Do you know the goal of The Humane Society of the United States? “We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding. One generation and out. We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of selective breeding.” Wayne Pacelle, CEO of HSUS, former board member of PETA - Animal People News 1993 "We are going to use the ballot box and the democratic process to stop all hunting in the United States ... We will take it species by species until all hunting is stopped in California. Then we will take it state by state. Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP Humane Society of the US (HSUS), formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals - Full Cry Magazine, October 1, 1990. "My goal is the abolition of all animal agriculture." JP Goodwin, employed at the Humane Society of the US, formerly at Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade, as quoted on AR-Views, an animal rights Internet discussion group in 1996. Things you may not know about the HSUS and how they use donations taken in by the public. 1. The HSUS does not operate or have direct control over any shelter. Buried deep within HSUS website is a disclaimer noting that the group "is not affiliated with, nor is it a parent organization for local humane societies, animal shelters, or animal care and control agencies.” * See notation at the end of this report regarding update to this paragraph.* 2. Since its inception, HSUS has worked hard to limit the choices of American consumers, opposing dog breeding, conventional livestock and poultry farming, rodeos, circuses, horse racing, marine aquariums, hunting, fishing, fur trapping and medical research. 3. HSUS raises enough money to help finance animal shelters in every single state with money to spare, yet it doesn't operate a single one anywhere. Instead, HSUS spends millions on programs that seek to economically cripple meat and dairy producers; eliminate the use of animals in biomedical research labs; phase out pet breeding, zoos, and circus animal acts; and demonize hunters as crazed lunatics. HSUS spends $2 million each year on travel expenses alone, just keeping its multi-national agenda going. 4. While most local animal shelters are under-funded and unsung, HSUS has accumulated $113 million in assets and built a recognizable name by capitalizing on the public notion its very name evokes. 5. The current president of HSUS, Wayne Pacelle, is a former officer of PETA. 6. HSUS is currently under investigation by the Attorney General of Louisiana in regards to the disposition of Katrina funds. HSUS has been under investigation by the FBI for their links to domestic terrorist organizations such as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). One of their current officers, John P. Goodwin is a former member of ALF and a convicted felon for acts of terrorism related to animals. 7. HSUS consistently jumps on the bandwagon of any animal issue to raise funds even if they are not directly involved. Most recently they used the Michael Vick case as a major fund raiser, even though HSUS had nothing to do with the investigation or care of the Vick dogs. After raising funds from the public, HSUS advised the rescue facilities housing the Vick dogs to euthanize all the animals. Fortunately for the dogs, the shelters have been working with breed rescues to rehabilitate and home the dogs, but with no help from funds collected for the dogs by the HSUS. Sources: www.consumerfreedom.com www.pet-law. com www.naiaonline.org The HSUS uses public donations to pay for lobbyists to help pass bills that are detrimental to pet owners, farmers, fisherman, hunters, trappers, and research centers. Their goal is total animal liberation and a vegan society. No pets of any kind, no meat, no fish, no eggs, cheese, milk, or any other type of animal products. The HSUS is no different than PETA in it’s goals, but only in the way they sugar-coat the delivery of their agenda under the guise of animal welfare. It is an organization of extreme activists who are working diligently to take away your constitutional right to own pets you love. The HSUS uses your donations for bills being passed into law for mandatory spay and neuter of pets to control animal population. Most cities passing the law are requiring pets be neutered long before reaching puberty, which is proven by research to be the cause of many health problems due to lack of needed growth hormones. It is the equivalent of sterilizing a child at the age of 3. When needed growth hormones are removed before maturity, bones don’t grow right, growth plates don’t close, osteo arthritis can set in, cancers can become more frequent. Those are only a few of a long list of health problems caused by prepubescent neutering and spaying. HSUS uses your donations for bills to limit the number of pets anyone can own. They are backing bills to limit breeders to 6 dogs or less, that require breeders to pay licensing up to as much as $500 per breeding dog per year (Dallas TX has already passed this one) for the “privilege” of owning them and being able to breed. Who is going to feel the effects of this law besides the breeders? The people who would like to own a puppy and can’t afford one. HSUS uses your donations for bills to outlaw purebred and cross-bred dogs, also referred to as “designer dogs” that have become popular in the last few years. How are they doing this? By requiring breeders to meet specific requirements to be approved for their breeding permits. They have to: 1. Breed only purebred dogs, who are not on a list banned as vicious in their municipality. 2. They have to belong to an approved registry club (There are NO registry clubs who meet all the criteria being written into the bills for approval purposes). 3. They have to be actively showing their dogs. (That also will remove hunting dogs from the breeding pool as hunting dogs are a sporting group). HSUS uses your donations to back bills for breed specific legislation. Many, many cities have already passed laws outlawing Bully breeds, German Shepherds, Rottweillers, Doberman Pinschers, Boxers, etc.. and include any cross breed dogs who carry those breeds or resemble those breeds. Some have also now added Great Danes, Irish Wolfhounds, St Bernards, etc. because they weigh in excess of 100 pounds, not because they are on a dangerous dog list. The problem with that law is that any dog of any breed can bite, from teacup to giant. Instead of enforcing dangerous dog laws already in existence and punishing the deed, entire breeds are being banished for the acts of only a few dogs. Many innocent dogs and owners are being punished for the irresponsibility of a few owners. HSUS uses your donations to back laws to ban the way livestock and chickens are raised for market, and how they are slaughtered. If these laws come to pass, it is the consumer who is going to pay dearly to be able to eat. The United States has the strictest standards in the world for humane treatment of animals bred and slaughtered for food. The way they are housed is done for the safety of the animals, and more importantly, to assure the food you are getting is safe to eat. In order to control disease in the animals, certain types of housing are required. HSUS uses your donations to back bills to ban the use of animals in medical research. The next time you or a loved one receives medicine or surgery that saved their or your life, or improved your quality of life, remember that if it weren’t for animals used in research to give you that medicine or surgery, you would not be here reading this information. Remember it when you or a loved one gets insulin, penicillin, cancer surgery, and a myriad of other medicines and miracles, that an animal saved your life. HSUS uses your donations to back bills to ban zoos, trained animals from circuses, rodeos, aquariums. They make it sound like all these animals are abused and exploited, when in fact the animals are well fed and well treated. They are invaluable learning tools for children and adults alike. Many of the animals who are part of any of the facilities or events above are animals many people would only see in pictures. Seeing them in “real life” has served to spark the interest of people who go on to become biologists, researchers, doctors, animal trainers, etc. It’s because the excitement and beauty of living, breathing beings with the intelligence and ability to work together fluidly with humans does so much more to incite the desire for more knowledge than a picture on a page. Rodeos bring history to life. To see a whale swimming in a large aquarium brings the reality of the size of these creatures to those who can only imagine it otherwise. Here are some of some of the people (and animals) who will be out of work should everyone sit back and allow the HSUS, PETA, and their affiliates be allowed to banish our constitutional right to own animals, which are considered to be personal property. 1. Ranchers 2. Veterinarians (no pets, no livestock, no zoos, no circuses, no rodeos, no aquariums) 3. Pet and livestock feed companies. 4. Furriers 5. Slaughter houses 6. Zoo keepers 7. Animal trainers 8. Farriers 9. Pet Breeders (no dogs, cats, fish, snakes, birds, etc.) 10. Animal control 11. Rodeo Companies (Our only living link to our western heritage) 12. Horse stables 13. Pet boarding facilities/doggy day care 14. Pet groomers 15. Pet./animal transporters 16. Pet/livestock supply manufacturers 17. Fish hatcheries 18. Animal sanctuaries 19. Animal researchers 20. Seeing eye dogs, service dogs, therapy dogs, drug sniffing dogs, search and rescue dogs, guard dogs, dogs for the hearing impaired. (I include these because they are part of the animal industry who will no longer have jobs if the no animal contact agenda is fulfilled.) Learn the difference between animal rights and animal welfare. All animals, whether pets, livestock, or service animals, deserve humane treatment in our care (that‘s welfare), but they also serve a purpose in our lives and in our society. Fight for enforcement of existing laws that already cover humane treatment and tell our politicians to vote NO to all of the above laws that will do harm to animals and humans alike and are an infringement of our constitutional rights. The quotes below sum up animal rights very well. "Not only are the philosophies of animal rights and animal welfare separated by irreconcilable differences... the enactment of animal welfare measures actually impedes the achievement of animal rights... Welfare reforms, by their very nature, can only serve to retard the pace at which animal rights goals are achieved." Gary Francione and Tom Regan, "A Movement's Means Create Its Ends," The Animals' Agenda, January/February 1992, pp. 40-42. "...the animal rights movement is not concerned about species extinction. An elephant is no more or less important than a cow, just as a dolphin is no more important than a tuna...In fact, many animal rights advocates would argue that it is better for the chimpanzee to become extinct than to be exploited continually in laboratories, zoos and circuses." Barbara Biel, The Animals' Agenda, Vol 15 #3. "It's not about loving animals. It's about fighting injustice. My whole goal is for humans to have as little contact as possible with animals." Gary Yourofsky, founder of Animals Deserve Adequate Protection Today and Tomorrow (ADAPTT), now employed as PeTA's national lecturer "We are not especially 'interested in' animals. Neither of us [Peter Singer and Ingrid Newkirk] had ever been inordinately fond of dogs, cats, or horses in the way that many people are. We didn't 'love' animals." Peter Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethic for Our Treatment of Animals, 2nd ed. (New York Review of Books, 1990), Preface, p. ii. PETA and HSUS have the same agenda, so I will end this with quotes from PETA members and some of their supporters. Ingrid Newkirk, President of PETA: "Probably everything we do is a publicity stunt ... we are not here to gather members, to please, to placate, to make friends. We're here to hold the radical line." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's president and founder, USA Today, September 3, 1991 “Pet ownership is and absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation.” - Harpers, August 1, 1988 “In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether.” Newsday, February 21, 1988 “There is no hidden agenda. If anybody wonders about -- what’s this with all these reforms -- you can hear us clearly. Our goal is total animal liberation.” “Animal Rights 2002” Convention, June 30, "I openly hope that it [hoof-and-mouth disease] comes here. It will bring economic harm only for those who profit from giving people heart attacks and giving animals a concentration camp-like existence. It would be good for animals, good for human health and good for the environment." - ABC News interview (April 2, 2001) "The bottom line is that people don't have the right to manipulate or to breed dogs and cats ... If people want toys, they should buy inanimate objects. If they want companionship, they should seek it with their own kind," (PeTA), Animals, May/June 1993 Even if animal tests produced a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it.-Vogue (September 1, 1989) One day, we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals. [Dogs] would pursue their natural lives in the wild ... they would have full lives, not wasting at home for someone to come home in the evening and pet them and then sit there and watch TV. The Chicago Daily Herald (March 1, 1990) Alex Pacheco Co-Founder "We feel that animals have the same rights as a retarded human child because they are equal mentally in terms of dependence on others." - The New York Times (January 14, 1989) " The cat, like the dog, must disappear... We should cut the domestic cat free from our dominance by neutering, neutering and more neutering, until our pathetic version of the cat ceases to exist."--John Bryant, *Fettered Kingdoms* (PeTA, 1982) p15 "Let us allow the dog to disappear from our brick and concrete jungles--from our firesides, from the leather nooses and chains by which we enslave it."-- John Bryant Fettered Kingdoms: An Examination of a Changing Ethic,p 15 "Liberating our language by eliminating the word 'pet' is the first step... In an ideal society where all exploitation and oppression has been eliminated, it will be NJARA's policy to oppose the keeping of animals as 'pets.'" New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, "Should Dogs Be Kept As Pets? NO!" Good Dog! February 1991, p. 20. "Sometimes I think the only effective method of destroying speciesism would be for each uncaring human to be forced to live the life of a cow on a feedlot, or a monkey in a laboratory, or an elephant in the circus, or a bull in a rodeo, or a mink on a fur farm. Then people would be awakened from their soporific states and finally understand the horror that is inflicted on the animal kingdom by the vilest species to ever roam this planet: the human animal! Deep down, I truly hope that oppression, torture and murder return to each uncaring human tenfold! I hope that fathers accidentally shoot their sons on hunting excursions, while carnivores suffer heart attacks that kill them slowly. "Every woman ensconced in fur should endure a rape so vicious that it scars them forever. While every man entrenched in fur should suffer an anal raping so horrific that they become disemboweled. Every rodeo cowboy and matador should be gored to death, while circus abusers are trampled by elephants and mauled by tigers. And, lastly, may irony shine its esoteric head in the form of animal researchers catching debilitating diseases and painfully withering away because research dollars that could have been used to treat them was wasted on the barbaric, unscientific practice vivisection." Gary Yourofsky, PeTA Humane Education Lecturer, quoted in the University of Southern Indiana Student Newspaper, The Shield, January 24, 2008 "I do not believe that it could never be justifiable to experiment on a brain-damaged human. There could conceivably be circumstances in which an experiment on an animal stands to reduce suffering so much that it would be permissible to carry it out even if it involved harm to the animal... [even if] the animal were a human being." Peter Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethic for Our Treatment of Animals, 2nd ed. (New York: New York Review of Books, 1990), p. 85 * It was recently brought to the attention of the author of this report that the HSUS now is in partnership with Armory Black Beauty Ranch, in TX and a couple of wildlife centers in southern California and Cape Cod, Mass. The author was unable to find when the partnership mergers took place, only that they now exist since pet owners have begun to fight back against harmful animal bills now being pushed in many cities, counties, and states, as well as at the federal level. The author, after reading for several hours at the HSUS site and the partner sites, was not able to find any information showing them to be “hands-on” with their care of the animals, other than those comments made by the HSUS themselves. The disclaimer on their site for years, about not being a parent of or affiliated with local humane societies, is now gone and they state instead they are advocates of those shelters, but still are not listing themselves specifically as parents or affiliates of them. It is the author’s understanding from reading that the HSUS broke away from the original AHS (American Humane Society) because the HSUS does not condone animals sent for use in research. Again, the author thanks the animals who have helped in research who are directly or indirectly responsible for my husband’s life and that of my sister’s, both of whom are still here because of that research.