NAIA Trust

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{{#badges: Front groups}} NAIA Trust is an affiliated 501(c)(4) "legislative branch" of the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA), a front group and industry funded lobbying organization for animal commerce and agriculture based in Portland, Oregon.

Overview

Agendas include financial interests, legislation and public perception related to animal agribusiness, commercial breeding, hunting, fishing, trapping, fur ranching, animal testing and animals in entertainment. [1] The NAIA Trust appears to be primarily focused on legislative opposition to humane welfare laws and regulations concerning breeders, pet stores and research facilities.

Lobbying against humane legislation

According to its website, the NAIA Trusts' mission includes promoting "animal welfare" and "safeguarding the rights of responsible animal owners". This includes "sounding the alarm" about threats to the "human-animal bond" by "people who mistreat animals and by animal rights and environmental zealots." The NAIA Trust counters "misinformation" of the environmental and animal rights movement. [2] In fact, NAIA keeps careful track of humane animal welfare legislation being proposed across the country at all jurisdictions (federal, state, city and county). [3], [4] The NAIA lobbies in the interests of its "members" in industry and commerce. [5] It opposes progressive legislation such as spay/neuter, breeding restrictions and humane standards. The NAIA endorses inhumane and unnecessary surgical procedures such as tail docking, ear cropping, debarking and declawing. It also supports horse slaughter, factory farming, pound seizure and puppy mills. See also National Animal Interest Alliance, sections 2 through 6.

Action Alerts

NAIA Trust reliably opposes or severely curtails humane and progressive welfare legislation, particularly legislation designed to address pet overpopulation. [6] Opposition falls neatly into the category of "extremism". For example, a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance for Austin Texas (requiring a yearly licensing fee for breeders) is referred to as a "radical anti-breeder ordinance". [7]

Pet Animal Welfare Statute S1139/H2669 (PAWS) (not passed)

Introduced by Senator Richard Santorum of Pennylvania, a state long plagued with the problem of unregulated breeding operations (puppy mills); this reasonable bill classifies home breeders as dog and cat dealers if they produce more than six litters and sell more than 25 animals in a calendar year and "require hobby breeders to meet standards of housing and care". [8] Further criticisms about this bill are failure to exempt individuals and organizations that rescue dogs and place them in new homes. [9] Incredibly, this "animal welfare trust" makes no distinctions between rescued animals and profitable breeding operations. In fact, many commercial breeders are home-based and operate under no supervision or standards. Backyard breeders often keep their animals in cages, pens or on chains 24/7, exposed to the elements with no socialization or medical care. [10] This bill never became law. [11] See also puppy mills.

Helms amendment to S. 1731 USDA Farm Bill Amendment, 107th Congress, 2001-02 (passed in May 2002)

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) [12] is the primary law covering laboratory animals in the U.S. However, the AWA only requires facilities to count the number of dogs, cats, primates, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, farm and other animals used. Rats, mice, birds and cold-blooded animals represent the vast majority of animals used in laboratories and are not protected under the AWA or even counted. [13] The Senate accepted an amendment introduced by the late Jesse Helms, a republican senator from N. Carolina; to bar the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from including mice, rats and birds (and cold blood animals such as reptiles) under the AWA. These animals account for approximately 95% of all laboratory animals. [14] See also animal testing, section 2.1.

The NAIA Trust lobbied in favor of the Helms USDA Farm bill amendment. NAIA Trust proposed to "protect the biomedical research community" from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its "unwarranted and cost prohibitive oversight". According to the NAIA Trust:

"Failure to include the Helms amendment in the final version of the bill will force the USDA to propose a rule by which rats, mice and birds will be brought under the agency of the AWA, a costly endeavor for taxpayers and a regulation nightmare for scientists." [15]

The NAIA Trust does not elaborate on why humane standards should be a "regulation nightmare" nor their uncharacteristic concern for taxpayers. The NAIA lobbies aggressively against spay/neuter, breeding restrictions and licensing fees; all of which ease tax burdens. Every year, communities spend millions of dollars and vast amounts of volunteer hours coping with surplus pets. [16] Industries represented by the NAIA include factory farming, rodeos, foie gras, hunting, fur ranching, trapping and animal testing; all tax payer subsidized. [17] In the fiscal year ending in 2005, seven government agencies funded over 28,937 projects for experiments on 27 species, including: monkeys, dogs, cats and rodents. These included: 1200 separate projects (at up to $495,600,000) examining drug addiction. 778 projects studying "neural information processing" in 11 species racked up approximately $321,314,000. No experiment, however ridiculous, useless or painful; is illegal. The majority of animals used in experimentation receive no protection under current laws. Government funded animal testing costs U.S. taxpayers over $12 billion annually. [18] See also U.S. Government's War on Animals.

See also National Animal Interest Alliance, section 2, on Lobbying against humane legislation & animal advocacy groups.

Personnel

Contact

NAIA
11402 Se Flavel St
Portland, OR 97290-6579
503-761-1139

mailing address:

NAIA
PO Box 66579
Portland, OR 97290-6579

Website:

http://www.naiatrust.org/index.htm

Articles & resources

SourceWatch articles

References

  1. ↑ National Animal Interest Alliance Sites of interest, accessed January 2009
  2. ↑ NAIA Trust Welcome to NAIA Trust, accessed February 2009
  3. ↑ NAIA Trust Legislative Corner, accessed February 2009
  4. ↑ NAIA Trust State, County, Municipal Bills Pending: Listed by State, accessed Febrary 2009
  5. ↑ NAIA Sites of Interest, accessed December 2008
  6. ↑ NAIA Trust Legislative Corner: NAIA Trust Action Alerts - Archives, accessed February 2009
  7. ↑ NAIA Trust Action Alert: Austin Texas dog and cat owners need to attend May 17 meeting!, accessed February 2009
  8. ↑ govtrack.us Text of S. 1139, 109th: Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005, accessed January 2009
  9. ↑ NAIA Trust Action Alert: NAIA Trust opposes (PAWS) S 1139/H 2669, accessed January 2009
  10. ↑ Jane Seymour That Bulldog in the Window, Friends of Animals, accessed January 2009
  11. ↑ govtrack.us 1139: 109th Congress Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005, accessed January 2009
  12. ↑ U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Welfare Act and Regulations, August 2003
  13. ↑ In Defense of Animals The Truth About Vivisection: Frequently Asked Questions, accessed January 2009
  14. ↑ Humane Society of the U.S. U.S. Senate Passes Farm Bill Addressing Animal Fighting, Puppy Mills, Farm Animals and Bears, February 2002
  15. ↑ NAIA Trust Action Alert: Amendment to the Farm Bill: Support the Helms Amendment to the Farm Bill and protect biomedical research involving rats, mice, and birds, accessed February 2009
  16. ↑ HSUS The Crisis of Pet Overpopulation, May 2007
  17. ↑ Mark Hawthorn, Spoiler Alert: 10 Things Animal Exploiters Do Not Want You to Know Feb 2008, author of Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism, ISBN 0300104669
  18. ↑ Stop Animal Exploitation Now! Animal Experimentation in the United States, 2007
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