Advocacy at Seattle Humane
Seattle Humane is championing the rights and well-being of pets and their people alongside our peers in the animal welfare community. We are committed to sharing information about the ever-evolving field of animal welfare, empowering our community to act as advocates for pets and the people who love them.
There are many policy areas that directly affect pets and their families in our region, and we have seen firsthand the systemic challenges our community faces in owning and caring for a pet in Washington state. Seattle Humane is actively working in conjunction with our peers to support animal welfare policy initiatives.
As we continue to build our coalition of animal welfare advocates, Seattle Humane has identified two issues where we can be a champion for change:
Initiatives
1. Eliminate pet restrictions in WA state housing rentals
2. Advocate for animal welfare career paths
What’s New?
On July 24, Seattle Humane was proud to welcome the Fur Fighters Caucus, a bipartisan group of WA state legislators committed to supporting animal welfare issues, to our campus for their meeting. The Caucus, led by Rep. Amy Walen, was founded in 2021 to champion bills that protect animals in WA state. Caucus members were joined by local animal welfare advocates to review recent policy successes and discuss priority areas for the upcoming legislative session in January 2024. We are grateful to be aligned with our many peer organizations in pursuing these aims as we find new ways to grow our impact together.
Thank you to all the legislators, voters and animal welfare organizations working together to improve the lives of animals here in WA state. To learn more about recent legislative wins and animal welfare bills, visit the WA State Legislature online.
Learn more!
You’re invited to explore in your own time some of the resources we’ve found informative as we’re identifying our advocacy priorities and where Seattle Humane can have a lasting impact.
- Best Friends Campaign to End Breed-Restrictions by Insurance Companies
- HABRI: 2021 Pet-Inclusive Housing Report
- Pet Animal Ownership In Housing (Colorado) – Animal Legal Defense Fund (aldf.org)
- HUD Pets & Housing guidelines (2020)
- Policy Solutions for Co-Sheltering People and Animals Together
- Seattle Pets and People Landscape Analysis
- ASPCA – Keeping People with Pets
- https://petsandpeopletogether.org/
- Seattle Area Animal Shelters Say Inflation Is Making More People Surrender Pets – The Seattle Times
- Bills
Here’s how you can help!
Earlier this summer, Representatives Jason Crow (D-CO), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced the bipartisan Providing for Unhoused People with Pets (PUPP) Act to Congress. If passed, this bill will establish a grant program administered by USDA with the goal to help local governments and nonprofits that provide shelter or permanent supportive housing to retrofit proper to accommodate unhoused individuals with pets, while providing additional veterinary services—including spay and neuter surgery, vaccinations and other basic veterinary care. The PUPP Act will help ensure families, veterans and other people experiencing housing insecurity with pets don’t have to make the heartbreaking choice between shelter and their four-legged family members.
On any given night in America, nearly 600,000 people experience homelessness, among them veterans, women and children. The pandemic has worsened the problem. While various reasons may lead some unhoused people to refuse available shelter, a primary reason cited is the scarcity of pet-friendly emergency or temporary housing. A 2017 study revealed that 48 percent of unhoused pet-owning people reported being turned away from shelters because of pet policies.
Seattle Humane supports this bipartisan effort and today, we call upon our Rescue Squad to email and call your local representative to urge them to co-sponsor the PUPP Act. Below is draft language you can personalize in your message. Thank you for joining us in support of the PUPP Act!
Dear REPRESENTATIVE NAME:
I was so pleased to see the bipartisan Providing for Unhoused People with Pets (PUPP) Act (H.R. 3957) introduced earlier this summer by Jason Crow (D-CO), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Nancy Mace (R-SC). As your constituent and animal welfare advocate, I write to ask you to cosponsor the PUPP Act today. This is an incredibly important piece of legislation aimed at keeping pets with the people who love them, especially during times of housing transition and insecurity.
The number of homeless families, veterans, and other Americans has increased drastically, jumping 20 percent between 2020 and 2021. Adding to their trauma and stress, many of these people often face an impossible choice: either accept available shelter or face losing their beloved pets due to the lack of pet-friendly interim and permanent housing options. The emotional well-being that pets bring to people in crisis cannot be overstated. For unhoused people, their pets provide companionship, comfort and a sense of security.
As a Seattle Humane supporter, I believe in the human-animal bond and the PUPP Act would help address a root problem leading to pets being surrendered to shelters in our region. I hope you will choose to join your colleagues in bipartisan support of the PUPP Act.
Thank you for your consideration and for all that you do for our community.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
Want to share your thoughts? Email us at advocacy@seattlehumane.org We look forward to hearing from you!