Humane Society of the United States To Go Bear Hunting in 2016

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is no stranger to controversy.

Known for their longtime practice of deliberately misleading of the public into thinking they are all about protecting animals in shelters, they've managed to keep some of their shadier situations out of the public eye. That includes their having lost a huge lawsuit brought against the organization after their claims that the Ringling Brothers Circuses were mistreating their elephants. Turns out Ringling Brothers wasn't mistreating elephants, but the HSUS was paying former Ringling employees to testify against the company in court.

When the case was pitched, Ringling brought a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act case against them. The case alleged witness bribery and numerous other offenses. In May of last year, word leaked out that the HSUS and two co-defendants had settled the RICO case with Ringling owners for $15.75 million.

[Recently], a mini-controversy erupted over the HSUS's plans to attend the upcoming Conservative Political Action Caucus (CPAC). [Days later], word that HSUS wouldn't be attending CPAC.

Now, having lost a November ballot initiative to outlaw bear hunting in Maine, HSUS has made public its intention to bring the bear hunting question back to the ballot in 2016.

That word got out [recently] as lawyers for HSUS and the state of Maine were in court to debate a lawsuit brought by HSUS against the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. That suit was brought before the November election in an attempt to stop the state's wildlife experts from explaining to voters the true dangers of HSUS's bear hunting ban.

During the course of that hearing, HSUS attorney Rachel Werthneimer advised the court they will, indeed, put the question on the 2016 ballot and would be filing paperwork "soon".

Outdoor groups aren't surprised.

"They spent more than $2.5 million dollars trying to buy an election," says USSA president and CEO Nick Pinizzotto, "when it was clear they were about to lose, the sued the state to prevent the true experts from explaining the dangers of the issue to voters."

"Now, they're making it clear they do not respect the will of the voters -who have twice sent the HSUS and their supporters- packing" (a similar initiative was defeated in 2004).

For many, the HSUS and their continued battles "for" wildlife seem nothing more than a reflection of their pledge to protect animals however possible. But the HSUS says they're doing more than simply trying to protect animals, they're trying to change the "root problems" that cause animal cruelty.

Sounds noble, but you need to keep reading the HSUS's own description of their ultimate mission.

If you do, you'll read as HSUS head Wayne Pacelle explains "we never claim to operate shelters" - and his labeling anyone who questions their motives as "hacks employed by big corporations". Those companies, he writes, are the primary offenders when it comes to animal abuse.

To Pacelle one of the core problems is the "10 billion animals raised for food, primarily on factory farms, in America every year". He also points out that "tens of millions" of other animals are killed in the fur trade - which he likens to cockfighting or dogfighting.

In other words, the root problem for animals would be: people who see animals as resources.

Hunters and anglers are definitely included in problem groups Pacelle says have failed to adjust to the "evolving ethos in American culture". He describes that "new ethos" as "getting ahead through innovation and adaptation, not stubborn adherence to custom or current business operations."

He's become quite circumspect about where he says it anymore, but for Pacelle, a major part of that "evolving ethos in American culture" requires accepting the vegan lifestyle. That would be a major step toward the subjugation of animals by evil groups like circuses, ranches, hunters, anglers and - oh yeah- you evil pet owners.

Pacelle's ultimate end-game message doesn't play well to mainstream American when it comes to fundraising, so HSUS uses heart-melting pictures of big-eyed puppies and kittens.

They could use images of extremists tossing paint on people wearing fur coats, spiking trees in hopes of killing timber workers, or firebombing medical testing laboratories, because HSUS has indirectly supported - and endorsed - their efforts.

Granted, they're far less appealing than pictures of kittens and puppies (like the thousands of which they euthanize every year), but they're no less a part of the HSUS mission.

Republished from The Outdoor Wire.

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