The Platte Valley Humane Society, located in Columbus, Nebraska, rejected a $5,000 grant that was offered from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), according to the Columbus Telegram. The Platte Valley Humane Society is not in any way affiliated with HSUS, even though both have “humane society” in their names. The reason why the shelter declined the grant was due to some of the legislative measures that HSUS is pushing that would have an effect on animal agriculture. All 10 board directors of the Platte Valley Humane Society unanimously voted against accepting the grant from HSUS. A letter to HSUS declining the offer stated that the local humane society comes from an agricultural community and that many of HSUS’s policies would affect many of the Platte Valley Humane Society’s supporters.
It is worth noting that the local humane society has never received a grant from HSUS before and that the group never sought out a grant from HSUS. The $5,000 that was offered by HSUS would have been half of what the local humane society makes during the Platte Valley annual Furbal, the biggest fundraiser of the year. Turning down the grant was tough as it would have helped the local shelter financially, although the shelter knows that they have a great amount of support from the local community.
Many local agricultural producers and companies praised the local shelter for turning down the grant. A majority of Nebraskan’s know that agriculture and the livestock industry plays a big part in Nebraska’s economy, and concerns have risen about organizations, such as HSUS, coming in and changing the ways agriculture is run.
The decision by the Platte Valley Humane Society shows the continual support for Nebraska’s animal agriculture and continues recent support by Kearney, Hastings, Columbus, and other communities that have taken a stance against the likes of HSUS and other groups opposed to agriculture.
To see the full article about this, be sure to visit the Columbus Telegram.
There are those of us all over the country who are similarly fighting this kind of oppression by hsus. We are sending donations in appreciation of their sacrifice in resisting this type of manipulation and exploitation.
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