Humane Society of the United States Member Threatens John Dollarhite for Not Agreeing to USDA Demands

John Dollarhite reports today he received hate e-mail from a member of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). On Facebook, Dollarhite posted, "I just got some hate mail from a HSUS member. Stating that it was a grave mistake for me not taking the USDA's offer."

A grave mistake? That doesn't sound very humane to me.

Dollarhite is of course the Nixa, Missouri, man who wanted to teach his child self-responsibility so he bought his son a couple of rabbits to care for. Rabbits do what rabbits do and soon they had all sorts of rabbits. Word spread about how well cared for his son's rabbits were, and soon Silver Dollar City wanted to use the rabbits in their petting zoo.

This of course raised the interest of the USDA, which soon threatened Mr. Dollarhite with up to $3.9 million in fines for not having a federal bunny rabbit license. The USDA agreed to back down, but only if Mr. Dollarhite would further agree to allow the USDA to trample on his Constitutional rights, which were already trampled.

So now we have someone representing an organization under the title "humane" threatening Mr. Dollarhite.

BBCW has contacted Mr. Dollarhite and hopes to post the e-mail later today.

In the meanwhile, here's what you need to know about the Humane Society of the United States:

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is a radical animal rights group that inaccurately portrays itself as a mainstream animal care organization. The words “humane society” may appear on its letterhead, but HSUS is not affiliated with your local animal shelter. Despite the omnipresent dogs and cats in its fundraising materials and television commercials, it’s not an organization that runs spay/neuter programs or takes in stray, neglected, and abused pets. And quite unlike the common image of animal protection agencies as cash-strapped organizations dedicated to animal welfare, HSUS has become the wealthiest animal rights organization on earth.

HSUS is big, rich, and powerful. While most local animal shelters are under-funded and unsung, HSUS has accumulated $162 million in assets and built a recognizable brand by capitalizing on the confusion its very name provokes. This misdirection results in an irony of which most animal lovers are unaware: HSUS raises enough money to finance animal shelters in every single state, with money to spare, yet it doesn’t operate a single one anywhere.

Instead, HSUS spends millions on programs that seek to economically cripple meat and dairy producers; eliminate the use of animals in biomedical research labs; phase out pet breeding, zoos, and circus animal acts; and demonize hunters as crazed lunatics. HSUS spends more than $5 million each year on travel expenses alone, just keeping its multi-national agenda going.

HSUS president Wayne Pacelle described some of his goals in 2004 for The Washington Post: “We will see the end of wild animals in circus acts … [and we’re] phasing out animals used in research. Hunting? I think you will see a steady decline in numbers.” But Pacelle may have more ambitious anti-hunting goals. In 1991, while he was the National Director of the Fund for Animals, Pacelle told the Associated Press: “[I]f we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would. Just like we would shut down all dog fighting, all cock fighting or all bull fighting.”

More recently, in a June 2005 interview, Pacelle told Satya magazine that HSUS is working on “a guide to vegetarian eating, to really make the case for it.” A strict vegan himself, Pacelle added: “Reducing meat consumption can be a tremendous benefit to animals.”

Shortly after Pacelle joined HSUS in 1994, he told Animal People (an inside-the-movement watchdog newspaper) that his goal was to build “a National Rifle Association of the animal rights movement.” And now, as the organization’s leader, he’s in a position to back up his rhetoric with action. In 2005 Pacelle announced the formation of a new “Animal Protection Litigation Section” within HSUS, dedicated to “the process of researching, preparing, and prosecuting animal protection lawsuits in state and federal court.”

HSUS’s current goals have little to do with animal shelters. The group has taken aim at the traditional morning meal of bacon and eggs with a tasteless “Breakfast of Cruelty” campaign. Its newspaper op-eds demand that consumers “help make this a more humane world [by] reducing our consumption of meat and egg products.” Since its inception, HSUS has tried to limit the choices of American consumers, opposing dog breeding, conventional livestock and poultry farming, rodeos, circuses, horse racing, marine aquariums, and fur trapping.