MISSOURI FARM GROUP STEPS UP ITS BATTLE AGAINST HSUS

A determined Missouri agriculture group is stepping up its continuing battle with HSUS (Humane Society of the United States), one of the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful animal rights organizations. Missouri Farmers Care already has prevailed in one key fight, and produced a video to tell the story.

"The People vs. HSUS" tells the story of Proposition B, an HSUS-backed ballot measure narrowly approved by Missouri voters in November 2010.

Although Proposition B was promoted by HSUS as a "puppy mill" regulatory bill, its definition of "pet" could have applied to any "domesticated animal that lives in or near the house." Missouri livestock producers smelled a rat, and opposed the proposal aggressively, but it passed with 51.7 percent of the vote.

So Missouri Farmers Care decided to fight back. Early in 2011, Missouri Farmers Care began a campaign to repeal the most onerous provisions of Proposition B. The organization created a coalition of veterinarians, farmers, farm-friendly lawmakers and reasonable animal welfare groups. Their goal was to address legitimate animal care concerns without imposing unnecessary and costly regulation on responsible animal breeders.

Not surprisingly, the HSUS strongly opposed the effort at compromise, but ultimately to no avail. On April 18, 2011, Senate Bill 113 was signed into law, restoring the right of animal breeders to decide how many animals to raise and freeing them from excessive and unneeded regulation.

Missouri Farmers Care hasn’t stopped there, however. On November 10, the organization challenged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop "colluding" with HSUS in planning a scientific forum on animal welfare.

“There is no sensible reason for the federal Department of Agriculture to coordinate with an expressly anti-agriculture organization like HSUS,” Missouri Farmers Care Chairman Don Nikodim said. “To use taxpayer dollars to give HSUS a public forum for their radical animal-rights agenda under the guise of a scientific forum undermines the very farmers that the USDA is supposed to be helping.”

Editors Note: Missouri Farmers Care accepts donations to support its efforts in the fight for responsible animal care and against animal rights extremism.