Animal Welfare Organization Endorses Kelly Ayotte For Governor of New Hampshire

The Humane Society Legislative Fund, a leading animal protection organization, has endorsed Kelly Ayotte for governor of New Hampshire, citing her long-standing commitment to animal welfare.

“Kelly Ayotte has been an advocate for animals, and a leader on particularly complex issues,” Sara Amundson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, said in a press release from the organization. “She worked to crack down on illegal animal fighting, to end the cruel practice of horse soring, and to ensure that domestic violence survivors and their families remain with their companion animals. We urge voters to elect Kelly Ayotte as the next governor of New Hampshire.”

During her time as New Hampshire’s attorney general (2004 to 2009), Ayotte took steps to address animal fighting in the state. In 2008, she and the Humane Society of the U.S. held a joint press conference, introducing a program that offered $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved in animal fighting.

As a U.S. senator (2011 to 2017), Ayotte sponsored the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act (a bill that is not yet law) to outlaw the practice of horse soring in the Tennessee walking horse show industry, in which horses’ legs or hooves are intentionally maimed to produce an exaggerated gait.

She also led efforts in the 114th Congress with the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act, which sought to protect both human and animal victims of domestic violence. The bill later became law as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, enhancing support for women’s shelters to accommodate pets.

Additional actions Ayotte took in the U.S. Senate include the following, according to the press release:

• Cosponsoring the Prevent Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, making malicious animal cruelty a crime on federal property and in interstate commerce.
• Cosponsoring the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, aimed at prohibiting the slaughter and export of horses for human consumption.
• Cosponsoring the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, establishing penalties for attending or bringing minors to animal fights.
• Voting against an amendment to the 2016 Energy Bill that would have undermined the president’s authority to declare national monuments, safeguarding irreplaceable habitats.
• Supporting the fiscal year 2016 omnibus funding bill, which contained provisions crucial to animal protection.
• Voting to end direct payments to farmers with incomes exceeding $1 million, helping curb subsidies that benefit massive factory farms at the expense of smaller, more humane farms.
• Voting for a 2012 Farm Bill amendment to impose penalties for attending organized animal fights and bringing minors to such events.
• Opposing procedural votes on the Sportsmen’s Act of 2012, a pro-hunting package that would have allowed the importation of polar bear trophies and stripped the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate toxic lead exposure from ammunition.

Ayotte is running against Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig this November. Governor Chris Sununu, a Republican, chose not to seek re-election.

The election forecaster Sabato’s Crystal Ball rates the New Hampshire race as a toss-up — the only governor’s race in America this year that gets that rating.