Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 1/25/10

The battle between animal rights activists and agribusiness for the high ground in the public's perception continues in the new year, with a fresh emotional indictment from the Humane Society of the United States and a rejoinder from the Animal Agriculture Alliance.

In the new issue of "The Scoop," an e-newsletter that HSUS sends to animal shelter employees, Pacelle lobs criticism at agricultural organizations — particularly the American Farm Bureau. He writes, "The trend toward improved treatment of farm animals is spreading, and that has agitated agribusiness interests, particularly the American Farm Bureau Federation and perhaps even your own state or local Farm Bureau.

"The newly crafted plan of some local, state, and federal Farm Bureau organizations is to try to divide the humane community, in order to undermine support for humane reforms in agriculture," Pacelle goes on. "As such, some state Farm Bureaus … are making a concerted effort to forge relationships with local humane organizations. ... In some limited number of cases, the Farm Bureaus are even donating to sheltering organizations in order to buy goodwill.

"[T]heir newfound interest in animal protection groups should be treated with some skepticism based on their consistently hostile record on animal welfare issues. … We urge you not to be deceived by this newly hatched effort by the Farm Bureau to enlist you in opposing legitimate and mainstream animal welfare reforms for animals used in agribusiness," he closes.

Not so

In response, Animal Ag Alliance in its e-newsletter, "Alliance Link," published a letter from Executive Vice President Kay Johnson Smith that said, "Nothing could be further from the truth.

"It's HSUS that is trying to deceive the public — not farmers. The group is currently sponsoring a ballot initiative in Missouri that would limit the number of dogs that a breeder can own to 50. While HSUS says that the measure is designed to put a stop to puppy mills, it would set a dangerous precedent that could be used to impose future limits on the number of farm animals kept on a property." 

"It's apparent that HSUS is not happy that agriculture groups are pointing out the difference between the multi-million dollar animal rights organization and local shelters. … Too often, animal lovers who mean well donate to HSUS thinking that it will save homeless pets, when in reality the money goes toward furthering the group's political agenda."

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