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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	527
Proposal	PLATFORM: Ethical Treatment of Animals
Presenter	Platform Committee, Green Party of California
Floor Manager	David Strand
Phase	Closed
Discussion	07/26/2010 - 08/08/2010
Voting	08/09/2010 - 08/15/2010
Result	Failed
Presens Quorum	31 0.6666
Consens Quorum	72 0.6666 of Yes and No Votes

Background

GPUS Bylaws Article IX. Platform states:

9-1.1 The GPUS Platform represents policies upon which most Greens would agree and serves as a basis for Green Presidential and Congressional campaigns. The Platform may only be amended as provided by this Article.

9-1.3 In even numbered years in which there is no Presidential Nominating Convention, the National Committee shall be the decision-making body responsible for amending the platform. The process shall be as established in the GPUS Rules and Procedures.

9-1.4 Amendments to the Platform may be submitted for consideration by any accredited state party or caucus, or any committee whose Mission Statement authorizes it.

Proposal

Replace 2004 text of section called "Ethical Treatment of Animals" with the following text.

Section title: Ethical Treatment of Animals

Our position: Cruelty to animals is objectionable and unacceptable.

The mark of a humane society lies in how we treat the least protected among us. Humans do not have the right to exploit and inflict violence on other animals simply because we have the desire or power to do so.

We reject the belief that other species exist only for our use and enjoyment. Our ethic upholds not only the value of biological diversity, but also the value of individual lives and the interest of individual animals.

We call for an intelligent and non-exploitive relationship between humans, other species and the natural world. Nonhuman species do not exist only to serve the needs of the human species.

Green Solutions

1. Redirect wasteful public funding from animal experiments and toward health care, preventive medicine, and biomedical research using non-animal, scientifically valid procedures.

2. Phase out the use of animals for consumer product testing, tobacco, alcohol, drug and psychological testing, classroom demonstrations and dissections, weapons development and other military programs.

3. Mandate clear labeling of products disclosing whether or not they have been tested on animals and if they contain any animal ingredients.

4. Amend the Humane Slaughter Act and the Animal Welfare Act to cover those animals currently excluded in agriculture and research.

5. Phase out animal cruelty practices in Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) at the federal and state level.

7. End international and national trade in wildlife.

6. Ban the use of goods produced from exotic or endangered animals, and promote the use of non-animal, sustainable materials in all manufacturing.

8. Prohibit the use of inhumane and indiscriminate wildlife control methods to address human-wildlife conflicts.

9. Prohibit large scale commercial breeding facilities, such as “puppy mills,” mandate spay and neuter laws, subsidize spay and neuter clinics, and discourage further breeding of companion animals while millions of animals are being killed at the "pound."

10. Ban the exploitation of animals in entertainment, gambling and sports.

11. Ban canned hunts and the corresponding trade in animals from zoos and other commercial “entertainment” industries. Ban other hunting and fishing for sport.

12. Eliminate free-trade laws that weaken or revoke efforts to end animal cruelty in commerce.

13. Encourage reduction in meat production and support transitioning to a plant-based agriculture system to alleviate farm animal cruelty and world hunger and to support ecological sustainability, health, and non-violence

Resources

None

References

Visit the Platform Committee webpage for this proposal at: http://www.gp.org/committees/platform/comments/?p=607.

On the webpage, you can see various formats of the proposal created by the GPUS Platform Committee and the amendment proposal sponsors including the 2004 and 2010 texts side-by-side. You can also read and respond to comments from Greens around the country, including many who are not on the Green National Committee.

Here is the 2004 text of the section being amended:

Cruelty to animals is repugnant and criminal. The mark of a humane and civilized society lies in how we treat the least protected among us. To extend rights to other sentient, living beings is our responsibility and a mark of our place among all of creation. We call for an intelligent, compassionate approach to the treatment of animals.

We reject the belief that our species is the center of creation, and that other life forms exist only for our use and enjoyment. Our species does not have the right to exploit and inflict violence on other creatures simply because we have the desire and power to do so. Our ethic upholds not only the value of biological diversity and the integrity and continuity of species, but also the value of individual lives and the interest of individual animals.

The Green Party advocates humane treatment of animals with the following policies:

1. Redirect the funds that are disbursed annually by the National Institutes of Health away from animal experiments and more towards direct health care, preventive medicine, and biomedical research using non-animal procedures such as clinical, epidemiological, and cell culture research.

2. Phase-out the use of animals for consumer product testing, tobacco and alcohol testing, psychological testing, classroom demonstrations and dissections, weapons development and other military programs.

3. Mandate clear labeling of products to tell whether or not they have been tested on animals and if they contain any animal products or by-products.

4. Establish procedures to develop greater public scrutiny of all animal research. These should include the welfare of laboratory animals, and a halt to wasteful public funding of unnecessary research such as duplicative experiments.

5. End the abuse of animals, including farm animals, and strengthen our enforcement of existing laws.

6. Ban the use of goods produced from exotic or endangered animals.

7. Prohibit large scale commercial breeding facilities, such as “puppy mills,” because of the massive suffering, overpopulation, and ill health such facilities produce.

8. Subsidize spay and neuter clinics to combat the ever-worsening pet overpopulation problem that results in the killing of millions of animals every year. Where unwanted companion animals are being killed in shelters, we advocate mandatory spay and neuter laws.

9. Ban the exploitation of animals in violent entertainment and sports.

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