More than 40 students in the Animal Welfare Civic Engagement Project heard from the Humane Society of the United States regarding how to advocate for public policies that combat animal cruelty and protect dogs, cats, horses and other animals.
The Humane Society [1], the country’s largest animal protection organization, fights “cruelty, exploitation, and neglect” of animals through legislation, rescues thousands of animals, and works with businesses to support animal-friendly policies.
John Moyer, Outreach Coordinator for the Humane Society’s “Stop Puppy Mills Campaign,” [2] told students about “puppy factories” where dogs are kept in cages their entire lives to produce puppies for unknowing consumers. Adult dogs are then killed or sold to other puppy mills to produce litters until they die. The Humane Society encourages dog lovers to buy pets from dog rescue organizations or directly from breeders, not from pet stores or online.
Kaitlyn Tanke, Science, Technology, and Society intern and student at Richard Stockton College [3], said she never knew that puppy mills still exist, and wants to spread the word to everyone to make sure they buy dogs from rescue groups or breeders.
Students also learned that while horses cannot be killed for consumption in the U.S., they are still sold to countries like France, Italy, and Japan for people to eat. The Humane Society wants the federal government to stop this practice by passing the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act [4].
The November event also featured speakers from Animalearn [5], which works to end the dissection of animals in schools, colleges and veterinary schools, and from the Humane Society University [6], which awards degrees in Animal Studies and Animal Policy and Advocacy.
[View photos of the event on our Flickr channel] [7]
Photo: John Moyer from the Puppy Mills Campaign [8], Kaitlyn Tanke from Richard Stockton College [3] and Cynthia Vega, Governors Program intern.
