John McCain Remembered By PETA For His Years Of Animal Welfare Advocacy
John McCain will be remembered for many things, like his long Congressional career, decorated military service, and his ardent anti-Trump stance. But there are probably few people who know that he was an animal welfare advocate, who fought for legislation designed to protect them.
In an article in tribute to McCain on its website, PETA thanked the late senator for this legacy. According to the article, his animal welfare legislation focused on some key areas, like whaling, science experiments on animals, equine slaughter, and exotic animal trading, among others.
McCain backed a bill that sought to prevent the trading of bears for organ harvesting. He also advocated for a bill to block the trade of live birds across state lines for cockfighting. Seventeen years ago, he co-sponsored a resolution that went against the protection of whale populations by stymying commercial whaling operations. Four years later, in 2005, he co-sponsored the bill aimed at ending the killing of horses for their meat. That bill is known as the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.
In 2010, he focused his efforts on animals who are used and abused for science experiments. According to PETA, McCain co-wrote a report which slammed some of these endeavors, specifically one where monkeys consumed cocaine, all in the name of scientific research. The experiments identified in the report were all funded by tax dollars.
“I think all of [the projects] are waste,” McCain said in an interview about using animals for research, PETA reports. “[S]ome are more egregious than others but all of them are terrible.”
Animals have lost a friend and defender. PETA remembers Sen. John McCain for his advocacy for animals on Capitol Hill. https://t.co/tuXE0olnJi
— PETA (@peta) August 26, 2018
Senator John McCain passed away on Saturday, August 25, at the age of 81, one day after his family released a statement saying that his treatment for glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, was being stopped. McCain was diagnosed in the summer of 2017 after surgery to remove a blood clot from behind his eye.
As the Inquisitr reported, he is widely remembered as a military officer who survived capture and torture by the North Vietnamese. He ran for president twice. During the first run, he lost the candidacy to George W. Bush. In the second, he lost the presidency to Barack Obama. Despite the defeat, McCain worked with President Obama on bi-partisan initiatives like the “Gang of Eight,” which focused on immigration reform.
CNN reports that both Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush will deliver eulogies at John McCain’s funeral. Before he died, in his last stand against him, McCain requested the absence of President Donald Trump at the funeral.
