What’s the Matter With the Humane Society of the United States?
I’ve already gone over my problems with PETA in an earlier post (the only thing I regret is not mentioning PETA’s policy of euthanizing healthy cats and dogs who just happen not to have homes), but in this post, I want to talk about my problems with yet another animal rights giant, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
So, before I go over my problems with HSUS, let me make one thing perfectly clear, the Humane Society of the United States is in no way associated with any small shelter or humane society in the country. HSUS is a DC-based national animal advocacy/welfare group. It was founded in 1954, and is the largest animal advocacy group in the world. They mainly target factory farming, animal fighting, the fur trade, puppy mills, and wildlife abuse.
So, you might be wondering, what could I possibly have against them? Well, first of all, they, like PETA, are pro-animal euthanasia. After Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring was busted a few years back, HSUS president Wayne Pacelle wanted the rescued dogs euthanized (they weren’t, and many of them were able to be rehabilitated).
In addition, HSUS is not an animal rights group, but rather an animal welfare group. Basically, they oppose “cruelty” in raising animals for food, but not raising animals for food in itself (John Hoyt, chief executive HSUS officer admits that “we are not a vegetarian organization.”). This presents a problem. A true animal advocate doesn’t want animals killed “humanely.” A line that always sticks in my mind is from the documentary “Your Mommy Kills Animals,” a film about the United States animal liberation movement. Animal Defense League of Los Angeles activist and actress Pam Ferdin says at one point in the film “You know, if you’re killing an animal, I don’t care if it’s to beautiful music. I don’t care if it’s with pretty floral wallpaper. I don’t care if they’re killed on velvet sheets. They’re killed. And that is not our right.” This line sticks in my mind because the idea that there can ever be compassionate slaughter is ridiculous to me. Euthanizing healthy dogs is wrong, just like killing cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and fish is wrong.
Furthermore, as Gary Yourofsky brings up in his essay “What’s Wrong with PETA and HSUS?,” Wayne Pacelle seems to put more value into law-making and bill-passing rather than educating people on the immorality of speciescism. As I have mentioned in many previous posts, more emphasis needs to be put on the latter than the former.
I do give HSUS credit for bringing issues like the Canadian seal hunt and puppy mills to the public, but some good deeds don’t make up for more bad ones. So please, dear readers, don’t support HSUS. Support your local no-kill shelter or grassroots animal rights group, and let’s fight the good fight for the animals!
[...] veganarchists are opposed to welfarist measures taken by organizations like PETA and HSUS (which I have also criticized here) because they argue that fundraising, compromising, and baby steps do not [...]
I think you have to give animal welfarism some credit in the animal rights field. While we would all like to see complete animal liberation, they are actually making huge contributions in society’s perceptions of animal use. How many people have gone vegan/vegetarian because of PETA and their outreach? How much has HSUS worked to bring to light the abuses in certain industries? We cannot achieve liberation without these kinds of groups, and while the methods employed by every group is not necessarily the best, we have to rely on all facets to work for betterment. Similarly, can we look at ourselves and say the methods we employ are any better, when we routinely alienate so many groups rather than reaching out and educating?
As for the euthanasia, too many animals are abandoned and unable to find homes. Millions in a single year are left at shelters. All of these animals cannot be adopted out, and with controversies surrounding no-kill shelters, I don’t really think that condemning the practice is necessary. Yes, we hate that it has to happen. But focusing on no-kill shelters that simply do not have enough volunteers or funds to give all of the animals a quality life, not to mention the “trend” of animal hoarding, is simply unrealistic. If a dog is left in a cage for most of its life, forced into neurosis as often exhibited, how is that the better option?
I think I have every right to criticize welfarism. Baby steps, law-making, and lobbying don’t bring animals closer to freedom. Education and activism of various kinds do. As for HSUS and PETA, you can’t do some good while being detrimental and expect it to be all right, because it’s not beneficial to the cause. For instance, PETA might have helped many people to go veg, but it’s still a sexist organization that euthanizes healthy cats and dogs. In addition, HSUS supports the “humane” meat movement. If they really cared about animals, they’d support the idea that the only good slaughterhouse is an empty one. I’m sorry, but I refuse to offer either of these groups my support.
To address the topic of euthanasia, imagine if there was a homeless shelter that was getting too full. Would anyone be on board with the idea of executing a large fraction of the resident population of the shelter just so it wouldn’t be too full? That would be absolutely insane, right?
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Hsus - DogForum.net | Dog Forums and Community said this on May 11, 2011 at 1:47 am |