Free Republic

Just saw another ad by the Humane Society. They do wonderful work and help animals who have been abandoned or treated cruelly. I hate these ads, not for their poor taste, they are actually done well and are a needed message about treating animals with love and humanely. What bothers me about the ads is the starkness of the cruelty man exacts on an animal who loves unconditionally and is always happy to see you. They don't care what kind of day you had or how much money you make. The're always happy when you walk in the front door....

TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- The Humane Society of the United States and other groups are petitioning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to start regulating confined-animal feeding operations under the Clean Air Act. The groups submitted the 69-page petition late last month asking that emissions of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and other gases be curbed. EPA spokesman Dave Ryan said the agency will review the petition and respond within 120 days. The EPA is wrapping up a study of emissions at 24 U.S. feedlots, but doesn't have enough information yet to decide whether confined-animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, need more regulation. "We...

I felt a tremor in the earth ... Rush Limbaugh joined the Dark Side. He is a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States. It was like finding out your brother is a cross-dresser. Why does it matter? It probably doesn't to most people, but whether you like him or not, you could always find out what the conservatives were thinking. He was the balancing act for the liberals' Sen. Ted Kennedy. Think about it, how would Dan Rather feel if Kennedy voted to eliminate the death tax or said a kind word about capitalism? When I heard...

Within 12 months, the Japanese were killing more than 40,000 dolphins every year. Most were fed to children in school meals, with the rest being exported to China. Ironically, recent scientific research suggests that the Japanese authorities might be endangering the health of their own children through this practice. Dolphin meat is full of toxic mercury, cadmium, DDT and carcinogens such as dioxins and PCBs. Some cuts of dolphin meat have more than 5,000 times the safe level of mercury. Such levels can very quickly lead to severe nervous system problems and even insanity. The dolphin meat is so toxic...

Disgraced quarterback Michael Vick declared Sunday that he really "cares" about animals. He says he wept in disgust over his own cruelty to animals while serving time for running a bloody dogfighting ring. And yes, he also found God in prison. Treading the well-worn path of career revival, Vick went on CBS' "60 Minutes" pledging to devote himself to teaching kids from poor backgrounds to be kind to animals. "When I was in prison, I was disgusted, you know, because of what I let happen to those animals. I could've put a stop to it," he said. "And that was...

Last week WSB-TV in Atlanta uncovered what Rush has somehow been unable to see: that HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) is “an organization actively misleading donors to get money.” If you enjoy a good steak, if you hunt or fish, if you wear leather shoes, if you take your kids to the circus, if you (or a family member) owe your life to medical research that involved lab animals—the Humane Society of the United States doesn’t share your values. The group has the same agenda as PETA and the rest of the animal rights industry. And it is...

When conservative talk-radio icon Rush Limbaugh decided to record a series of public service announcements for the Humane Society of the United States, many animal lovers on both sides of the political aisle applauded. After all, the topics Limbaugh spoke about in the PSAs, like opposing dogfighting, hardly seemed controversial. "Opposition to cruelty and the embrace of the human-animal bond are universal values," Humane Society president Wayne Pacelle wrote, adding that his group's aims were "in step with those of all good people" regardless of political affiliation. But a coalition of 28 hunters' rights groups are furious with Limbaugh for...

Rush Limbaugh's new pet project -- fighting animal cruelty for the Humane Society of the United States -- is riling sportsmen from coast to coast, prompting fears that the talkster typically supportive of gun rights is aiding a group they say has a secret agenda to end all hunting in America. Twenty-eight groups representing millions of hunters and sportsmen are demanding that the conservative radio commentator end his collaboration with the HSUS and stop "helping them to mainstream their image in the minds of reasonable people." "Despite a few programs designed to attract support from the general public, HSUS is...

Forget the stimulus -- this one moved really fast. From the Humane Society: U.S. House of Representatives Passes Captive Primate Safety Act WASHINGTON (Feb. 24, 2009) — Eight days after a chimpanzee kept as a pet attacked and critically injured a Connecticut woman, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Captive Primate Safety Act, H.R. 80, introduced by U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., to stop interstate commerce in primates as pets. The bill passed by a vote of 323 to 95. The bill now moves for consideration to the U.S. Senate, where the effort to pass...

Coalition challenges Humane Society ‘outdated’ policy (Killing Puppies) Dear readers, we know that this story is difficult. Best Friends feels as you do that animal welfare organizations are more effective when we get along and work together. In this case we felt it was important to draw public attention to HSUS?s policy on dogs from fighting busts because its clout and its relationships with law enforcement informs and justifies state and local animal control policies. The court-ordered destruction of 145 dogs, including about 75 puppies, which were seized from a fighting dog breeding operation in December, was based on the...

WASHINGTON – The Humane Society of the United States is asking President Barack Obama and Congress to require everyone who raises dogs and cats to be regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, documents show. HSUS also is asking for the creation of an animal protection division within the U.S. Department of Justice that is “similar to the Civil Rights Division, to ensure strong enforcement of federal animal protection laws,” thus granting animals rights similar to humans. HSUS also calls for a new position of animal protection liaison in the White House. A fourth provision calls for a ban on...

Mice may be responsible for a blaze that killed nearly 100 cats at an animal shelter near the Canadian city of Toronto, officials say. The fire at the humane society shelter in Oshawa also killed three dogs and some rats that were up for adoption. An initial report from the fire marshal says mice or rats chewing through electrical wires in the ceiling are likely to have sparked the blaze. Offers of help have been pouring in from animal lovers across Canada.

A fire at an Oshawa shelter killed 200 animals, including 150 cats and dozens of bunnies, guinea pigs and hamsters, which were likely lulled to sleep by the smoke, and died after inhaling it. Animal workers looked on helplessly early today as flames licked up the Durham Humane Society headquarters (pictured above), located in an industrial plaza near Lake Ontario. Police officers and firefighters ran into the burning building and managed to carry out nine dogs, two cats and a rat, some of which were treated for smoke inhalation. As of yesterday afternoon, humane society workers had tallied the dead...

Asking for animal shelter donations instead of presents for his 11th birthday was “no biggie” for Mac Gandy, but it makes him a hero to the Florence Area Humane Society. Mac decided after a visit to the shelter in early July, a couple of weeks before his birthday, that he wanted to help the animals in need of a good home. “I felt bad for them,” he said after he and his mother, Michelle Gandy, delivered the food, cleaning supplies and other items he’d collected. “It always tugs at his heart,” his mother said. The Gandys aren’t sure exactly how...

Asking for animal shelter donations instead of presents for his 11th birthday was “no biggie” for Mac Gandy, but it makes him a hero to the Florence Area Humane Society. Mac decided after a visit to the shelter in early July, a couple of weeks before his birthday, that he wanted to help the animals in need of a good home. “I felt bad for them,” he said after he and his mother, Michelle Gandy, delivered the food, cleaning supplies and other items he’d collected. “It always tugs at his heart,” his mother said. The Gandys aren’t sure exactly how...

Hundreds of dog lovers turned out Wednesday morning to the Idaho Humane Society for a chance to adopt 110 of the 200 dogs rescued from a Burns, Ore., puppy mill last week. Some even camped out overnight. But by 5 p.m., only seven of those dogs remained, said Dr. Jeff Rosenthal, executive director of the Idaho Humane Society. In addition to the Oregon dogs, dogs already at the Humane Society were adopted as well.

Editor's Note:Eric Sakach attended about a dozen dogfights as an undercover investigator for the Humane Society. Here, he gives AJC reporter Drew Jubera an insider's account. The precautions taken to avoid detection are pretty extraordinary. In one case [in Arkansas], we were told to arrive at a motel the day before. Most of the people there were there to attend the same fight. The day of the fight, later in the afternoon, we all received a call and were told to stand outside by our vehicles. A lone pickup truck with a couple of occupants made a slow pass by...

The Humane Society of the U.S. has, for years, been trying to frighten people away from consuming meat, milk and eggs -- but its recent testimony before a congressional committee reached a new low when the HSUS president, Wayne Pacelle, made the unsupported claim that pigs could be harboring the infamous and deadly British ‘mad cow” disease. Swine veterinarians quickly pointed out that “mad cow,” or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, has never occurred naturally in swine. At the height of the British “mad cow” epidemic, both swine and cattle were exposed to the tissues from thousands of infected cattle and the...

Humane Society holds doggie yoga class By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 42 minutes ago By the end of their doggie yoga class, most of the wandering and sniffing participants are passed out on their mats, in a position their instructor calls the "upward facing belly pose." Beans, a majestic 2-year-old Vizsla, however, is ready to play. The overgrown puppy has tried to relax with his owner, Chantale Anderson, but once Magnet the black lab heads off to explore the room, Beans is ready to go. Mostly, however, both the dogs and the humans on a recent...

Many people may consider the Humane Society of the United States a pussycat. But with 10 million donors and a $120 million budget, it is becoming a tiger among Washington's interest groups. Just ask Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) and Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.). Actually, make that former governor and then-representative. The Humane Society targeted both in last year's elections after Ehrlich supported bear hunting and Pombo supported commercial whaling and trapping in wildlife refuges. The society also spent lavishly to help pass an initiative in Arizona, fought by agribusiness, that bans inhumane factory farming. And it...