The Minnesota Legislature adjourned yesterday, May 20, 2013. It will reconvene on Feb 25, 2014. Minnesota Voters for Animal Protection will be publishing a session recap soon. In the meantime, you can click on any of the pages pertaining to a specific state bill affecting animals to see its current status.

Thank you for caring about laws affecting animals in Minnesota!

 Animals Bills 2013

 Minnesota Legislative Calendar

Animals are impacted by all levels of government, and many animal issues can be addressed effectively at the city level. This fall Minneapolis voters will select a new mayor and vote for city council members.

Matt Perry

MVAP is reaching out to candidates to learn their positions on several issues affecting animals in the City of Minneapolis. We want to let you know who the strongest voices for animal protection are!

Tim Springer

May 10, 2013- We are adding Tim Springer, Linea Palmisano, and Matt Perry to our list of endorsed candidates. Springer is running to represent Ward 9, an open seat. Palmisano and Perry are running to represent Ward 13, also an open seat, and we are endorsing both of these exemplary and compassionate candidates.

Linea Palmisano

So far we have endorsed eight candidates!

Ward 1: Kevin Reich

Ward 2: Cam Gordon

Ward 3: Jacob Frey

Ward 9: Tim Springer

Ward 10: Lisa Bender

Ward 12: Sandy Colvin Roy

Ward 13: Linea Palmisano and Matt Perry (dual endorsement)

To learn about other candidates and the election, please visit Minneapolis Elections 2013.

April 29, 2013- Senator Marty introduced legislation, SF 1638, that would prohibit the use of medically important antibiotics in animal feed. MVAP supports this legislation.

There are now three bills pending before the Minnesota Legislature addressing the problems inherent in continually feeding low doses of antibiotics to animals on factory farms. SF 1285/HF 1290 and this new bill, SF 1638, all tackle the issue.

Animals kept on industrial farms are often kept in intense, unnatural confinement. Routine administration of antibiotics in feed is used to keep animals in these intensive and crowded conditions, as well as to promote their rate of growth. Many of the antibiotics given to animals on industrial farms are the same antibiotics used to treat diseases in humans. The use of these antibiotics on industrial farms contributes to the development of antibiotic resistance in disease-causing pathogens. The result is fewer effective antibiotics for medical doctors to use against human diseases. Nontherapeutic use of medically important antibiotics in animal feed contributes to potential harm for humans and unnecessary animal suffering for animals on industrial farms.

SF 1638 defines medically important as a drug that is composed wholly or partly of any kind of penicillin, tetracycline, macrolide, lincosamide, streptogramin, aminoglycoside, or sulfonamide; or any other drug or derivative of a drug that is used in humans or intended for use in humans to treat or prevent disease or infection caused by microorganisms. The bill was referred to the Senate Health, Human Services, and Housing Committee.

The Star Tribune recently published an article about a study that found pathogens resistant to antibiotics in turkey meat, including meat from Minnesota-based companies Cargill and Hormel. You can read the article here.

More information about this legislation can be found here. More information on the issue is here.

See Issues and Legislation: Animal Bills 2013 for a list of bills affecting animals in Minnesota.

Jacob Frey

May 4, 2013- In Minneapolis Ward Conventions today, two MVAP endorsed candidates won DFL nominations! Because Minneapolis is a DFL-dominated town, securing the DFL nomination is crucial to a campaign, and it supplies a candidate with campaign resources and grassroots support necessary to win the general election in November.

Kevin Reich

In Ward 1, MVAP- endorsed incumbent City Council Member Kevin Reich won, and in a competitive race in Ward 3, MVAP- endorsed newcomer Jacob Frey beat incumbent City Council Member Diane Hofstede.

We are glad that these two candidates, who have expressed an interest and willingness to advance animal issues in Minneapolis, have achieved the nomination of their party. Congratulations to them both!

Animals are impacted by all levels of government, and many animal issues can be addressed effectively at the city level. This fall Minneapolis voters will select a new mayor and vote for city council members.

MVAP is reaching out to candidates to learn their positions on several issues affecting animals in the City of Minneapolis. We want to let you know who the strongest voices for animal protection are!

Jacob Frey

May 3, 2013- We are adding Jacob Frey to our list of endorsed candidates. Frey is challenging incumbent City Council Member Diane Hofstede in Ward 3. We encourage delegates to vote for Jacob Frey at the Ward Convention on May 4, 2013.

So far we have endorsed five candidates!

Ward 1: Kevin Reich

Ward 2: Cam Gordon

Ward 3: Jacob Frey

Ward 10: Lisa Bender

Ward 12: Sandy Colvin Roy

To learn about other candidates and the election, please visit Minneapolis Elections 2013.

Animals are impacted by all levels of government, and many animal issues can be addressed effectively at the city level. This fall Minneapolis voters will select a new mayor and vote for city council members.

MVAP is reaching out to candidates to learn their positions on several issues affecting animals in the City of Minneapolis. We want to let you know who the strongest voices for animal protection are!

Kevin Reich

May 1, 2013- We are adding Kevin Reich to our list of endorsed candidates. Kevin is an incumbent Minneapolis City Council Member and is running for reelection in Ward 1. We encourage delegates to vote for Kevin Reich at the Ward Convention on May 4, 2013.

So far we have endorsed four candidates!

Ward 1: Kevin Reich

Ward 2: Cam Gordon

Ward 10: Lisa Bender

Ward 12: Sandy Colvin Roy

To learn about other candidates and the election, please visit Minneapolis Elections 2013.  

April 29, 2013

Great news! After five rounds of balloting, Lisa Bender, MVAP endorsed candidate for Minneapolis City Council Ward 10, won the DFL nomination at last Saturday’s ward convention. She beat incumbent City Council Member Meg Tuthill and 2 other challengers.

In Ward 12, where MVAP has endorsed incumbent Sandy Colvin Roy, no DFL nomination was granted.

MVAP has not issued endorsements in Ward 6, (where Warsame won the DFL nomination, beating incumbent City Council Member Lilligren) or Wards 7, or 11 (where incumbents Goodman and Quincy ran unopposed in their wards and both received the DFL endorsement).

Read more about last weekend’s ward conventions in Twin Cities Daily Planet.

Next up: ward conventions in Wards 1, 3, 4 on Saturday, May 4!

Information on candidates and MVAP endorsements is posted in Elections: Minneapolis Elections 2013. 

Animals are impacted by all levels of government, and many animal issues can be addressed effectively at the city level. This fall Minneapolis voters will select a new mayor and vote for city council members.

Minneapolis is a DFL town. Securing the DFL nomination supplies a candidate with campaign resources and grassroots support necessary to win the general election in November.

That means the crucial time to impact elections in Minneapolis is NOW- when candidates are working to secure the DFL nomination.

Thank you to those of you who attended your caucus last week and are now delegates to your Ward and the City Convention! Your involvement at this stage is crucial and literally paves the way for future policy work.

MVAP is reaching out to candidates to learn their positions on several issues affecting animals in the City of Minneapolis. We want to let you know who the strongest voices for animal protection are!

So far we have endorsed three candidates!

Ward 2: Cam Gordon

Ward 10: Lisa Bender

Ward 12: Sandy Colvin Roy

Visit our page Minneapolis Elections 2013 to see as questionnaires come in and more MVAP endorsements are made.

There was a very short turnaround time between the caucuses and the earliest Ward Conventions and we know the candidates are very busy talking to delegates, but we urge you to contact the candidates in your ward who have not yet responded to us to let them know you care about animal issues and ask them to complete MVAP’s questionnaire.

Thank you for being engaged!