Bklyn Pols Named 'Inhumane'; Nelson Stands Above


by on Jun 12th, 2009

According to Courier-Life’s YourNabe.com, the New York League of Humane Voters ranked City Council’s Brooklyn delegation as one of the worst in its pet-friendly policy-making.

Their findings show that, on average, the council’s Brooklyn delegation supported humane legislation a paltry 48 percent of the time −− far less than their counterparts in the other boroughs.

But it gets worse: some members of the Brooklyn delegation supported animal welfare issues less than 15 percent of the time, the group discovered.

Representatives from the Sheepshead Bay area are some of the best and worst of the bunch. Lew Fidler of the 46th District voted a meager 22 percent of the time for animal-friendly laws, while Michael Nelson of the 48th District supported animal welfare 75 percent of the time, marking him second best in the borough.

Meanwhile, our neighbors to the north apparently elected the most shameful of the bunch: Simcha Felder of the 44th District (Midwood, Bensonhurst, Borough Park). Felder’s support was ranked at 10 percent. To his credit, it’s a huge jump from the zero ranking he received last year. Maybe he’s trying. Maybe.

The New York League of Humane Voters determined rankings based on how councilmembers voted on recent legislation about horse−drawn carriages, eliminating the authority of the ASPCA over the carriage industry, bills on companion animals, and the ban on chaining animals for longer than three hours.

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  • Lew from Brooklyn

    Interesting that the article does not note the basis for the ratings.

    I assume that my refusal to sponsor legislation that restricted the use of animals in the circus impacted on my rating.

    Frankly, I do not recall a single vote that was cast in the Council regarding the humane treatment of animals in the past two years.

    This article should explain the basis of the ratings so that Council Members cn be judged fairly for the record and not based on some “Fantasy Baseball” score/number which is not explained.

    Lew from Brooklyn

  • Anonymous

    Lew: That’s a fair critique. While my post was originally meant to point readers to the YourNabe.com article, which also lacked that explanation, I’ve decided to look into it a bit myself.

    Their scorecard notes councilmembers’ votes on 10 issues. If I’m reading it correctly, you made an “anti-animal vote” on one issue, supported humane legislation on 2 others, and cast no vote on the remaining seven – which doesn’t quite convince me that you deserve such a low score, nor does it explain how they come to a 22% ranking.

    I’ll send them an email requesting a more complete explanation and share it with readers if/when they respond.

  • Lew from Brooklyn

    Obviously, I am getting marked down for not co-sponsoring the 7 pieces of legislation which of course does not make me anti humane, just not someone who signs on to every piece of legislation that is thrown in front of me. There are almost 2,000 bills and resos in this Council session alone.

    I thank you for your reasonable reply and POV.

    Lew from Brooklyn

  • Lew from Brooklyn

    Interesting that the article does not note the basis for the ratings.

    I assume that my refusal to sponsor legislation that restricted the use of animals in the circus impacted on my rating.

    Frankly, I do not recall a single vote that was cast in the Council regarding the humane treatment of animals in the past two years.

    This article should explain the basis of the ratings so that Council Members cn be judged fairly for the record and not based on some “Fantasy Baseball” score/number which is not explained.

    Lew from Brooklyn

  • Anonymous

    Lew: That’s a fair critique. While my post was originally meant to point readers to the YourNabe.com article, which also lacked that explanation, I’ve decided to look into it a bit myself.

    Their scorecard notes councilmembers’ votes on 10 issues. If I’m reading it correctly, you made an “anti-animal vote” on one issue, supported humane legislation on 2 others, and cast no vote on the remaining seven – which doesn’t quite convince me that you deserve such a low score, nor does it explain how they come to a 22% ranking.

    I’ll send them an email requesting a more complete explanation and share it with readers if/when they respond.

  • Lew from Brooklyn

    Obviously, I am getting marked down for not co-sponsoring the 7 pieces of legislation which of course does not make me anti humane, just not someone who signs on to every piece of legislation that is thrown in front of me. There are almost 2,000 bills and resos in this Council session alone.

    I thank you for your reasonable reply and POV.

    Lew from Brooklyn