It appears that officers of the Humane Society of the United States may be caged themselves at Gitmo. This week, the Center for Consumer Freedom ran a huge ad in the New York Times accusing the Humane Society of the United States of helping an animal-rights terrorism group raise money. The CCF represents the fast food, meat, diary and alcohol industries and has attacked such groups as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD).
One enviro website described the allegations as the following:
Here’s the gist of the ad: a Humane Society vice president is speaking at a holiday event sponsored by the Humane League. CCF says the Humane League has members from a group “Hugs for Puppies,” and Hugs for Puppies had members from SHAC Philly, and SHAC Philly had members from SHAC USA, and six members of SHAC USA were convicted on “animal enterprise terrorism” charges for running a controversial website.
It does seem that the CCF terrorist alert was prompted by a December 13th speech planned for HSUS Senior Vice President Heidi Prescott at The Humane League of Philadelphia’s holiday fundraising party. CCF says that the Humane League of Philadelphia was founded in July 2002 as the Philadelphia chapter of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), an organization convicted in 2006 — along with six of its national leaders — on federal domestic terrorism charges. The CCF ran the ad with the banner headline: “Why is the Humane Society of the United States Helping a Terrorist Group Raise Money?”
I suppose this would qualify as a material support charge. This may explain those dog leashes at Abu Ghraib — it was reeducation for animal advocates.
Previously, the CCF charged MADD with being “drunk with power” and leading a clandestine effort to reducing alcohol consumption in the America.
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Death threats and kidnapping threats coming from the anti-Petland HSUS campaign?!?!?!?! HSUS and Wayne Pacelle show us YET AGAIN they are a domestic terrorist group! How dare you put the life of HUMAN BEINGS in jeopardy to raise MORE millions for your own personal use! You will be held accountable for your criminal actions by the US government. You are not going to sleaze you way out of this one Wayne. I am absolutely repulsed by the HSUS terrorist machine!
PS SHAC7 did a LOT more than run a website. You don’t get that many years for website problems. They were doing far more than that. Tertiary targeting was their goal. That is against the law in CA, and restraining orders were handed out against the perps accosting the UC research scientists. Trivalizing crimes just because you take the AR position?
Unfortunately, the AR wingnut is actually HSUS. Why? Because regardless of the sponsors of the info, the assertion is very true. SHAC members were sentenced to 24yr total prison. AR groups have long had ties to those connected to bombing, arson, destruction of property and more recently, in CA, attacking/home invasion of research scientists. they broke into the house and 6-7 black masked individuals scared the crap out of the 6yr old boy. They beat up the husband of the scientist. They have set various cars,trucks,vans on fire. Then said they did it?
When HSUS chooses to hire convicted felons, solicits money for dogs (Vick)where they did not have custody of such dogs, that is misrepresentation. HSUS intends to try and incrementally outlaw the breeding of pets, but have recently stepped up their work.
People have been believing that HSUS is not radical. No, they aren’t–on the surface. They leave radical to Peta. But this is all just strategy. They do have that.
They have engaged in seizures purposely, claiming everyone is an abuser, a dog fighter, etc. But these people were not convicted of anything, yet lost all their property. Surely you know the forfeiture laws on civil cases can be abused, and HSUS has consistently gone after such laws to benefit themselves. They recently tried to pass forfeiture for dogfighting in CA, and lost. They lost in TN. They made proposed laws in KY, MI, IL and FL, all of them to stop and get rid of dog breeding–and I don’t mean pitbulls–this is for mandated sterilization for EVERY single owned pet–NOT shelter animals. They supported the same law in CA 07-08 and we defeated it this August 08.
Please don’t discount the claims against HSUS–these are not just some fleeting, unfounded claims. We fight HSUS legislation on a daily basis. That glib smile of Pacelle’s isn’t fooling us, and it should not be fooling you.
The site has the document showing the guy’s conviction for God’s sake. It is true, and the FBI is well aware of it. That isn’t all that’s against them. Just the tip of the iceberg.
This is a primo example of how wingnut corporate defender front groups work.
They are primarily concerned with industry well-being and profits, and couldn’t care less about so-called terrorism. Thanks to the wingnut corporatists, constitutionally protected protests and free speech have been legally designated terrorists acts. Especially when it comes to speaking out against the institutional cruelty and exploitation of animal enterprises.
Comparing groups like HSUS, PETA, etc. to “terrorism” is the height of willful ignorance and delusional thinking. Wayne J, you are seriously misinformed. Neither group has anything to do with “threatening children”, if such a thing actually occurred.
Jill,
This attack group is just your normal neocon front for soemthing I call “reverse terrorists” by attacking the rights of other organizations that might actually be protesting against the very businesses that are backing the front organization. It is always interesting what bugs scatter when you pick up that neocon rug!
AP ^ | December 12, 2008 | HUSSEIN DAKROUB
Jimmy Carter said Friday he would have been “delighted” to meet with Hezbollah officials during his visit to Lebanon and regretted the militant group’s leaders refuse to meet with current or former American presidents. Carter spent five days talking to top Lebanese leaders and members of parliamentary blocs but didn’t sit down with lawmakers from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which is on the State Department list of terrorist groups. … During a lecture at the American University of Beirut on Friday, Carter expressed disappointment Hezbollah refused to see him. “We came here with the hope that we can meet with all…
It posted the trailer for children’s movie Charlotte’s Web, claiming that the movie ‘encourages kids to “say no to bacon” and print out stickers reading “Tofu Rulez”‘ and links to groups it claims are “extremist”, such as the Humane Society of the United States.[17]”
Okay, well, that’s just silly.
I went to look up some info on this group. The following is from wikipedia. There is also Congressional testimony by the founder.
“The group was created in 1995 as the Guest Choice Network by Richard Berman, executive director of the public affairs firm Berman and Company, with $600,000 from the Philip Morris tobacco company.[3] The concept of the group, according to a letter by Richard Berman to Barbara Trach, who at the time was Philip Morris’s senior program manager for public affairs, was “to unite the restaurant and hospitality industries in a campaign to defend their consumers and marketing programs against attacks from anti-smoking, anti-drinking, anti-meat, etc. activists …”
In January 2002 the Guest Choice Network became the Center for Consumer Freedom, a change the group said reflected that “the anti-consumer forces [were] expanding their reach beyond restaurants and taverns [and] going into your communities and even your homes,” claiming that a broader organization was needed to act “wherever they try to take away your consumer freedom”.[8]
In a 1999 interview with the Chain Leader, a trade publication for restaurant chains, Berman said his organization attacks activists more aggressively than other lobbyists. “We always have a knife in our teeth”, he said. Claiming that activists “drive consumer behavior on meat, alcohol, fat, sugar, tobacco and caffeine”, his strategy is “to shoot the messenger … We’ve got to attack their credibility as spokespersons.”[14]
In 2002 CCF spokesman John Doyle described nationwide radio ads put out by the group as efforts to attract people to their website and “draw attention to our enemies: just about every consumer and environmental group, chef, legislator or doctor who raises objections to things like pesticide use, genetic engineering of crops or antibiotic use in beef and poultry.”[15]
CCF has posted a number of videos to YouTube.[16] It posted the trailer for children’s movie Charlotte’s Web, claiming that the movie ‘encourages kids to “say no to bacon” and print out stickers reading “Tofu Rulez”‘ and links to groups it claims are “extremist”, such as the Humane Society of the United States.[17]”
Hummm…..
Attacking a group like MADD is not a bad thing. Attacking a group that threatens scientists’ families is not a bad thing.
My wife brought a puppy home from the pound a few years ago. The thing now weighs 150 lbs. Now I’m going to see if the feds will take thing off my hands and stick it in a secret prison somewhere. I’ll evevn throw in a dozen squeeky toys. NSA, are you listening? You know where I live, come get this worthless dog.(I think he’s Iranian)
Also, “running a controversial website” is apparently a euphemism for “threating the children of a pharmaceutical company employee.” It is certainly true that threats against children are “contoversial.”
A point of clarification. The “Human Society of the United States” is NOT the same thing as the Humane Society (you know the animal shelter folks). The HSUS is just leaching off the good will created by the actual Humane Society. HSUS is more akin to PETA.
If we apply the same convoluted standards for inclusion on the Terrorist Watchlist as here, then we need to get the Republican Party on the list, muy pronto.
Not to mention the Humane League being responsible for that infernal “Don’t You Want Me, Baby?” song back in the eighties.
huh?