This is a two-page selection (pp. 6-7) from Protecting All Animals: A Fifty-Year History of The Humane Society of the United States, the 2004 book by HSUS historian Bernard Unti.

In this excerpt, Unti examines the earliest history of HSUS's programs. In particular, he describes a system of regional and local branches through which HSUS directly participated in the funding and operation of pet shelters:

The original bylaws of The HSUS provided for its ownership and operation of shelter facilities through established branches conceived as integral units of the parent organization. Such ownership proved to be impractical on several grounds, but it did not prevent The HSUS from becoming deeply involved with local animal shelters and their problems. Ultimately, it did so by establishing an affiliates program to forge closer ties to local societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals.

In the paragraph preceding these two pages, Unti also lists HSUS's "principal activities" during the 1950s—including "support for local [humane] societies and individuals trying to form them," through which HSUS was "determined to raise the quality and extent of humane work at the local level."

This is a two-page excerpt from the 1997 book Slaughterhouse, written by former HSUS investigator Gail Eisnitz.

Eisnitz notes that former HSUS Vice President for Investigations David Wills was hired by HSUS during her investigations of slaughterhouse conditions. Eisnitz takes issue with Wills' approach towards investigatory work, writing:

My new supervisor focused on splashy, symbolic animal issues that brought him airtime and column space...Int the meantime, he instructed me not to speak to the media and attempted to undermine the slaughterhouse investigation by depriving it of funds. While this vice president was traveling around the world wining and dining on HSUS's tab, I was defiantly continuing to provide my documentation to the media, and futilely pleading with his supervisors at HSUS to support the investigation.

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This file contains two brief excerpts (pp.250-257; 266-267) from Ted Kerasote's book Bloodties: Nature, Culture, and the Hunt (Kodansha Globe, 1994, out of print).

Bloodties is the source of several controversial quotes attributed to Wayne Pacelle, CEO of HSUS. They resulted from in-person interviews the Kerasote conducted with Pacelle in January 1992.

Among the most interesting bits of Bloodties:

1. [Pacelle:] "I've always had an affinity for wildlife, and the direct assault made on that wildlife by hunters and trappers has always infuriated me ... At the same time, I don't have a hands-on fondness for animals. I did not grow up bonded to any particular nonhuman animal. I like them and I pet them and I'm kind to them, but there's no special bond between me and other animals..." (pp. 250-251)
2. —"Do you think that people were once a natural, interactive part of their ecosystems?" I ask.
   —"Maybe before the invention of agriculture," he says. (p. 253)
3. —"[W]ould you let people hunt for food if they did it respectfully?"
   —"Well, it's a good question," he says, pondering what he's about the say. "I think that I would campaign against it. Yes, I think that I would." (p.254)
4. —"[A]re you a proponent of endless agriculture for endless people?"
   —"Oh, no, no. I don't believe in the green revolution as a means of feeding the world, and I certainly don't plan to have children. I take it as a very serious personal responsibility not to put another consumer on this planet." (p. 255)
5. After stopping for potato chips, pretzels, and beer, and making only two more wrong turns, we find Heidi Prescott's town house. She's the national outreach director for the Fund [for Animals] and is famous—the first person to go to jail for animal rights. Rustling leaves with her feet, during a public hunt at a Maryland wildlife management area, she was fined five hundred dollars under a state law that forbids the harassment of hunters. Refusing to pay the fine, she spent fifteen days in jail, which opened her eyes to the plight of inmates.
   
   Heavy set, jovial, and blonde, she has told me, "If I gave up animal rights and zero population work, I'd go into prison reform." At twenty-nine, she's already had her tubes tied for four years and declares that she's "never regretted the decision." After all, "population is the bottom line." (pp. 255-256)
6. —"About fishing ... do you avoid campaigning against it because there isn't a ground-swell movement in our culture to eliminate it?"
   —"That is correct. We're out to minimize suffering wherever it can be done, and wherever our limited resources can be utilized most effectively—abusive forms of hunting for now, all hunting eventually."
   —"And fish aren't furry and cute."
   —"That's right."
   —"How about pets, Wayne? Would you envision a future with no pets in the world?"
   —"I wouldn't say that I envision that, no. If I had my personal view perhaps that might take hold. In fact, I don't want to see another cat or dog born. It's not something I strive for, though. If people were very responsible, and didn't do manipulative breeding, and cared for animals in all senses, and accounted for their nutritional needs as well as their social and psychological needs, then I think it could be an appropriate thing. I'm not sure. I think it's one of those things that we'll decide later in society. I think we're still far from it." (p. 266)

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This is a two-page excerpt (pp. 64-65) from Wesley J. Smith's book A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement (Encounter Books, 2010)

In this excerpt, Smith explores the devious nature of HSUS's legal strategies, using its crusade against Hudson Valley Foie Gras as a case study. He also examines the animal rights movement's goal of awarding legal "standing" to animals as a way to increase the cost of raising livestock for food.

We believe reproducing this material constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.