Last month, the USDA authorized APHIS to conduct an animal welfare scientific forum which would be receiving input and pre-planning assistance from none other than the Humane Society of the United States. Not the smartest of pairings by the USDA, given HSUS's history of antagonism toward animal agriculture and its habit of hiring people who harbor dreams of destroying it altogether...
Sheesh, you'd think that of any government organization, the USDA would be one to understand the danger of wolves in hen houses.
Fortunately, senator Jerry Moran of Kansas does understand the implications, and didn't mince any words in letting his colleagues in on the truth about HSUS yesterday...
A few choice quotes:
The ironic thing about this forum is that there is little science involved. It is nothing more than, in my view, the Department of Agriculture spending taxpayer dollars on a forum to provide the Humane Society of the United States a public forum to espouse its anti-agriculture views.
[...]
If the Department of Agriculture was interested in science, why would it allow an animal rights organization to steer its agenda?
Why, indeed? HSUS's attempts to appear affiliated with legitimate government agencies are surely no accident, nothing new, and definitely worth the scrutiny they are finally receiving.
HSUS is a national lobbying organization that spends most of its budget to lobby against farmers and ranchers that provide us with the food and clothing that we enjoy in this country. In fact, tax documents show that HSUS spends less than 1% of its budget on grants to animal shelters. Given these facts, you would have to wonder why the department of agriculture is giving this organization this platform, and shunning producer organizations.
A spot-on assessment by the senator. Hopefully Moran's comments will inspire his colleagues to look more deeply into the history and intentions of HSUS.
Good for Senator Moran for telling it like it is. I hope a lot of people are listening.
Posted by: Anne Edwards | 11/07/2011 at 10:53 PM