Wayne Pacelle

My View

In the maelstrom that is the election, let’s remember that the 2016 election is ultimately about the values we hold dear in our society. Important things, treasured things, life and death things. The future of our children. The health of our environment. The safety of our communities. The security of our nation. Even the interests of the largest non-voting constituency in the nation.

Nothing less than the fate of untold billions of animals – endangered species, pets, farm animals and others – hangs in the balance this time around

Decades of incremental, bipartisan, consensus progress around the humane consideration of animals are up for grabs. Do we continue our forward motion toward a more compassionate world? Or do we retreat into a darker past where animals can be exploited in any fashion thought to bring short-term profit or even wicked pleasure?

Globe-trotting trophy hunters, factory farming titans, puppy mill apologists, advocates for horse slaughter, those seeking to eliminate the protective space of our nation’s parks and refuges – these are just some of the backward-looking people aligned with the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump. That cast includes Trump’s own sons – who prowl the world with that 19th-century eye to slay big and majestic creatures who they line up in their gunsights for trophies and bragging rights.

As a leader within the animal protection movement, I bring a non-partisan approach to elections, wanting all people of good intention to embrace the universal value that cruelty to animals is wrong.

Among its many harms, staying home sends a message that one does not care about making the lives of animals bearable, never mind great.

So together we have a choice this election. Candidate Hillary Clinton has a long and unmistakable record of defending animals against cruelty. She was a leader for animals as a U.S. senator. In this campaign, she framed the issue as plainly as can be: The way our society treats animals is a reflection of our humanity.

Indeed. America is great because of its humanity, its heart. America is great because of its enduring faith in itself and in better tomorrows.

Animals have a magic place in our journey. For the blind, the elderly, the war wounded, the ill, the bedridden, the lonely, animals aren’t just companions, they are sometimes the only warm presence to hold on to, and we are grateful. Millions and millions of us rejoice at the sight of animals in the wild. Consumers have been heard in the marketplace, and food purveyors are reducing the cruelties of intensive confinement agriculture. Entrepreneurs are in hot pursuit of innovations that will reduce animal suffering and strengthen our economy at the same time.

America is great not because of what divides us, but because of what holds us together across the divides. Our compassion for the least among us is one of those undergirding values. We owe them an hour and our wise vote on Tuesday.

Wayne Pacelle is executive vice president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, www.hslf.org.