From the Center for Consumer Freedom

From the Center for Consumer Freedom: This is a great organization!!! https://www.agweb.com/livestock/beef/blog/the_independent_cattleman_147/hsus_and_peta_18631/ Despite the words “humane society” on its letterhead, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is not affiliated with your local animal shelter. Despite the omnipresent dogs and cats in its fundraising materials, it’s not an organization that runs spay/neuter programs or takes in stray, neglected, and abused pets. And despite the common image of animal protection agencies as cash-strapped organizations dedicated to animal welfare, HSUS has become the wealthiest animal rights organization on Earth. HSUS is big, rich, and powerful – a “humane society” in name only. And while most local animal shelters are under-funded and unsung, HSUS has accumulated $113 million in assets and built a recognizable brand by capitalizing on the confusion its very name provokes. This misdirection results in an irony of which most animal lovers are unaware: HSUS raises enough money to finance animal shelters in every single state – with money to spare – yet it doesn’t operate a single shelter anywhere. In 1986, John McArdle, then HSUS’ Director of Laboratory Animal Welfare, told Washingtonian magazine that HSUS was “definitely shifting in the direction of animal rights faster than anyone would realize from our literature.” The group completed its animal-rights transformation during the 1990s, changing its personnel in the process. HSUS assimilated dozens of staffers from PETA and other animal-rights groups, even employing John “J.P.” Goodwin – a former Animal Liberation Front member and spokesman with a lengthy arrest record and a history of promoting arson to accomplish animal liberation. The change brought more money and media attention. It is said that a man named John Hoyt guided HSUS into the modern era, and he explained the shift in 1991, telling National Journal, “PETA successfully stole the spotlight…Groups like ours that have plugged along with a larger staff, a larger constituency…have been ignored.” Hoyt agreed that PETA’s net effect within the animal-rights movement was to spur more moderate groups to take tougher stances in order to attract donations from the public. “Maybe,” Hoyt mused, “the time has come to say, ‘Since we haven’t been successful in getting half a loaf, let’s go for the whole thing.’” Quote from The Peta Files blog site, comments discussing the subject: Do animals have a soul? “Of course animals have souls! And you know what's great about that fact? The scum who harm animals and treat them so thoughtlessly while munching on their tortured corpses will find out when they die. Then they will find (remember) that they can communicate with all beings via telepathy. Yes, they have been munching on the bodies of murdered beings with souls! Spiritual beings who are equal to them in every which way, and might I say, in many cases more advanced than the ignorant and presumptuous human being.” I once met personally with some PETA operatives from St. Louis, Mo., for a detailed discussion about animal rights and animal welfare. Following that meeting, I determined that like HSUS, PETA had a very selfish motivation: The individuals I met with actually believed all animals were reincarnated former humans. By spaying a bitch, I was performing surgery on a possible former relative and I was interfering with the karma of that animal. By slaughtering a fat lamb, I was slaughtering my possible former aunt. How do you deal with that kind of thinking? The long-range goal of both HSUS and PETA is to turn all animals loose on the land and let nature takes its course. Nature is so kind, isn’t it. Ever witness a group of hens gang up on a weaker pen mate? We don’t have the term “hen pecked” in our vocabulary for nothing! Ever watch a film of a lion seizing a little antelope by the throat and slowly choking it to death, while the other lions in the pride begin to eat the little antelope before it has actually choked to death? Yes, nature is so kind. Survival of the fittest is cruelty at its finest. Ruminant animals are prey animals and were created for that purpose, among others. Ruminants are a literal walking, breathing miracle. How do we, as livestock producers, deal with people whose goal is not animal welfare, but the elimination of all animal ownership, the establishment of rights for animals that will be equal to that of people, and the ultimate elimination of meat consumption? Well, you don’t ignore them! At the same time, national beef associations and their state affiliates are using the HSUS hysteria just as HSUS uses their own falsely generated hysteria to raise funds and focus attention upon itself. In Missouri, the Missouri Cattleman’s Association (MCA) has, in recent years, taken thousands of USDA (taxpayer) dollars to coerce their members into obtaining a premises identification number for the now-defunct NAIS system promoted by both the WTO and the OIE, while doing nothing to stop the consolidation occurring in the beef cattle industry that has caused producers in Missouri to sell off 400,000 mother cows since 2006. You can’t open a Missouri farm paper or periodical without seeing an article written by MCA’s executive director concerning the danger of HSUS to Missouri cattle producers, yet when asked about the massive loss of cows in Missouri, he simply responded publicly that the loss of mother cows is Missouri represented hobby farmers leaving the business. The average cowherd size in Missouri is 33 cows, so by that standard, we all are hobby farmers in Missouri. His response represented a complete laissez faire attitude about the anguish Missouri cattle owners are experiencing in the marketplace. My point is very simple: HSUS is a very real and current problem, and they must be addressed appropriately and forcibly. But focusing cattle producers primarily on the dangers of HSUS – while simply ignoring the fact that cattle producers are losing record amounts of equity, rapidly reducing cowherd size, and getting out of the business – is unforgivable. Having a ’business as usual’ attitude and philosophy while the house burns down around us is not the time to say “It seems hot in here.” It is time to call the fire department. Better yet, maybe some preventative action would have been the best plan. Shame on so-called beef industry and cattle industry leaders for focusing attention on HSUS while, at the same time, they do nothing to turn the tide of consolidation that is flooding the independent beef producers of the United States and Canada. Now don’t get me wrong here. We need to fight HSUS and PETA to maintain our constitutional rights to own and raise livestock. I know their ultimate goal is to eliminate ownership of animals within the United States, but if we are out business, like so many of my former dairy and swine clients are today, HSUS and PETA are immaterial. HSUS and PETA don’t count for those who don’t own animals. If we are forced out of business, what difference does it make? HSUS and PETA will have then ultimately won the battle, without firing a single shot. http://protecttheharvest.com/who-is-under-attack/animal-rights-vs-farmers/