By Regina Janousek, Nebraska Corn Board Intern
Sunday night, Lincoln was the host to Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, for a town hall meeting. Wayne was sponsored by a Nebraska cattle rancher, Kevin Fulton. I attended the meeting to be a spectator and to listen to what Pacelle had to say on behalf of HSUS.
I was a bit nervous going to the meeting, not knowing the reaction that HSUS would receive from the agriculture community. To attend the meeting, a person had to RSVP on the HSUS site, and received a confirmation email. Upon arriving to the hotel, there was security outside of the meeting hall, where attendees names were checked with the guest list and names were taken down of those that were in attendance.
The meeting began with a few introductions, and Kevin Fulton made a few comments, which he read directly from a sheet of paper. Wayne Pacelle talked about all the wonderful things that HSUS has done to help pets and animals in times of need.
Numerous university students and faculty anxiously waited for what the meeting would bring; producers and agriculture industry leaders were also in attendance.
In order for attendees to ask questions, they were supposed to be written down on a note card which were handed in to the new Nebraska Director for HSUS, where she would ask the questions aloud to Wayne. I have friends that turned in questions which were not read or asked of Wayne.
As the questioning started, Wayne was under the hot seat. First to comment was a second-year veterinary student, Jake Geis, who instantly questioned HSUS and the American Veterinary Medical Association’s disagreement on issues. Wayne was quick to say that the AVMA was in the back pocket of the industry, and that their interest was mostly put on the future of the industry and not the care of the animals.
A few more university students got up to talk and ask questions, but again, Wayne eluded actually answering any of their questions. HSUS stated that they have not announced a ballot initiative and have no intentions to. But they do want to push for better standards on gestation crates, veal crates, and chicken battery cages, as well as puppy mills. HSUS said right now they are not concerned about the livestock industry, but going after more extreme forms of confinement.
When questioned about the economic impacts that bans and restrictions would have on young farmers, Wayne simply said that he didn’t have control over the economy. But then he goes as far as to comment on how the agricultural community can’t afford not to change and fill consumer demand for cage free eggs etc. Yet one has to wonder, where does the consumer gain this perception of “factory farms” ??
After numerous questions from UNL students and producers, Wayne announced that they only had time for a few more questions, even though there were many questions left unanswered. The meeting adjourned around 7:15 p.m. even though the announcement for the meeting stated that the meeting would be allowed to go until 8:00 p.m. I have to wonder if the questions were starting to get to Wayne for him to abruptly end the meeting 45 minutes before scheduled.
Thanks for the update, Gina. I wondered how he would be received in Nebraska. It sounds like he is clueless, and again I say, who is going to decide who has to go hungry if these people have their way.
ReplyDeleteHSUS has time and again shown that, like PETA, they believe animals are better off dead than being cared for by humans. They would rather see livestock species go extinct as humans all become vegans. They certainly don't think that pet species should exist. The photos of hurt animals that they show to advertise their cause...they didn't actually help the animals in the photos. They steal money from local shelters because people believe money they donate to HSUS goes to local shelters as well.
ReplyDeleteThey need to be investigated by the IRS and shut down.
It has become increasingly clear that threats, intimidation, and violence is being used against pet owners, medical researchers, dog breeders and farmers by animal rights radicals. Legitimate businesses are being shut down by these zealots who slander all farmers and dog breeders with the terms made up by HSUS. HSUS and PeTA's primary goal is to end all use of animals for food, medical research and as companion animals by passing laws that will choke off all future breeding of animals. In fact HSUS is so greedy that they are asking their volunteers to vote for their project to win the Pesi 250,000 dollar grant above children who need help breathing, women and children who need help after having been enslaved and above autistic children who need help communicating with their teachers. HSUS receives 100 million dollars a year and spends less than .04% on direct animal care. HSUS could shelter every pet in this country and still have millions left over. Its time for the public to rethink this animal rights movement as it is becoming clear that many breeds of dogs will soon become extinct. In the north eastern states the shelters and rescue groups are importing diseased feral dogs with rabies from India, Puerto Rico and Mexico. These radical animal rights groups believe they have the right to lie to the public to reach their anti animal goal which is to eliminate animal ownership. A clear example is Prop B in Missouri that lowered the standard of care. In fact the only thing HSUS wanted passed was to limit how many dogs one could own. They knew PROP B lowered the standard of care that is why it did not pass in 114 rural counties and only passed due to the cities and the propaganda from HSUS. PROP B changed feeding from 2X a day to once a day. PROP B eliminated the requirement to provide sanitized water 24/7 and it called for temperature ranges in kennels that would ensure that newborn puppies would die. It called for unfettered access to the outside no matter the age of the dog or the weather conditions. Imagine that the government said you must keep all your doors open in all weather so your children no matter how old they are can go outside anytime they want. And at the same time you are suppose to keep your house temperature between 45 and 85 degrees which is an impossibility. Then on top of that you are suppose to keep your air filtered so that no pollution can enter your house. This is the insanity of Prop B that city folk ignored. There is a total lack of care from animal rights radicals about the reality all animals face from this AR movement as we watch horses starve, elk and moose herds being killed off by the over growth of wolves, bears killing our children in their own backyards and cougars attacking people in their own neighborhoods. Truly common sense has left these animal rights zealots who inflict such damage on animals and people. In reality they put their goal of a vegan state before the domestic animals they want to leave in the wild to die. These people must be stopped. They are a danger to the safety of our country.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to know more about Kevin Fulton. His actions were childish and apparently he wants to talk down to a lot of people who have more experience and know-how than he does.
ReplyDeleteThe thugs that took over Russia did similar things. Don't discount their abilities, but do believe in the abilities of normal Americans to deal with this, because as much as they can conspire and cause damage, we can fix that damage and get them back worse.
Animal control is banned in unincorporated counties in Nebraska because of this kind of act by so-called humane societies, to save agriculture.