The Humane Society of
the United States, the nation's largest animal protection
organization, supports the right of citizens to make laws directly
through the initiative and referendum process. The HSUS fights
efforts by opponents of direct democracy to make ballot access more
difficult, and we advocate the expansion of the initiative process
into states that do not currently allow for it.
The HSUS supports the use of issue-based initiatives after other
means of effecting reform have been exhausted. Voters have approved
a long list of animal protection reforms after legislators and
executive agencies failed to take appropriate actions. Reforms
instituted through the initiative process include banning
cockfighting in Arizona and Missouri; outlawing the use of steel-jaw
leghold traps in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Massachusetts;
forbidding the use of dogs in hunting bears and other predators in
Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington; prohibiting bear
baiting in Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington; banning
the trophy hunting of mountain lions and the use of Compound 1080
and sodium cyanide for predator control in California; outlawing the
slaughter of horses for human consumption in California; and
reforming the appointment process for the state Fisheries and
Wildlife Board in Massachusetts.
The HSUS is currently working with citizens and animal protection
organizations in several states to gather signatures and put
initiatives on ballots this year. To find out more about the
initiatives, follow the links below.
