Getting Political for Animals

Nov 10, 2024 03:00 PM by Zoom

Protests, boycotts and petition drives all have their place in advancing animal welfare, but rarely do these actions alone result in changes in the law that make animal welfare and protections permanent. Many of us don’t like to get involved in the political process; it’s often messy, unfair and even corrupt, but if you’re not willing to wade through the muck, you, or perhaps more accurately the animals, lose. Led by Roland Halpern (who wrote on this topic for the UUAM newsletter last month), this webinar examines how our legislative process works and ways that you can become an effective animal advocate that lawmakers will listen to.

Roland Halpern spends most of his time volunteering for Colorado Voters for Animals, working with lawmakers to help advance animal-friendly laws in the state legislature. This has included laws banning wild animal performances in circuses, increasing penalties for animal cruelty, and allowing citizens to enter locked vehicles to rescue dogs or cats in distress, to name a few. Roland has also assisted in getting several city councils to ban pet stores from selling dogs or cats that come from commercial breeders (puppy mills). He also chairs the Ethical Eating and Animal Welfare Task Force at the First Universalist Church of Denver, and serves as a board member of UUAM.