Inside D.C.
Will 2010 be Missouri’s year?
Commentary
I’ve just gotten word from the Missouri Cattlemen’s Assn. that HSUS filed the necessary paperwork yesterday with the state attorney general to mount a statewide referendum. The question now is, what’s the goal? Word is Paul Shapiro, the 30-something self-styled HSUS farm animal guru, says the initiative will be focused on puppy mills. Time will tell, I guess.
However, the filing of papers in Missouri begs the question as to whether Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president, will make good on his threat to take a similar path in Ohio in hopes of overturning the recent election victory in that state which created a state livestock standards committee. He vowed he’d not let the voters’ of Ohio get in the way of the HSUS agenda. Again, time will tell.
Let’s hope it’s puppy mills and HSUS has decided it can’t afford to fight a two-front war against legitimate animal users. However, I’m a big believer in forewarned is forearmed.
What this development does in spades is make it crystal clear that we must renew our efforts to put the public on notice that we’re the folks who feed them. Especially at this time of year, let’s take the effort to impress upon our brethren in the cities that without farmers and ranchers, Thanksgiving is less about thanks and a whole lot about hoping someone is giving.
We’ve had too many stupid incidences in the last month to ignore the need to rebuild relationships with our customers. We’ve had undercover video in New York and Vermont exposing idiocy; we’ve had four separate farmers whacked by the feds for illegal drug use in their animals, and we’ve had at least one farmer caught illegally discharging waste into a waterway.
All of these are separate distinct incidences and can be brushed aside as just a really bad coincidence. That’s reality. But reality and perception are two wholly distinct things. Our enemies revel in our mistakes, taking them, exaggerating them and marketing them to the public as the standard operating procedure of our operations.
Start building alliances. State ag groups need to sit down NOW and begin to plan for how they can market their people and their processes to the public. Talk to feed companies, animal drug companies, equipment companies — any company which makes its living off selling to farmers. We need to look beyond ag’s traditional allies and cultivate new friends.
Check them out, and if they seem approachable, sit down with the local, county and state humane societies and animal welfare groups — keeping in mind they’re not affiliated with HSUS for the most part. Ohio enjoyed the support of the American Humane Assn., which in the media is invaluable and steals a whole lot of HSUS’s holier-than-thou status.
Talk with reporters who cover ag and then branch out to those who cover business, those who write food sections, ande those who write about consumers and “lifestyle” issues. Educate these people as to process, product, economic contribution, etc., but impress upon them that the people who grow food in your state are good people.
Talk with legislators — the message is the same, but you’d be surprised how many “friendly” state house folks can run for cover when threatened with awkward headlines and ugly campaigns. Show them you’ll be their ally.
Talk to your processors and the retailers. Make sure they won’t stand silently by if ag is attacked. Again, make sure they understand and appreciate you’re the good guys and will stand with them or in front of them when — not if — they’re attacked.
The message here is simple — prepare now! If you wait until the barn is on fire, you’re simply going to have to build a new — and very different — barn, and one likely not nearly as nice as the one you enjoy today.
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“Let’s hope it’s puppy mills and HSUS has decided it can’t afford to fight a two-front war against legitimate animal users. However, I’m a big believer in forewarned is forearmed.”
you won’t get much support from commercial breeders of dogs using animal rights terms like “puppy mills” and HOPING that the HSUS focuses on one type of commercial breeding over another. We as dog breeders ( small or large.. matters not the HSUS still calls us “puppy mills”.). try very hard to diffuse language like FACTORY FARMS and other terms that the HSUS likes to toss around in support of people who provide us with our food.. YOU… so we sould appreciate it if you did the same.
Substandard operations of any type are an anathma to our professions ( and hobbies)and they shoud be dealt with and we have plenty of laws that do just that currently on the books.
I do hope the farmers and ranchers know that this is NOT a “two pronged war” but a multi pronged Medusa ready to strike at any type of animal use.
So please.. rethink your language…. just aseven the smallest dog breeder does their best.. only to be called a “puppy mill” the same will go for farmers.. the smallest “family farm” will also be tossed in with “factory farms” before you know it.. in fact it is happening right now…
Language DOES matter.. and when it is used agsint people who are SUPPORTING YOU.. it does not feel good..
we are in this together.. let’s not start a war within or hope that the emeny chooses another “target”.. because.
as Churchill said“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.”
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“Let’s hope it’s puppy mills…” With this statement you assume that HSUS has a legitimate beef (no pun intended) to raise with commercial breeders. The term “puppy mill” is no different than “factory farm” and the connotation is no different from their opinion…that being “big is bad.” Please do not buy into that rhetoric or our industry will fall just shortly before yours. Puppy mill and factory farm both need to leave the public vocabulary as both are no better than throwing a racial slur around. If you read the new paper put out by ISAR (International Society for Animal Rights) a couple of weeks ago,you will see finally in black and white that their goal is to eliminate all dog breeding, not to regulate it but ELIMINATE it. And they finally come out in that paper and publicly disclose that their definition of a “puppy mill” is anyone owning 3 intact female animals. Not exactly how you define puppy mill, eh? Before you say ISAR isn’t HSUS, read the report and all ISAR does is go on and on giving HSUS accolades of their efforts to restrict breeders. Last year when HSUS sat down with us to try to get our support for the “puppy mill” bill we first asked them to define puppy mill….they would not and flat refused to do so. Why? Easy, because they want to put an arbitrary limit on the number of animals defining a “puppy mill” and then quickly start ratcheting that number down with each successive legislative session. If they defined it, then they would be stuck with that definition and that goal of limiting further and further would be more difficult.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not segregate commercial dog breeders as something bad or that different than the agricultural community, because we are their first step to getting to you (meaning the agricultural community) further. If I had to guess, this referendum will be something along the lines of putting a legal limit on the number of breeding animals a person/business can have. If they succeed, how long do you think it will be before they go in for a referendum against “factory farms” and try to limit the number of chickens, sheep, cattle someone can own? I would suspect not long.
They have a moniker in CA, “Big is NOT bad, BAD is bad.” It is no different for commercial dog breeders (and I am not one so not coming from that angle). Are there a few sub-standard kennel operations out there? Yes, there are. Is that the norm?? No, it isn’t. Just like you are talking about in this piece…the majority of people in any commercial operation, regardless if we are talking animals or inanimate objects, have a stake in keeping their money making inventory healthy. Kennel owners care deeply about their animals and their welfare no differently than your members care deeply about their animals and their welfare. So PLEASE, do not throw the commercial dog breeding industry under the bus by thanking God that it is them (and coming across as though you think that HSUS has a legitimate reason to be doing that), and not providing as much support as possible in this battle. If HSUS can claim, or even insinuate because you all sit back and silently watch from a corner thankful it isn’t you this time, that one segment of the animal husbandry industry agrees with what they are doing, then we are all sunk.
We are one big, diverse, animal husbandry community and we need to start working together like one or out passions and way of life will be stripped from us by these groups. You have a WONDERFUL and effective lobbyist for the dog community in MO in Karen Strange. I beg you please to contact her and find out how the agricultural industry can help in a fight coming to the dog community. Inaction is action, and if you sit by and watch HSUS decimate one animal industry there, you will be in a much weaker position once they start gunning for you, whether is is because there is now a precedent set for limiting animal ownership or because you appeared to be complicit in their actions by sitting by and doing nothing. We HAVE TO work together in this fight for the sake of ALL our animals and our industries. Thank you.
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Please define a “puppy mill”,
I think ALL animal owners, as well as all hunters in Missouri should ban together to fight the HSUS, as a united group, we could fight and WIN !!
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“Let’s hope it’s puppy mills and HSUS has decided it can’t afford to fight a two-front war against legitimate animal users.” Give me a break. Lest animal agriculture forgets, HSUS and its ilk of like-minded animal rights groups such as PETA have ONE goal in mind – and that is the end of ALL animal use – period. So while we all hate sub-standard kennels, agriculture needs to keep in mind that “puppy mill” legislation introduced by HSUS last year in more than 25 states had absolutely nothing to do with the welfare of animals and more about setting a precedent in declaring an arbitrary number of animals one is allowed to own lest you be considered a “puppy mill” – a term coined by the animal rights industry for which there is no legal definition – it is a perjorative term used to imply that ALL breeders are “puppy mills.” So agriculture – if you want help from other animal owners when it comes to protecting YOUR rights, you might want to think twice before throwing other forms of animal use “under the bus.”
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Your comment “Let’s hope it’s puppy mills and HSUS decided it can’t afford to fight a two-front war against legitimate animal users” really bothers me. I have been working hard against the spread of the animal rights movement in the state of Missouri for nearly twenty years, largly without the help of the ag community other than the cattlemen and pork producers. Others have merely sat on their hands and looked at me as though I were crying wolf for no reason.
The barn is already on fire and it’s burning hot! The attack against Missouri’s professional dog breeders IS an attack on agriculture! Although dogs are not a food source and are often considered a part of the family, the production of them IS agriculture. Keep in mind that the proposed ballot measure INCLUDES legal, licensed professional dog breeders who do an excellent job of caring for their animals. It is not about clean cages; it is about empty cages. Animal rights groups such as HSUS are NOT animal protectionists, they are animal eliminators!
Many in the ag community are sighing a big relief that the target is “those awful dog breeders.” Don’t be fooled by the wolf in sheep’s clothing! For many years, the HSUS and associated animal rights groups have targeted dog breeders, using propaganda, distortions and outright lies to gain sympathy and money from the unknowing public. The money gained from the passionate plea to help the puppies will be used to go after ALL ag interests.
Missouri has many professional, legal, licensed and caring dog breeders who do an excellent job of producing healthy, happy puppies for public demand. Sure there are bad apples in the industry just as there are in every walk of life, but we do not eliminate every professional due to the actions of a few. There are laws already in Missouri to address kennels along with cruelty and abuse of animals. -
Well Yes if you are going to use the term Puppy Mill and help the HSUS further martket the term. A term that is used to collect enough donations to become a threat to the cattle indsutry. Then you are correct they are going after Puppy Mills first. They are warming up on the undefined term to come in and get you folks next. Once they are gone why would those attacked want to compound the post tramatic stress they just went through to protect your rights? Maybe because it is the right thing to do. Lets stop assiting the HSUS and other domestic terrorist and join to stop these crazies in thier path. So they will not do this anymore. All Animal Industry people unite. This attack is on you too. The money they will generate will be used against you next.
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Ohio beat the pants off HSUS and their did not amount to a hill of beans, buyt we know they will be back. They are just waiting to get their officials in office. If Missourians care anything about eating meat….they will jump on the bandwagon with the farmers. Animal rights is a social movement and has nothing to do with saving animals or welfare of animals. It has to do with ending animal ownership or using animals for entertainment, like dog shows, horse and dog racing, acquariums and zoos, or use of animals to eat like hunting and fishing. The way they believe to show more compassion to animals is to become veggan….Do you want to become veggan, do you want that shoved down your throat without a choice?
I hope if they try this in Missouri – please go for a ballot initiative where votes are counted and there can be a win by the people and not the crusading of our goverment respresentatives by HSUS. The people spoke in Ohio by a 2/3 majority.
Jeff -
“Let’s hope it’s puppy mills and HSUS has decided it can’t afford to fight a two-front war against legitimate animal users.”
The HSUS has the very same agenda as all the other extremist AR groups — and that’s to “weaken animal ownership”. AR’s do not believe humans should own animals. That belief is at the source of all their craziness. Every bit of HSUS supported legislation concerning domestically owned animals fits into two categories — making it more and more expensive and more and more difficult to own animals.
If you think the HSUS won’t come for you — you’re sadly mistaken. Besides all this “puppy mill” legislation the HSUS has been pushing all over the nation is a lie based upon the moniker of “Puppy Mill Legislation” just like the very name of the HSUS (which is NOT a humane society). Their “Puppy mill” legislation is focused at legitimate dog breeders not at puppy mills. If it was focused at puppy mills it would address the hoarding issue — which always has a mental disorder associated with it!
Remember this or suffer the consequences — “In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew; And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”
SO — you’d all better help the dog breeders fight the HSUS puppy mill legislation or else you won’t have the dog breeders to fight for you when they come for you!!! David
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My grandmother used to say, if you’re going to do something, do it big, and apparently my stupid choice of words and phrasing in this “Inside DC” posting met gram’s criterion. The dog world commenters are right on the money with their criticisms of my statement “Let’s hope it’s puppy mills…” That statement is naive at best. Karen Strange’s critique and comments make abundant good sense. Unfortunately, my comments were not as cogent. My intent was to convey HSUS likely will not wage a two-front war, and resources being what they are across ag, it’s in our best interest to hope I’m correct. By no means do I think or mean to imply that an HSUS referendum battle against any legitimate, professional animal endeavor is just about that particular animal use; the goal of the movement, after all, is to take down all animal use. I’ve written in this space and spoken across the country on the need for all legitimate animal users to unite in an organized campaign to stop the strategy of picking us off one by one. Mea culpa for raising anyone’s blood pressure. It was a lazy man’s sin.
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Steve, thank you for your response to the comments. It is really interesting that I wrote mine as a first reaction to your article without any knowledge that anyone else (in this case several someone else’s) would be thinking the same thing I was with so much passion. It is heartening to see that at least some of us are beginning to sing from the same sheet of music and unite. By doing that, it is the only way we are going to protect our rights to our animals.
The rubber hit the road in Ohio and the outcome was tremendous. It will now hit the road in MO with regard to HSUS’s other money maker for them. Just think, if we (ag and the other animal industries) can all unite and defeat this here, how much stronger we will all be in going forward from here. MO citizens need to win this battle…it will set the tone for all battles to come with HSUS be they to wipe out the farmers or the commercial pet industry. Folks like you who can help influence cooperation and support are needed now like you have never been needed before. Please continue with that goal. Again, thank you.
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After there is zero population growth in dogs, then the farmers will be attacked. HSUS is an animal rights organization – or that is what they used to call themselves. What they are really doing is lobbying our representatives to reach their goal of no animal USE. Now they are protectors of animals? Protectors of animals to be owned. With more seizures of animals and over stocking the rescues, it will lead to more animal deaths. It appears that no one will have a choice of a purebred dog in the future. I personally think “maybe, just maybe, why should people have children when all the orphans are out there begging for a real family, who will never feel the warmth and love of a real mom. Taking in a teenager who just wants a family to love.” I guess it is because people can choose! Soon there will be no choice – a dog will just be a dog, until the last one is gone. I hope Missourians will fight tooth and nail against this animal rights movement. Farmers will be next and no it is not the large corporate farms, it is anyone who owns farm animals. Missouri be very wary and just google, Peter Singer, or Gary Francione as this will give you a window into animal rights! If you agree with them, then open the door to HSUS and PETA.
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OK Steve. Have any ideas where to send money to help the fight in Missouri? It is time that those that own any animal have a vested interest in fighting HSUS and the need to unite, from minks to cows and of course our house animals. When animal control is given the right to enter your property or go house to house, what does that say about freedom. Of curse HSUS is right there drafting laws for our government officials to propose. We need to hit those government officials on every level.
Maybe authorities should start going house to house checking for meth labs – same difference! Animal owners have been turned into targets by animal rights activist, and one can never treat their animals well enough for HSUS as simply to own several or, heaven forbid, to breed an animal is abuse! Do you notice they seem like a little mafia with so many ex cons working for them. HSUS is more about infringement of rights folks. Wake up America. HSUS should really be investigated for misleading the public and for fraud in their fundraising not to mention their other ties to other organizations!
Farmer and proud and I will fight with the dog owners as I will for my cattle, as many people do not realize it is about all animals that humans “use” (animal rights definition) by enjoyment, pets, dog shows, rodeos, horse or dog racing, eating meat or any livelihood “using” an animal. It does not matter is is about choice and violation of rights or what we thought were our rights. HSUS through legislation has pretty much killed our rights and all those goverment officials think they are helping in the abuse and not the eradication of animals, except for those who are in our government who are animal rights activist themselves. Learn to know the difference and be involved with your representatives in the fight against animal rights. Animal welfare is different than animal rights! Also know the difference.
Andy
IF you think that the HSUS focusing on puppy mills will be satisfactory to them, think again. HSUS is a destructive force that is looking for banning all contact between humans and animals of any species.
This state is cleaning up the “puppy mills” and HSUS is/will be going after legitimate breeders of ANY species of animals. This is just an excuse for HSUS to invade out state.
EVERYONE that makes a living off of ANY SPECIES of animals needs to ban together and fight HSUS and their minions. We have excellent lobbyists already on our side and we need to get in touch with them and start organizing around them. Not going off on our own. They know the climate at the state capital and the legislators. They also know who the enemy is by face.
MoFED is one such lobbyist and they know how to contact the rest, as they are a coalition and can put you behind the lobbyist you need to rally around. Then these lobbyists all rally with one another. Contact them and get busy with your local legislators taking over a plate of cookies and sitting down for a good ol’ porch swing talk. Put a face to your concerns with your legislators and this goes a long way to getting them on our side.
Yes, we need to organize, but we already have the structure our animal organizations lobbyists. NOW IS THE TIME TO GET INVOLVED!