Animal Rights Activists

[Beth C]

There was a really good article in Dairy Goat Journal that I thought I\'d share. While most of us (or goat farmers either, for that matter) aren\'t big enough to have employees, the other situations still apply.

[OldChurchEggery]

I know this is an older post, but I\'m new and am still trawling through the forum, picking up nuggets of wisdom here and there. I\'m really glad you posted this as I recently returned from a bioethics conference for university researchers. A number of people at the conference were from universities where agricultural research is performed and they openly lamented how animal rights activists have targeted some of their faculty, students, and facilities. It\'s really quite plausible to think that activists could someday protest the poultry fancy (or breeders of any animals, for that manner) for its open discussions of culling but also just using animals in general. Whoever decided membership in the club was necessary to post on the forum was a farsighted individual indeed! Some attendees said that they had seen social media being used to defame researchers at their institutions.

[dixieland]

Many of the AR groups are targeting even small time hobbyists. We have dealt with this a lot in TN. This is much more prevalent with dog breeders right now, but I suspect it will soon start encroaching on any and all breeders, whether it be dogs, cats, chickens or goats......
I do some legislative work for the TN Federation of Dog Clubs, and I am happy to post any information on here that may be of use to chicken fanciers......

[Beth C]

A recent animal cruelty case made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The headlines read: \"200+ Animals Seized from Dog & Bird Mill.\" I have personal knowledge of this place and don\'t dispute that it truly needed to be shut down. But HSUS somehow got to running the show as opposed to local animal control, and it was obvious in TV interviews they were rating the \"living conditions\" of the birds by the same scale as that of the dogs (which, btw, only made up 25 of the 200+ \"animals\" seized - the rest were poultry). Again, this place fell far below what any reasonable person would consider the minimum standard, and I\'m by no means defending them. But, as if we didn\'t already know HSUS\'s agenda, the term \"bird mill\" being applied to raising poultry left little doubt. Has anyone else noticed a trend with local law enforcement inviting in outside agencies like HSUS/SPCA? They have no actual jurisdiction, but seem to be showing up more and more, perhaps because they are better funded and can offer resources cash-strapped local governments need? Scary...

[dixieland]

A recent animal cruelty case made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The headlines read: \"200+ Animals Seized from Dog & Bird Mill.\" I have personal knowledge of this place and don\'t dispute that it truly needed to be shut down. But HSUS somehow got to running the show as opposed to local animal control, and it was obvious in TV interviews they were rating the \"living conditions\" of the birds by the same scale as that of the dogs (which, btw, only made up 25 of the 200+ \"animals\" seized - the rest were poultry). Again, this place fell far below what any reasonable person would consider the minimum standard, and I\'m by no means defending them. But, as if we didn\'t already know HSUS\'s agenda, the term \"bird mill\" being applied to raising poultry left little doubt. Has anyone else noticed a trend with local law enforcement inviting in outside agencies like HSUS/SPCA? They have no actual jurisdiction, but seem to be showing up more and more, perhaps because they are better funded and can offer resources cash-strapped local governments need? Scary...

In the past 5 years, I have watched our local government rely more heavily on HSUS and PETA more and more at raids. I have worked as veterinary triage at some of the raids, and can tell you that HSUS and PETA roll in with giant tractor trailer loads of food, cages and other equipment donated from PetSmart, Petco and the other wealthy big box stores in the area. When we have not had HSUS and PETA involved, our supplies were certainly lacking in some cases....
Personally, I choose not to work anymore where HSUS and PETA are involved as they put a lot of \'spin\' on the situation for their own publicity, and I personally don\'t agree with a lot of their SOPs, but I can see where they are very popular with the fiscally insecure local gov\'t.

[Beth C]

That\'s pretty much what we\'re seeing here, too, not so much in cases involving dogs & cats, but for livestock, especially horses, local a/c is as clueless as they are unequipped, so they are happy to defer to the outsiders. And you know that, had it not been for the \"bad farmer\" angle, HSUS would have NEVER showed up for a mere 25 dogs. They won\'t touch anything they can\'t sensationalize... :rolleyes: