Tag: animal rights groups

Missouri Coalition Defeats HSUS-Backed Ballot Initiative

Missouri citizens didn’t buy into an HSUS scheme to shove more animal-rights nonsense down their throats.  A petition drive has ended.

“Your Vote Counts was a front for HSUS so they could more effectively attack agriculture in the future, but it would have opened a floodgate of outside money on any number of issues,” says Missouri Farmers Care Treasurer Dale Ludwig “The fact that 77% of Your Vote Counts’ money came from HSUS is a pretty clear indicator that animal-rights groups wanted this change so they could attack agriculture again.”  More here…

Animal Rights , , ,

Was HSUS Involved in a Pay-to-Play Racket?

When we formally launched HumaneWatch in February 2010, one of the first things we reported on was that the Humane Society of the United States and two of its lawyers were defendants in a federal racketeering lawsuit. There are some key updates that you should be aware of.

First, some background: A decade ago, animal-rights groups sued Feld Entertainment (parent company of the Ringling Brothers circus) alleging elephant abuse in violation of the Endangered Species Act. That lawsuit was dismissed by a US District Court, and a US Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal the other week.

The key witness in that case was a former circus employee named Tom Rider. The case dragged through the court system for years before a federal judge ruled in December 2009 that the animal-rights plaintiffs, which included the Fund for Animals (which merged with HSUS in 2004/2005), had engaged in essentially a pay-to-play scheme with Rider, who received at least $190,000 as the lawsuit made its way through the courts (his “sole source of income,” according to the ruling). Here’s part of the ruling (Markarian is an HSUS executive who used to run the Fund for Animals): Read more

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More Trouble from Mexico?

By Glen Wunderlich

The news from Mexico never seems to be good. Illegal aliens, drug cartels, gun running and killing of tourists are just a few of the negative phrases linked to our neighbors south of the border. But, finally some good news – a victory of sorts, if you will for animal rightists: The Mexican Environmental Department has released five Mexican gray wolves just south of the U.S. Mexican border in an effort to re-establish the species in its historic range.

The hope of supporters is that the release will provide the impetus to develop a thriving population of wild canine carnivores in New Mexico and Arizona.

What we have found in the U.S., however, is that it is much easier to start the snowball rolling downhill Read more

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