What We've Done
A Longstanding Commitment to Animal Welfare
This initiative did not begin with a piece of legislation. It grew from a longstanding commitment to protecting animals from cruelty, exploitation, and inhumane treatment.
The Lychee Project
In 2019, John Lekas became actively involved in efforts opposing the Yulin Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in China, an event that drew international concern over the treatment and slaughter of dogs for human consumption. Determined to do more than simply raise awareness, Lekas sought to bring the issue to the attention of U.S. lawmakers and retained former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith to lobby Congress in support of efforts to stop the slaughter and sale of dogs for meat. To learn morea bout this project, click HERE.
Grand Barr Dairy
In January of 2026 John stumbled upon an animal abuse case in his own backyard (Nyssa, OR). John immediately took action and connected with key contacts in the investigation. He funded transportation from the rescued goats to their new forever home, The Humane Farming Sanctuary Suwanna Ranch, a sanctuary for abused farm animals. To learn more about this case, click HERE.
That effort reinforced a larger belief.
Meaningful animal protection requires more than awareness. It requires effective laws, enforcement, accountability, and people willing to advocate for animals that cannot advocate for themselves.
Today, that commitment has grown into a broader initiative seeking stronger protections for animals in the United States. The proposed agenda addresses animal cruelty across numerous areas—including hunting practices, farming, animal testing, wildlife management, zoos, transportation, breeding, and enforcement—with the goal of establishing meaningful standards and consequences for inhumane treatment.
Our objective is to create meaningful, lasting change in the way animals are protected in the United States.
This initiative seeks to strengthen animal welfare standards, improve accountability and enforcement, and establish greater protections for wildlife, domesticated animals, and animals used in commercial activities. Through stronger laws, independent oversight, and meaningful consequences for violations, our goal is to help create a future in which animals are treated humanely and those responsible for cruelty or abuse are held accountable.
The bill is designed to establish a powerful federal animal-protection authority and dramatically strengthen animal-welfare regulation nationwide. Rather than addressing one form of animal cruelty, it covers a very broad range of activities—hunting, farming, laboratory testing, zoos, wildlife management, animal transportation, breeding, imports, and online animal-cruelty content—and BACKS those restrictions with federal felony penalties.