Hunters have scrambled for the last two weeks to avoid attempt by animal rights giant HSUS International to gather their personal information – and there’s only day left to act. This is ostensibly so the HSUS can find out about “trophy” hunters. But it applies to a whole lot of people who hunt primarily for plentiful plating, but have gone to Canada for a variety of game and brought back meat and more.
The Humane Society of the United States has sued the US Fish and Wildife Service (FWS) using the Freedom of Information Act for information about anyone who has imported or exported any wildlife remains, such as a hide, or meat. It applies to information hunters filled in on FWS forms, including Form 3-177 , whether it was filled by you, or anyone acting on your behalf.
If you are expecting the USFWS to act on behalf of its stakeholders, think again. Dan Ashe, the head of the USFWS is quite friendly with Wayne Pacelle. He recently thanked the D-graded wildlife “charity” in a tweet for helping manage Alaska’s wildlife refuges. https://twitter.com/DirectorDanAshe/status/761218203850801152 This nightmare is not a joke.
Now, as far as this “information gathering”, people often wonder if someone hasn’t done anything illegal, why it’s bad to have their public information released. Here is why.
Not too many years ago my son sat in front of the computer with his brow furrowed, “Someone here says they’re going to hunt down and kill your children,” he worried.
He was watching an illegally posted video of a television show I once hosted. I had made a perfect shot on a bear with my bow and it piled up within 15 yards, soon to become table fare.
Wishes of cancer, threats to rip my head off and stuff arrows down my throat were not new to me, but they were surprising to my kids. My kids love animals, and their sweet grandmother is a vegetarian. How could animal rights activists be so full of vitriol?
Years later as other women joined the ranks of outdoor television and social media they experienced the same harassment. Even children were not exempt. Do you want people of this ilk to have anyone’s personal information?
To be fair, there’s no guarantee these abusive messages are from HSUS supporters, but it’s a fact that the Humane Society of the United States is a bad actor directed by a very talented leading man, Wayne Pacelle.
The charming, good-looking Pacelle is like a pied piper, convincing grown adults it’s preferable to try to inject hormones into deer – and therefore, the environment – rather than hunt and feed a needy person. As I mentioned, the HSUS Charity Navigator ranking was downgraded to a D. That’s right, they completely failed to make the grade as any kind of a worthwhile charity, so if they’re on your holiday – giving list, you may want to re-think that.
In part this low rating is because HSUS was recently charged in a Federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) Case. When animal rights groups sued a circus (Feld Entertainment) it was discovered that payments were made to the key witness, Tom Rider, in the case against the circus out of a HSUS bank account on HSUS stationary, via a HSUS check sent, by a HSUS employee. The case against the circus was dismissed and then the animal rights groups were investigated by the Feds. The HSUS finally signed off on a 15.75 million settlement.
When the HSUS runs an ad showing cute little animals, saying, “send money to help this adorable creature,” where does it go? With an annual income of around$130 million, their taxes show 50 million dollars over a 2 year period have gone to offshore accounts in the Caribbean, and as little as $10,000 is given to animal shelters.
Last year I was on a conference call with Pacelle, Dan Ashe, the head of ths USFWS, Jane Goodall, and several other news agencies. The head of this D-graded, RICO investigated “charity” was chummy with Ashe as he took credit for a new law preventing the use of chimp research in medicine.
It sounded nice. While the chimps would be free, many of them would require decades of housing and care after being in labs. Would the very wealthy HSUS help with housing or food, I wondered?
Pacelle wouldn’t commit to a dime.
This is typical of the HSUS. They take on high profile cases and use their appeal to raise funds from compassionate individuals, though the HSUS isn’t itself providing the care. Michael Vick’s abused dogs were one notorious example. A dog with surgery being cared for by the Missouri Humane Society was used to plead the public to donate to the HSUS, not the actual Humane Society that provided the surgery.
The list goes on and on.
Still, the funding pours in from the unsuspecting public. A special curriculum, in line with their antihunting stance draws in unsuspecting teachers to educate children to be “kind” in schools. A New York school using their curriculum posted pictures of kids seeing justice for animals and proudly holding up,” Stop the Hunt” images.
The anti-semitic “Holocaust on your Plate Campaign” was spearheaded by the HSUS – daring to compare the suffering of people in concentration camps to the meals we eat. They have protested fishing tournaments, too.
In his book Blood Ties, Ted Kerasote inquires of Pacelle, “About fishing … do you avoid campaigning against it because there isn’t a ground-swell movement in our culture to eliminate it?”
Pacelle’s answer, “That is correct. We’re out to minimize suffering wherever it can be done, and wherever our limited resources can be utilized most effectively—abusive forms of hunting for now, all hunting eventually.”
There isn’t enough column space to document the generally deceptive tactics used by this group, but what you do need to know is that they have a tremendous budget, spent largely on self enrichment and litigation to take hunters down. And the circus. And farms. And anyone who breeds any kind of pet. It appears they will may use any means at their disposable, including writing a quiet check here and there. While the USFWS says it’s unlikely they will hand over personal info, do you want to bet on a government assurance? The comment period is over on Tuesday. To share your feelings about the lawsuit, email lawenforcement@fws.gov. You can also email Dan Ashe: dan_ashe@fws.gov
Here is a link to the information in the federal register.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/11/01/2016-26412/freedom-of-information-act-noticeof-lawsuit. More info here: https://www.fws.gov/le/businesses.html#FOIAMatters As all hunters who have traveled have to fill out forms to import their meat or hide or animal parts, they are subjects of this request.
By Lydia Lohrer