The Candidates and Animal Welfare

It's Super Tuesday tomorrow and that means that we are voting here in Illinois. I must confess, I really can't get too excited about these elections, but as I pondered doing my civic duty tomorrow, I began to wonder what the candidates records are on animal related issues. I found the following website which has an overview of the current presidential contenders from both sides of the aisle.

http://www.fund.org/voter_guide/2008_pres_candidates.html

Now, granted, this is information from the Humane Society, and they do have a particular perspective about good and bad performance, but keeping that in mind, I guess I'm not surprised to read that Clinton and Obama have, overall, excellent records when it comes to animal welfare. McCain is somewhat in the middle - though more favorable than not, and the rest of the Republicans don't do so well... to put it charitably. From Romney with the dog on the roof rack, to Huckabee's son killing a dog, to Paul's opposition to government intervention extending even to issues of animal cruelty, these last three are not true friends of our furry friends.

While this research won't change who I vote for tomorrow, I thought it was interesting. Some of us may recall that during the first Clinton Administration Chelsea brought Socks the cat to the White House and then Bill got a new friend (his only friend at the time, perhaps?) Buddy. I also particularly enjoyed reading that Ma and Pa Obama have promised their daughters a dog after the presidential campaign is over, win or lose. And while having a pet doesn't necessarily make a politician an advocate for animal welfare (remember Romney's dog on the roof) it does make them seem a little more human.