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Hastings Chamber of Commerce opposes HSUS
Some chambers of commerce tend to shy away from “hot potato” political issues, not wanting to offend any part of their customer base. Not so with the Hastings, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce.
The Hastings Chamber’s board of directors has passed a resolution expressing its “strong opposition” to actions of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that would, as the resolution puts it “severely impact the ability of our agricultural producers to raise livestock.”
Tom Hastings is the president of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce.
“With talking and finding out some of the things that this organization had done in other states, we just felt that we needed to be proactive in taking a stance against some of the actions and some of the things that they have been trying to do,” Hastings says. “Especially because agriculture is the number-one industry in the state of Nebraska.”
Hastings says, so far, the reaction from the general public has been positive.
“I guess our hope is that when things are brought out and people are opposed to our view they will then start looking at why did the Hastings area chamber take this stance?” Hasting says. “‘What’s this organization been doing to cause them to oppose some of the things they are doing?’ Hopefully, it will be an educational process.”
HSUS has repeatedly denied that it intends to pursue farm animal welfare legislation or a ballot initiative in Nebraska. However, the group has hired a state director in Nebraska and HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle made a highly-publicized visit to the state last December.
Hastings is located in south central Nebraska with a population of 26,000.
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