animal rights

An organization with a name as misleading as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) would be hard to find, unless the animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is considered. Both of these radical groups work to eliminate the use by humanity of all animals for any purpose, including farm animals and pets. In order to achieve this goal, they propose intermediate steps, such as banning certain types of common farming methods that, if adopted, would make
commercial farming impossible and raise the price of meat beyond the ability of most people to purchase it. These groups also oppose the use of animals to test medicines which may save millions of people’s lives, and relieve the suffering of millions of others. They maintain strong lobbies in the federal and state governments, and are currently trying to put a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot in Ohio and other states that, if adopted, would make commercial farming economically unfeasible. They oppose hunting at every opportunity, and in West Virginia lobbied strongly to stop Sunday hunting in 2002.
The HSUS also propagandizes against pet abuse, most recently in what appears to be a blatantly copied television ad with spokesperson Wendie Malick, who played aging model Nina Van Horn on the television series “Just Shoot Me”. This ad, which opens with videos of abused and neglected pets while sad music is played in the background, uses Malick to appeal for $19 per month sustaining contributions to adopt an abused animal. Kind of like the “Feed the Children” program, only for dogs and cats.
Unfortunately, this HSUS commercial is apparently a blatant rip-off of an earlier ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) ad, featuring videos of pets while the music of singer Sarah McLaughlin plays in the background, after which Ms. McLaughlin appeals for contributions to the ASPCA. The ASPCA was the first animal care organization in the United States, and has a much more moderate agenda than the HSUS or PETA, and is much more in tune with traditional American values regarding animal care and use.
The HSUS and PETA are connected financially, politically and many times with overlapping leadership to many other radical groups in the United States and internationally that work to curtail Americans’ rights. A partial list of these groups follows:
The Center for Food Safety- a radical group partially funded by the HSUS that promotes extreme measures regarding our food, targeting animal based foods.
Center for Media & Democracy- Both the Center for Media & Democracy and the HSUS were members of the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s Foodspeak coalition. This lobby tries to bypass or overturn laws against false food disparagement claims.
Center for Science in the Public Interest- a group that uses scare tactics to frighten the public about the use of medications in livestock farming.
EarthSave International- ran “Turning Point” ads disparaging commercial farming with the help of HSUS.
Environmental Working Group-another group trying to eliminate laws against making false claims of “food disparagement”.
Farm Sanctuary- works on legislation that would ban “gestation crates” for pregnant sows, and bar veal farmers from raising animals for slaughter. It has been successful in some states.
Sierra Club- its activists have worked with the HSUS against livestock farming. In 2002, Sierra Club members in Florida worked with HSUS to pass a ballot initiative that extends constitutional rights to pregnant pigs.