Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Texas
Posts: 4324

Animal Rights is Wrong by Loretta Baughan

It always amazes me to see how many people fall prey to the slick photos of puppies and kittens national animal rights groups use to solicit donations. Too often, people who support these organizations are misled into thinking they are actually helping animals or their local humane societies. Despite having a name that suggests an active role in overseeing or operating local humane societies, in reality the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is little more than a $200-million dollar lobbying organization tirelessly working to ramrod their anti-animal, anti-people agenda into law. On occasions where cases of animal abuse or neglect become the focus of media attention, HSUS often sweeps into town to hog the spotlight while soliciting donations from the unsuspecting public. Like a thief in the night, HSUS packs up and exits - along with the public's donations - as soon as the media's attention fades, leaving struggling, underfunded local animal shelters and rescue groups bearing the financial burden of care for the confiscated animals.

"The Humane Society of the United States works with local Humane Societies across the country. We don't control every local Humane Society in this nation. These organizations strive to the greatest degree to provide homes for animals and to encourage adoption, to spay and neuter animals. And if a decision is made to euthanize, it is a failure of society, not the local organizations who are striving to do their best."

--Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) testimony at the Methamphetamine Enforcement and Treatment Act of 2007, the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007, and the Preventing Harassment Through Outbound Number Enforcement (Phone) Act of 2007 hearing before the subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security; Committee of the Judiciary in the House of Representatives, February 6, 2007, pg 104

"Primarily they felt that the organization took on many issues purely for their publicity value, regardless of the facts of the case; subtly misrepresented itself in its fund-raising efforts by leading contributors to believe they were donating to local humane societies for animal rescue, when in fact these groups received no money from HSUS; and frequently sought to gain credit for the work of smaller less funded organizations."

It doesn't help when the media interviews HSUS or PETA representatives every time a news story related to animals comes along. Those involved in animal rights groups are largely ignorant of animal husbandry practices. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone associated with any animal rights group who was raised on a farm or who ever raised a litter of puppies or kittens. Yet, these people are viewed as "experts" in all things animal? Hardly. Instead of rushing to mouthpieces for animal rights organizations who exaggerate non-existent "problems" and demonize those who have dedicated their lives to their animals, the public would be much better served if the media would turn to the true "experts" who actually care deeply about animal welfare: legitimate organizations that represent farmers, hunters, fishermen, ranchers and dog breeders, to name a few.

In order to understand the issue, one has to first grasp the difference between "animal welfare" and "animal rights". Some animal rights groups, seeking to appear less radical so as to gain members and increase donations, will claim they are "animal welfare" organizations. But the terms are not interchangeable. In fact, they are opposites.
"While those who adopt the animal welfare position seek merely to reduce animal suffering, supporters of animal rights aim to abolish it, demanding not bigger cages and "humane treatment", but rather, empty cages and total liberation. Animal welfare philosophy accepts the property status of animals, but animal rights philosophy insists that animals are subjects of their own life and no one's to own."

--Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?, Reflections on the Liberation of Animals by Steven Best and Anthony J. Nocella (2004), pg 26
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) are two high profile animal rights groups. While PETA is best known for their outlandish publicity stunts, HSUS is often referred to as "PETA in suits". In recent years, HSUS has attempted to distance themselves from the "animal rights" label in an effort to appear mainstream so as to appeal to more donors. They often refer to themselves as "animal advocates" or "animal protectionists".
"Animal advocacy groups are, in a sense, attempting to interfere in the relationship between property (the animals) and the property owner."
--Tom Regan, The Struggle for Animal Rights, published in Animal Rights by Andrew Linzey and Paul A.B. Clarke, pg. 176 (2004)

"Much of the work of animal advocates is aimed not at research but at hunting, trapping, animal farming, and the slaughter of animals for food... However, a great deal of the currently much-expanded activity of animal activists seeks not the humane treatment of animals but their total "liberation" from all uses by human beings, including the wearing of fur and leather, eating of meat and poultry, and keeping of pets."

--Morton M. Hunt, The New Know-nothings: The Political Foes of the Scientific Study of Human Nature (1999), pg 307

Let's remove the mask and identify the Humane Society of the United States by their actions, not their lip service. HSUS has demonstrated on numerous occasions a complete intolerance for hunting, as evidenced by their ongoing efforts to effect bans against hunting in various areas of the country.

"In recent years, HSUS has succeeded in helping enact laws that ban certain especially cruel hunting practices. For example, it was able to end such practices as bear baiting and hound hunting of bears, mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx in the state of Washington; same-day airborne shooting of wolves and other predators in Alaska; hound hunting of bears and bobcats in Massachusetts; hunting of bears in Colorado with bait and dogs, as well as bear hunting there in the spring and summer..."

--Losing Paradise by Paul G. Irwin, Hunting - Sport or Slaughter? (2000), pg 83

"The HSUS is now anti-circus, anti-rodeo, recommends eating less meat as the first line of attack on the cruelty of factory farming, and encourages the use of alternatives to animal testing. Would it be such a bad thing if violent animal rights activity made the HSUS look very mainstream..."

--Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?, Reflections on the Liberation of Animals by Steven Best and Anthony J. Nocella (2004), pg 12

__________________
SKY
___________________
Author of the novel "Follow Jennifer"

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged