LETTER: Humane Society’s mission is to help all animals

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Editor:

The announcement by Rick Berman’s Center for Consumer Freedom that it had discovered 120 complaints made to the Federal Trade Commission concerning The Humane Society of the United States (Watchdog Group Calls on FTC to investigate the Humane Society, Feb. 15, 2012) is not so much news as a confirmation that, like the deceitful ward healer, Berman is not above stuffing the ballot box.

Like the CCF’s many other initiatives, it’s a con job. Berman is now three or four years into his effort to mislead the public concerning our broad mission to help all animals, the mission we’ve had since the founding of The HSUS in 1954.

But he’s losing ground by the day, to judge from the news concerning The HSUS and its work in the agricultural sector with both retail players and producers.

Within the last few weeks alone, we’ve witnessed momentous announcements from Smithfield, Hormel, and most recently, McDonald’s, concerning their intended abandonment of the gestation crate.

Moreover, in conjunction with the United Egg Producers, we’re supporting legislation at the federal level to set a standard for the treatment of egg laying hens that reflects a greater awareness for the public’s interest in animal welfare.

From the mid-1950s struggle to secure humane slaughter, to the contemporary campaign to end confinement-related cruelties, the welfare of farm animals has been a part of our agenda. Today, whether in the law, the retail or production sectors, we’re well on the way to a higher welfare standard, Berman’s efforts notwithstanding.

Rather than parrot the weak and misguided claims of Berman, Farm and Dairy should be taking stock of the sweeping changes that promise to benefit farmers, animals and the American public.

There is nothing to be said for Berman’s false claims concerning The HSUS’s advertising, save for that the organization recently earned a four star rating (the highest rating) from Charity Navigator, the most prominent of charity watchdogs, on the basis of our performance with respect to transparency and governance, financial information and results reporting.

Wayne Pacelle

President & CEO

The Humane Society of the United States

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61 COMMENTS

  1. The H$U$’s idea of helping all animals is to erode the human/animal bond. They are just more deceitful about it than PeTA, which is pretty upfront about what they believe–and some people donate to them anyway! H$U$ is a cleverer PeTA (in suits, with dozens of attorneys, and a PR con man leading the AR organization), and the truly deceitful sad-eyed-animal ads that both the H$U$ and the ASPCA (which is now following H$U$ in strategy) have been running need to be investigated for false advertising.

    Yes, that CCF ad certainly got the attention of the H$U$, and Pacelle (or one of his ghost writers) decided to reply with an attack of their own. Declaring that Berman was “stuffing the ballot box” is blustering and bluffing at best and another blatant lie on the part of H$U$ at worst. What do you think?

  2. Just a technical note -0- apparently Waytne (or more likely, his ghost wruiter) doesn’t know his homonyms! He calls Rick Berman a “ward healer”. I don’t know this phrase; is this someone who HEALS people under guardianship?

    I tghink what he *meant* was “ward heeler” — a local political operative (a “ward” is a local unit of municipal government). Whatever else Rick is, he’s a NATIONAL operator. I don’t agree with all of Rick’s positions, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t truthful!

    Meanwhile Wayne Pacelle keeps revising his life story to match whatever he thinks is politically expedient. Originally he said that he didn’t have a close bond with animals, but now he’s written, or at least authored, a book called “The Bond.” He used to say that he had not had pets as a child; the latest version of his childhood includes a Westie — and one bought from a pet store at that. Since the way he described it, it was a perfectly adequate pet, where does he get this stuff about “opupy mill” dogs?

  3. Looks like the HSUS is just a bit aggravated and likely feeling a little less prosperous as more people become aware of their REAL use of the donated funds. I am glad more members of the public are waking up. All those local shelters are likely going to see a lot more donations now that they realize that the HSUS is not helping the locals. That has to be a big improvement for the animals. One would think that IF the HSUS were truly an animal welfare organization they would be thrilled that the local shelters were getting increased donations. Guess not though. Guess the HSUS wants all those funds so they can continue lobbying states about animal husbandry issues with which they have no familiarity, just an anti-animal agenda. No need to comment Terry Ward, we know you are an HSUS troll.

    • H$U$ is not only after animal ag, they have an agenda against fishing and hunting as well. A point we in our state have taken to heart. Together we stand, divided we fall aproach to H$U$ is what we have adopted. Incidentally, many H$U$ supporters, at least online, have a beef with agriculture in general, even fruit growers in Oregon. Go figure.

      • No one with half a brain has a ‘beef’ with agriculture.
        The ‘beef’ is with BAD agriculture.
        If you are not bad they why even reply?
        Moi has never ONCE pointed a finger at any producer other then the few who have proven themselves to be thugs.
        (I have a very BIG beef with the fools who say my pets are ‘livestock’, but that is a separate issue)
        If you are NOT a thug then I have absolutely no interest in you or your operation or your bus driver.
        If you do not like ‘generalizations’ then possibly you might consider not making them yourself..

      • I reply becuase you imapct the cost of living for the general population. You need not be a producer to be concerned about a groups impact on your ability to feed a family.

        I am fairly certain that your definition of bad agriculture is pretty loose. OregonGreen did not appear thuggish in any manner.

        One person’s pets may well be another’s livestock.

  4. Please remember to be courteous to other readers when leaving comments on this website. It is not a place to call each other names or to leave rude comments. This site is patrolled and the comments will not be posted if they contain language that is not suitable for all readers or are defamatory.

  5. H$U$ is not limiting itself to animal shelters. Do you really need me to add all the links to their activities? The issue with guns would only be incidental to their anti-hunting agenda. Additionally, the gun control topic is an irrational presentation and you know it. Has nothing to do with the topic at hand. I know throughout your posts on many sites you attempt to spin this organization as a shelter welfare concern, but the facts tell another story.

    • I believe that you brought up the hunting issue.
      I never bring it up because it is useless to do so.
      I will repeat…no one is ever going to take away your stupid guns.
      Last I looked there was a Constitution in place.

      • I did bring up the hunting issue as I wished to present the full picture of the HSUS agenda and how it impacts more than just agriculture alone. Strength in numbers, you know?

        You brought up the gun issue, which is not the same. It’s a diversionary tactic from HSUS in order to tiptoe around any possible interaction with the NRA and to confuse the public.

  6. The Hormel and Smithfield announcements are hardly momentous. Smithfield, with a newly optimistic financial outlook, announced it will fulfill its pledge from several years ago to phase out gestation crates by 2017. And HSUS was far from the only animal organization to convince Smithfield to do it in the first place. (Smithfield had delayed the conversion plan for a while during the recession.) Pacelle probably thinks he deserves the Nobel Prize for this. The McDonalds announcement is anything but momentous. It is a modest and vague commitment to work with farmers who don’t use gestation crates. That’s fine, but PETA did a far better job with Burger King, KFC, McDonalds and others long ago. Pacelle always uses words like “momentous” or “the most important legislation in the history of the humane movement” to describe HSUS’s modest and dubious achievements. True leaders don’t exaggerate and brag about every move they make. Hucksters do. Narcissists do.

    Charity Navigator is very well-marketed but it is more of a lapdog than a watchdog. It mostly measures financial health, which is not what charities should be evaluated on. So many terrible charities like HSUS have lied their way into 4 star ratings by cooking the books, including East Asia Institute, subject of a recent CBS 60 Minutes report. HSUS’s 4 star rating is just a month old and Charity Navigator is already cringing about how Pacelle is milking it The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Smart Money and many others have stated that Charity Watch aka American Institute of Philanthropy is the only reliable charity watchdog – the only one with teeth. Charity Watch consistently gives HSUS a D for spending a huge percentage of its money on overhead and fundraising.

    • Pat is right on about the Charity Navigator grade. It is so easy to game their misguided rating system that uses criteria appropriate for corporations, not charitable organizations. Even so, there is no way the folks at Charity Navigator would approve of having their name and brand brought up every day to defend HSUS against fact-based allegation regardig misuse of money. Pacelle using the Charity Navigator rating as a response to the FTC, IRS, animal rescue community and other inquiries is so off-topic and just makes Charity Navigator look like it botched the HSUS report. If enough people complain, I bet Charity Navigator would tell Wayne Pacelle to cease and desist from misusing the rating in ways no watchdog would agree to.

  7. Terry Ward stated that the concern is with BAD agriculture. And she knows that there is bad agriculture…HOW? Is she a farmer? Does she have a cattle ranch?

    It seems to me that the people who know BAD from GOOD are those who have the education (ag universities), the experience (years in farm work) and the background (research professionals). I think these are the people we need to be listening to, not some animal rights radicals who want to influence how animals are kept when they have NO BACKGROUND in the field. I wonder if Terry would like to go to a plumber to have her teeth filled, or to an electrician to have her broken leg set…or maybe just call on some member of the general public like the animal rights folks do…to have THEIR input on how to perform some specific health practices. I think Terry would be yelling about that. Well, those of us who have a background in science and in facts are saying…when you know nothing about farming, bug out. You know nothing yet you have an OPINION about how animal husbandry practices should be conducted! So, bug out. Let those who are knowledgeable do the job.

    • Would that “those who are knowledgeable” DO do the job.
      There would be no problem then

      Because from this side of the fence, y’all appear to have a VERY big problem..

      Which is getting worse as we speak.

      You folks keep saying the same thing over and over and can’t understand why you get the same result.

      For years now ag has been ranting about ‘ar terrorists’ and ‘radical agendas’ and the inexplicably illucid ‘elimination of agriculture’ and the silliest of all..the Great Vegan Plot to starve the world to death…

      Not only is no one listening, no one outside your comfort zone takes any of it seriously.

      What’s worse, you’ve squandered a gazillion dollars on big-bucks PR firms and on twerps like the universally despised Rick Berman …all of whom laugh at you all the way to the bank .
      A gazillion dollars which, by the way, could have helped a LOT of young new farmers struggling so terribly in this loan-deprived economy.
      In my opinion this squandering of resources is an obscenity.

      And HSUS donations are up… a down economy notwithstanding.

      After the Prop B fiasco and ag’s shiny new shelter & rescue bashing you managed to alienate the bazillion generally reasonable and middle-of-the-road pet lovers, and in doing so created a whole NEW group of folks who now, simply despise ag on principle.
      And I can tell you from extensive personal experience that these are folks who .BEFORE these pet-crimes really never got too involved in the goings-on of farmers.

      The single stupidest thing ever was to tell pet lovers that their pets are ‘livestock’.
      That is damage which will take an intervention of Angels to repair.
      ……….

      So, I dunno…
      They say intelligent people learn from their mistakes…
      Maybe they are wrong.

      • Sounds to me like more blustering and wildest best dream scenario, Terry. Oh, that you wish all the above were so. People are wising up to the “propaganda mill” BIG LIES of ther H$U$ and other anti-animal-use groups. Will pets or meat-eating be eliminated? NO. Americans would not stand for that, and H$U$’s leadership knows that–or they surely would be going for it. Certainly past hard lines against animal use have been said–even though they are trying to re-write history of what they said. Instead, now they are cagily playing games with a gullible American public, using Alinski or “moral crisis” tactics, by vilifying animal industries and making raising animals so expensive and regulated that (their hope is) people will just give it up–and some have and more will. That’s a nudge in the right direction for the AR movement in general–NO animal use is the goal. Maybe not the lower ranks, but certainly the leadership, and the paid minions are just drinking their leaders’ koolaid on a daily basis and pushing it on anyone else who will be as gullible as they are.

      • Hm, Terry Ward, the people who do know are doing their job. Paying people to find signs of abuse is sure to turn up signs of abuse. If a healthcare professional witnessed signs of aggregious mistreatment it is expected that that person would report it immediately, not hold on to information or evidence until a maximal emotional-impact product could be assured. Correct? Why would it be different in regards to the undercover videos of the AR groups? To do so is morally reprehensible.

        If by terrorists you mean individuals who engage in activities that destroy property and livelihood, then you are correct. AR has terrorist members within it and continues to behave in such a manner. I may not agree with a group or an individual, but I am not going to engage in an activity that is an imminent threat to life and property.

        Mr. Berman may not be liked, but I don’t find too many people holding Mr. Pacelle in high regards either. Additionally, the mission statement from Mr. Berman has never been to support farmers fiscally. Diversionary tactic at best.

        Prop B, couldn’t help it could you? Actually, not that many people are too upset with the final outcome, especially when you speak to them. You can see that in the dramatic drop in support of Prop B from the high 70s percentage to barely equal split. People do know what HSUS represents and acted acordingly. From the manner in which you describe it, YVC would be a hotbed of activity, but I didn’t see that many people in attendance at the events. I did see the well paid PR individual and HSUS members but not many ordinary citizens. I mean, Dane Waters costs quite a bit and that money could have been donated to support some of the local shelters couldn’t it? Mr. Waters is only one of the PR groups HSUS has hired for YVC, how obscene.

  8. Folks, please– People I know who are following this are confusing me with Terry Ward. Makes matters really bad that we have the same spelling of the first name, and the same last name initial. If you are referring to or answering Terry Ward, please use HIS full name– Terry Ward has been enough of a thorn in another venue– and his statements result in me catching flack–makes matters worse is that we are from pretty much the same area of the country- and links to these current anti-HSUS articles are showing up in other, pretty big groups on FB and agricultural forums. I am involved with helping in several Ag animal seizure cases– and I really don;t want to be associated with the ‘enemy’– those who would erode our rights to raise our own food, in a manner that ensures us that the food is free of contaminants that we do not want in our bodies…. And part of the HSUS agenda, is to first start by classifying rabbits and chickens as , pets, then move on to goats, mini horses– blurring the line between ‘companion’ and “food source’ makes it easier to include ALL manner of animals into new regulations that removes OUR control over what we do with them. In California, it is already illegal to butcher a ‘domestic animal”– that means cows , pigs, sheep, etc…

    So please, when commenting– make sure you differentiate which “Terry” you are referring to—we are NOT the same person (thankfully)

  9. Gestation crates are humane. Battery hen caging is more humane than the alternative. The HSUS is deliberately damaging agriculture to control it. These are the facts.

  10. So here we have a letter written by an extremely arrogant, pompous self-rightious master con-artist of the most vile,evil, wicked organization that I have ever dealt with, attacking a group that stands up for individual freedoms and rights of Americans. HSUS has always had a “secret agenda” and have pathetically used animals to blind the public to their true motive-to rob the American people of their freedoms and constitutional rights-and placing communistic ideals and regulations in place. HSUS doesnt give a HOOT about animals-it just uses animals to place laws and regulations that WILL HARM ALL-YES ALL PEOPLE…ex: Missourri “Your Vote Counts” drive is being pushed so that brainwashed mobs can violate anyones rights-absolute NOTHING to do with animals…even the proposals mentioned – UEP proposed bill and the anti-crate regulations-are NOT about animals-but TO FORCE GOVERNMENT INTRUSIONS onto people-starting with farmers. The “private company mandates” are just the beginning of more future government mandate attempts. Pacelles quote that since the 1950s HSUS has started its agenda VERY coincidentally coincides with the beginning of communistic agenda of slowly brainwashing Americans in acceptance of communist rule. These proposed laws are the beginning of state run farms…and, if you think that sounds crazy-I invite you to research the communist and socialist parties…you WILL find that animal rights-as well as the “green” movement-IS pushed and backed by them-and that there are MANY quotes that are word for word what HSUS claims. As far as brainwashing-check out HSUSs “Youth Manual”..The previous manual actually told children that it was OK to disobey their parents and wanted children to talk to THEIR (HSUSs) doctors about becoming vegan instead of the childrens family doctor…it very clearly was pushing veganism onto children as well as getting children to dictate to the government officials policies that violated other citizens rights..all under the false guise of animals….What this boils down to is “attempting to acclimate” Americans little by little to total government control of our food sources. Time to wake up and see HSUS for what it actually is…a vile, demonic organization that is destroying our country all under the VERY FALSE guise of helping animals.

  11. Whatever Terry Ward says, you can discount because Terry Ward is an animal rights supporter. I see that name on other news comment sections. Terry Ward has nothing substantial to say, just tries to either ridicule or distract from the real points made by those who do care about farming and agriculture and the future of our society. Brain washed animal rights cultists don’t have a lot of information, they do have a lot of nerve and dedication to their goal…to END ANIMAL AGRICULTURE. Please the other Terry, put another letter after your first name so people know the difference. Thanks.

  12. Whooie…
    Write all that on a sign and walk it into any supermarket in the US and see what happens…

    Methinks you have spent far too long on anti-government websites.

    Maybe it’s the fumes though.

    • No. I have spent too much time READING the words of the animal rights cultists and seeing their real agenda. Try it some time. If you do care about animal abuse, you might see the light. Animal rights is not about saving suffering animals…it is about seeking to CONTROL human use of animals. The hook is the emotional call to the compassionate consumers to lead them down this path to the decay of our society. Animals and humans have been associated since humans formed families and groups and tribes. Animal rights wants to turn everyone into vegans with no pets and no association with animals, not even conservation of wildlife.

  13. So, according to you folks I am an “arrogant, pompous self-rightious master con-artist brain washed commie-supporting cultist’…

    So much for good manners…

    Possibly the TOS here only works one way?
    You all certainly have the right to accuse moi of every vile thing on the planet.

    As I have the right to find it all exceedingly humorous.

  14. I’m not sure how we can believe anything Wayne Pacelle says. In one statement, he says he has no hands-on fondness for animals, but then he writes “The Bond.” In one statement he said he never had a pet, and now suddenly a Westie that they must’ve miserably abused by tethering it pops up.

    Some quotes from our good buddy Mr. Pacelle:

    “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 human selective breeding.”
    — Animal People News, May 1993

    “We would be foolish and silly not to unite with people in the public health sector, the environmental community, [and] unions, to try to challenge corporate agriculture.”
    — “Animal Rights 2002” convention, Jul 2002

  15. Its clear he has been deceiving the public all along. In Texas through HSUS volunteers he pushed a bill that does not regulate puppy mills but does regulate all animals under the guise of supposedly regulating puppy mills. In HB 1451 regulations all references to dog or cat have been changed to the word animal. So any farm animal can be regulated under this bill. Its clear the committee who is writing this bill are not knowledgeable enough about animal care at all. Its time to out HSUS and show them for what they are a money grubbing anti animal cult.

  16. Here’s how Wayne really feels about animals:

    QUOTES FROM HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENT/CEO WAYNE PACELLE:

    When asked if he envisioned a future without pets, “If I had my personal view, perhaps that might take hold. In fact, I don’t want to see another dog or cat born.” —-Wayne Pacelle quoted in Bloodties: Nature, Culture and the Hunt by Ted Kerasote, 1993, p. 266.

    “I don’t have a hands-on fondness for animals…To this day I don’t feel bonded to any non-human animal. I like them and I pet them and I’m kind to them, but there’s no special bond between me and other animals.” —Wayne Pacelle quoted in Bloodties: Nature, Culture and the Hunt by Ted Kerasote, 1993, p. 251.

    “ One generation and out. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals.” —Wayne Pacelle, quoted in Animal People, May, 1993

    “We would be foolish and silly not to unite with people in the public health sector, the environmental community, [and] unions, to try to challenge corporate agriculture.” —Wayne Pacelle, at the Animal Rights 2002″ Convention, July 1, 2002.

    “The entire animal rights movement in the United States reacted with unfettered glee at the Ban in England …We view this act of parliament as one of the most important actions in the history of the animal rights movement. This will energise our efforts to stop hunting with hounds.” —Wayne Pacelle, London Times, December 26, 2004

    “If we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would.” —Wayne Pacelle, Associated Press, Dec 30, 1991

    “Our goal is to get sport hunting in the same category as cock fighting and dog fighting.” —Wayne Pacelle, (Bozeman (MT) Daily Chronicle, October 8, 1991

    “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, Full Cry Magazine, October 1, 1990.

    “The definition of obscenity on the newsstands should be extended to many hunting magazines.” —Wayne Pacelle, quoted in Bloodties: Nature, Culture and the Hunt by Ted Kerasote, 1993, p. 265.

  17. We never hear about Wayne Pacelle’s venture as a hunt saboteur and his arrest record. We never hear him say anymore that he has never had a fondness of any animal. Wayne also stated in this article regarding the 1950s, truth is that we did not have “animal rights” or “protection” until well into the 1970s, much of it imported from the UK in the late 60s and early 70s in a think tank of sorts attended by many animal rights activist known today. It is interesting that many moved to the USA to carry the message many through universities in the USA. Everything in the 50s centered on animal welfare, not animal rights. Not many people had a purebred dogs in the 50s. It was not until the 70s that the vegan animal rights movement started in the USA. Many of the philosophers aquoted today and believed by the animal rights activist are those who were members of the Fabian Society way back in the 1890s, a society formed to spread socialism. They took on many causes and veganism and animal welfare were just two in order to “make” a better world a utopia of sorts. Peter Singer has discounted his former beliefs and I hope that he has discounted euthanasia for children two or under.
    I wonder how many AR activist have had a vasectomy or “tubes tied”. If you believe that the animal rights community, heads, really think about the poor suffering animals, better think again. In every campaign the motive is to remove any animal they can from human hands.
    It seems that being a victim of mother nature is better than being cared for by a human. We know mother nature is not kind. How long would your dog, or horse live in the wild?

  18. Terry Ward I am relatively new to the battle between HSUS and Humane Watch. I have started reading a lot of the information from both sides of the controversy. I own a boarding stable and have been warned about HSUS not wanting people to “use” horses. So I believe that from the information I have gathered that I should be anti-HSUS. Can you please answer two questions for me? What do you do, for a living, is it involved in agriculture at all? Second,why would I want to support an organization that would like to end my livelihood? I would very much like to support an organization that stops real animal abuse and helps take care of and re-home abandonded, abused or neglected animals. I thought that was what HSUS was about, but now that I am becoming more informed on the subject that does not seem to be the case. I only aks if you are involved in agriculture as I am, to see what perspective you are coming from and to know if you have real working knowledge of agriculture.
    Just looking for answers and trying to understand both sides.
    Thank you for your time.

    • Since you are being polite, I will attempt to respond.

      First, why would I want to ‘shut you down’, (I assume you mean ‘farmers) and starve myself to death?

      And no, I am not ‘involved’ in agriculture other than …like so many others… I eat food.

      My career was PR//brand positioning/advertising&film production… now I rescue & rehabilitate dogs.
      Mostly from dog-farmers.

      You are being ‘informed’ by corporate media protecting the interests of their clients.
      These clients do not want to spend what must be spent to improve the conditions under which livestock are living in many facilities.
      So they hire PR firms to whack whatever entity or group which is attempting to improve the lives of these animals.
      This is called ‘corporate propaganda’.
      And is a no-brainer..
      Anyone involved in PR understands this very clearly.
      Corporations have stockholders to whom they must answer.
      Stockholders do not like anything to impinge on their profit margins.
      So the PR firm will say&do anything and everything to maintain the corporation’s stockholder profits, They do this with no regard for truth.
      This occurs in every industry.
      And is non-arguable.
      Inevitably in this propaganda-party, the blameless suffer.
      Certainly the animals do.
      And the decent, humane farmers feel they are ‘under attack’.
      But if the decent humane farmer would rise up against the abusive facilities as opposed to supporting them or denying that they exist , things would be much different.
      But this wisdom seems lost on them.

      Just because someone supports the HSUS does not mean they ‘work’ for them.
      I support Save The Children but do not work for them.
      I support my local sustainable farms but do not work for them.
      I support the President of the United States but do not work for him.

      I, and many others, do not agree with everything the HSUS does, specifically the attempted ‘rehabilitation’ of Mr. Vick.
      But I do understand the attempt to use him as a spokesperson in the hopes that he will have some positive influence on a certain segment of society.

      • Terry Ward, the rhetoric that you are using is dishonest and you resort to being supercilious and to mocking and taunting people when they contradict you. If you were indeed in some kind of public relations I have to suspect that they either fired you or decided not to renew your contract.

  19. Wow, after reading the comments from farmers on this site I am recommending my friends and family go off dairy. I had no idea farmers were so anti-animal! I guess I had a quaint idea from the past, but it looks like today’s dairy farmers are in Rick Berman’s camp-the sleazy one. So sad because they love ice cream!

    • Ariadne, I don’t know what you are reading here, but from what I am reading, all the farmers are PRO-animal. Now, if you are not a farmer, nor a person working with animals routinely, it is highly likely you have very little factual information regarding appropriate animal husbandry practices on farms or ranches. This is not unusual. It is the result of many people leaving the country for life in the city or town. However, the fact of the matter is that farmers and cattlemen work with the latest information on appropriate animal care. This information is presented in universities and colleges which many young men and women attend prior to going back to work on the family farm. FYI this has been the case for over fifty years. So,when individuals choose the life of a farmer or cattleman, that doesn’t mean they are not well informed about their work, both from hands on experience and college coursework. What is truly frightening is to have inexperienced ideologues like those within the Humane Society of the United States coming forward with THEIR plans for animals, based on an agenda of CONTROL and ELIMINATION of animal agriculture. Now, if you want to be concerned, that is the area of serious concern for anyone who wants a viable healthy society in the US…where people AND animals are treated HUMANELY.

      • All agriculture is better for the animals than the humane societies are. Actually, the bashing of agriculture by the humane societies was my first clue.

      • Please send all predictions of “the elimination of animal agriculture” to Frank Purdue and Cargill and Purina and Monsanto and McDonalds.

        And report back to us their reply.
        We could use a laugh.

      • Terry Ward,We know you are a shill for the animal rights organizations. We know their agenda. The HSUS leadership has spoken and written about their agenda to end animal agriculture. Nothing hidden about that. And, all this propaganda about cruelty on the farms and ranches is purely that, propaganda. There will always be a few individuals who are abusive or cruel towards animals AND towards humans. That does not describe the majority of farmers and ranchers nor dog breeders nor breeders of other animals, just as it doesn’t describe most parents of children. Most people working with animals do so because they enjoy them. For as long as humans have been human, they have partnered with other creatures, and that is likely to continue unless the animal rights radicals manage to propagandize the public completely. However, there are too many people who think, who will do the research and who will resist this insane agenda of no animal use! We love our critters and we are gonna FIGHT for them!

      • WE patiently await Cargill and Purdue’s response to your warning of the elimination of agriculture.

      • Hog farming is a great example of that. Gestational crates were invented not to be cruel to the sow, it was invented because sows were crushing their babies and hog farmers needed a way to prevent this. Then came the nutrition part, it’s much easier to give individual care and the right nutrition to one pig then it is to have 100 pigs running to the trough.
        When our kids are sick we give them an antibiotic, yet people who scream cruelty to animals and farmers/ranchers are animal abusers don’t want you to give a sick animal an antibiotic. I guess it’s more humane to allow an animal to die from a curable bacterial infection than it is to treat the animal.
        Another agenda is no vaccinations to these animals, not stopping to even think for one minute how many diseases that are almost non-existent any more due to vaccinations. Is it humane to allow the diseases to make a come back?
        My favorite is all grass diet, yes an animal gets nutrients from hay, but it’s not always so easy to know if an animal is getting enough nutrients from hay, that is where commercial feed comes in so you do know your animals are getting enough nutrients. Most cattle ranchers would love to have their cows eating an all grass diet, that means less money out of their pocket, the problem is in colder climates they can’t make grass grow year round. When a 50lb sack of feed is going to cost you a minimum of $7, don’t you think if they’re cattle were doing well on hay alone that’s all they’d feed. After all, that’s what I always hear is that farmers, ranchers and breeders are all greedy scumbags that only care about their profit off animals.

        I have went to raising my own meat, not because I’m scared of antibiotics, hormones and steroids, but because I’m scared of the movement towards not vaccinating and not using antibiotics. I don’t want to eat an animal that could have possibly had a disease or infection. Before I went back to raising my own food, if I saw a package of meat that said “organic” or “anti-biotic, hormone free” I wouldn’t buy it.

  20. C’mon people. Let’s stay on topic, and show a little maturity in comments on this letter to the editor. Farm and Dairy appreciates feedback on topics that appear on our pages, but we remind users to remain civil, constructive and on-topic in their conversations. Posts that are off-topic, contain vulgarity or that may be considered a personal attack will be removed. Thanks for your cooperation and continued engagement on our page.

    If we’re forced to close comments to this and other postings, it won’t be because we’re trying to stymie discussion, it’s because folks just can’t play by the rules.

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