CREDO: U.S Rep. Steve King Defends Animal Cruelty

CREDO Super PAC and Paws Against King said U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, has made excuses for dog fighting and has tried to block Congressional efforts to “crack down on animal abuse.”

The groups plan to protest King at 11 a.m. Thursday outside his campaign office at 711 E. Lincoln Way in Ames. King is in a race against Christie Vilsack for Iowa's new 4th District.

King recently voted against an amendment to the current farm bill --- which the Senate passed in June but has since stalled in the House --- that would have made attending an animal fight or taking children to one a federal crime.

During a July 30 teleconference King said, “On the legislation that passed in the farm bill that says it's a federal crime to watch animals fight or to induce someone else to watch an animal fight, but it's not a federal crime to induce somebody to watch people fighting. There's something wrong with the priorities of people that think like that. There's something wrong with Wayne Pacelle and the Humane Society of the United States way of thinking like that.”

A press release from CREDO said that no federal legislator has worked harder “to thwart the enactment of anti-dogfighting legislation than Steve King.”

King's congressional office didn't immediately respond to questions about animal fighting amendments added to the farm bill, but he later posted a statement to Facebook saying he was being attacked because he opposes their vegetarian agenda.

"The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has long attacked me with outright lies because I have exposed and opposed their anti-meat agenda," said King. "They are now using surrogates to perpetuate lies about dog fighting to advance their political agenda to take meat off of our tables. The reason for their hyperventilation is the amendment I added to the Farm Bill that effectively blocks their nationwide anti-meat agenda."

Both Vilsack and King have released statements urging the farm bills' swift passage. 

Vilsack released a statement on the farm bill Wednesday calling for representatives to come to an agreement on the bill before the current bill expires on Sept. 30. King has also urged for the bill's passage by joining a bi-partisan letter to Congressional leaders.

“The drought makes its passage urgent, now,” King said in a statement he released on July 25.