Humane Legislation Of Candidates In The Washington State
Candidates standing for the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives in 2014 were surveyed on strengthening animal cruelty, animal protection, and animal fighting laws, funding animal care and control services, phasing out lead shot, and licensing animal sellers. 30% of candidates responded. A large majority supported tightening animal protection laws and funding municipal animal services. Smaller majorities supported seller licensing and eliminating lead shot. The report includes copies of each completed survey.
[Abstract excerpted from original source.]
“In June 2014, the Washington Alliance for Humane Legislation submitted a questionnaire to all candidates running for the Washington State Legislature. The questionnaire was designed to solicit candidates’ views and positions on animal welfare issues and legislation.
At the time the survey was distributed, all of the 98 seats in the Washington State House of Representatives and 25 of the 49 State Senate seats were open. In total, 265 candidates were running for the 123 open legislative offices. This field of candidates will be narrowed down to the top two for each open seat, based on the August 2014 primary election.
Of the 265 candidates asked to respond to the survey, 81 responded, resulting in a response rate of 30.5 percent. Responses were included in this report from all candidates who answered one or more questions concerning their positions on animal welfare legislation.
This report is organized as follows:
- 2014 Candidate Survey. This is a copy of the survey that each candidate was asked to complete electronically.
- Summary Report. This summary shows the numbers and percentages of respondents who agree or disagree with particular statements about animal welfare, or who would sponsor, support, or oppose specific legislation.
- Candidate Responses. This section begins with an index of the names of every candidate who responded to the survey, organized by state legislative district. For candidates running unopposed who did not respond to the survey, the index states “The candidate did not respond.” Where two or more candidates are running for a seat and none of them responded to the survey, the index states “No candidates responded.”
The candidate responses represent the bulk of this report. To facilitate review, each legislative district listed in the index is hyperlinked to the location of the survey responses for that district.”