HSUS Gives Thanks: 2007 Accomplishments
NFL star Michael Vick was sentenced to prison for his role in dogfighting. Vick’s sentencing caps a period of stunning changes for animals across a wide range of industries and abuses.
Thanks to your actions and support, The Humane Society of the United States saved thousands of animals from the cruelty of animal fighting, built even more worldwide support for our campaign to end Canada’s seal hunt, and rescued pets threatened by California’s wildfires.
Here are just a few of the extraordinary achievements you and I can savor as 2007 draws to a close:
* The last two states — New Mexico and Louisiana — outlawed cockfighting, and Congress passed a seminal law strengthening penalties for animal fighting. HSUS supporters like you also pressured Nike to drop a multi-million-dollar endorsement deal with Vick after his role in illegal dogfighting was uncovered.
* Horse slaughter was finally eliminated on U.S. soil when Texas and Illinois shut down the last remaining slaughterhouses in the nation.
* We rescued animals from natural disasters, providing care for hundreds of pets and farm animals threatened by California’s recent wildfires.
* Some of the worst cruelties of factory farming were stopped when the largest veal and pig producers committed to abandon the use of tiny crates and cages, more companies and consumers switched to cage-free eggs, and Oregon’s legislature made history by passing legislation outlawing the use of gestation crates to confine breeding pigs.
Many more challenges lie ahead in 2008, and we desperately need your continued commitment to confront animal cruelty in all its forms.