Thursday, May 08, 2008

Animal Rights Group Dupes Donors

I realize that many of you dear readers have already seen this news release enough times to have it memorized. Please forgive me for posting it yet again. It really is important for this type of information to be spread far and wide.

If you are seeing and reading it for the first time, know you are not only free to copy and post elsewhere,I'm all but begging you to do so.
margot


Animal Rights Group Dupes Donors Into Believing It Takes Care of Animals


(Columbus) - When regional retailer, Meijer, received pressure from sportsmen to sever ties with the animal rights extremists in the Humane Society of the Unites States (HSUS), some questioned why the U.S.
Sportsmen's Alliance (USSA) acted to oppose the partnership.

"Most people simply don't know that the HSUS is actually an animal rights organization that is opposed to any use of animals for the benefit of humans," said USSA president and CEO Bud Pidgeon. "The public deserves to know the hidden agenda behind this is to deceive them."

On April 24, 2008, HSUS, the world's largest animal rights organization, announced a partnership with Meijer, a regional discount retail chain to raise $5,000 for the organization's fund to address the purported problem of abandoned pets as a result of the national home foreclosure crisis.

The USSA, a national organization founded to protect the rights of sportsmen, responded with an alert asking hunters to contact the retailer to protest the partnership. Meijer quickly responded by canceling the arrangement. Since that time, some animal welfare activists have questioned why USSA would oppose a partnership alleged to benefit pets.

The Washington DC-based HSUS, raised $100 million dollars according to its
2006 IRS filing. Despite a name that seems tailor made to animal shelters, HSUS is in fact an animal rights organization. Its main function is to change laws that permit Americans to gain any benefit from animals. It advocates for restrictions on livestock farmers, bans on life-saving medical research performed on animals and opposes zoos, circuses and rodeos. Of course HSUS also opposes hunting. The HSUS does not operate or represent the local dog and cat shelters that exist across the United States.

"With a name like the Humane Society of the United States, it's easy to see why some people believe that there is a connection between it and local animal shelters, which struggle every year to make ends meet," explained Pidgeon. "HSUS spends the bulk of its money on making contributions to politicians, lobbying, lawyers and expensive 30-second advertisements to promote voter issues aimed at banning various uses of animals."

The Humane Society uses campaigns, such as the Meijer campaign, as a public relations tool to help it raise its $100 million dollar war chest for its animal rights crusade. Evidence of this is contained within its leadership.
Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the organization, is the former executive director of the Fund for Animals, which was the nation's leading anti-hunting group.
Upon accepting the executive job at HSUS, Pacelle announced a merger with the Fund for Animals and quickly hired its most ardent hunting opponents as his top management staff.

The HSUS then swallowed several anti-livestock organizations, hiring their leadership as well. Its takeover of the Doris Day Animal League has given it access to Hollywood dollars, previously the home turf of the radical People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Unlike PETA, however, Pacelle and HSUS are not interested in making a large public relations spectacle using naked models or making outrageous statements comparing the Holocaust to the slaughter of chickens. Instead, HSUS has launched a series of campaigns that put it in a positive light with animal lovers in general.

Such was the case in 2005, when HSUS created a fund to aid animals stranded as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Later, the Louisiana Attorney General's office launched an investigation of HSUS when allegations surfaced that the money never made it to the pets in need.

In 2007 it launched a campaign to address the issue of so-called "puppy mills," abusive large-scale commercial dog breeding operations. Using sentimental images of suffering puppies, the organization is backing legislation in Pennsylvania that would devastate small hobby breeders, dog show kennels and sporting dog enthusiasts. The legislation is so radical that it has been opposed by the American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club and even dog rescue shelters in the state.

"Taking advantage of the American people's love for their pets, HSUS is able to deceive donors and the public into believing that the organization is in the mainstream of American values," said Pidgeon. "It is this mainstream image that allows HSUS to raise its 100 million dollar budget to take our hunting and fishing rights away. At the same time, by deceiving animal lovers, HSUS robs financially strapped dog and cat shelters of critical funds needed to actually look after abandoned and abused pets."

The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance recommends that people who want to help real animal shelters give to their local shelter organizations.

"Some animal rights groups masquerade as pet shelters, so donating to a local organization gives the contributor the opportunity to determine how their funds will actually be spent," said Pidgeon.

The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen's organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website http://www.ussportsmen.org

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Flowers

I have become almost obsessed with trying to find the right angle and light to get some pictures of my little gardens in all their current glory. The yellow iris will only be in bloom for a few more days and I think I managed to finally get a good picture of them at their peak. This fall I plan on getting Alison to help me dig and thin them out. What I am hoping to be able to do is to trade some of my yellows for someone eles' purples or even some whites. I think the same number, but mixed colors will be even prettier. How about you? What do you think about mixing the colors for next year?

My son gave me this Foo Doy almost 30 years ago. He is supposed to watch over us and keep us safe. Overall, I'd say he has done a pretty good job.

This side of the garden, side with the bathtub goldfish pond is where I continue to struggle to build a butterfly/hummingbird garden. Each year since I started this project I have been graced with a few more butterflys and a few more hummingbirds. I'm really hoping that this will be the year I get to snap some nice pictures of both butterflys and hummers.

Today was a slow, quiet day. It was beautiful, warm and sunny. I am finding myself feeling more rested than I have in months. The healing power of the sun, soft breeze, beautiful flowers and a smaller than usual congenial pack made my day one of the best. Even the dogs found themselves mostly laying around snoozing in the sun.



All day I have managed to not think about all the people on the other side of my tall fences who would steal from all of us the joy that comes when such a day as this one can be shared with a few animals who understand the pleasures and mirror them back to us. May the ARvipers fail and fail totally before all our domestic animals are sucked away from us.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Musings on a May Monday

See the wide strip of bare ground in the picture below? Last Thursday it rained off and on most of the day. During one of the not raining spells I turned everyone outside as I always do. Got busy doing other stuff and really wasn't paying as much attention as I should have. So, okay, I screwed up twice. Once because I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have and once because I didn't lock the gate at the end of the garden. I remember thinking about it and then thinking, "I don't have anyone who will even try to pull this gate open". Paint me stupid.
It got really quiet outside and I heard the quiet. Not a good sign and so I hurried to the door to check on everyone. First, it had started to rain again. Second, I see most of the dogs all sitting or standing in a line facing the flower garden. Two dogs are very conspictiously missing. I stepped out on the porch and at once started having a screaming fit. One red Doberman (Chance) and one black Standard Poodle (Caruso) had decided to open the gate and let themselves into the garden. When I caught them they were in the process of racing back and forth and stompping on as many flowers as possible. So we now have room to plant more flowers.
At least on this side of the porch the gate always gets locked. I don't make the mistake of leaving it open because with the goldfish pond there is just too much of a temptation to go in and "play". As it is I always have to chase two or three new, young dogs out every spring. How do they get in? To tell the truth, I'm not totally sure. I have my suspions, but have not actually caught anyone entering, so don't know for sure.

Sometimes I have people make comments about training the dogs to stay out of the gardens. While I have been very successful at training my own dogs to stay out of my flowerbeds and gardens over the years, this is totally different. On any given day I might have between 5 and 15 or more dogs here and none of them belong to me. That paints a whole other picture.

Anyway, for what I think might be the first time I am actually posting a couple of pictures that don't have any dogs in them AND the mischief that was done to the gardens was done by someone other than Sanity. I now know she has survived her puppyhood and made it to three years of age. Amazing! Totally amazing!