Today was a big day for animals at the Massachusetts State House!
We testified and submitted written testimony in favor of numerous pieces of animal protection legislation before the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture:
• Facilitate adoption of research animals (”Beagle bill”)
• End the use of animals in product testing when alternatives exist
• End the ivory and rhino horn trade in MA
• Regulate doggie day cares
• Create a commission to study the effects of rat poison on wildlife
• Direct additional funding to the Massachusetts Animal Fund
• Conduct a survey to study the Blue Hills forestation to determine reasons for decline (since deer are almost solely blamed)
Thank you to the sponsors State Representative Lori Ehrlich (Ivory), Representative Michelle DuBois (Beagle), State Senator Bruce Tarr (Beagle), Representative Carolyn Dykema (Beagle), and Representative Jack Patrick Lewis (Alternatives) for your leadership and oral testimony, and thank you to Chair State Senator Anne M. Gobi, Vice Chair Rep. Dan Cahill and members of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture for hearing our testimony today.
Also a big thank you to our wonderful coalition partners and all the animal advocates who joined us today. We could not do our jobs without you! The Humane Society of the United States, NEAVS, Massachusetts Beagle Freedom Bill, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Humane Society International, Stone Zoo, Franklin Park Zoo, Animal Rescue League of Boston, and Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA).
