Not a good week to be HSUS
April 9, 2010 by Steve Kopperud
Filed under Inside D. C.
Commentary
I had taken a personal pledge not to write about the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) for a while. I felt it was kind of like watching coverage of Paris Hilton or some other “famous-for-being-famous” celebritron on TV, fearing that at a certain point you folks would scream, “Enough already!”
But this week I watched the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) kind of unravel — twice. I have to say, both occasions were fun to watch.
Most of you have probably read or watched or heard about the latest HSUS “undercover” video of the “rotten” conditions under which egg laying hens live if they live in cages. The HSUS video, alleged to have been taken at three farms in Iowa, was pretty much the same old HSUS “this-is-hell” footage, as was the tortured script that goes with it.
But our buddy Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president, decided this video should be rolled out at a press conference in Des Moines. The folks on our side expected a replay of previous videos, with HSUS condemning everyone and their brother for not liberating the chickens to live their lives unfettered, and might I add, unprotected.
But Pacelle or his crew did a couple of odd things. First, why would you decide it was smart to allegedly video tape in Iowa and hold the press conference in Iowa, if Iowa is the home state of the sitting Secretary of Agriculture who used to be governor of Iowa? The good news for Pacelle was Secretary Vilsack was in Japan — fighting for U.S. beef exports — and maybe Pacelle knew that, but you have to love the irony. And, of course, post press conference Pacelle allowed Vilsack had not seen the tape, but he looked forward to showing it to him because “he (Vilsack) is a man of conscience,” according to one report. We call this “damage control.”
During the actual press conference, HSUS didn’t seat some of the ag press or the Iowa Farm Bureau or executives of one of the companies supposedly featured in the video. That mean HSUS had a room full of empty chairs and a whole lot of frustrated loquacious pro-aggie folks standing around in the lobby.
Then HSUS admitted during the press conference that nothing in the video showed any kind of illegal activity. For the HSUS PR folks, a little hint: When you’ve shown these kind of tapes so many times before, understand it’s not the imagest that generally hook reporters, it’s the allegations that laws have been broken, foods are tainted or children endangered. What you did was eliminate “the-man-bites-dog” angle.
The best part of the whole episode was at the end, when the executive of Rose Acre Farms, arguably the largest family-owned egg farm in the country and a client of my firm’s, who immediately invited the press to tour the farm on which HSUS said it shot the video. When asked why he did that, he responded, “We’ve got nothing to hide.” Go to the Rose Acre Farms website, and you’ll see the same invitation to any and all reporters.
HSUS laid an egg in Des Moines.
Pacelle also allowed himself this week to get drawn into dueling press statements with Rep. Steve King (R,IA), who represents one of the most agricultural districts in Iowa. Just so we’re clear, it’s generally not recommended to verbally duel with a member of Congress as he/she has cards the rest of us can’t play.
King called out HSUS as “a political machine masquerading as an umbrella organization for local humane societies…bill(ing) itself as an animal care organization, but it spends less than 1% of its $100-million annual budget on direct animal care.” Then Mr. King took off the gloves: “HSUS solicits money from well-intentioned but often uninformed animal lovers and uses these donations to lobby Congress for an anti-meat, anti-animal agriculture agenda. HSUS is run by vegetarians with an agenda whose goal it is to take meat off everyone’s table in America.”
Pacelle shot back: “Rep. King isn’t one to talk about animal welfare since he has one of the most appalling records on animal protection in Congress.” HSUS, Pacelle contends, “provides direct care to more animals than any other animal welfare group in the nation.” But then he slips up yet again: “We combat large-scale cruelties such as puppy mills, animal fighting, factory farming and horse slaughter — all of the things that Rep. King is so fond of.” Very few folks, even sympathetic folks, make the connection between animal fighting and farming.
So, it’s pretty obvious to me it’s not been a good week for HSUS, and Iowa is definitely one of those places that if I were Wayne Pacelle, I’d be wise to avoid.
Latest:
Pacelle has let his “successes” gained through deceit to go to his head. His megalomania shines through his words! That he would attack a Congressman verbally as he did (also connecting farming with dog fighting) is a serious faux paux. This kind of rhetoric exposes Pacelle for what he is: arrogant anti-human leader of the largest “animal rights” INDUSTRY. GO get ‘em IRS, and note the RICO and 1983 civil rights lawsuits in the works against H$U$–how do you like the *hotseat*, Herr Pacelli?
Now that people in Iowa are getting it about H$U$ maybe they can convince their legislators to go back and pull the plug on the recently passed so-called “puppymill bill” that will put most of the reputable breeders in the state out of business – whether they are breeding for a living or a hobby. JMO
http://www.humanewatch.org
HSUS, Pacelle contends, “provides direct care to more animals than any other animal welfare group in the nation.”
Oh, give me a break!!!! HSUS has NO shelters, pressed to have Michael Vick’s dogs euthanized, and on and on. HSUS is a lobbying organization. Most, if not all of the people listed as their state directors are registered lobbyists. And, THESE lobbyists are not knowledgeable about animals.
http://www.hsus.org/about_us/offices_and_affiliates/regional_offices/meet-our-directors/
Great article!!!!!!
My thumbs up goes to Representative King. I’m from Iowa and share his opinion of HSUS 100%.
We need more legislators like Mr. King and Mr. Grassley who understand animals and agriculture.
Thumbs up also to The Rose Farms exec who invited the media to their farms. I’m willing to bet any video shot by the media will look much different than what HSUS provided!
Read the truth about HSUS and their “associates” at http://www.hsussucks.com
Not only are they being sued for racketeering by Ringling Bros. but the IRS has a full scale investigation underway. Yep, it’s not good to be HSUS. But don’t worry,Wayne is sure to reinvent some other layer. Wait! He already is with ASPCA! Oops, they are also named in the racketeering suit as well…
Please don’t ever hold back from flaming HSUS. I for one never get tired of reading their bad news. Also, the reason they may have picked IA is in part because they recently scored a landslide victory in that state by passing what was labeled an Anti-Puppy Mill law. However, it defined ‘puppy mill’ as anyone owning 3 or more intact dogs.
I think it’s most likely Wayne was laying his keystone for next year’s attack on Ag, given the gross gullibility of IA’s elected officials and current governor.
I worked for USDA at Rose Acre Farms back in the 70′s. In the 80′s, I worked for Rose Acre Farms calling on grocery stores and doing quality control throughout the eastern half of the United States.
My work as both a regulator and as a QC person was always very positive with Rose Acre Farms even then. Dave Rust, who started the company, recognized that a dead bird was money lost. His goal was an efficient business with a good reputation and satisfied customers.
I’ve been gone for a long time, but I haven’t seen anything to change my positive opinion of Rose Acre Farms.
Why is the funding this type of activity tax deductible? The congressman should have got deeper to the heart of the problem; money and tax avoidance by employing a scam. What’s the next scam? a vegetarian animal rights church?
Wake up everybody! Don’t believe everything you hear or read. Both sides are biased. Rep King is not exactly animal caring but does support big business no matter what the cost to animals. If any of you out there have watch any of the hidden camera reporting you may think otherwise whether it be the disgraceful caught on camera puppy mills to the exploitation of majestic lions, tigers and elephants who are pinned up all of their lives, never to be free to roam or socialize with their own species and are force to do tricks for your enjoyment. I personnaly hate that calves are taken from their mothers so that the milk is used for our consumption. Then when they are deemed useless they are transported in miserable, over crowded trucks, many of them sick or too injured to stand after such a trip.They are then poked and prodded off the trucks while some are mechanically moved by tractor to be slaughtered. Both sides can be extreme and passionate about this issue but for differant reasons. The HSUS has done more for animal welfare than any other organization. Alerting and educating the public to animals in peril cost money. Many people are unware of the abuse, neglect and exploitation of animals all over the world. Running for office and getting re-elected cost money too and requires donations from big business and many various individuals and organizations. Agriculture is big business.