HSUS Maps Agenda For President Obama

HSUS Maps Agenda For President
Asks President And Congress To Federally Regulate
Dog Hobbyists, Name Animal Rights Legal Advocates

by JOHN YATES
American Sporting Dog Alliance

This article is archived

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 hunting on new public lands.

Those are only three of the 100 recommendations
that HSUS has sent to Obama in what is called a
“change agenda for animals.” The American
Sporting Dog Alliance has obtained access to this
document, which has been sent to animal
protection organizations asking for their support.

HSUS is a radical animal rights group. Despite
its name, it does not operate a single animal
shelter, but exists only as a political
organization. The long-range goal of HSUS is to
gradually eliminate all animal ownership and use,
including their use as companion and food animals, and to ban hunting.

The 100 goals sent to Obama reflect many issues,
but this report will concentrate on the issues
that most directly affect dog owners, with added
emphasis on the sporting breeds.

However, we urge our readers to read the full
HSUS document, which includes a crackdown on
alleged farm pollution, tough animal and poultry
husbandry and slaughter rules, and many
environmental and wildlife management measure.
Here is a link the actual document:
http://www.hsus. org/web-files/ PDF/change- agenda-for- animals-1- 14-09.pdf.
Please read this document.

In a letter to a New York horse owners’
association that was made available to the
American Sporting Dog Alliance, HSUS President
Wayne Pacelle asks for support of the 100-point agenda.

“With the changing of the guard at the White
House comes the prospect of new possibilities for
moving our goals forward, and to mark this latest
transfer of power, the HSUS and the Humane
Society Legislative Fund (HSLF) are advancing a
100-point ‘Change Agenda for Animals,’” Pacelle
wrote. “ Never before has the animal protection
movement so carefully articulated a vast array of
critical animal protection reforms in the domains
of so many federal agencies—Agriculture ,
Interior, Commerce, Defense, Health and Human Services, State, and others.”

Dog Breeding Regulation

A top priority of HSUS for several years has been
to require federal regulation of everyone who
raises dogs and cats. Under current law, only
commercial breeders who sell puppies and kittens
on a wholesale basis are federally regulated.
Hobby breeders who sell puppies or kittens
directly to the public are not required to be federally licensed or inspected.

HSUS wants everyone who raises and sells puppies
to be licensed and inspected by the USDA, and
also wants to see much tougher regulations and standards for animal care.

About four years ago, the HSUS-sanctioned Pet
Animal Welfare Act (PAWS) was defeated in
Congress by a narrow margin. PAWS would have
imposed federal licensing and inspection on all hobby breeders.

Last year, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who
has very close personal and political ties to
President Obama, introduced a bill he called PAWS
2, which echoed many of the provisions of its
predecessor. When PAWS 2 stalled, Sen. Durbin
attempted to attach it as an amendment to the
2008 Farm Bill, but failed to get enough support.
Durbin came back with a similar bill in late
2008, dubbed “PUPS” or “Baby’s Bill,” which is
formally called the Puppy Uniform Protection Act,
but Congress adjourned without taking action.

These bills all originated from HSUS, and all of
them clearly were aimed at hobby breeders.

The 100-point agenda says HSUS wants to “require
all dog and cat breeders to comply with AWA
(federal Animal Welfare Act) requirements,
including those who sell directly to the public….”

It is PAWS all over again.

Now, however, HSUS has a much stronger hand in
Washington. In the November election, HSUS
strongly endorsed President Obama and had a
95-percent success rate in re-electing the
congressional candidates it endorsed. A
questionnaire obtained by the American Sporting
Dog Alliance showed that the President aggressively sought HSUS endorsement.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance continues to
believe that President Obama and many members of
Congress will listen to the concerns of dog
owners, but only if we stand up in large numbers
to defend ourselves and our rights, and take an
active role in the political process.

If we do not stand up and be counted in large
numbers, we expect HSUS will get its way on most
of the measures in the 100-point agenda. Dog
owners will have no one to blame but themselves
for being relegated to the legal status of
second-class citizens. The Bill of Rights and
personal freedom always are the first victims of HSUS policy.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance will be
working hard to defeat these HSUS legislative
proposals, but we need your help if we are to
succeed in turning back these challenges. We urge
all dog owners to join and support the
organization of their choice, and also to support
farmers, hunters and other allies in the fight
against the HSUS version of a “brave new world.”

The Rest Of The Story

Here are some other parts of the 100-point agenda
that pertain to dog owners in general, and also
owners of the sporting breeds in particular. HSUS
is calling on President Obama and Congress to:

Create an animal protection division in the
Justice Department to act on behalf of animals by
aggressive prosecution of people who violate laws
about animals. In essence, this gives animals
legal status, and the federal government will act
as their advocate. HSUS likened it to the Civil
Rights Division, which advocates for aggressive
protection of human rights. Animals thus would be
given the same legal status as people in the Department of Justice.

Create an animal protection liaison in the White
House, which would mean that HSUS will have
direct access to President Obama and his top
advisors to advocate for animal rights groups on
policy, regulatory and legislative issues.

Immediately strengthen enforcement of
USDA-regulated commercial kennels and other
animal owners covered by the Animal Welfare Act.
(AWA). Increase USDA budget and staffing for this
purpose, and make fines and penalties more
severe. Include all vertebrate species under the AWA.

Completely implement the ban on importing dogs
from other countries that HSUS succeeded in attaching to the 2008 Farm Bill.

Focus on non-lethal methods to control wildlife
populations, which means lessening the use of hunting as a management tool.

Mandate the use of microchips for companion
animals, and all other animals covered by the AWA.

Do not open any new public land or national wildlife refuges to hunting.

Transfer all wildlife programs away from the
USDA, and put them under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior.

Ban hunting on shooting preserves, which HSUS
labels “canned hunts” and calls “cruel.” Also ban so-called Internet hunting.

Make it a crime to show anything that HSUS calls
animal cruelty in films, on television, in books
and magazine, or on the Internet. Require the
Department of Justice to collect and analyze data
on animal cruelty cases and create a separate
crime database for this information.

Require the U.S. Census Bureau and the Center for
Disease Control to include questions about the
animals people own when surveying the public, in
order “to assess impacts on human health and
well-being, develop more effective approaches to
community animal control, and ensure appropriate disaster preparation.”

Allow foreign animal rights groups to have an
official advisory role in the United States.

Ban the mail shipment of any kind of birds or
animals through the U.S. Postal Service,
including for “agriculture and sport.” Baby
chicks were specifically mentioned, and this also
would apply to gamebird chicks, adults and eggs
that are used by sporting dog trainers and in field trials.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents
owners, breeders and professionals who work with
breeds of dogs that are used for hunting. We also
welcome people who work with other breeds, as
legislative issues affect all of us. We are a
grassroots movement working to protect the rights
of dog owners, and to assure that the traditional
relationships between dogs and humans maintains
its rightful place in American society and life.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs
your help so that we can continue to work to
protect the rights of dog owners. Your
membership, participation and support are truly
essential to the success of our mission. We are
funded solely by your donations in order to maintain strict independence.

Please visit us on the web at
http://www.american sportingdogallia nce.org. Our email is asda@csonline. net.

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