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" WHERE THE CANDIDATES STAND Hillary Clinton Senator Clinton&amp;#039;s dedication to animal rights earned her a perfect score on the Humane Society&amp;#039;s scorecard, which ranks how frequently the members of Congress vote in support of animals. She cosponsored the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which aimed to end the slaughter of horses for their meat, and the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act, which aimed to get rid of dogfighting, cockfighting, and all other types of animal fighting. Additionally, she has been working toward prohibiting schools from serving meat injected with antibiotics. She&amp;#039;s also known to be a pet lover \u2014 during her husband&amp;#039;s presidency, their cat, Socks, and dog, Buddy, became beloved icons, inspiring Senator Clinton to publish a book, Dear Socks, Dear Buddy, featuring the letters that children had written to the pets. She donated the proceeds to the National Park Foundation. Senator Clinton supports the Animal Welfare act, which ensures humane treatment of animals in zoos, circuses, research laboratories, and other facilities, as well as the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which makes sure that livestock like cattle and pigs are slaughtered painlessly rather than being cut, scalded, or skinned while still conscious.  She also supports such issues as cracking down on illegal animal fighting, preserving our wildlife, finding alternatives to animal testing, ensuring the safety of pet food, and protecting marine mammals. Next Page: Barack Obama Barack Obama Senator Obama is strongly dedicated to reducing animal cruelty and violence. He believes that the penalties for abusing animals needs to be increased and that those who abuse animals should be required to attend psychological counseling. &amp;quot;Violence toward animals is linked with violent behavior in general, especially domestic violence, and we need to acknowledge this connection,&amp;quot; he has said. Senator Obama voted in favor of amending the Humane Care for Animals Act to make animal torture a serious felony, and the taunting and teasing of rescue dogs a misdemeanor. Additionally, Senator Obama understands that a pet is an important part of the family. &amp;quot;We must craft policies that honor those bonds and that respect that for most Americans, a pet is a member of the family,&amp;quot; he has said. In fact, his family is going to be adding another member to the family shortly \u2014 he promised his daughters that he&amp;#039;d adopt a dog for them if they let him run for President. Like Senator Clinton, Senator Obama has voted in favor of important laws like the Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Methods Slaughter Act. Next Page: John McCain John McCain Senator McCain is a strong supporter of animal welfare issues; in fact, out of all of the potential Republican candidates we saw this year, he&amp;#039;s the only one who took a strong stand in support of animals! He cosponsored a bill to stop horse slaughter, and he also supported a bill to stop the shipment of live birds between states for the sole purpose of cockfighting. He also backed a bill that aimed to put an end to people killing bears for the purpose of selling or trading their organs.  He also took a stand against the fur industry, voting to eliminate a $2 million subsidiary they had been receiving. And he also voted against allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saving the thousands of animals who lived there. But he&amp;#039;s not perfect \u2014 he voted in support of an amendment to the California Desert Protection Act that would allow hunting for sport in Mojave National Park, and he is a supporter of hunting in general. Next Page: Make a difference! Dogfighting: This law would increase the penalties against dogfighting by making it a felony to be involved with the activity, whether by owning the dogs in the fight or by being a spectator at a dogfight. Downed Animals and Food Safety Protection Act: Animals that are too sick to walk or even stand on their own are often treated brutally on farms \u2014 they&amp;#039;re kicked, dragged with chains, prodded, and given electric shocks. If slaughtered for food consumption, the meat from these animals are at a very high risk of carrying diseases like mad cow, E. coli, and salmonella. This bill would require that these downed animals be humanely euthanized instead of tortured, slaughtered, and sold. Animal Welfare Accountability Improvement Act: The proposed amendment to the Farm Bill, which prohibits the use of live animals in medical device sales demonstrations, will increase the consequences for violating this. Instead of a flat fine, violators will be fined based on how many animals are affected by the demonstration, which will hopefully help eliminate the problem.  Charitable Remainder Pet Trust Act: This would allow pet owners to establish trusts, ensuring that their pets are not euthanized upon the owner&amp;#039;s death. The pet owner can set aside a certain amount of money to provide for care and shelter for the animal. And if there is money left over, it&amp;#039;ll be donated to a charity that the owner indicates in the trust, like a humane society or an animal shelter. These trusts are already permitted in 39 states and Washington, D.C., but this bill aims to make it a federal law.  The Computer-Assisted Remote Hunting Act: It may be hard to believe, but there are Websites out there that allow you to aim and fire weapons just from clicking your mouse. From thousands of miles away, users can log on to one of these Websites and kill animals remotely. This started in Texas in 2005, and 37 states have already taken action to prohibit Internet hunting. This act would create a federal ban on these remote hunting sites. Captive Primate Safety Act: Pet monkeys, chimps, and other primates may seem docile as infants, but as they grow older, they can become very dangerous. And, sadly, many of these captive animals are abused and neglected by their owners. They&amp;#039;re confined to tiny cages, sold to roadside zoos, or sold for breeding. These animals are also often carriers of dangerous diseases that can spread to humans, like herpes B, tuberculosis, and monkeypox. This act would ban the trade of primates for pets. Canadian Seal Hunt Resolution: In Canada, fishermen are allowed to hunt and kill seals despite the fact that their population has been drastically shrinking these last few years thanks to global warming melting the ice caps. In 2007, more than a quarter of all seal babies died. Despite this, the Canadian government is planning to allow fishermen to kill 275,000 this year. This resolution will urge the Canadian government to end the hunt on seals. For more information, check out the Humane Society&amp;#039;s site. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/advice/a11156/spotlight-animal-rights/>