Officials of the Humane Society Legislative Fund say they are urging the ouster of 4th District Congressman Scott DesJarlais, who is opposed by state Senator Eric Stewart.

The group said, "In his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Scott DesJarlais scored “zero” on the Humane Society Legislative Fund’s ratings of lawmakers, and has been active in efforts to thwart enforcement of the Horse Protection Act and passage of legislation to make it a crime to bring a child to a dogfight or a cockfight."

Meanwhile, Rep. DesJarlais hit the October unemployment numbers.

He said, “Today’s disappointing jobs report proves that the Obama Administration’s four years of trillion dollar deficits, failed ‘stimulus’ spending, excessive government regulations and threats of tax increases on small businesses have failed to strengthen our economy and create jobs. In fact, it is making the problem worse.

“Eric Stewart has stated that he supports President Obama and his policies that are costing jobs right here in Tennessee. He believes in the same ‘government knows best’ approach that led to 43 months of unemployment above eight percent and nearly $5 trillion dollars in new debt.

“In Congress, I’ve been proud to help lead an aggressive effort by House Republicans to identify and eliminate barriers to job creation and economic growth. We have passed legislation that would reduce miles of bureaucratic red tape, bring down energy costs, reform our tax code and eliminate job-crushing deficits. Unfortunately, many of these efforts have been blocked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“My opponent supports President Obama’s approach of continued government expansion. I believe that the path to a brighter future will only be achieved by empowering American business owners and entrepreneurs.”

Michael Markarian, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, said, “Caring for God’s helpless creatures is a measure of character, and Scott DesJarlais has failed that test. He not only voted against an effort to crack down on bringing children to dogfights, but he’s also tried to undermine efforts of the USDA to enforce laws against the criminal practice of horse soring.

”That issue was in the news in Tennessee and throughout the nation after an undercover video investigation into the handling of horses by Jackie McConnell, a former Hall of Fame trainer of Tennessee Walking Horses. McConnell pleaded guilty to violations of federal law and is now facing state anti-cruelty charges. DeJarlais wrote al etter stating he is “concerned” about USDA’s enforcement actions, and believes “they are unacceptable and create great uncertainty for the industry.

”DesJarlais scored a zero out of 100 percent on the Humane Scorecard for the 112th Congress, failing to support a single animal welfare policy and voting against every animal welfare measure that came to the House floor."

He said Rep. DesJarlais has:

• Voted in the House Agriculture Committee to oppose an amendment to make it a crime for an adult to bring a child to a dogfight or cockfight (AMDT.32/H.R.6083). The amendment was approved by the Agriculture Committee, and the underlying House bill has 226 cosponsors, including 78 Republicans. The Senate passed a similar amendment by a vote of 88 to 11.
• Voted to allow American trophy hunters to import the heads and hides of polar bears killed for sport in the Arctic, even though polar bears are listed as a threatened species (H.AMDT.1008/H.R. 4089).

• Voted twice to waste taxpayer dollars on subsidies to massive factory farms, which thrive on taxpayer giveaways that keep animal feed artificially cheap, jeopardize public health, the environment, and animal welfare, while also driving smaller and more humane, sustainable family farms out of business (H.AMDT.124/H.R.1) and (H.AMDT.478/H.R. 2112).

• Voted to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on the use of aerial gunning, toxic poisons, steel-jawed leghold traps and other inhumane methods of killing predators as a federal subsidy. (H.AMDT.471/H.R.2112).

• Not co-sponsored any of the bills to crack down on puppy mills, end the use of chimpanzees in invasive experiments, or reform the egg industry which is the top legislative priority for that agriculture sector.