New Web Site Set To Dog Humane Society

The farming sector has received negative press of late concerning food contamination cases, recalls, antibiotics overuse and, more recently, calling into question animal agriculture as a threat to animal welfare and global climate change.

Ask a farmer involved in livestock production and he's likely to say that much of the bad publicity is the work of animal rights activists. It's a fight that's been going on for years.

But with the recent launch of a new watchdog Web site targeting the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the tussle has turned dog eat dog.

"We launched this Web site because we think there's a huge disconnect between what the public thinks the Humane Society is, and what they really are," said David Martosko, director of research for the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF).

Launched Feb. 16, HumaneWatch.org monitors the monetary and philanthropic activities of HSUS.

"As HSUS gains influence, wealth and political power, it is casting itself in the role of arbiter of what we eat, what we wear, how long it should take us to find disease cures with lab rats, and all sorts of issues that affect American culture and life on many levels," Martosko said.

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On Feb. 23, CCF ran a full-page ad in the New York Times that, the group claimed, detailed HSUS's 2008 budget and donation allocations. The ad contended only $1 out of every $200 donated to the non-profit organization went to hands-on pet shelters.

"Meanwhile, this wealthy animals rights group socked away over $2.5 million of American donations in its own pension plans," the ad claimed.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of HSUS, said in response that the ad was "unjustified and fraudulent."

Pacelle added that working with shelters is only a small part of what HSUS does for animals.

"The HSUS was founded to safeguard the interests of all animals - including pets, laboratory animals, wildlife and farm animals," Pacelle said in a blog posted Feb. 23 on the HSUS Web site. "We have been faithful to that mission ever since."

"What HSUS really is, is a richer version of PETA," Martosko said. "They are an animals rights group portraying itself as an animal welfare group in order to get money and lobbying power to influence policy to serve their agenda."

That agenda, according to Martosko, is to influence American culture toward bringing animals up to par with humans, regarding basic rights.

"If Americans are really trending toward veganism, wearing vinyl shoes, taking elephants out of the circus, banning rodeos and going without a cure for cancer because lab rats have rights - if that's where we are intellectually- then fine, we have all the freedom to choose that," Martosko said. "But we shouldn't be led around by the nose to those conclusions by a group with a phony posture about what it is and what it wants."

But Pacelle contends that it's really the CCF with the hidden agenda, claiming that the CCF is funded by farm and food organizations out to discredit HSUS's efforts toward animal protection.

"The HSUS has the highest rating from charity watchdog groups, such as Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau," Pacelle said. "We were also named by Worth magazine as one of the top 10 most fiscally responsible charities in America.

"(CCF) is bothering us because, by threatening animal abuse, we are threatening their bottom line," Pacelle said.

"There's a lot of misrepresentation here," Martosko said. "If HSUS were forced to do a little truth-in-advertising, their $100 million budget would shrink to about $20 million."