Humane Society in Pro-Republican Shift--Roll Call (problem!)

[Gloria]

Humane Society of the United States Is Reaching Out To The GOP

SNIP

In the latest sign that Republicans are consolidating their power in
Washington, D.C., the Humane Society of the United States — the
historically left-leaning lobby for all things furry — is now aggressively
courting GOP lawmakers.

SNIP

Kristina Wilfore, who heads the liberal Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, said the society's pro-Republican shift is not well known yet in the liberal community. On the other hand, she said despite the common public perception, the Humane Society has often worked at arm's length from such groups, including those pushing for minimum-wage hikes
or abortion rights.

"Some animal rights folks are so myopically focused on their single-issue
agenda they can't see the political forest for the trees. It can be difficult
to glean their long-term political strategy, which could obviously make
it hard for them to understand the significance of switching teams. This
move seems pretty opportunistic," Wilfore said.

SNIP

Beyond their campaign donations, the society has an average of about
12,000 members in every Congressional district, providing it with
considerable grass-roots muscle to aid its friends and challenge its
foes.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

Sorry, Subscription only

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/51_24/vested/10519-1.html






___________________________________________________________________

[Erika]

1. I'll contact them tomorrow

I have always patronized them, until now.

[Gloria]

2. Yeah, I've donated a lot to them...this has me reconsidering....

eom

[smbolisnch]

3. Why not confirm this before reconsidering?

It's not the animal's fault.

[blossomstar]

4. should have known something was up! HS here is corrupt!

so corrupt, that the area vets stopped supporting it and created a new society called PAWS! Instead of placing animals by running ads, etc. to find good homes, they were just putting them to sleep! Also, the animals weren't getting the proper healthcare... also, lots of problems with their accounting if you know what I mean! I should have known that repugs had infilterated! It's like every organization that goes repug, goes literally to dodo.

[smbolisnch]

5. Do you have any links to confirm any of that?

:shrug:

[blossomstar]

6. will try to get them... lawsuits have been filed, etc. so there should be

newspaper articles I can locate. It all happened about 2 years ago and the original Humane Society is still operating, just nobody takes any animals there anymore and their old building looks like its falling apart because nobody donates anymore, all the donations go to PAWS because of the quality of care the animals receive and the outstanding recordkeeping and their placement in good homes. My vet is outstanding (I have 3 dogs) so I go there alot, he literally works 24 hrs. a day, so he is someone I trust completely (he's also a democrat) He has called at 10 pm to ask about one of my dogs when they were sick. When I lost one of my pets last year he made a donation to PAWS in his honor.. normally, it would have been to HS. It really was a stink over it all. I'll do my best to find something in writing in the News Times and email it to you.

[Erika]

7. Yes, it can be confirmed on www.rollcall.com

It has the article there. If we don't start yelling at these little issues, we can be steamrolled by the big issues.

[Eric J in MN]

8. The Humane Society of the US is a different organization

from local humane sociieties.

[Erika]

9. No, it is not in many ways

The start up money for many humane societies and existing grants come from this organization.

[blossomstar]

10. I thought they were all affiliated with the national HS... will find out.

[Gloria]

11. Humane Society came into our shelter to "advise"--results--many complaints

similiar to what you are reporting...putting too many animals down too fast, etc. A guy I know fosters bigger dogs and he stopped doing it for awhile because he was getting hassled....The staff is apparently very upset by the upsurge in killing....

I give to other organizations and they can have my money...

[blossomstar]

12. So sorry to hear that...

I had hoped that the problems with HS were isolated to this area. I am going to try to find out specifics so I can post them... If my vet stopped supporting them, then he had a very good reason, he's a truly dedicated person. I changed my donations over to PAWS after reading in the paper about all the animals they were literally killing instead of placing in homes.. the percentage was staggering. It was cheaper to put them down so that's what they did.

[bluedawg12]

13. We gave to Noah's Wish ( Pet Rescue) after Katrina.

I am torn about the Humane Society, I have adopted from them over the years, but they euthanize. I said, I am torn.

They are sort of a shelter of last resort for these poor little creatures.

I admired Noah's Wish after I saw them sheltering pets during a Fla. hurricane, rather than being locked out of human shelters.

They were very active in La and Miss. they seem small, effective, grass roots, volunteers.

http://www.noahswish.org/

[A-Possum]

14. Well, flame me but

I can't go along with cockfighting. So what's the answer?

There are always complaints about large organizations. As far as I'm concerned, an organization that is devoted to animal welfare should lobby for the animals, regardless of political party. The HSUS has a lot of pressure going for legislation against horse slaughter, seal hunts, whaling and lot more less well-known humane initiatives. I'd guess that if they are courting Rep it's because they think that's the way to get legislation they want passed in a Rep controlled congress.

And btw, the only bill to help Katrina animal victims is sponsored by two Republicans, as far as I know.

Maybe Dems should be more responsive to these issues?

[Erika]

15. Our ex GOP legislator, Steve Symms, is a lobbyist for cock-fighting

[A-Possum]

16. Is the HSUS giving him money?

I'm not trying to say Dems or Reps are the "humane" party--apparently neither one is. That's kinda my point. Are the HSUS lobbying efforts actually a political move to the right or an attempt to get their humane legislation passed? I for one will keep on giving money to all the organizations that are active in saving the Katrina animals right now, and the HSUS is one of them. They were ready to go in and they have pushed in the past for disaster relief for animals. Yes, there are other organizations too, like Noah's Wish, but I'm sure they also have their problems and complaints about them. No org is perfect, and I don't see that an org devoted to animal welfare should be required to support an entire liberal agenda or a specific political party, "or else." They should work to better the lives of animals as well as they can, whatever that takes politically.

On edit: if they are being taken over and turned into a political org that is supporting only one party, then that's bad. However in the OP I didn't see the evidence for that; the defeat of the dem in favor of cock-fighting was a specific issue, not just party-line support.

[Erika]

17. The GOP DC rep lobbied on the behalf of cock fighting

If the Humane Society, as shown in the article, favors Republicans while putting down democrats, they indeed will suffer.

We had a drive at work last year to aid the Humane Society. I'd say it was about 50-50 politically. It won't be this year. There are many more animal relief organizations to give to who haven't turned political.

[A-Possum]

20. I'm not following you

Are you saying that the Humane Society gave money to a GOP DC rep who was lobbying on behalf of cockfighting?

I still don't see your reasoning, sorry.

There has to be a political component to any organization that is trying to change laws. The question is, is the political component ACTUALLY CHOOSING TO FAVOR A PARTY, or is it trying to influence the process of law-making, and that happens to include lobbying the members of the majority party?

I can't read the whole article w/o subscription but the one example given does not prove that the organization has turned into a Republican organization while putting down the Democratic party as a whole. It cites a case in which they worked to elect the politician that supported their side of the coin in that particular case.

So the question I asked at first remains. Is the HSUS giving money to this particular GOP rep who is lobbying for cock-fighting? If so, that's certainly not something I'd want to support. It's also something that makes no logical sense whatsoever, given that the HSUS is lobbying AGAINST cock-fighting. So I doubt they are doing it, myself. I think they are picking and choosing by ISSUE, not party.

[A-Possum]

21. HSUS successful with legislation to end inhumane horse slaughter in US

"The U.S. Senate passed an amendment today by a stunning 68-29 vote that prohibits the use of any federal taxpayer funds to slaughter horses for food exports."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1796774

[chat_noir]

18. bugmenot takes care of subscription only

Here is the account login:


[e-mail]
compiled6skates


http://www.bugmenot.com/

[Moderator]

19. Gloria

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragrahs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.


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