Steve Novik

Why we endorsed Steve Novik for Portland City Council

We endorsed Steve because he takes animal welfare seriously and looks closely at the facts before he votes. As the deciding vote on Portland’s foie gras ban, he didn’t take the decision lightly. He looked into how other cities like New York and Pittsburgh had handled similar bans and brought that research into the council debate.

What we appreciate about Steve is that he was willing to speak candidly about his own values, including his personal choice not to eat octopus, and to let that reflection guide his vote. He acknowledged it’s an emotional issue and that reasonable people can disagree, but he ultimately couldn’t condone force-feeding animals for a delicacy.

What we appreciate about Steve is that he was willing to speak candidly about his own values, including his personal choice not to eat octopus, and to let that reflection guide his vote. He acknowledged it’s an emotional issue and that reasonable people can disagree, but he ultimately couldn’t condone force-feeding animals for a delicacy.

We’re proud to endorse Steve Novick. He exhibits the kind of independent thinking that makes real progress for animals possible.

Questionnaire Responses

Background

Question: Can you briefly tell us a story that impacted the way you feel about animals?

Response: I think my feelings toward animals have never undergone a dramatic change. A story that confirmed my affection for goats: when I was.a boy we had five acres and goats, which sort of lived in a corral, but they could jump out of it whenever they wanted to. They never went far, though. One day the whole family was outside and realized we didn’t see any goats anywhere. We looked and looked. We went up and down the road. No goats. We were distraught. We gave up and went indoors. The goats were all in my parents’ bedroom, looking out the big picture window, kind of as if they were watching TV. They had wandered in through the open front door while we were outside.

Climate-Friendly Food & Fair Competition

Question: Currently, the federal government heavily subsidizes animal-based foods despite their cruelty, environmental impact, and damage to public health. Would you support policies to even the playing field and promote climate-friendly food, locally, to, in the words of Portland’s Climate Emergency Workplan, “Reduce carbon from the consumption of food”?

Response: Yes, although I note that methane, not just carbon, is a major food-based climate polluter.

Exceptionally Cruel Animal-Derived Products

Question: Certain products made from animals are made using especially cruel practices. Bans of specific products have ample precedent, notably with Statewide bans of fur and foie gras in California. Would you support a policy to ban a specific luxury animal product, such as fur, foie gras, lobster, veal, or shrimp?

Response: Foie gras for sure. I’d feel a little hypocritical about banning fur because I don’t know that wearing an animal is much worse than eating one, so if we ban fur, should we ban beef? I don’t actually know why shrimp is cruel. And would like to hear more about veal and lobster.

The Use of Dangerous Poisons

Question: The City of Portland currently uses rat poison in city parks that is illegal in California because of the harm it causes to rodents, birds, other wildlife, pets, and children. Death by poisoning is widely considered to be a form of extreme suffering, often taking multiple days to kill. Would you support policies to minimize death by poison, such as a transition of city government to using fertility control instead of glue traps and rodenticide?

Response: I would like to but have not researched it and don’t know if fertility control can address an exploding rat population. But to be honest I also don’t know what the reasons are for rat eradication to begin with. Maybe sometimes the city should just leave the rats alone, so I need education across the board.

Non-human Family Members

Question: Companion animals are important members of Portlanders’ families. Would you support policies to protect them, such as inclusion of companion animals in disaster shelters or a ban on cat declawing?

Response: Yes.

Other

Question: What else would would you like to share? Please add anything else that might be helpful regarding your past or current support for pro-animal policies. 

Response: We need to as much as possible allow companion animals, not just in disaster shelters, but in homeless shelters.A pet may be the best thing in a houseless person’s life. ## I do not think climate activists have focused enough on food. Food emissions are about 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, but 10% is a lot. I think politicians (except maybe Cory Booker) are afraid to talk about it because they are afraid of being accused of wanting to ban hamburgers. And I think many people have the mistaken idea that transportation of food, rather than production, is the big source of emissions. We need to let people know that something they can do for the planet is eat less beef and more lentils and chickpeas. I would encourage and perhaps require food establishments to post charts showing the relative climate impact of various kinds of food. Just to let people know that, whether they care about animals or not, if they care about climate change, having.a more plant-based diet is something they need to consider. As a kid I was obsessed with wolves. In my current job, I was pleased to be Attorney General Rosenblum’s contact with the Michigan AG’s office, which drafted an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit to restore Endangered Species Act protection to the gray wolf, an amicus brief which AG Rosenblum joined. (And the effort was successful.)