Inside D.C.
The descent of HSUS…
If ever production agriculture – more importantly the corporate food industry – needed evidence the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) has little to do with animal welfare and a whole lot to do with shifting consumers to vegetarianism/veganism, look no further than the last 10 days’ developments. In a week and a half, we’ve seen HSUS shut down a Massachusetts animal sanctuary and lay off “several dozen” employees as part of “restructuring,” battle in the media over allegedly poor fundraising performance, and suffer the outrage of the recently fired head of its National Agriculture Advisory Council, who got the axe for calling out the group on its radical vegan agenda.
It’s the “restructuring” to focus on farm animals, pets and international issues, and the decision its ag council its no longer useful that speak volumes. It says the facade of “welfare” is giving way to the true goal of dietary conversion.
Food companies rolling over for HSUS’s implied threats based on “animal welfare” demands, companies announcing major, expensive changes in meat and dairy sourcing should have second thoughts, asking themselves the questions, “With who or what did we get involved? Can we trust what we’ve been told?” If these same executives think last week’s very public and unapologetic call-out of The Dannon Company by the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) for resorting to “flimflam” and “fear-based marketing” over biotech and yogurt is a one-off, they should think again. USFRA says at least a dozen national and international food companies are in its sights for similar marketing with no basis in the reality of food production.
Which brings us to Kevin Fulton, a high-profile Nebraska organic grass-fed rancher, named the first chair last May of the newly minted HSUS National Agriculture Advisory Council. HSUS honcho Wayne Pacelle apparently decided Fulton needed to go, firing him last August. Strangely, HSUS said nothing of Fulton’s departure until October 12, when it released an effusive statement about Fulton’s contributions, participation in HSUS projects, dedication to ending factory farming, etc.
HSUS, facing mounting negative media, changed its tune, telling meatingplace.com the following: “We asked Kevin to step down from the agriculture (council) because of a threat he made to one of our staff members.” No details were given. Fulton told the wire service, “There’s a lot more to the story, and the part about an alleged threat is an attempt by HSUS to deflect attention from the real issue.”
Fulton said Pacelle wanted him to agree to a scripted public statement on his departure from the advisory council, one saying Fulton left “because of all the obligations in my life.” The Nebraska rancher refused, saying, “I told him the truth worked just fine for me. This was just another example of damage control, deception and an unwillingness to take ownership in actions and decisions. This was a continued pattern at HSUS that I found disturbing and it caused a great deal of dissension between HSUS and some of the farmers on the ag councils.”
This week, meatingplace.com, following up on a story in The Weekly Standard – “The Humane Society’s Descent Into Abolitionist Veganism” – re-reported as many as six of HSUS state ag council farmer members quit over the last year because, they say, HSUS walked away from its promise to support farmers who raise animals in accordance with HSUS doctrine. One of the farmers who quit told The Weekly Standard, “They were using us as their poster child,” while another said the state council members were used as “window dressing.”
In full damage control mode, Pacelle writes in the Standard November 4, of the group hug he had with the remaining ag council members, so proud of their support of HSUS goals. “HSUS and these ranchers and farmers are aligned on all of the above-mentioned policy goals…Within our ranks are also an unquantified number of vegans and vegetarians, who demonstrate their passion and commitment to the cause of animal protection by enjoying only plant-based foods…And the largest group of our supporters love animals and eat meat…it’s safe to say that many of them grapple with their diet and what it means to be humane. Increasing numbers of them opt for more plant-based eating options and also seek out animal products from farms that strive to adhere to higher animal welfare standards.” Please note the only dietary “grappling” is among the meat eaters.
Reported The Weekly Standard of Fulton’s frustration with HSUS: “Instead of defending the ag councils, Fulton says Pacelle allowed HSUS to become a ‘good ol’ boys’ vegan club’ embracing an extreme agenda. It stopped serving animal products at its conferences and pushes ‘Meatless Mondays’ nationwide, a bitter pill for an HSUS supporter like Fulton who raises livestock. The last straw for Fulton was HSUS’s ‘The Future of Food’ conference…featuring a keynote by “ethicist” Peter Singer. Singer is at the forefront of the animal liberation movement and seeks to end moral distinctions between humans and animal species.”
Food companies which rely on meat and dairy products as ingredients or entrees, should be nervous. How long before demands change; how long before animal “welfare” groups demand vegan/vegetarian options and alternatives? HSUS says it isn’t there goal to convert the masses? See below.
Pacelle, when asked over time whether HSUS promotes a vegan or vegetarian agenda, i.e. an end to meat/dairy production, usually responds with something akin to “most of our members eat meat.” In the Standard he writes: “In college, after learning the details of factory farming, I realized there was more to the matter of food than personal preference. There were moral questions that were the hidden ingredients in every meal. So appalled by images of animals jammed in crates and crowded together in windowless buildings, I decided to cleanse my diet of animal products. Plant-based eating is the right personal choice for me.” (emphasis added).”
Kind of says it all, doesn’t it?
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Everyone needs to agree to disagree. See the big picture and the main goal of HSUS is to speak up for the
animals and try to better their lives, from farm animals to domestic to all creatures. People feel they need to eat animals, others feel they should not, these two groups will never come together in thought, but need to make
the lives of those animals count. No torture, no cages, no drugs. They live, they breathe, they bleed. -
Restructuring to focus on…pets and international issues? HSUS has a separate affiliate, Humane Society International, that raises many millions a year exploiting extreme cruelty such as the Yulin dog meat festival and high profile disasters overseas. Money donated to HSI goes to HSUS in DC – very, very little ever reaches the intended beneficiaries. Pure profit for HSUS to spend on itself. Why pay for actual direct care and sanctuaries when you can make tens of millions off “programs” that mostly exist on paper and generally involve stealing credit for the work of others? Focusing on pets is all about their bogus pets in poverty program. Pets for Life. Pet Smart used to fund this HSUS program – giving grants to actual shelters on behalf of HSUS. Since Pet Smart charities reorganized and stopped enabling HSUS, During the month of March of this year, Pacelle launched a gargantuan fundraising drive – using racist images galore – promising to “provide” medical treatment, food, supplies, and emergency shelter for dogs and cats in poor areas across the US. HSUS doesn’t do actually do the Pets for Life work. It just refers people to volunteers and low-income providers. Of course, HSUS wants to focus on this bogus project. Kevin Fulton is a hero, but so are the many people (mostly women) who have written about what it is really like to work for HSUS. Their reviews are on Glassdoor.
Yes, kind of says it all. Quite nicely, I might add.