Laws and Legislation

How HSUS is influencing our law-making process, and who they are

Recently I have been learning about our legislative process. I have been trying to educate myself in how to effectively block breed specific legislation, and ban laws. It came as a shock to discover that many of our legislators are under the impression that they are working with the Humane Society when they are approached by special interest lobbyists to create new Bills.

“One generation and out. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding...We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding.”
Wayne Pacelle, President of the HSUS, former director of the Fund for Animals, Animal People, May 1993

The Humane Society of the United States, or HSUS, is NOT affiliated with our local humane societies. The people who, day in and day out, help us care for lost, stray, abused or abandoned animals never get a single thin dime of the billions of dollars that the HSUS generates annually. The HSUS benefits from the similarity of names, indeed, it thrives on this fact. Unfortunately, there are victims of this borderline fraud. The victims are the animals, the people who love them, and our local Humane Societies. Since so many people are under the false impression that the monies they donate to HSUS directly supports their local shelters, they often feel as if they have already contributed, when in fact, they have only helped to feed this animal rights organization. The HSUS is dedicated to the abolition of all animal use. This means, no pets, no livestock, no medical research, no Zoos, no animal use at all.

Those of us who share our lives with animals and who donate ANY money to the HSUS are financing the eventual demise of pet ownership. Repeatedly, members, staff and followers of HSUS and other animal rights organizations have stated their agenda. Repeatedly, their propaganda has called for punitive laws punishing those who share their lives with animals, using examples of escapes from facilities which are exempt from all the laws they are proposing as proof of a problem within private ownership. This is cyclical logic. In most of the proposed laws, there is no provision for the animals themselves, once they are banned. The sanctuaries are full, exempt from the legislation, and in some cases, involved with the very organizations which are passing the laws !!! Having no room in the sanctuaries across the nation, and no provisions for the confiscated animals means death for the animals. The HSUS and other animal rights organizations are not concerned about the animals well-being and safety. In the words of one activist who operates one of the sanctuaries pushing for these new rash of laws, (who will be exempt from the conditions of the law) "This is a War. And in war, there are casualties."

Please Click HERE for a .pdf information packet on just ONE example of the wasteful and redundant lobbying HSUS is involved in. This case involves Oregon, a state which already has exotic regulations in place, which already has a very good common-sense legislative foundation in place and in use with no problems for years. Oregon is being hit hard by the out-of-state lobbyists and influence peddlers. We are being lied to, and our tax dollars are being spent to undermine what we hold dear.

In 2002, the top dozen administrators of the HSUS earned over 4.5 million dollars of our tax-dollars and donations in salaries, and over $16 million dollars in fund-raising three years before that. The money we are donating is not being made available for the animals. It is being used to further a private agenda that most pet-loving Americans would never support. American charity would be much better served by direct support of our local shelters, this is where the rubber meets the road. These are the programs which are truly deserving of our support.

The HSUS is not alone in targeting animal ownership. Exotic owners are being persecuted and publicly presented as abusers. The Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, an organization which includes the HSUS, PETA, PAWS, and other radical animal rights activists, is on a mission to paint all owners of exotics, near-exotics, and other animals as neglectful abusers with no basis in fact.

Their claims are:

Wildlife should be protected in their natural habitat.
Private ownership of wild animals as pets is dangerous to people and inhumane to animals.
Wild animals as pets injure and kill children and adults and can transmit potentially deadly diseases.
Only professionally operated, regulated facilities can provide appropriate levels of care for wild animals.
Wild animals are not suited to be kept as pets.

No-one suggests that wild animals should not be protected in their natural habitat. In fact, most exotic owners are also avid conservationists. However, generationally raised exotics are no longer "wild animals". They still retain a full compliment of instinctive behaviors, but generations of cohabitation with humans have taken the edge off. Animals are adaptive. Responsible owners are not inhumane to their animals, their animals are usually considered part of the Family. Responsible owners are not the cause of the problem. It is the IRRESPONSIBLE persons who are the cause of public concern. We whole-heartedly support the firm prosecution of those who would abuse or neglect ANY animals, or put the public at risk by allowing their animals to roam unrestrained, and that includes dogs.

I find it interesting to note that according to PETA's own information, in 2003, of the 23 listed bite incidences, 21 of those occurred at Zoos, Sanctuaries, or Circuses, NOT private owners. In fact, some of the Sanctuaries involved in several of these cases are accredited, and actively involved in lobbying for laws affecting the Private Sector, such as ACE, a Sanctuary with a long history of escapes, containment violations, bite incidents, missing animals, and other public safety violations. Yet these are the people our legislators are relying upon for their information. The tail is wagging the dog.

I urge you to join these two organizations and support those who are actively involved in preserving the rights of private responsible ownership. Even if you do not own a pet, please support the right to responsibly own any animal a person wants to share their lives with. The emphasis should be on "responsibility", not what kind of animal one has an empathy with.

Phoenix Exotics
Wildlife Assoc. Inc

National Animal
Interest Alliance

The information here is public information. I have gathered my research from many sources. Among them are:

The Animal Legal & Historical Center - in particular the information on statutes and laws

USDA-APHIS Animal Care

Responsible Wildlife Management

Americans for Medical Progress

National Animal Interest Alliance

21st Century Animal Resource & Education Services

Federal Bureau of Investigations - in particular, their 2000-2001 Report on Terrorism

The Council of State Governments - In particular their Resolution on Animal Guardianship and Liability Legislation

If you have additional information to add, please contact me at :