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2009 Animals' Advoc. 1 (2009)

handle is hein.animal/aniad0028 and id is 1 raw text is: EM

The New Presidential Administration

Obama's Dream Team
...or Animals' Nightmare?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA FAMOUSLY cam-
paigned on a platform of change: a shift in
the direction the U.S. has been heading
over the last eight years. Naturally, we at
the Animal Legal Defense Fund are hoping
that shift includes advancements for ani-
mals, who currently receive little protection
from our government. Though it's too
early to tell how the Obama Administra-
tion will impact animal protection, a look
at key posts may offer some clues.
Scott Heiser, director of ALDF's Crimi-
nal Justice Program, observes that the U.S.
Attorney General, for example, advises
and defends governmental agencies -
including all agencies under the Depart-

ment of Agriculture and the Department
of the Interior - on all manner of legal
issues. It is theoretically possible for the
Attorney General to adopt in-house pros-
ecution policies that make the aggressive
enforcement of any one or more of the
commonly cited federal statutes relating
to animal welfare a top priority, says
Heiser. These include statutes that pro-
hibit animal fighting, require humane
slaughter of livestock, protect free-roam-
ing horses and burros, ban the sale of
depictions of illegal acts of animal cruelty,
protect marine mammals and cover many

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