As Washington state residents shift their attention from the Primary Election yesterday and begin to look forward to the General Election this fall, the Tri-City Herald made an editorial argument for Yes On I-1401.

The Tri-City Herald wrote that “voters will have a chance to send a strong message to those who seek to profit from the killing of certain animals threatened with extinction.” By “cracking down on trafficking…the measure would make the sale, purchase, trading of parts or products made from parts of 10 protected species a crime. Penalties could run as high as five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.”

The editorial piece concluded strongly by stating:

“Until we take steps like this to dry up demand, hundreds upon hundreds of elephants will be poached for their ivory and the carcasses of rare rhinos will lie rotting in the African bush so their horns can be ground into black market aphrodisiacs.”

You can see the entire piece on the Tri-City Herald website.