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(WASHINGTON,
D.C.) March 13, 2008 – The Animal Welfare Institute today
unveiled its revamped legislative action center, the Compassion
Index (CI), located online at
www.compassionindex.org. Now, in addition to learning how their
elected officials rate on key animal protective legislation,
visitors can send letters to Members of Congress, contact the media
and more – all directly from the website.
First launched in 2006, the CI is the
first legislative resource to implement the real-time tracking of
animal welfare measures. Bills currently listed on the CI include
legislation to ban horse slaughter, strengthen penalties against
dog-fighters, prohibit the sale of family pets to experimental
laboratories, end the use of steel-jaw leghold traps on fur-bearing
animals, and add animal cruelty to the national database of crimes
tracked by federal law enforcement. To date, 14 of the 435 U.S.
Representatives and four of the 100 U.S. Senators have achieved a
perfect 100 percent on the CI.
The site archives data from past
Congresses, allowing visitors to research their legislators’ past
and present records and get a more comprehensive sense of their
positions on animal protective measures. AWI encourages everyone to
use this site as much as possible and reference their legislators’
CI rankings when contacting offices. The more aware legislators
become of animal issues and constituents’ concerns about them, the
more they will strive to be compassionate and achieve higher
rankings on the CI.
Other organizations and individuals
can add a CI search box to their own websites at
www.compassionindex.org/sticker.htm, so that their visitors will
have access to legislative information as well. AWI will continue
to update this comprehensive advocacy tool with additional helpful
features for constituents.
“The CI
is a one-stop shop for proactive animal advocates,” said Chris Heyde, AWI’s
deputy director of government and legal affairs. “Individuals and groups around
the country should use this website to help improve how the U.S. Congress
responds to animal protection measures.”
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For over 57 years, the Animal
Welfare Institute has been the leading voice across the country and on Capitol
Hill to reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans.
Find our more at
www.awionline.org.
CONTACT:
Chris Heyde, (703) 836-4300
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