Feb 28 2010
Rats, Pigs, and Dogs: Oh Boy!
When Wesley J. Smith first told us he was thinking of writing a book about the animal rights movement, our initial reaction was one of very cautious optimism. He already knew a great deal about animal-rights activists’ attacks on biomedical researchers (see the excellent sixth chapter of Wesley's 2002 Culture of Death for a primer that taught us a great deal). But we were concerned that the rest of the animal rights world (pets, food, fiber, entertainment, and such) might pose too broad a subject for any one writer to cover adequately.
Happily, our worries were misplaced. A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy is a winner. (We hope he doesn’t have to pay Ingrid Newkirk a royalty for that book title.) It's meticulously footnoted, full of thoughtfully told stories, and uncompromising in defense of the premise that the “boy” in its title is exceptional—that is, unlike those other three species in the ways that matter most. This book also makes a compelling case—the best we have read anywhere— for the idea that "animal rights" is a system of ideological belief as rigid (and vulnerable to unreasoning abuse) as any religion.
Since this blog is principly concerned with the Humane Society of the United States, we’ll share (with his permission) some of what Wesley writes about that organization; but know that A Rat Is a Pig is a near-encyclopedic examination of the 95 percent or so of the animal rights movement industry that Americans encounter on a regular basis. It’s a must-own volume for farmers, ranchers, dairymen, chefs, sportsmen, pet breeders, reptile hobbyists, biomedical researchers, college students, and well-meaning donors to all kinds of animal charities.
A Rat Is a Pig explores HSUS’s tactics and positions on a number of different issues, but three stand out.
First, HSUS has been quite vocal in promoting itself as a group dedicated to “nonviolence.” (See its policy statement to that effect.) Here’s Wesley’s take on how this plays out in practice:
Peter Singer has opposed violence, as has Wayne Pacelle, the head of HSUS. For example, when a medical researcher’s house was bombed in Santa Cruz, HSUS offered a token reward, a mere $2,500 from an organization with more than $200 million in assets, for the capture and conviction of the culprits—which infuriated other animal rights activists. Steven Best [the terrorism-supporting UTEP philosophy professor] blew his stack for this “treachery,” castigating Pacelle and HSUS both for publicly opposing animal rights terrorism and for the small reward it offered in the Santa Cruz bombing case. [pp. 138-139]
To this, we’ll add the observation that HSUS currently employs a senior staffer who has been outspoken in his support of animal rights terrorism in the past. And that in 2003, when an animal rights fugitive—a criminal still listed among the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists”—fled to escape capture, the FBI found bomb-making materials in his car. They also found a check written to him by Ariana M. Huemer (an HSUS employee), under the driver's-side visor. (Make of that whatever you will.)
So it’s only fair that HSUS’s indignant condemnation of violence gets mixed reviews. At a minimum, you’d think HSUS’s leaders would offer a bigger reward if they were serious. They can certainly afford it.
And then there’s the hunting issue. HumaneWatch readers have already seen how, as the leader of the Fund For Animals, HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle was one of the late 20th century’s most uncompromising opponents of hunting in every form. Wesley believes that Pacelle has softened this stance in his role with the less-radical HSUS:
[M]ost states have outlawed the harassment of hunters, to the chagrin of Wayne Pacelle, who when he worked for the Fund for Animals (now merged with HSUS) told the New York Times, “We believe we have the same right to protect wildlife as they do to shoot wildlife. These laws make it a crime to shout at an animal but it is legal to shoot an animal. This is a strange priority.” Pacelle once called for the total outlawing of hunting, telling an animal rights publication, “We are going to use the ballot box and the democratic process to stop all hunting in the United States … We will take it species by species until all hunting is stopped in California. Then we will take it state by state.” But as the head of HSUS, Pacelle has lowered his sights to argue more reasonably for the legal ban of certain types of hunts that would be found objectionable by many who do not oppose hunting in principle. For example, HSUS supports the Sportsmanship in Hunting Act, which would prohibit closed-range ranches from importing “exotic” animals not indigenous to the United States to be hunted by paying customers (a practice called “canned hunting”). HSUS also seeks to outlaw bear baiting, pheasant stocking, and hunting contests that involve killing as many animals as possible. [pp. 226-227]
For what it’s worth, we don’t think Pacelle went soft on his anti-hunting strategy as a consequence of assuming the reins at the more high-profile HSUS. It’s far more likely that he merely lengthened his timeline and changed his plan of attack. Instead of wiping out all hunting in California as a precursor to a nationwide ban, Pacelle aims to outlaw (nationally) a handful of less-easily defensible hunting practices as a precursor to clamping down on ordinary weekend sportsmen.
Last—and perhaps most telling—is the way HSUS has contorted the American legal system, exploiting every opportunity it can conjure to choke-hold its targets toward extinction. In A Rat Is a Pig, we have an excellent summary of HSUS’s courtroom battles against a tiny New York company best known for producing the delicacy foie gras:
[I]n 2006 the Humane Society of the United States filed a Federal lawsuit against Hudson Valley Foie Gras, described in the HSUS publicity release about the case as a “notorious factory farm.” Foie gras is considered by some to be an especially delicious delicacy, but animal rights/liberationists detest the manufacturing of foie gras because it is made from the livers of ducks and geese that have been fattened through forced overfeeding so that their livers swell to three times the normal size.
HSUS's lawsuit, however, technically had nothing to do with the treatment of Hudson Valley's birds, Rather, HSUS—which is not an environmental protection organization—charged the company with violating the federal Clean Water Act, contending that the farm permitted bird feces to pollute the Hudson River.
The pollution case was not the first time HSUS had filed suit against Hudson Valley Foie Gras. In another case, the animal rights group claimed that the company was delivering tainted food to the marketplace. And just months before filing the pollution suit against the farm, HSUS had lost a suit that sought to prevent New York's Empire State Development Corporation from awarding the farm a $400,000 grant intended to help it upgrade and expand its water treatment facilities. In other words, HSUS first tried to prevent Hudson Valley Foie Gras from receiving state money that would help it run a cleaner operation with regard to water pollution, and then turned right around and charged the company with polluting water. [pp. 64-65, emphasis added]
As Wesley points out, HSUS doesn’t really care about water pollution. (That is, this is not a creative way for HSUS to protect fish or waterfowl.) Rather, water pollution was merely the most convenient pretext on which HSUS could attack a duck farmer who had the temerity to resist his prescribed role in the vegan revolution.
The next logical step in this discussion, of course, is the animal rights movement’s current fascination with turning animals into legal plaintiffs. Again, Wesley is right on target:
[W]hat if instead of HSUS suing Hudson Valley for pollution violations, the company's geese could sue the company directly for abuse? What if animal liberationists could provide lawyers so that animals could bring legal cases? They could easily use their considerable budgets to pay lawyers to flood the courts with lawsuits fair and foul—and thereby tie animal industries into hopeless knots, raising their cost of doing business, and perhaps making insurance companies unwilling to provide coverage for fear of financial losses.
Animals bringing lawsuits? Don't laugh. Granting animals the right to sue—known as “legal standing”—is a major long-term goal of the animal rights movement. (Of course, it would be the liberationists who would bring the cases on behalf of the oblivious animals as their “guardians.”) Moreover, there is a dedicated cadre of lawyers and law students eagerly working toward achieving this and other legal goals of animal rights through the courts.
Observers looking for evidence of the animal rights industry moving into America’s courtrooms need only look to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where President Barack Obama’s top “regulatory czar” (the Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein) openly advocates giving barnyard creatures the same legal standing we routinely extend to children, ships, buildings, and corporations.
Of course, this whole kind of activism—the strategic kind practiced from 36,000 feet up in the air—is precisely what HSUS’s growing legal department excels at.
If A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy has a conscious theme, it is that animal rights strategists like HSUS's have stealthily woven their agenda tightly among the more ordinary threads of our society. It’s everywhere around us, devious and malevolent, at once both recklessly boastful and carefully concealed. And as the book’s subtitle announces confidently, this carries with it an unacceptable human cost.
We emphatically recommend this book for anyone who cares about the future of animal protection and fears that a once well-meaning cultural movement has gone completely off its rails. Wesley J. Smith is a studied voice of common sense whose thoughtful volume could not have come at a better time.
A RAT IS A PIG IS A DOG IS A BOY
By Wesley J. Smith
Encounter Books, 312 pp.
$17.13 at Amazon.com
Related Documents
- Excerpt: “A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy,” Wesley J. Smith, 2010
- FBI Automobile Search Warrant Inventory, Daniel Andreas San Diego, 9 October 2003
Related People
Related Organizations
Posted on 02/28/2010 at 12:59 AM by the HumaneWatch Team
Book Reviews • Animal Agriculture • Courtroom Drama • (62) CommentsComments
I would love to have this book, I have passed on the link to Humane Watch to just about everyone I know, I posted on a showdog list that has 5000 members, told them right where to find you. I would really like to let my other half read it, he is in law enforcement and not a fan of HSUS, but many of his co-workers don’t have a clue they are frauds.
Thank God. We are all of us trying to spread the word, but it is difficult to compete against the high-dollar Madison Avenue campaigns fueled by the dollars that the unsuspecting give to HSUS and PeTA. It is wonderful to have a cogent and well-researched book revealing the truth of HSUS and I applaud Wesley Smith. I have worked in two regions of the country (west and midwest) to stop legislation promoted by animal rights activists, and thanks to this site, I recently wrote every corporate “partner” of HSUS and explained politely why they really do not want to have their good name associated with that group of charlatans. We raise and show American Foxhounds and Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and I have spent the last two weeks building our website. (http://www.redchief.net) One page of it is called The Truth About HSUS, and I will put a link to Mr. Smith’s book there, as well as a link to this site. My own Mom (a pensioner) was duped by HSUS into sending them money for the rescue of animals affected by Hurricane Katrina. She is so furious that they took her money and did nothing (nothing!) for those animals that she has become quite a force for keeping her friends informed about how best to help animals in need. (Think local, ladies!) I am so very grateful for this site, and I hope that we are gaining ground on this scourge. Here’s to Mr. Smith!
I put this book on my Wishlist at Amazon-if I ever can afford a copy, it’ll sit next to Winograd’s “Redemption”. I’ve been involved with posting your links everywhere, especially to those of my friends that see HSUS as all ‘goodness and light’. Every pair of eyes that are opened is one more person aware of the fight against the hypocrisy and contradictions between HSUS and their “mission statement”. Give to your LOCAL shelter and bypass the shysters at HSUS.
GO HUMANEWATCH!
Thanks for mentioning reptile hobbyist in your blog. We are currently fighting a HSUS sponsored bill banning Pythons and Boa Constrictors. Just like hunting they are targeting the easier to achieve bans with pets and working their way toward a total ban.
Working in the animal industry, I see both sides of the story, the good and the bad… but businesses (And they are businesses, not charities) such as HSUS and PETA disgust me. I also find it very worrying that the general public don’t seem to realise that these groups are doing more damage than good! At the moment my voice is pretty small but I make sure that at least my family and friends realise that these people are not the heavenly do-gooders they like to be seen as. Any organisation that puts more money into their pension schemes and propaganda than back to the animals they say they love so much is disgusting. I am a big fan of supporting local charities - that way you know *exactly* where your money is going.
I recently found your blog and am reading it with great interest. I would love to know if there are more books you suggest on the topic as I wish to expand my knowledge on corrupt companies such as these.
In researching a bill that is currently seeking sponsors in the Wisconsin legislature (LRB-0677/2) for an article, “Declassifying Animals as Property”, I discovered that HSUS actually wrote the bill for the Dane County Humane Society, a fact recorded in their board of directors meeting minutes. I often write articles exposing HSUS and the animal rights agenda, have been a guest on talk radio programs on the topic and am active with the Dog Federation of Wisconsin fighting bad legislation. In addition to this bill that seeks to abolish animals as property, we are also facing a bill AB747/SB555, that will raise penalties on animal-related crimes to felony levels, especially if the so-called “crime” is committed in the presence of a child. Both bills are unconstitutional and threaten farmers and pet owners.
I’ve been looking forward to reading this book since I first learned of it. Being a farmer and passionate ag advocate (or agvocate, as we have come to be called) I have followed closely and been actively involved in the recent [yellowtail] and Pilot dust-ups and intend to continue to thoughtfully and respectfully oppose any movement that threatens the honorable and essential existence of animal agriculture.
This looks like a great read.
I’m a reptile keeper and have been fighting anti-reptile legislation proposed and backed by The HSUS nationally and on the state level.
HSUS wants the reptile trade and keeping of reptiles (a $3 billion per year industry) outlawed, immediately.
We’re doing our best and fighting tooth and nail to make our voiced heard at every level to oppose their draconian measures.
Thanks for starting humane watch, it’s been a great tool to spread information about the HSUS.
My website has a section linked to my YouTube account where I’ve posted some videos about legislation aimed at the reptile industry as well as videos about the HSUS and PeTA.
As an FFA advisor, ag ed instructor and farmer, I think my colleagues and I do a fair job of presenting both sides of the animal care spectrum to high school students. I also think that nearly 100% of our students, when confronted by the truth, can see which organizations are really trying to protect animal care as much as they are trying to protect animal caregivers (livestock producers, lab techs, etc), and that HSUS and PETA are NOT in the latter category! I am looking forward to reading this book!
I’m sure you know how hard it is to get some people to realize that the HSUS is not about helping the animals. It is so hard to get the message through that what was once an animal welfare society is now a well heeled animal rights group. I have been sending a number of people to this website since it came up. Keep up the good work.
I have e-mailed everyone in my address book and mention Humane Watch to everyone I talk to in person and on the phone. It is one of my main talking points. I hope everyone is listening! Nest step is a letter to the editor of the local paper.
This book looks like a must-read. I have had many conversations over facebook with people regarding the deception of the HSUS, pretty sure I have influenced a few dollars away from them and back into the local community. So many people have not a clue as to what they’re being duped into when the donate to HSUS.
Great info I’m glad someone is taking the time to watch these jokers. Keep it up.
I am an avid fisherman and hunter and mentor several people through DU and my local archery club. I do everything I can to promote hunting and fishing and other outdoor sports.
Besides passing the word on Facebook, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen about the real agenda of HSUS. Please keep up the good work, it’s giving this dairy farmer some hope.
I’ve handed out the mini printed page of the NY ad to my grooming customers. Also preach to my puppy buyers and write down your web site on their contracts so they never lose it. I have told my legislators that this is the “go to” place for educating themselves.
I’d love to receive a copy of the book. I’m an avid reader. I’ve recommended HumaneWatch to most of my facebook friends and I note that at least one has joined so far. I’m a new fan as well. I’ve also printed several of the flyers and if it ever stops snowing here, I’ll get them out and about.
Thank you for sharing the information. I can’t wait to read the book. As a nurse and farmer, I am very disappointed as what gets presented as if it is fact Thanks.
Animal Rights Industry. I like that description.
I’m talking this fight to all my online and real world friends.
Do I win a book? 
Thank you Wesley Smith! Hopefully this book will reach and TEACH a lot of people about what’s really going on out there. I use Facebook with groups like Humanewatch to try and spread the word to my friends and family about what HSUS is really all about and I’ll tell anyone who will listen what HSUS’s real agenda is. I would LOVE to win this book, but if I don’t, I’ll go buy it anyway (probably more than one and give it to friends, family and fellow dairy producers).
Some Animal Rights Leaders and their corresponding “Avatars”:
Wayne “Two Faced” Pacelle = Rat
Paul “Are the cameras on yet?” Watson = Pig
John “Judiciously Predatory” Goodwin = Dog*
Ingrid “If only I had a #####…” Newkirk = Boy
(*The yappy, dirty little yellow kind.)
I could go on and on…
It is so important to get out the facts about what HSUS and related organizations are doing! Most people still don’t have a clue and make donations.
At my grooming salon I have flyers about AR/AnimalWelfare on the front counter, and if anyone pays with a credit card that displays HSUS or such I ask them if they know what they are really supporting and give them webpages to learn more.
Hello! This is the first time I’ve visited your blog, and there is a lot of information here, I’ll be back! I’m a horse owner, and a writer, and plan on writing blog posts and articles on the out of control animal rights…(um, I really like the way you put “industry”). Thanks for sharing your information!
Thanks for all you are doing. I’ll be writing an editorial about HSUS soon, but recently covered a farmers luncheon where the speaker told the audience about the “truth.” On our blog one reader has questioned the speech and I am supplying him with more facts.
http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1614284.html
I really, really need (okay - want) a copy of this book!!
I sent everyone of my friends on Facebook a invite to the group HumaneWatch. So far many have come over and joined the group!! I’m really happy to see this growing like it is and to have a group that helps people understand how crooked and deceiving the HSUS really is. My mission isn’t finished I’ll keep spreading the word!!!
I blog. I talk to anyone that will listen warning them of the “true” agenda of H$U$. But the majority of my time is spent volunteering for my parent club’s legislative committee opposing H$U$ backed—or “inspired”—legislation: mandatory spay/neuter, breeder “permits, breed-specific legislation, forfeiture/seizure bonds, anti-breeder laws..It’s reached epidemic proportions. I speak at bill/ordinance hearings opposing such measures, resulting in harassment/threats at my home.
Oh, and I have a picture of Whiney Wayne on my dartboard in the office. (Great for stress relief!)
I am a list owner of 2 list and belong to several more. I have been actively passing on information to all the list I belong to and have been active in my state to stop the insane path that HSUS and PETA have been trying to do.
Dear Humane Watch,
I would like to know how to order this book in bulk and send it to all my legislators and county judges, they are the ones who need to read it the most.
Sincerely,
Dedicated animal owner.
I am so happy that someone is finally watching over what they do. I first found out about humanewatch.org from Beef Magazine, and I will be a follower forever! All of the people I know around home with ranches got to hear me talk about how there is finally a watch dog over the HSUS. I posted a link to my facebook page saying if people really wanted to know more about HSUS and how crooked they are, visit your site.
I’ve been blogging about the sleazy, conniving tactics of HSUS for a couple of years now. I also use my job as a professional dog trainer to educate my clients about HSUS.
It’s scary how many average pet owners still think that when they donate to HSUS they’re directly supporting their local shelter. I’m doing my best through writing, work, friendships, family and volunteer work to spread the word that HSUS is an enormous, powerful, animal-rights lobbying group NOT a group of volunteers who rescue, shelter and actually save animals.
Love what you’re doing here!
I have emailed the link to Humane Watch to everyone in my address book in hopes that they will pass it on. I have written letters to editors in all the newspapers we receive, tell them to check this out. Tonight one of HSUS’ heartrending ads came on TV so I called the toll free number and when I got a live person, I used facts and figures from this website to challenge the person on the other end. He kept insisting that 81% of money raised goes to help ‘all their good works’. I told him about Humane Watch and recommended he check out the website, he said he would when he got home. Right!
I stopped at a neighborhood store for pet supplies last week. While the clerk bagged my cat food I carried the bag of litter out to my van. When I came back in for the food he asked me to explain my bumper sticker -
“Animal Rights” Means No Animals Left.
I had just come from a legislative meeting and not having burned off my adrenaline surge yet, I spent a half-hour telling him about the true agenda of the AR industry and the methods by which they advance it. Before I left the store I gave him the URL for the web site that has all the essential information in one convenient place: http://www.humanewatch.org
I’m sure he has visited here, and I hope he will help spread the word to others.
I’m a young attorney for United Kennel Club and a member of the MI Animal Law Section of the State Bar. Through both of these avenues I’ve been trying to spread the word. Animal law sections of state bars are slipping under the radar and many are run by HSUS animal rightists—-which is scary because they have a lot more influence on legislation and cases than you would think. I’m trying to change that—many members of the animal law sections joined because they like animals, have no idea of the difference between animal rights and welfare, and think HSUS is a national animal shelter organization. I’m trying to change that and get the word out.
I think this website is absolutely FABULOUS and I am letting everyone I know about it!!
Somehow, I’ve become the “dog” person in my circle of influence….office, family, neighbors, etc… There are hundreds of thousands of people more qualified than I, but it is a subject close to people’s hearts and minds. They ask many questions and have a hunger to learn.
What I’ve learned is: take the time! Be kind, be generous with your knowledge, be patient…and rationally include the message that there exist wolves in sheep’s clothing poised to take away your need to train the dog not to countersurf.
If curious animal lovers don’t get their information from YOU, they will get it from someone else.
Got 50? (David, you’ve “Got 50” by hundreds….keep up the great work!)
Tracy
I’ve been in the state capitol buildings of several states over years testifying to legislators, and often refuting testimony of HSUS employees who are present. I’ve shared this wonderful website with hundreds of people—thank you for doing this! I spend countless hours spreading the truth about HSUS to animal owners, and this site is a huge help.
Seeing everyone’s comments and ideas is indeed inspiring. Your work will enable the truth to be revealed regarding HSUS and their agenda. Personally, I will do everything I can to help that happen. I really like the idea of the above poster, to add information to our farm websites. I plan to that also. When I do, I’ll post a link. Re: the book-pick me! Pick Me!
David, over at the ACC we love you and your blog. Thanks for helping to shine the light in the Dark Places. I repost lots of your blog posts on the ACC Facebook page… This book is on my Amazon wishlist. Can’t wait to read it…..if I had enough money, I’d buy a copy for every one of our state legislators and send it to them. Hope I win!
It makes me so happy to see that there are so many others whose eyes are being opened to the agenda of the humane society. I post articles from this website to all of my friends. Im currently working to going to veterinary school as a food animal and I am astonished at how many people I know within the preveterinary field are unaware of the actions of HSUS. I talk to as many of my friends, family, and even complete strangers who will sit down and listen in hopes that they will understand that its the people who take care of animals who truly care about animals
I would love a copy of this book. I have been telling people about the secret agenda of the AR movement since the early 90s, when I wrote a paper for college about the San Mateo Ordinance (an anti-breeder law pushed by HSUS in California). It always seemed like I was bailing out the ocean with a thimble. I’m so glad for resources like this—thank you! I invited all of my Facebook friends to join, and it looks like many of them did!
I am very interested in reading this book! I love this movement to educate about the TRUE agenda of the animal rights movement…
I plan on providing information to my puppy buyers about these organizations and urging them to join ADOA or NAIA to fight for our rights to own, love, wear, eat and “use” animals….humanely.
Of course, a link to humane watch will also be included.
SK
I just sent an invitation to everyone on my friend list for this page….......I have several species of animals on my property, and I have a large number of like-minded friends, that I’m sure would be horrified to know what is being done in the name of “humane treatment” for animals. I have been a skeptic of PETA and HSUS for quite some time and I am thrilled to see this page on Facebook. We all need to pull together to solve the problems plaguing the mistreatment of animals, but I don’t think a multi-million dollar charity group is the way to do it.
I have invited all my friends on FB and have decided to share a fact everyday on my status…to try and educate other people…. I am from the ranching world….and also work at a vet clinic….so I have seen first hand these people at work…and I would like them stopped!!!
I posted on my facebook a warning about HSUS. Also have responded to a number of their claims. Do believe we need to band together as it shows it works.
I’ve been writing about these groups for 20 years or more - it’s good to see people, animal owners, breeders etc breaking through the denial of “it won’t happen to them” and they “take good care of animals.” That isn’t what gets raided - volume+perception works.It’s worked for years. And if it looks like it won’t add some threats, bullying, insults and swearing.
Same tactics. 1980s.1990s 2000s Today.
And there’s still breeders saying it won’t happen to them.
1998 dog breeders across CA were warned what was looming in regulations, mandatory s/n, inspections to put breeders out of breeding. “Alarmists” they’ve said. Theirs were show dogs not back yard breeders. How’s that working CA?
It’s about time people band together - it will happen everywhere. Including farms. & the first large dairy that gets hit (precedent already set in CA) will not be pretty. There’s ARAs with badges. (also said in 1998) Wake up.
I would love a copy of this book! I am very happy to be a part of this group. Thank you to all of the well informed people that have informed me, so that I can inform others!
Good review, sounds like an interesting book. I was very pleased to find your site as it fits into what I am trying to do with my site, Voice of The Herd. Its a site for both farmers and consumers and focuses on the truth behind America’s agricultural industry, especially dairy and beef farming, so that people can get hard facts and the other side of the story rather than just the negative media they get pummeled with from HSUS and PETA. I also have a Facebook fan page for the site, and have found a lot of great quotes and links from this site. Thanks a lot and keep up the good work.
I became a FB fan of HumaneWatch, Friends don’t let Friends Support HSUS, Yellow Fail/Yellow Tail, Pilot Travel Centres and posted my comments about HSUS is an extremely harmful money making organization intent on criminalizing our way of life. I’ve posted links on my own FB page, copied salient quotes, contributed my own comments, suggested friends join FB groups to increase awareness of harmful HSUS statements and work.
It’s more than HSUS anti-agricultural issue.
As an Inuk, I personally see how much harm organizations like HSUS can have on our people, our way of life, our ability to even support and feed ourselves and our families. Seven out of ten Inuit children in Nunavut regularly experience hunger! We have a right to our own form of food security, plus a right to develop our own economies through sustainable resource use, which includes our wildlife.
I am a student at NCSU in Animal Science. I am also an officer in an Agricultural Honors Fraternity on campus which hosts an annual “Ag Awareness Week”. We have livestock animals out on our main campus and inform the student public about what the Ag Industry is all about. Part of that is talking to students and letting them know about the misleading information that HSUS and PETA put out. HumaneWatch is going to be incredibly helpful for information when I am talking to people this year. Thank you so much for what you are doing!
I would really like a chance to win this book.
As a freshman in Animal Science at Purdue University, I am constantly learning more and more about the effects HSUS is having on Animal Agriculture and Animal Research. I am working on starting a group here at Purdue (that can hopefully spread nationally eventually) called Animal Agriculture and Research Awareness. The purpose of this group is to educate K-12 about the importance of animal ag and research and to help gain back support for the industry. By educating children at a young age, we can help them understand animal ag and research before PETA and HSUS completely overwhelm the children with their own opinion.
Outside of this, I take as many opportunities as possible to spread the word about the truth of HSUS, including the speech I gave today on the horse slaughter ban and my upcoming persuasive speech on not supporting HSUS.
I was very glad to see HumaneWatch launched and quickly invited all my friends to join. I believe HumaneWatch will be a wonderful resource for those of us speaking out against HSUS. It is up to those of us who know what is really going on to spread the word and this website is an essential and wonderful backup to have!!! Thank you.
To spread the word about the HSUS I use my position as an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor to educate my students on both sides of the argument and how to find facts (not emotions) that prove their points. I teach research skills as well as speaking skills. Since it is an animal class I am able to show weaknesses in the HSUS and educate the students, who then educate parents, about what is going on. I’d love the opportunity to add this book to my arsenal and educate with it. On a personal note I use FB (mostly) to advocate against the HSUS as well as working on a series of articles for newspapers.
THANKS for your efforts! I’ve told all my Facebook friends about this site, and will continue to include info. from the Center for Consumer Freedom in my professional speaking about the animal rights movement and how it is affecting American agriculture.
This book sounds like a great read. Love that you described it a “near encyclopedic examination” of the animal rights movement industry. Industry is the perfect to describe it, as it has become a business designed to turn profits more than save animals. I first learned of HSUS through well educated cattle industry members and have worked hard to educate fellow “Generation Y” folks as well as older generations. It has been a true grass-roots movement to see one by one more people learn about their organization and the corruption that takes place. I started a young cattlemen’s association in our state and immediately started a blog, twitter, and facebook page for the group. I also volunteer as a columnist for our Cattlemen’s newspaper and try to include something about Humane Society of the United States frequently so cattlemen can learn more and educate fellow cattlemen and consumers. I also really try to spread enthusiasm about how easy it is to use social media, no matter how low someone thinks their computer skill level is. The recent stories of Pilot & Yellowtail help prove how advantageous it is to get the word out on HSUS and other organizations via all communication channels. Thank you so much for this great site-it is a resource I have reposted nearly daily and will continue to go to for education and advocacy!
As a teacher, I have to be careful about expressing views and opinions, but outside the classroom, I have found myself explaining to LOTS of people the difference between HSUS and the local humane societies. On facebook recently, I had made this clarification and even posted a link of corporations that support HSUS. I have also been a huge proponent of Issue 2 in Ohio and proudly support our farm bureau organization. The more informed I am, the better I can educate others, so this book would be an asset for me in that effort.
I really hope to receive a copy of this book - if not, I will be out seeking it at the book store!
Thanks for what your doing. We as farmers and ranchers have to stand up and defend our livelyhood. I have been inviting friends to the Humane Watch group. A local FFA and our county Farm Bureau joint forces to educate our community about HSUS. HSUS is trying to get into MO. I would like a copy of the book to share with our county Farm Bureau and others that are standing up to fight HSUS.
May every library get a copy of this book. I have links educating people about the H$U$ on my website, all on it’s own dedicated page. This site is linked to mine, with permission. (Thanks Mr. David Martosko!) Should I win this book, I will donate it to my local library system. If I don’t win it, I will buy a copy and donate anyway. The general public NEEDS to learn about how they are being had. I frequently get into debates with locals via my paper’s comments page when animal issues arise in articles and some poor dupe says that H$U$ could fix the problem. I attended many of the dog law advisory board meetings here in PA when they were creating the new dog/commercial breeder legislation now on the books. We didn’t prevent all the rights violations, but we at least avoided a good many. I personally have to thank Elizabeth Brinkley for getting me involved in spreading the word. She’s a shining example of how educating one leads to educating many.
I have published a number of HSUS articles on my blog, Living with Bird Dogs. Have a look: http://wenaha.blogspot.com
Dog owners in California have, so far, fended off mandatory state-wide spay and neuter legislation that has been sponsored by HSUS through contributions to less known organizations and PACs in the state. They have worked hard, spent money, and lost in the face of grass roots organizations defending themselves and their pets.
The people who uphold the idea of the book title are swine!
Just a thought. It seems that people on this board benefit or make money from the death or use of animals. Why is it not o.k. for other organizations such as HSUS to benefit or make money from keeping animals alive?
Where can i find a recorded phone call of some one calling hsus or lca to complain about animal abuse? where can i find a recorded phone call of some one calling hsus or lca or any other animal rights orginization to complain about animal abuse? i need this so that i can present to my class how simple it is to call if they witness animal abuse or know of unsanitary conditions involving animals.
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Mr. Bush, you will find no such thing. The HSUS does NOT handle cruelty calls. No animal “rights’ organizations do. Only animal welfare organizations actually care for the animals, and you’d have to look in your own local phone book for those numbers. Here in my state, there are what is called “Humane Police Officers”. They are trained as law enforcement by the state, and are sworn in by judges. They must be affiliated with an active, registered non-profit shelter or rescue group. The state police are also required by state law to respond to animal cruelty here, but try telling them that.
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