Has anyone looked at the latest Humane Scorecard released by the Humane Society Legislative Fund. This is a list ranking each of the elected officials in Congress, whether in the House or Senate. The rankings are based on the votes, co-sponsorship of Bills and attempts to increase funding on issues that affect animal rights and protection.

The Humane Scorecard was started in 2000, and the latest covers 2005 the 109th Congress. The scores are abysmal.

In the Senate there are 19 members who score a 0. That’s total avoidance of any issue that deals with animals. Somehow that number seems far too large considering all the issues that exist in this nation.

The values in the House are worse I think. While there were only 15 that had absolutely no interest or support of animal rights and protection issues, 119 had a score of 28% or less. That makes a total of 136 that barely showed any concern.

As we approach another election and the upcoming Presidential race, I think it’s important that we take a bit of time to see who really cares and how much. Soundbites and jumping on bandwagons (such as condemning the actions of Michael Vick) may catch headlines, but votes are where they really show what they feel.

See if your Representatives and Senators are just blowing smoke at you or really trying to make a difference. If they aren’t, your vote will show how you really feel too.