HSUS Sham

Last week I read and heard stories the HSUS had started a National Agriculture Advisory Committee complete with real live farmers and ranchers. The head of the committee was reported to be a livestock producer from Nebraska. What do you know, maybe the good old Humane Society of the United States has turned over a new leaf and will start supporting those of us who provide the meat for the world’s dinner table. Maybe I will suddenly become tall, dark and handsome too. Both have just as much chance of happening.

Don’t kid yourself. HSUS forming this committee of farmers and ranchers is somewhat akin to a coyote (I would say wolf but we all know that coyote is more appropriate) donning a sheep skin and proclaiming itself friendly and ready to live in the barnyard. No matter what they say, the sole, stated purpose of HSUS when it comes to animal agriculture is to remove meat from our dinner table and put us out of business. No committee of farmers and ranchers is going to change that.

HSUS says its purpose for the committee is to promote animal welfare along with preserving family farms and making rural life more vibrant. Sure it all sounds good and it sure sounds like they have turned over a new leaf. However, much like a coyote saying they have seen the light and want to become a vegetarian, it just isn’t going to happen.

I am not going to mince words here. Make no mistake, HSUS is not a friend of animal agriculture, they will never have our best interest in mind and they should be treated accordingly. In fact, I really have to wonder about the farmers and ranchers who would align themselves with such an organization. Once their purpose is served, HSUS will turn on the very farmers and ranchers who tried to work with them.

I have read several press releases about this committee and everything coming from HSUS pontificates about preserving rural America, small family farms and promoting proper care of livestock. It sounds so good and so Norman Rockwell like. How could anyone be in opposition to that, it would be like being against Mom, apple pie and puppies.

HSUS is a slick, aggressive propaganda machine capable of raising lots and lots of money that they spend working to destroy farming and ranching of any kind. They have a win at any cost mentality and they will use any tactic to advance their misguided beliefs. They stop at nothing to get what they want and I promise that means destroying those friendly to them once their purpose is served.

Instead of working with this group, farmers and ranchers should unite to bring the truth about animal agriculture to the public and refute the misinformation put forth by special interest groups like HSUS. One of the purposes of this committee is to drive a wedge in between agriculture groups. It is nothing more than an attempt to get us fighting among ourselves and to divide and destroy agriculture from the inside out.

We cannot allow this anti-agriculture organization to pit big versus little farmers, conventional versus organic, we must stand united against HSUS as farmers and ranchers. This is one organization we cannot and should not work with under any circumstances. Make no mistake, their mission is to put us out of business and the formation of an agriculture committee on the national level or the state level will not change that.

The good news is that I think this is a sign that our advocacy efforts in the name of animal agriculture are effective. We have done such a good job of promoting how trustworthy and caring we are as farmers and ranchers that HSUS wants to copy our efforts. They think if they can trot out farmers and ranchers of their own the public might give them the same credibility and trust we have nurtured.

Yes, this committee formed by HSUS is a sham, there are no two ways about it. It is further proof that we cannot let our guard down even for a second with this organization. We must continue to be vigilant and wary of this special interest group. Most of all we must continue to tell our story, to let our customers and the public know just how much we do care for our animals and how hard we work to improve our already great network of farmers and ranchers. Most of all never forget just how that coyote obtained the sheep skin it is wearing.