Eliot Spitzer seems to have it in for New York's animal population.
Even as he plans to divert tax moneys from crucial (and already under funded) spay-neuter and welfare enforcement efforts, the governor wants to pump (no pun intended - really) additional state resources into promoting hunting and fishing, which he believes will boost tourism revenue.
For those of us who don't see how slaughtering unarmed animals qualifies as recreation, much less as "sport," that might be bad enough. But Spitzer wants to up the ante - way, way up.
As part of his outdoor agenda, Spitzer said no new gun law will be adopted without hunting group consultation ...
Naturally, the gun nuts are overjoyed at their luck, if a little suspicious - since Spitzer was previously sort of against the proliferation of firearms. Says Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association:
"If you go back to Gov. Spitzer's record as attorney general, he attempted to limit gun ownership in many ways. For him to do a broad initiative like this is really a very good thing for the hunters of New York state."
Could be that this is a ploy to get the hunting lobby to back down on its opposition to Spitzer's choice to head the Department of Environmental Conservation, Assemblyman Alexander "Pete" Grannis.
Certainly there must be some logic behind it, but until Governor Spitzer's endgame becomes apparent, I think I'll go back and see if I can find exactly when Candidate Spitzer promised to hand over the asylum to the inmates.
Related:
- ASPCA calls for action in re welfare budget cuts. [ASPCA]
