HSUS Unloads B.S. on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

We’ve heard one hysterical argument after another as the Humane Society of the United States desperately fights regulation of undercover videotaping at livestock facilities. The proposals would require HSUS to turn over footage to law enforcement authorities within 24 or 48 hours of recording as a way to try to stop animal abuse by rogue employees faster. Why these bills? Because all too often animal liberation activists sit on the footage for weeks or months while animal cruelty is occurring for PR purposes. They should want to stop it immediately.

Yesterday, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle had the gall to compare HSUS investigators to people who recorded footage of the Boston marathon bombings. We can’t believe he said that with a straight face.

People who recorded footage of the bombings turned over footage promptly to law enforcement authorities, which enabled them to ID the bombers a few days after the killings. HSUS is trying to do just the opposite—it is fighting proposals to have law enforcement informed of the footage in a timely fashion, instead pushing for a Wild West system where HSUS activists can sit on the footage for as long as they like. HSUS could hold and splice footage for weeks, months, or maybe even years, whatever helps them stage a nice PR event.

Imagine if witnesses to the Boston bombing took it on their own accord to not turn over footage to the FBI or Boston police. The nut-job bombers could still be on the loose plotting another attack against innocent civilians.

The fact that Pacelle has resorted to bogus—and nauseating—analogies is actually quite helpful in showing how weak the HSUS arguments against these bills are. Maybe his flim-flam can fool the L.A. crowd, but we doubt he has as much clout among Middle America. And perhaps an inquiring TV host will ask him, “Why does HSUS want animal abuse to continue for weeks or months while it films it?”