Agricultural News
Martosko Believes Ohio Agriculture Handed a Political Stinkbomb by Their Governor and HSUS
Tue, 06 Jul 2010 5:48:48 CDT
David Martosko of HumaneWatch.Org initially though the the deal between Ohio Ag Groups and the HSUS was a win win deal- now he's not so sure. In fact, he now seems to be singing a different tune as we hear in today's Beef Buzz and can read on his website. Right after the deal- Martosko wrote "HSUS, the group got practically nothing that it wanted from Ohio's farmers. Instead, Pacelle has agreed to abandon HSUS's whole "Ohioans for Humane Farms" front group in exchange for the equivalent of $24 in blue beads."
Now, Martosko says of the deal- " I was wrong when I said yesterday that HSUS has agreed to cave on the egg issue, walk away, and not come back. In reality, HSUS is going to have the Ohio Farm Bureau on a leash, tugging it along every three years until right about the time Wayne Pacelle is ready to start cashing in his loaded pension. And if Wayne Pacelle doesn't feel an appropriate amount of love (or groveling) by December 31, 2010, HSUS will be right back next year to start the political process all over again.
Worse still, it actually looks like the 500,000+ signatures that HSUS collected bought this spring might not have any sort of expiration date on them. They could still be valid next year, or the year after that, or the year after that. HSUS has already invested its money to gather the signatures; it can just keep threatening to submit them every year as a new kind of "leverage."
Martosko went on to say that paragraph 6 of the deal is very disturbing as well- "Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) will issue a statement in support of the mission and purpose of the OLCSB and will engage and work with the Board. Organizations representing Ohioans for Livestock Care and the HSUS will examine and jointly fund independent research projects and studies to identify best practices and to work for the highest farm animal care and welfare standards. If assistance of a third party is needed they will jointly agree on a representative to help in these discussions. When this work is complete, the findings will be presented to the OLCSB."
He calims that "This is just plain ridiculous. The entire genesis of HSUS's political campaign in Ohio was its objection to last year's "Issue 2," which established the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. Ohioans voted overwhelmingly to freeze HSUS out of the process, opting instead to trust things to farmers and veterinarians the people who actually have experience with, well - livestock care. Experts were in. HSUS was out.
But now it looks like HSUS has negotiated its way back inside. It will "work with" the Board and "jointly fund" research to steer its decisions. Good grief!"
To read the entire agreement, click here for the full text of the deal between HSUS and the Ohio Ag Groups.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the listen bar below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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