Wayne Pacelle: A Humane Nation

Out of the Ashes

Our Emergency Services team consists of 18 full-time staff members, but we rely on hundreds and even thousands of trained volunteers and also cooperative relations with other groups and local, state, and federal agencies. We do not respond just to natural disasters, but to human-caused disasters as well, such as hoarding cases, puppy mills, and animal fighting operations.

Like our advocacy work, our hands-on work increasingly knows no boundaries. After a volcano buried a community in Chile in more than a foot of ash, causing the evacuation of everyone in the community, we sent some members of our Emergency Services team far south of the equator to help. Scotlund Haisley, our senior director of Emergency Services, has this report.

© Jorge Cadenas/La Tercera
A dog amid volcanic ash in Chile.

Our Emergency Services team knows that devotion to animals is a universal value, and the people of Chile have this sensibility as well. A steady stream of distraught evacuees have pressed pet’s pictures and their addresses into the palms of our team members’ hands, begging them to help rescue their pets from the abandoned city of Chaiten.

Because of continued health risks to humans, the local police and military are not allowing us access to the city. We are working to streamline rescue efforts by gathering addresses from evacuated pet owners and creating maps that pinpoint the location of their pets. These maps will make rescue efforts as efficient as possible once we gain entry into the affected area, which is known as the “hot zone.” 

Thankfully, we have been working with dedicated local animal welfare groups to establish a base of operations and temporary shelters to accommodate animals removed from the affected areas. Military personnel have already removed more than 100 dogs from the region, and continue to transport more to safety each day.

Our team is also leading training sessions in advanced disaster animal care and sheltering. The goal is to train the residents, military and police in animal handling, sheltering and long-term care, with an emphasis on returning rescued animals to their owners and also providing safe and humane housing.

The team will remain in the area to provide additional assistance until May 22.

P.S. Our team members expect to return from Chile to be present for our National Conference on Animals in Disaster in Sacramento June 3-6. There's still time to register for the event.

Three Steps Forward, One Step Back

I am in Orlando today, at The HSUS's Animal Care Expo. It's one of our signature events, and attracts animal sheltering professionals from throughout the nation and the world, though it's a treasure trove of information and instruction for any animal advocate. We are 1,700 strong at the conference, and had a great opening session this morning with MUTTS cartoonist and HSUS board member Patrick McDonnell and Outland cartoonist and Pulitzer Prize-winner Berkeley Breathed, who both gave humorous and emotionally powerful presentations. Also this morning, Zootoo.com's Richard Thompson, in a joint project with The HSUS, handed out more than $100,000 in contributions to 20 shelters, and next week the winner of the $1 million Shelter Makeover will be announced on Fox News and in USA Today.

It's great to be down here, with so many caring animal advocates who are hungry for information on becoming better advocates and organizations.

This morning, I updated the crowd on the immense amount of activity that happened yesterday and today, and I want to share some of this information with you, too. Yesterday, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed legislation to phase out the use of veal crates and gestation crates, after The HSUS engaged in a seven-month negotiation with leaders in the animal agriculture industry and the Governor, Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp, and key lawmakers. We're very pleased with this outcome, and it's a model for future action to improve the welfare of animals in agriculture.

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In Washington, D.C. yesterday, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would list the polar bear as a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act. This is a generally positive outcome and an acknowledgment of the long-term threats faced by the bears because of climate change. One consequence of the listing, which takes effect immediately, is to halt the import of sport-hunted polar bear trophies from Canada into the United States. The United States does not allow sport hunting of polar bears in Alaska, but Canada does and most of the people who kill the bears are U.S. trophy hunters who have been allowed to import the heads in our country. The HSUS has been campaigning in this Congress for a policy to end the imports made by American trophy hunters. Last year, we prevailed on a Senate amendment to stop this killing of polar bears, but failed on a similar House amendment after the NRA, Safari Club, and U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance argued for more killing of the beleaguered and declining bear populations. The Administration's action should take care of the issue, and we'll be watching for maneuvering by trophy hunting extremists to continue their terrible behavior.

The other good news from yesterday was the House passed the conference report on the Farm Bill. It did so with what appears to be a veto-proof majority—the vote was 318-106. And today, the Senate passed the Farm Bill 81-15. So if the President vetoes it, both chambers should have enough votes to override the veto and that will mean three major new reforms for animals, which I wrote about earlier in the week: 1) sweeping new animal fighting legislation that will make all animal fighting and training and possession of fighting animals a federal felony, assuming it affects interstate or foreign commerce in some way; 2) legislation to ban the import of puppies from foreign puppy mills, which will save tens of thousands of dogs each year from misery and suffering; and 3) an upgrade in penalties from $2,500 to $10,000 for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. All in all, perhaps the biggest legislative achievements for animals for the entire Congress, and all in one bill!

I am sorry to report that there was also a dose of bad news yesterday, too. At the insistence of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, the Chicago City Council reversed the city's ban on the sale of foie gras—a product that comes from the diseased livers of ducks and geese force-fed so much that their livers swell to ten times their normal size. It's a cruel and degrading practice, all done for a table treat. Mayor Daley has shamed Chicago with his action, and the City Council exhibited not only a lack of compassion, but also a failure of resolve and fortitude. We'll be following up and urge you to contact the Mayor, who has certainly demonstrated he's no friend of animal protection. Polite, professional phone calls can be directed to his office at 312-744-3300.

Our Report Card

This week we released The HSUS Annual Report for 2007—a summary of the organization’s performance and effective action over the past year. I open the report with an overview of our forward movement, and I invite you to read that letter below. Then, browse the report and look back at what your individual investments and efforts yielded for animals—in the realm of public policy and enforcement, corporate reforms, public awareness and engagement, and direct care and animal rescue. You can view highlights of the report on our website, or download the full report in PDF form.

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That helpless days-old puppy on the cover of this year’s annual report is just one of some 900 infant and adult dogs we rescued last fall from a dilapidated commercial breeding facility in Virginia. The rescue was a heartwarming outcome of our investigation that uncovered close to 1,000 puppy mills in a state not known to be a hub for this foul industry.

It was a small but satisfying victory in a year marked by extraordinary progress in our fight to combat cruelty whenever and wherever we find it—be it an industrial-scale factory farm breeding pets or pigs in America’s rural backwoods, or a blood-soaked fur market in China where thousands of dogs and cats are skinned alive.

While we at The Humane Society of the United States put boots on the ground and even our safety at risk, it is you members who make our work and our joint achievements possible. It is you who enable these victories—won in the field, in boardrooms, in the marketplace, in legislative bodies, and in elections.

In these pages that follow, you will read of the passage—in a single year—of 86 new state laws that benefit animals. You will learn of investigations of puppy mills and animal fighting syndicates, the trade in dogs and cats for their fur and meat, the arrests of lawbreakers and rescues of animals in peril, and much, much more.

If the founders of The HSUS could survey our situation today, they would surely be distressed by the persistence of old cruelties and the emergence of new ones. They would be amazed that dogfighting and cockfighting, fur trapping, inhumane slaughter, and captive hunting continue long after any remotely plausible defense could be offered for such depravities.

They would be appalled by new methods of industrial farming such as caging and cloning, and by perverse new methods of wildlife exploitation like hog-dog fighting, fox and coyote penning, shark finning, and other abuses they could not have imagined in the early 1950s.

When I took the helm of The HSUS in 2004, I vowed we would build on the foundation of an outstanding mainstream organization and make it better. To that end, we combined with The Fund for Animals, the Doris Day Animal League, and the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights.

These unions have allowed us to create many new departments and programs including Campaigns, Animal Protection Litigation, Equine Protection, Animals and Religion, and the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association.

We have grown or retooled many long established units including Investigations, Communications, Humane Society Youth, Emergency Services, and Field Services. Top litigators, policy advocates, veterinarians, animal scientists, investigators, communications specialists, and disaster experts have been added, creating the most powerful and successful animal protection organization in the world.

Our founders are not around to share in these victories, but you and I continue their mission. We are grateful for your support and for your deep generosity. In return, you have my promise that we will confront cruelty in every dark corner we find it and create a better world for the animals, and for humanity.

Animal Ambassadors

Animal cruelty knows no national boundaries. Almost all of the industries we confront are global in nature—animal fighting and puppy mills (see yesterday's blog), trophy hunting and the fur trade, the exotic animal trade and factory farming, just to name a few. As a matter of efficiency and focus, I'd love it if The HSUS could just focus on the problems in this country. But we cannot. We simply would not be able to achieve success. The industries we work to reform or abolish work on hundreds of fronts throughout the world, and we must meet them there as well.

© Marco Ciampi
Susan Prolman at Brazil's Universidade Estadual Paulista.

We have been working in Europe and Central America for a while, and we are turning our attention more and more to Africa, Asia, and South America. In terms of country focus areas, we are spending increasing amounts of time in India, and we are looking to work more in China. I've also asked staff to concentrate on Brazil, a country about the same size as the United States and that has an enormous agriculture industry.

Here's a report from Susan Prolman, who directs international campaigns for Humane Society International, our global affiliate.

Like people in the United States, Brazilians and others around the world care about the welfare of animals.

Yet in Brazil, like in the United States, millions of animals raised for food suffer from the cruelest intensive confinement systems in factory farming, including battery cages for egg-laying hens and gestation crates for pregnant pigs. In Brazil—one of the world´s largest agricultural producers—most consumers are not aware that farm animals are routinely confined in these inhumane cages.

© HSI
A visit with cage-free egg producer
Luiz Carlos Dematte Filho, center.

Humane Society International is taking action to address this growing problem. We are teaming with ARCA Brasil, a well-respected Brazilian animal welfare organization, to launch "Campanha contra o Confinamento Intensivo."

I was in Brazil last week with ARCA Brasil President Marco Ciampi and our Brazilian farm animal welfare specialist Maria Cristina Yunes. We traveled the country advocating for change. We met with company executives, university professors, government officials, and other opinion leaders. The response was incredibly positive. Many commented that now is an exciting moment for potential change in the way farm animals are raised in Brazil. For example, while I was there, one of the nation’s leading organic certifiers, ECOCERT Brasil, officially announced the nation’s first farm animal welfare certification program.

Just days after returning from the trip, I received an email from one of the people we met, Luiz Carlos Dematte Filho. Luiz Carlos manages a company that produces organic, cage-free eggs and he plans to earn a Ph.D. in farm animal welfare. He is interested in initiating a project on improved animal welfare standards for poultry, and he wrote to ask HSI for resources and advice to help in the project’s design. This is just one example of exciting new developments that are on the horizon in Brazil.

Our campaign is still new, but holds promise to help millions of animals in the years ahead.

Cultivating Animal Protection

The eyes glaze over, and it sounds very boring to the average American. But the Farm Bill—a massive multibillion-dollar hodgepodge of provisions that relate to agriculture and that the Congress takes up every five years or so—is the bread-and-butter bill for anyone interested in food and nutrition policy, agricultural commodities, conservation, energy, trade, and increasingly even animal protection.

Last week, House and Senate negotiators on the Farm Bill agreed to the terms of the legislation, and the final bill (called a conference report) is slated for an up-or-down vote in the House and Senate this week. It's controversial for a number of reasons, mainly its $300-billion price tag and the subsidies that wealthy farmers, including sugar growers, are slated to receive at a time when they are already reaping record profits. For that reason, President Bush is considering a veto. It appears though that the measure has broad, bipartisan support in Congress; there's something in it for everyone (kind of like a Department of Defense authorizing and appropriations bill with a nugget for every district and major player), and if Bush vetoes it, both chambers may override.

Payments to farmers, conservation provisions, more promotions of fruits and vegetables, surplus sugar purchases for ethanol, and other items of the measure have garnered the most attention. But tucked into the bill are several enormously important animal protection provisions, and that's why The HSUS is urging the House and Senate members to approve the legislation and urging the President to sign it.

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The Farm Bill includes a provision, inserted in the original Senate bill by Majority Whip Richard Durbin, to curb the import of puppies for commercial sale from foreign puppy mills. A growing number of breeders in Eastern European countries, China, Mexico, and other foreign countries see the United States as a potential market and are shipping tens of thousands of dogs in, even though there is a strong domestic dog and cat breeding industry here and there are millions of pets available from shelters, rescue groups, and U.S. breeders. The provisions require that any dog imported into the United States for commercial sale be at least 6 months old, to ensure that young, unweaned, and unvaccinated puppies are not forced to suffer from harsh, long-distance transport. They also ensure that any dog entering the United States be deemed healthy prior to entry. Exceptions are provided so as not to interfere with shelter and rescue work, veterinary treatment, or research purposes.

This provision has potential to dramatically slow the inhumane trade in puppies into the United States. That will bring great relief to dogs right now, but it will also be a bulwark against the development of a massive puppy breeding industry in China and other countries that might see the United States as an even more lucrative market for puppy sales, notwithstanding serious animal welfare concerns.

© The HSUS

There's also what I call the Michael Vick provision, and this measure has potentially enormous consequences for the future of dogfighting and cockfighting in this country. The Congress upgraded the federal animal fighting law last spring at The HSUS's urging, making it a federal felony to move fighting animals in interstate or foreign commerce. Then the Vick case broke, and there was unprecedented national attention on the scourge of dogfighting. The Vick case prompted a raft of state legislation to upgrade animal fighting laws, and it also prompted the introduction of new bills by Sen. John Kerry and Reps. Betty Sutton, Elton Gallegly, and Earl Blumenauer to further upgrade the federal law against animal fighting. Sen. Kerry offered his bill as an amendment on the Senate Farm Bill, and it was accepted. In the conference committee on the Farm Bill, thanks primarily to the exceptional work of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (with the assistance of his Senate counterpart, Patrick Leahy), the legislation was strengthened further to toughen the federal animal fighting law by making it a crime to knowingly possess or train animals for fighting, enhancing the penalty for animal fighting offenses from a potential three-year prison sentence to a maximum five-year prison sentence, and making any animal fighting affecting interstate or foreign commerce a federal crime.

In addition to cracking down on all staged animal fights that are organized in the United States, the federal legislation also bans the export of fighting animals to other nations. Yesterday, Jeremy Schwartz of Cox News Service wrote a story about how U.S. fighting birds, specifically birds from Georgia, are dominating in fights in Mexico. Under existing law, shipping fighting birds outside of a state—to another state or another country—is a felony-level offense. So the federal government can crack down on it now. But if the animal fighting provision in the Farm Bill is approved, it will strengthen the federal case against these lawbreakers even more.

True, if viewed in the broadest sense, the overall bill might logically be considered a disappointment for animal advocates (not just because conferees struck language approved by the House and Senate to put a stop to Class B dealers, and their nefarious work in collecting "random source" dogs and cats and selling them to research facilities, often for painful and terminal experimentation). The lawmakers who wrote the Farm Bill do not proactively address any core concerns that animal advocates have about animal agriculture, including intensive confinement systems, cruel mutilation procedures (such as tail docking), the rampant non-therapeutic use of antibiotics on factory farms, or greenhouse gas emissions from farm animal agriculture. Indeed, it was the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production—an independent group chaired by former Kansas Governor John Carlin and that included former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman—that took on these questions squarely in its historic report issued two weeks ago. It would be a failure of Congress not at some point to consider the Pew report and take up many of its recommendations.

But politics is the art of the possible, and the members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees who write the Farm Bill are tied too closely to the agriculture industry to readily take on these issues in a proactive way, and they come from districts with a heavy demographic tilt toward established agricultural interests. But some lawmakers do seem more willing than ever to address animal abuse problems that do not relate centrally to the agriculture industry, and we're grateful for that.

Talk Back: Racing Breakdown

The death of Eight Belles at last Saturday's Kentucky Derby has spurred a national debate over horse racing and the safety and welfare of the animals (NPR's Tom Ashbrook led a discussion of the contrasting perspectives on Wednesday's "On Point" program, which you can listen to here).

In my blog earlier this week, I argued that the industry had no major watchdog organization, and that I thought this was an unhealthy situation. It would be better for the industry to have an organization nipping at its heels and making it stronger from a humane perspective. In terms of spectator sports involving animals, The HSUS decided years ago to concentrate on dogfighting, cockfighting, hog-dog fighting, and greyhound racing (which we oppose), not horse racing (which we do not oppose). You can read our policy statement here.

That said, we feel an obligation to weigh in and work with industry to improve the treatment of the horses. There are very obvious and identifiable problems in the industry, and no responsible voice can deny these deficiencies. My strong preference is for industry insiders to drive change—partly because there are many racing enthusiasts who care about horses.

For years, there have been bursts of attention to the problems with horse racing generated by breakdowns, drugging scandals, or other highly publicized cases where horses have been caused harm. The big issues that the industry must confront are the racing of 2-year-olds (the animals' skeletal systems are not developed enough to take the pounding from racing), the widespread use of drugs on race days (horses should be racing just on hay, oats, and water), track surfaces (there are superior alternatives to dirt tracks), overbreeding ("surplus" horses are being sent to slaughter), and selective breeding that has made horses more vulnerable to breakdowns. These issues have been debated for years, but there's not been enough action to institute lasting reforms. The very public death of Eight Belles is a moment for the industry to drive change, and we'll help the industry with these changes.

Blog readers have weighed in from varying perspectives. Among the comments we received:

I'm sorry Wayne, but you do not have all the facts about horse racing. Yes, I agree, do not change your priorities. The horse racing industry is trying to take care of its problems. I am a member of HSUS and I totally disagree with your "position" as far as horse racing is brutal and inhumane. Get off the subject. —Sandra Kozlowski

I'm sure there are well over two breakdowns a day in pastures with horses "just being horses" running around on their own time. I've been a long supporter of The HSUS, and there are issues the horse racing industry needs to address, but to downgrade horse racing and call it inhumane is incorrect in my opinion. Most trainers and owners want the best for the animals in their charge. You can find poor trainers and owners in any area involving animals. —Kelly Woodham

As an animal lover and a horse owner, I am OUTRAGED by the most recent "accident" at the Kentucky Derby. This must stop. I don't care what argument the opposing sides come up with; it is cruel and wrong to force a 3-year-old baby horse to run its heart out for the glory of man. It's no "freak accident"; the horses are forced to run and run and run and run. Their whole short three years are filled with running and training. No one asks them if they want to; they are conditioned to know they have to. Most never get to spend time in a grassy pasture, play with other foals, or just be a horse. They only know hard training, and a small stall because they are worth too much money to let out and possibly get hurt before they earn their owners lots of money. When does it end? Horse racing isn't about the love of horses; it's about the love of money. It's time those of us who have had the unbelievable experience of having a loving and respectful relationship with this magnificent and giving creature stand up for them and end this cruel practice of running them until they drop. —Christi

I was relieved to see The HSUS take on this issue. I think pressure should be put on those involved in the sport to make racing safer for the horses. If that's not possible, then maybe we shouldn't be racing horses in the first place. —M.B.

Why are the animal welfare groups waiting for them to change themselves? I have read some of the comment postings included with some of the news articles and the horse owners, breeders, and trainers that are posting have no intent to change. Mostly they say that the treatment the racehorses receive is better than the treatment most people get. I really don't know who exactly it is that they are kidding. Many people don't pay attention to the horse racing industry because they think it is abusive to horses. I doubt the industry will change itself. —BD

Weigh in we must! An industry so motivated by revenue will not police itself. These animals must be defended! —Susan Mudrey

Bull's-eye!

Thank you U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance. The Ohio-based radical hunting organization derailed a program we launched with Meijer to generate an additional $5,000 for our fund to help pets and shelters affected by the home foreclosure crisis. I updated you on the issue yesterday—noting that we'd eclipsed our goal of raising twice the amount ($10,000) in order to help animals and teach USSA a lesson.

Well, in this update, I am happy to report that we have continued our fundraising surge, thanks to you. As a result of my call to action we've now raised $43,000 for the foreclosure fund, and more than $10,000 for the wildlife abuses campaign—for a total now exceeding $53,000—more than 10 times what USSA tried to deny us, and the animals. A hearty thanks to all of you who stepped up to help and to send USSA a signal.

Now that we have this tool in place, we'll use it every time USSA tries to rear its ugly head and disrupt a business relationship. We'll not take their nonsense any more.

So, I say to USSA—thanks for the lift in fundraising to allow us to help pets and take on the wildlife abuses you so happily defend. They'll be receiving a formal letter of thanks from me soon, indicating that they've hurt their cause and allowed us to expand our programs in a major way.

P.S. Outdoors writer Ted Williams, in his blog on Fly Rod & Reel, had a great post on the issue that I wanted to share with you.

Routine Abuse

I just spoke at a standing-room-only press conference at our Washington, D.C. headquarters to reveal our latest undercover investigation and video. I announced that our investigations unit had looked at the handling of "downer" cows before they arrive at a slaughter plant—specifically, at intermediate transport points known as livestock auctions. People sell and buy animals at auctions, and from there, animals often go to slaughterhouses. This was a follow-up to our Hallmark/Westland hidden camera investigation, unveiled on Jan. 30, which triggered the largest meat recall in American history.

Our undercover investigators visited four auction sites in four states—in Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Texas—and at every location they found downer cows languishing and suffering. What they also found was that no one was taking charge or taking responsibility.

In the Hallmark investigation, the abuses of the downer cows occurred even though the U.S. Department of Agriculture had inspectors present. Today's investigation revealed that these animals are in regulatory limbo—there are no federal or state humane inspectors who are a regular presence at the auction sites. And neither the farmers delivering the animals nor the auction house personnel receiving them were humanely euthanizing the animals, even when they were languishing in open areas in plain sight for hours.

In the most appalling case of abandonment and mistreatment, one downer cow in Westminster, Md. was left for dead in the mid-afternoon, and the auction house left her there overnight, even after the auction ended. Her misery ended only the next day after our undercover investigator called the local humane society to come out to dispatch the animal with a firearm.

The issue should be covered on your evening news tonight, since there was a bank of 12 cameras at our press conference today. You can also view our web feature and narrated video. We'll continue to provide you updates on humanesociety.org.

We Did It

You responded, and we are sending a major message to the extremist wing of the hunting lobby. Yesterday, I issued a call to raise $10,000 after the radical U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA), in a despicable move, intimidated Meijer department stores into dropping its support of a fund we created to help keep pets with their families during home foreclosures. Already, supporters have donated more than $25,000—and counting—to help the pet victims of the foreclosure crisis and to save wildlife from horrible abuses such as captive shoots and polar bear trophy hunting. If you’d like to join me in giving USSA a pointed lesson about compassion, please donate to our campaign to end wildlife abuses or to our Foreclosure Pets Grant Fund.

I will soon send a letter to the Sportsmen's Alliance and let them know that they've helped us raise money for pets and for fighting canned hunts and the other inhumane and unsporting practices that are the group's favored activities.

And if they attempt to tamper with our business relationships to help pets or other animals, we'll do the same the next time.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Let's not let them get away with this. I need your attention to an important issue—and I need your help.

Last week, in a cynical and destructive maneuver, the Ohio-based U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance (USSA) targeted Meijer department stores for agreeing to donate up to $5,000 through a pet photo contest to a restricted fund administered by The HSUS to provide relief to pets abandoned during the foreclosure crisis. As you probably know, as people have had their homes foreclosed, we've seen a rash of animal abandonment cases, with dogs and cats even left in locked-up homes to languish and die. We've been hearing reports of this from shelters across the country, and we set up a fund to help shelters deal with the influx of animals.

The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer agreed to help with the foreclosure fund. But for some reason, Meijer capitulated to the extremists at the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, which is a de facto trade association for arms and ammunitions manufacturers, bowhunting companies, hunting guides and outfitters, and other suppliers of hunting equipment and services. The group has a very small rank-and-file membership, but it masquerades as a group speaking for sportsmen. It's really just an arms and bowhunting industry front group.

It's time to teach the USSA a lesson, and I hope you'll help.

So this group has denied pets the help they need. They'll continue to attempt to intimidate businesses from helping animals until they see that their actions are counterproductive.

Here's the plan. Let's raise at least $10,000 right now, with $5,000 to go to pets who are the victims of foreclosures and an additional $5,000 to fight the horrible wildlife abuses that the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance loves.

So, in short, every time USSA tries to bollix up a deal, they'll actually motivate us to generate more revenue not only for the specific cause we're looking to help with, but also to raise funds to fight the abuses that USSA so dearly wants to preserve—like captive shoots, polar bear trophy hunting, bear baiting, aerial gunning of wolves, and the use of steel-jawed leghold traps.

If the USSA nixes a $5,000 deal, we'll raise $10,000. If they disrupt a $10,000 donation, we'll raise $20,000. We'll use their tactics to motivate our supporters and double the money going to the cause of protecting animals. More money will mean more pet protection, but also more ballot initiatives to restrict inhumane and unsporting hunting practices, more state legislation, more local ordinances.
And when we succeed, USSA will have second thoughts about such petty tactics—and, more to the point, the group may realize that it makes no economic sense to launch these campaigns.

I'm putting in $250 today to start us off. Will you please donate $10, $50, $100, $250, or $1,000 right away? This is no gimmick. This is a fundraising plan with a programmatic purpose. I'll keep you apprised of our progress on the blog, and then I'll personally send a letter to USSA thanking them for helping us raise money to fight their inhumane hunting practices, as well as to help the pets that their misguided campaigns are structured to harm.

I assure you that the leaders of the USSA read this blog. They are now notified. They've awakened us now, and we are on their trail.

Alarm Bells Over Eight Belles

It's happened again. A horse breaks down in one of the signature events of horse racing, precisely at the time that average Americans briefly turn their gaze to the spectacle and become fans or followers for a day. Their interest in horse racing is as fleeting as one or two mad dashes of horses in a Triple Crown race. But now, rather than remembering the pomp and circumstance and getting a positive dose of the sport, they remember the names of the poor creatures who break down on national television.

For those only mildly interested in horse racing, it certainly appears that something is wrong with the sport. First Barbaro. Now Eight Belles, a 3-year-old filly. And for those immersed in the sport—the breeders, trainers, owners, veterinarians, and the fans—there's been a history of denial, but now perhaps a grudging acknowledgment of the problems with horse racing.

Horse racing—except on a few days in the run-up to major races—has long been relegated to the back pages of the Sports section. It does not compare with football, baseball, basketball, or even hockey. It's been overtaken by soccer and sometimes by track and field. It's still a major industry, but it's become more of a niche interest rather than a general interest spectator sport. At the tracks themselves, there is a diminishing handle and an aging fan base—not as pronounced as in greyhound racing for sure, but unmistakable nonetheless.

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Catastrophic injuries have tarnished horse racing.   

Not too long ago, it was apostasy for sports writers or reporters to criticize horse racing or to comment on the humane treatment issues. Now, as we saw after the breakdown of Barbaro and failed efforts to rehabilitate him, there's a spirited debate. Angered by the death of Eight Belles, New York Times columnist William Rhoden asked, "Why do we refuse to put the brutal game of racing in the realm of mistreatment of animals?" He asked, "At what point do we at least raise the question about the efficacy of thousand-pound horses racing at full throttle on spindly legs?"

Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins also wrote in Sunday's paper about the thoroughbreds "on champagne-glass ankles" and the inherent problems in the industry. "Twice since 2006, magnificent animals have suffered catastrophic injuries on live television in Triple Crown races, and there is no explaining that away," wrote Jenkins. "Horses are being over-bred and over-raced, until their bodies cannot support their own ambitions, or those of the humans who race them. Barbaro and Eight Belles merely are the most famous horses who have fatally injured themselves. On Friday, a colt named Chelokee, trained by Barbaro's trainer Michael Matz, dislocated an ankle during an undercard for the Kentucky Oaks and was given a 50 percent chance of survival."

Horse racing has gotten a pass from animal advocates for decades. We've been more worried about the mistreatment of dogs in puppy mills and the tragedy of healthy and adoptable companion animals being euthanized in shelters across the nation. We've been concerned about millions of animals killed by the fur trade—clubbed or trapped or caged to peel away their fur even though we have viable alternatives. We're repulsed by the killing of tens of thousands of animals by trophy hunters at canned hunting facilities, or the shooting of rare animals like polar bears or grizzly bears or wolves. And more and more, we are turning our attention to the routine privations endured by billions of farm animals raised on factory farms. And in terms of horses, the bigger crime has always been the horse slaughter industry, which gathers up and slaughters tens of thousands of healthy horses every year, transports them by inhumane means, and then terrorizes these highly alert animals on kill floors in the United States or Mexico or Canada.

The tragic death of Eight Belles, as discomfiting and disturbing as it was, is unlikely to reorder our priorities. We'll say a few words about horse racing, as do the commentators and industry press, but we'll return to our priorities in a couple of days. But that's a mistake for us all. This industry has not had a rigorous critic to set it in the straight and narrow, and major problems have grown and festered. It's time for the thoroughbred industry to deal with its problems, and if it does not, animal advocates may well decide they can no longer continue to give the industry a free pass.

Here are some of the historic problems. Drugging of injured horses to keep them running, which makes vulnerable horses more susceptible to breakdowns. Racing horses too young. Because the marquee events feature 3-year-olds, these horses must start racing at the tender age of two years, and that's well before their skeletal systems are sturdy enough to endure the pounding from the rigors of the race track. And third, racing horses on track surfaces that are not forgiving—with American tracks favoring dirt surfaces over grass or synthetics.

And then there are the problems coming to light more than ever—problems related to breeding. Breeding too many horses, and waiting for someone else to clean up the problem. And breeding them for body characteristics that make these animals vulnerable to breakdowns, especially those spindly legs on top of these stout torsos.

Sally Jenkins writes, "According to several estimates, there are 1.5 career-ending breakdowns for every 1,000 racing starts in the United States. That's an average of two per day."

It's up to the industry. Deal with your problems, or animal advocacy groups and others not all that interested in horse racing will be forced to weigh in.

Forecast for Farm Animals

There comes a time in all successful social movements when the seeds of reform that have long been sown finally begin to grow roots and take hold of the soil. When it comes to our fight against the most extreme confinement of animals on today’s factory farms, I see that process developing, and in the end we will see a flower bloom.

© iStockphoto

After a comprehensive two-year study, the prestigious Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production concluded that factory farms pose unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and animal welfare. The Pew Commission explicitly recommended the phase-out of confinement practices such as battery cages (for laying hens), veal crates, and gestation crates (for breeding sows), and it made the announcement earlier this week at a press conference in Washington, D.C. These three confinement practices constitute the three core elements of a pending California ballot initiative that The HSUS is strongly backing and that is set for a vote in November.

While this conclusion may seem run-of-the-mill for animal advocates, it’s important to recognize just who sits on this esteemed commission. Indeed, it’s comprised of some of the most respected and knowledgeable voices within the agricultural and scientific community. Some members include former Kansas Governor John Carlin; former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman; former Dean of the University of Tennessee’s College of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Michael Blackwell; Bon Appetit Management Company CEO Fedele Bauccio; Niman Ranch founder and rancher Bill Niman; author and professor Marion Nestle; and Colorado State University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Dr. Bernard Rollin—just to name a few.

For years, The HSUS and virtually all other legitimate animal protection groups have been calling for an end to the confinement of animals in these archaic and abusive cages and crates; animals built to move should be allowed to do so. The validation of this position by the Pew Commission comes at a good time for the California ballot initiative, and for our efforts to work with corporations to phase in these reforms.

With each successful corporate campaign against battery cage confinement and with each new state law banning veal and gestation crates, our movement is making definite advances for farm animals. In a society where Americans express a love and appreciation for animals, confining living and feeling beings in cages so small that the animals cannot turn around is just not acceptable or ethically consistent.

My respect and admiration go out to the Pew commissioners and their staff for the rigorous work and deliberations. It was the Brambell Committee in the United Kingdom in the 1960s that set that nation on the path to phasing out these inhumane confinement practices, and perhaps the Pew Commission will ultimately achieve the same effect in the United States. Policy makers at the local, state, and federal levels should heed their recommendations and take action now for the welfare of animals and people.

The Case for Animals

Michael Van Dusen, the Center's deputy director, introduces me.

I had the privilege of speaking this morning at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars—a living memorial to former President Wilson. It is a setting where policy experts, authors, scholars, and others talk about the urgent issues of the day. I was delighted to have an opportunity to speak at the Center about animal protection. I prepared formal remarks, and want to share the full text of my speech with you. Video of the address will also be archived on the Wilson Center website next week.

More to the Story

Newsweek has an online story about the supposed divide between animal groups over the issue of euthanasia. It's an overly simplified and somewhat inaccurate story, and it bears some comment.

First, The HSUS does not oppose "no kill" sheltering operations as alleged in the article. In fact, we support that strategy—we just think it's easier said than done. There's a big difference between a single shelter going no-kill and a community achieving that status—and the latter is what we as a movement must strive to achieve.

© Bill Petros

It is a tragedy that there are about 4 million dogs and cats killed in private and public shelters in the nation each year. Euthanizing healthy and treatable dogs and cats at shelters is a failure, and it should not be accepted as a norm. While we've made steady progress on this front—30 years ago, there were 15 million or so dogs and cats killed in shelters—we still have a considerable way to go.

What stands in the way of achieving no-kill? Too few people are adopting animals from shelters; too many people are relinquishing their pets; too few animals are spayed or neutered; too many rental properties do not allow pets; and too little promotion of our ideas is reaching the public. I went into these points in great detail in a blog some months ago (you can read that here).

At this point, no-kill sheltering is our shared aspiration, but a difficult goal to achieve in more than a handful of communities throughout the nation. But that should not deter us from working diligently toward the goal of ending euthanasia, except for sick and very aggressive animals. In fact, it is a moral imperative. But achieving this goal takes more than a declaration—it's an operational state, and few communities, if any, are devoting enough resources to the task.

Again, we must stretch ourselves and find new ways to save the lives of dogs and cats. There are no shortcuts. And it's not a matter of wordplay. And while some reporters and advocates simplify the issue, we recognize the complexity of matching supply and demand for dogs and cats. But it's a challenge that every community in our nation should take on, and it takes all of us to get the job done.

Common Denominators

Tomorrow at 10 a.m. EDT, I will be speaking at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and you can watch it live here. The invitation to speak at the Center came from its director, former Congressman Lee Hamilton, whose name should be familiar for his service on both the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group.

© Constantin Jurcut/SXC

In my speech, “Making the Connection: Animal Protection as a Domestic and International Public Policy Issue,” I will take a big-picture view of animal protection and discuss its moral underpinnings. I'll talk about how animal protection is a worthy moral subject in and of itself, but I'll also discuss how its strength is further reinforced by its connection to other social issues. The Michael Vick case and the Hallmark slaughter plant investigation are just two examples of that principle at work. There is no question in my mind that the respectful treatment of animals is intertwined with some of the most urgent problems of human welfare, planetary health, and global survival. Whether the issue is abating climate change, curbing the spread of violence, assuring food safety, reducing crime rates, or mitigating the global risks of bird flu, I’ll argue, a proper regard for animal welfare must be at the heart of good public policy.

I was excited by the chance to speak at the Wilson Center, for it is known throughout the world as a center for joining the world of ideas to the world of public policy. Please attend if you are in town, or join the webcast.

Keep It Civil

I am not one who sees a conspiracy at every turn. While I have seen a fair share of greed and collusion and even corruption in observing the workings in our nation's capital, I do have a fundamental faith in our government systems and the integrity of the people in this country.

The major social and economic issues in our society—education, poverty, health care, civil rights, environment, and animal protection, to name a few—are matters that can be addressed only in a civil society. Democratic elections, a zero tolerance policy for corruption, transparency in government, and fair application of the law are the bulwarks of a civil society.

When I see corrosion in these processes in any nation, I know that these societies will not be able to address important social issues in a fundamental way—in fact, when the rule of law is disregarded, it often translates into havoc for people and the environment. To take a recent example, the autocratic actions of President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe are doing irreparable harm to what was once a beautiful and promising nation. His suppression of his political opponents and his disregard for the recent election result is a prescription for impoverishment of the people of that nation, the despoiling of the environment, and the destruction of animals there, particularly the remarkable wildlife populations that inhabit this southern African nation.

We must be vigilant about people and corporations that tamper with the levers of democracy and civil society in our nation. It's no Zimbabwe for sure, but I have nonetheless been disgusted by what I've been witnessing in Florida in recent years in the realm of voting rights. Today, Damien Cave of The New York Times has a front-page story about efforts by the state legislature to impede voter registration efforts and citizen participation in elections.

For me, this information is disturbing on its face. But I've been watching this same state legislature, conspiring with the Florida Chamber of Commerce, dismantling the ballot initiative process in the state over the last few years. They have passed a series of laws to weaken the process of citizen lawmaking and make it unusable by the people, as a way of consolidating their own power and shielding corporations from the perceived whims of the electorate (the same electorate that puts these lawmakers in office). State lawmakers have passed measures to shorten the signature gathering period to make it more difficult to qualify an initiative petition. They have pushed a supermajority (60 percent) passage requirement for citizen ballot measures, even though lawmakers themselves only need a plurality or majority to win. They have attempted to impose criminal penalties for people who do not turn in petitions in a timely manner. Seen collectively, their actions amount to a brazen attempt to destroy the initiative process and concentrate state lawmaking power in Tallahassee.

While The HSUS is first and foremost concerned about protecting animals, we cannot separate our social reform work from the larger political context. We can only succeed if we operate within a civil society. We will raise our voice against political corruption, collusion, secrecy, and the erosion of voting rights. I hope you, too, pay attention to these issues because they are the substrate on which all social reform is built.

Art, Examined

During the last month, I've received a torrent of email about Costa Rican artist Guillermo Vargas featuring a starving street dog as “art” in a Nicaraguan gallery. According to accounts we've received, Vargas picked up the poor creature and displayed him in the gallery—attempting to make the point that such an animal on the street would go unnoticed, but in a gallery setting would be a spectacle. A local animal welfare group says the dog escaped after a day in the gallery.

This and other widely circulated photos show the dog
purportedly used in the exhibit.

Vargas's supposition about the shock value of his exhibit was prophetic. But even more so than he could have imagined, or bargained for. The image of the plaintive dog, presumably left to languish and suffer in the presence of gallery visitors and Vargas himself, was too much to fathom for many people who learned about it on the Internet. There was a spontaneous outburst of online petitions and condemnations of the supposed artist—a not uncommon phenomenon in the Internet age when shocking information goes viral.

Two observations. First, this circumstance underscores that there must be some limits in artistic expression, even if they are self-imposed by the artists themselves. Free expression is itself a moral imperative, but it is not absolute. It's one thing to document cruelty, but another matter to play a part in it, to exploit the suffering of other creatures, and to fail to provide any social context for it. Art and other cultural forms can be powerful media for promoting awareness of animal suffering and abuse, and for celebrating animals as creatures who deserve our admiration and respect, but this was not one of those cases. Obviously, if Vargas had taken photographs of starving street animals and called attention to the problem, then his art or documentary would not have provoked any calumny.

This controversy comes on the heels of a similar debate that erupted last month over an exhibit at the San Francisco Art Institute by the Paris artist Adel Abdessemed titled "Don't Trust Me." According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "the show included a series of video loops of animals being bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer in front of a brick wall. The animals killed included a pig, goat, deer, ox, horse and sheep." An outcry ensued, and the Art Institute pulled the exhibit, and rightly so.

My other reaction is that we should rechannel our anguish and anger about Vargas and direct our energy to combat street dog problems in the developing world. Vargas is probably no more than a struggling artist, and we need not waste our time with further denunciations. But let's focus our energy on fighting the street dog problem and working to develop programs and infrastructure that can bring some relief to these creatures. This is a massive problem in the developing world, affecting hundreds of millions of animals, and our global affiliate Humane Society International has a Street Animal Welfare program to develop humane care, spay and neuter, and vaccination programs. Please do get involved with HSI. Get on our email list and get plugged in to our many international activities to help street dogs, to fight factory farming, and to stem the wildlife trade.

We cannot turn our gaze from this terrible problem throughout the world. And when we do focus on the problem, we must turn our anger into action, and select the right targets. Let's pivot from Vargas and focus on the ongoing cruelty, rather than seek retribution.

Changing of the Guard

It is a special privilege to advance the work of The HSUS and to be able to serve our members and supporters, whose generous support and active participation in our programs enables the work of the organization. It is also a distinct privilege to serve the 27 members of the board of directors and the 15 members of the National Council—all of whom as volunteers devote extraordinary amounts of their time to govern, grow, and guide this organization.

During my four years at the helm, I have truly been blessed to serve with David Wiebers as chairman of the organization. David is emeritus professor of neurology and former division chair, professor, and consultant in neurology and clinical epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minn., and the chairman and chief medical officer of Preventive Medicine Inc. in Bethesda, Md. He is the author of more than 330 papers on medical topics, and the author of seven medical textbooks. But for all of his professional achievements, his greatest passion is animal protection and combating human-caused cruelty, and that's been a common bond that has made for a special relationship between him and me.

This past weekend, David stepped down as chair, after helping to triple revenues and quadruple assets of the organization during his tenure. He and I worked closely on corporate unions with The Fund for Animals, Doris Day Animal League, and the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights during his tenure. Upon relinquishing his role, he urged the election of Anita Coupe as chair and Jennifer Leaning as vice chair. It was not a hard sell. The board unanimously elected these two extraordinary women to these important posts, and when they walked back into the room after the election was completed, a room full of directors broke out into a standing ovation. In attendance were the other two living board chairs of The HSUS—K. William Wiseman, who served from 1987 to 1994, and O.J. Ramsey, who served from 1994 to 1999. Bill Wiseman and Joe Ramsey had served with the two new elected leaders, and they could not have been more thrilled with the outcome.

Anita is a person of very uncommon compassion for animals, strength, character, and judgment. A former partner in the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, she practiced labor and employment law in Washington, D.C. and New York City, and served in executive management in Philadelphia. Anita has been involved in various international, national, and local efforts to protect animals and preserve wildlife habitats. She told the board that “Being elected to chair the nation’s largest and most effective animal protection organization is an even greater thrill than the day I made partner at one of the nation’s leading law firms.” She joined the board in 1990, and became vice chair in 1999.

Jennifer, who has served on the HSUS board since 1991, is a professor of the practice of international health at the Harvard School of Public Health, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Senior Advisor on International and Policy Studies at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and co-director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. She has been immersed in international disaster relief and human rights programs, and brings her vast experience in those areas and more as The HSUS makes the connection between its work and the health of people and the future of the planet.

With two women now serving as the board leaders, it is a historic moment for The HSUS. And to all members of the organization throughout the nation, I assure you that with these fine people at the helm, we are in a position to continue our growth and to confront the many challenges that lie ahead.

Response Required

Every animal protection organization worth its salt has known that trafficking in "downed animals" is inherently inhumane. This moral question was brought to light in a dramatic way with The HSUS's Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. investigation—with large, ailing downed cows being tormented in the most barbaric and cruel ways to move them in the direction of the slaughter area.

© The HSUS
A cow is struck at Hallmark/Westland.

But as we saw the costs associated with this case roll up—the largest meat recall in the nation's history, the dissolution of Hallmark itself (a $100 million company), the strained U.S. trade relations with beef-purchasing nations, the further loss in consumer confidence in the food supply and the regulatory systems that oversee it—it has become obvious that mistreating downed animals does not make good economic sense, either. The industry was trying to squeeze more profits out of these hapless animals, but the costs of this practice far exceeded the profits from slaughtering sick and crippled cows. The accountants within the meat industry had to rise up eventually and trump the lobbyists and corporate kingpins.

Finally yesterday, some of the most recalcitrant forces within the livestock sector—the American Meat Institute, the National Meat Association, and the National Milk Producers Federation, which had long worked to keep legal a trade in downed cattle, thwarting repeated efforts for a ban in Congress—made an emphatic statement urging a complete ban on slaughtering downer cows. They're awfully late to the game, but their central role in the trade in downers makes their statement important and significant. But it's also not enough.

The Hallmark case has made it plain that a series of reforms