Source: Center for Consumer Freedom, 7/30/14 Just as the Humane Society of the United States cloaks itself with cats
and dogs in fundraising material—even though only 1% of HSUS's money
goes to pet shelters—we've seen the animal liberation group use
veterinarians as cover for its radical agenda. With that in mind, last
weekend we attended the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) convention in Denver. We're glad to say that many vets are already in the know.
The response from veterinarians to our booth was generally very
positive. Vets whose work involves laboratory animals have long been
targeted by animal-rights radicals, so they didn't need an introduction
to HSUS. Same with livestock vets. But many vets are younger, from urban
or suburban areas, and want to have a small-animal practice. They are
prime pickings for misinformation from HSUS.
And that's exactly what HSUS had in mind. HSUS's veterinary arm, the
Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, had a booth to try to
recruit veterinary professional members. HSVMA is simply the new face of
an organization called Association of Veterinarians for Animals Rights
(AVAR), which merged with HSUS in 2008 to create HSVMA.
AVAR burned bridges in the veterinary community. The group teamed up
with PETA for a full-page ad in 2004 claiming that AVMA, an organization
representing thousands of veterinarians, had “betrayed” animals. A
member of HSVMA's Leadership Council has reportedly compared
slaughterhouses to Nazi concentration camps at a recent animal rights
conference and has written that “Laboratory destruction and vandalism…is
not terrorism.”
Right—tell that to someone who has had his car firebombed or endured harassing phone calls.
HSUS didn't help itself with the veterinary community by pushing—and then dropping—a planned ballot initiative in Colorado
this year that would have allowed individuals to bring legal action
against veterinarians. The idea, apparently, was to target livestock
veterinarians who use standard practices that HSUS doesn't like. The
initiative may make a return in 2016 and would certainly be an extreme
weapon for HSUS to use in its broader war against agriculture (keep in
mind that HSUS is against all animal agriculture).
An important distinction for veterinarians to understand is that
HSUS/HSVMA is about animal rights and not animal welfare. Animal welfare
is science-based and involves treating animals humanely. Animal rights
is about stopping the human use of most animals—which, ironically, would
reduce the need for veterinarians and put many out of business.
HSUS was more cordial this year—in 2012, HSUS tried and failed to get us
thrown out of the convention. But HSUS surely didn't like the fact that
our booth was right near theirs, something many attendees found
amusing. Maybe next year we'll be neighbors.
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