Monday, October 24, 2011

Pet Shelters Suffer from HSUS Campaigns


Humane Society in the doghouse over budget

www.mycentralnewjersey.com

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Humane Society.
No, not the Plainfield Area Humane Society. Or the Associated Humane Societies, which operates at Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey.
This is the Humane Society of the United States, the national animal-advocacy organization that counts 11 million people as members and rakes in nearly $100 million a year in grants and donations. While it may share part of the name with several local animal shelters, just a fraction of the Humane Society’s coffers trickles down.
In New Jersey, the organization donated $21,178 to 10 shelters and animal groups in 2009 and 2010, according a report released last week slamming the Humane Society for not giving more money to local groups.
Nora Breen, director of Second Chance for Animals, whose volunteers support the Franklin Township Animal Shelter in Somerset County, said it was “disappointing” that more money isn’t going to local groups.
“In a small organization (people who donate) can be guaranteed that the money we raise from them goes directly to help the animals,” she said. “We don’t pay salaries to any volunteers. When you get into these larger organizations, you don’t know where the money is going.”
Second Chance received $2,000 in 2009 from the Humane Society.
But the Associated Humane Societies, which runs shelters in Newark, the Forked River section of Lacey and Tinton Falls, was not as fortunate.    Read More
Local shelters that actually do care for unwanted pets continue to be harmed by the HSUS and their intentionally confusing fundraising campaigns.  If you really want to help these pets please inform as many people as possible about this.  Your local pet shelters will thank you.  -Troy

Friday, October 21, 2011

Farmers Union Partners with HSUS in Nebraska

HSUS tries a new approach in Nebraska

Is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) changing its strategy in regards to state-by-state ballot initiatives?
At a news conference in Lincoln Tuesday, the HSUS joined the Nebraska Farmers Union (NeFU) in announcing the formation of an advisory body called the Nebraska Agriculture Council of The Humane Society of the United States.
Chief among the new council’s goals will be creating market opportunities for farmers and ranchers who want to market “humanely-raised” meat and poultry products.  Officials of both groups say the council will also “facilitate a dialogue with individual farmers, ranchers and the organizations that represent them.”
NeFU president John Hansen says that, as part of their agreement to work with HSUS on the project, the animal rights organization has assured him that it will not pursue an animal welfare ballot initiative in the state.
But other Nebraska ag and livestock groups, who have been girding for battle with HSUS, were not impressed with the announcement.  Pete McClymont of Nebraska Cattlemen, who is president of the We Support Agriculture coalition, says they are “shocked and disappointed that any Nebraska ag group would align itself with an extreme animal rights organization such as HSUS.
“It is disturbing that somebody would reach out to groups that want to eliminate, if not restrict, animal agriculture like the animal rights groups,” McClymont says.     Read More
It's hard to fathom that anyone in agriculture would be willing to trust what HSUS has to say.  It's also hard to understand why a group like Farmer's Union would turn against some family farmers by claiming that they don't raise their cattle humanely.  HSUS doesn't own the right to declare what is humane and what isn't and for a group like Farmers Union to sell their soul to work with them shows an incredible lack of leadership and backbone.  It's an apparent desperate attempt to legitimize themselves at the expense of their neighbors.  If they were truly interested in this subject they would have worked with the other ag groups in Nebraska rather than the group that has declared war on all types of animal agriculture.