Wendie Malick to appear at Lobby Day rally
At a noon rally, actor and animal advocate Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland) will join U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Virginia) and HSUS President Wayne Pacelle on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol to promote the four bills as well as several pending wildlife protection statutes.
'You're their boss'
Organizers have arranged a full day of meetings for the citizen lobbyists with legislative aides in lawmakers’ offices.
On Sunday about 300 participants packed a conference meeting hall to receive encouragement, thick information packets, and explanations on everything from the details and importance of the proposed legislation, to etiquette and strategy for the meetings, to what to wear and how to use the Metro with tickets provided by HSUS.
To calm participants’ nerves about their upcoming one-on-one conversations with the aides, HSUS Vice President of Government Services Nancy Perry offered the services of the organization’s government affairs staff.
“They will be here all day so whatever questions you do have that we don’t get to this morning can be answered," Perry said. "If you want some practice before you go they will go through a role play with you. Some people have butterflies before they lobby. You can help get rid of those. They’ll run you through an exercise to help you feel more comfortable.”
Richard Patch of the Humane Society Legislative Fund also provided reassurance about talking with lawmakers' staff. “It’s going to be easy. You’re their boss. You’re their employer. They care about what you think. And it’s your job to tell them what they need to do in order to continue their employment in Congress. So you’re going to be great.”
'I'm making a difference'
Charlotte, North Carolina book author Susan Lurz said that she has been attending TAFA and the annual Lobby Day for three years. “When I come up to this event every July I learn so much—I just soak up all the information—things I’d never know about if I just stayed back in the North Carolina mountains. Then I take it back to my home state. I also love doing the Lobby Day, being at the Capitol, going to my senators’ and representatives’ offices and talking things over with them. It really does make me feel that I’m making a difference. I’m supporting animal rights and helping in any way I can.”
Lurz wrote Hidden Mountain, the first in a series of novels for readers ages 8 to 12 titled Sweetwater Animal Society, which she said have “a strong emphasis on self-respect and respect for all living things.”
Asked why she plans to participate in Lobby Day, 16-year-old Danielle Bradley of San Diego said, “Working for animal causes has been my passion for as long as I can remember. It’s always something I’ve known I was going to do. I thought this would be a wonderful chance to learn what I can do, to learn to take the steps and take action for the animals and do what I’m passionate about.”
Animal Beat will follow Danielle Bradley and her mother Penny Bradley on their Capitol Hill Lobby Day. Please visit this page again for an upcoming article about their experiences.
Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is the author of 17 novels for
publishers including Avon, E.P. Dutton, and Simon & Schuster, and
hundreds of articles for publications such as National Geographic
Traveler, San Francisco Chronicle, and Veggie Life. She wrote a
teleplay for CBS and short fiction for The Bark magazine. With coauthor
Shelley Frost, she wrote Your
Adopted Dog
(The Lyons Press). Holding a B.A. in Environmental Science Studies and
a lifelong interest in animal issues, she spends a lot of her time
battling a severe addiction to dogs.
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