U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who raised a lamb named "Susie" in his farmhouse in the 1960s, said Wednesday he doesn't want cats and dogs slaughtered for meat in the United States. But U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, is opposing a federal ban on the killing of dogs and cats for human consumption, while two other Iowans in Congress — Reps. David Young, R-Van Meter, and Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa City — are co-sponsors of legislation supporting such a prohibition. Grassley, a New Hartford Republican, was asked during his weekly teleconference with Iowa reporters about provisions in House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill pending in Washington, D.C., that would prohibit the slaughter of dogs or cats for human consumption. The provisions would also ban the transport of dogs or cats, or dog or cat parts, for human consumption. Grassley, a lifelong farmer, initially suggested he opposed such a ban, saying he has supported the slaughter of horses because people in some places in the world, such as Europe, may want to eat horse meat. "I don't want horse meat. I don't want dog meat. I don't want to eat cats, but if somebody wants to eat them, let them eat them," the senator said. But Grassley phoned the Des Moines Register shortly after the teleconference call to clarify his remarks. He proceeded to tell a story of how he doesn't even eat lamb meat, explaining how there were triplets in his farm's lamb flock in 1967 and one lamb named Susie had to be raised in his house. Susie lived to be 12 years old, but even when she was older, she wanted to come into the house, he said.
U.S. Rep. Steve King is picking a fight with the Humane Society of the United States. On Jan. 29, the congressman from western Iowa tweeted the following: “The Humane Society of the United States, I have long referred to as the vegan lobby, is raising money again. Objective: animals = 2 people.” This tweet triggered a flurry of responses from people accusing King of supporting dog fighting and being an animal hater. That, in turn, prompted King to emphatically state that he does not support dog fighting. Then he added one ill-advised suggestion: “You can check my record.” But we already know what his record show right? – Read below: His explanation for this baffling statement? Since humans are allowed to fight, why not allow dogs as well? ‘It’s wrong to rate animals above human being’ King opinatined during an interview at a town hall. "There is something wrong with society to make it a crime to watch dog fighting, but there is no law that bans somebody to watch people fight". An audio recording of his statement can be listened to below in the video.
If we take King’s statements into account, then society should be allowing animals to enroll in university and get pets to pay their taxes. The fundamental difference between humans and animals is that humans have a choice. If a person wants to be a professional boxer, for instance, he is entering a bout fully aware of what he is doing. It is his choice. Dogs are certainly not asked if they are willing to bite each other until they die just so humans can be entertained. Those dogs are defenseless, they are MADE to do this against their will! Unfortunately, Mr. King has a lot to catch up. I have also learned that this is not the first time Congressman King has sparked outrage in the animal rights community.
In February 2010, King tweeted that he chased and shot a raccoon because the helpless animal had tried to get into his house during a powerful storm.
In July 2012, King strongly opposed the McGovern amendment (in connection to the 1012 farm bill) that would have established penalties for knowingly attending an animal fight and for bringing underage children to such events.
King was also one of the members that voted against an upgrade of penalties for transporting fighting animals across state lines in 2007.
