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Important Legislative Initiatives Advanced by SAPL
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1990
The Pet Theft Act, an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act, requires
pounds to hold dogs and cats for five days before releasing them to
dealers. The amended Act also allows USDA to seek injunctions against any
licensed facility found dealing in stolen animals or placing the health of
any animal in serious danger in violation of the Animal Welfare Act.
The Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act sets standards for
labeling canned tuna, ensuring “dolphin-safe” only applies to tuna caught
using methods not harmful to dolphins.
1991
Regulations for the Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act are
finalized. However, SAPL and the Animal Legal Defense Fund have to go to
court because the congressional mandate for a “physical environment
adequate to promote the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates” and
for exercise for laboratory dogs is not met. US District Court Judge
Charles Richey rules in favor of animal welfare, but the Government and
the National Association for Biomedical Research appeal his decision, and
ultimately, it is reversed.
1992
The Driftnet Fishery Conservation Act provides the United States with
sanctions to enforce the driftnet ban agreed by the United Nations that
went into effect on Dec. 31, 1992. Nations that continue to put out
30-mile driftnets, entangling whales, dolphins, seals, sea birds and every
other living creature who falls into their toils, can no longer sell fish
to US markets, and their vessels are denied US port privileges.
The International Dolphin Conservation Act institutes a global
moratorium on tuna fishing that kills dolphins, beginning March 1, 1994.
It imposes strict, nondiscretionary embargoes and sanctions against
countries failing to abide by the global moratorium, and it establishes
the United States as a dolphin-safe zone by June 1, 1994. The Act
prohibits the sale, purchase and transport of tuna and tuna products that
are not dolphin-safe and provides $3 million a year for research on
fishing techniques that do not kill dolphins.
Note: A 1997 amendment weakened the
definition of dolphin-safe and ended embargoes against non-abiding
countries. A National Marine Fisheries Service study found chasing and
netting dolphins, which were to be allowed in the updated definition,
were indeed harmful. However, the government ignored this data. As a
co-plaintiff with the Earth Island Institute, SAPL won a lawsuit against
the Secretary of Commerce in 1999, but filed another suit in 2002 to
continue fighting for protections.
The Wild Bird Conservation Act bans the import of the 10 bird species
whose survival is most threatened by capture for the commercial pet trade.
It requires that, after one year, importation of all species of birds
listed by CITES be prohibited, unless the species is specifically
exempted. The Secretary of the Interior is directed to enforce the
conservation and humane treatment standards of CITES, saving hundreds of
thousands of exotic birds from terrible suffering and death.
1996
The House of Representatives holds a hearing on the SAPL-supported Pet
Safety and Protection Act. The Pet Protection Act is also considered.
1999
New legislation bans the creation, sale and possession with intent to
sell of animal crushing or stomping films. These videos, which sell for as
much as $100 each worldwide, inexplicably appeal to some foot fetishists
who want to see animals such as hamsters, guinea pigs, cats, dogs or
monkeys tortured and then stomped to death by women, usually in
high-heeled shoes.
