to working to end cruelty to animals)

-       Contact elected officials by telephone, email or by attending town meetings

-       Encourage others to become a voice for helpless animals by getting involved in the political process

-       Help to educate others about how to contact their elected officials effectively

-       Meet with elected officials and/or their staff

-       Education on issues of cruelty and pending humane legislation

-       Represent Humane PA at community events (i.e. animal related festivals, tabling opportunities, etc.)

-       Represent Humane PA on a regional level to provide support and assistance to other like-minded PA residents in your region in increasing their involvement in the political process to promote the anti-cruelty mission

 You may already be involved with your local shelter, rescue organization or other animal welfare advocacy groups. These are wonderful places to start reaching out to humane voters since they already care about animals. As a Humane PA Coordinator, you can help us bridge the gap between this existing base of animal advocates and the electoral/legislative process to help more animals on a statewide level.

Benefits to becoming a Humane PA Coordinator:

-       Work with other like-minded animal advocates

-       Learn the PA political process and how a bill becomes a law

 -      Learn insider tips from professional lobbyists

-       Become a respected leader in your community for advocating for animals

-       Play a vital role in changing the way legislators and voters view animal protection issues

 -      Knowing you’ve made a difference in the lives of animals

If you are interested and have the time, that is all you will need to get started. We will train you.

Please fill out the contact form below if you are interested in becoming a Coordinator and a Regional Director will get in touch with you shortly.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Your Region(required) Central PA Eastern PA Western PA

Comments