Free Republic

Cheryl Konrad has spent the last 35 years educating visitors to her Lahaina, Hawaii, store about the centuries-old history of scrimshaw. Konrad fills the shelves in Lahaina Scrimshaw with the etchings of local artists on fossilized walrus and mammoth ivory. But if a bill to ban the sale of ivory becomes law this year, she worries that she will be forced to close her store. “I feel like I’ve been a part of history. It’s just so hard to fathom that it could be criminal eventually,” Konrad said. Similar legislation in previous years has failed largely because of pushback from...

The Obama administration's decision to extend Endangered Species Act protections for two breeds of lions is a turning point for the lions now roaming Africa, advocacy groups say. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signaled in a document obtained by the Associated Press that it would classify the lion as threatened or endangered across its entire range in Africa. The agency has scheduled a noon conference call to discuss its findings. The Humane Society of the United States projects that American trophy hunters imported 5,647 lions in the past decade. The group's president and CEO, Wayne Pacelle, said he expects...

I stopped dead in my tracks from the mailbox to the house as I flipped through mail I had retrieved. There it lay, on a birthday card from my sister.What in the world? She had stuck a little return address sticker in the left-hand corner of the envelope, with one of the worst four-letter words in the world on it: PETA. I flipped the envelope over. It got worse. Another PETA puppy sticker seared me right between the eyes.I called my sis and asked what the Sam blazes did she mean, signing up for PETA? Her answer? “Oh, I got...

NSA's [National Sheriffs Association] Partnership with the Humane Society of the United States NSA would like to respond to a recent email message you may have received regarding the National Sheriffs’ Association’s partnership with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Please be advised we have looked into the writer’s allegations against the Humane Society and have found them to be misleading and inaccurate. The lawsuit described in the email began in the early 2000s and recently reached a settlement after 14 years in the legal system. The HSUS was named in the settlement described because they merged with...

If eggs are a staple in your family’s diet and you’d like to keep it that way, now would be a good time to get a few laying hens. Next month, beginning January 1, 2015, the chicken-and-egg production in the United States is in for a big shock. That’s when California’s new regulations on egg-laying hens goes into effect. And the effects of those regs on eggs will be felt nationally, even globally. The incredible, edible, prolate spheroid-shaped poultry product, which has long been one of the most affordable sources of high-quality protein, is certain to become significantly more expensive.In...

A prominent animal-rights charity is not a friend of the furry kingdom. Americans love animals, even cats. Eight million stray dogs and cats find their way into animal shelters every year, and the lucky ones are adopted into a warm home with a loving family. Shelters are operated by small charities usually called “humane societies,” whose good deeds are funded by private generosity. The Humane Society of the United States trades on the good of others to finance a radical agenda. In May, the Humane Society and a handful of other radical animal-rights groups had to write a $15.8 million...

The Humane Society of the United States, along with other lawsuit co-defendants, have paid $15.75 million to settle cases with Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The settlement is the final stage of a 14-year litigation between the parties. The lawsuit was originally filed over the treatment of 43 Asian elephants, according to the Bradenton Herald.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A federal appeals court on Friday removed a temporary ban on domestic horse slaughter, clearing the way for companies in New Mexico, Missouri and Iowa to open while an appeal of a lawsuit by animal protection groups proceeds. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver lifted the emergency injunction it issued in November after The Humane Society of the United States and others appealed the ruling of a federal judge in Albuquerque. The judge said the U.S. Department of Agriculture followed proper procedure in issuing permits to Valley Meat Co. in Roswell, N.M., Rains Natural...

Enlarge Image Leaving the lab. NIH plans to phase out much of its research on chimpanzees. Credit: Wikimedia As expected, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today that the agency plans to retire all but 50 of its 360 research chimpanzees and phase out much of the research that it supports on these animals. NIH Director Francis Collins, who called the decision a milestone, explained that "chimpanzees are our closest relatives" and "they deserve special respect." New scientific advances "have made it possible to replace experiments done in the past on chimps with other strategies, making it now...

Lois G. Lerner, the embattled Internal Revenue Service official who apologized for improperly scrutinizing the tax-exempt status of conservative nonprofit groups, is a member of the Humane Society of the United States, a liberal animal advocacy organization. Lerner — the suddenly infamous IRS Exempt Organizations Division director — “is an active member of the Humane Society of the United States where her efforts in performing pet rescues necessitated by the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes were widely acknowledged,” according to her biography. The HSUS has been accused of sending less than one percent of its funds to animal shelters, a charge...

The deceptively named “Cancer Project” animal-rights group is at it again. This time its target isn’t hot dog makers, but grilled-chicken servers. The group, a branch of the PETA-linked Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), filed a lawsuit in Connecticut yesterday against three restaurant chains demanding warnings about a supposed link between grilled chicken and cancer. As we told the media, PCRM is nothing more than an animal rights front for pushing vegan activism, which is funded primarily by a single rich donor. Since 2003, PCRM and the Cancer Project have derived 60 percent of their budgets from a...

Animosity between a House conservative and a prominent animal rights group has exploded into election-year fireworks in rural Iowa. The Humane Society Legislative Fund has spent more than half of its political action budget so far this election cycle opposing a single lawmaker: Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). The group — the 501(c)(4) lobbying affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States — says King has turned himself into the chief foe of animal protection in Congress. King’s campaign calls the group extreme and says the congressman is being targeted for championing states’ rights and standing up against over-regulation. The...

The Humane Society of the United States, an organization that does next to nothing for animal shelters but sues, badgers and lobbies politicians and businesses into adopting its radical animals rights agenda, is getting a taste of its own medicine. In a little-reported ruling by a judge in the District of Columbia earlier this month, the HSUS is going to court to face charges under RICO statues on racketeering, obstruction of justice, malicious prosecution and other charges for a lawsuit it brought and lost against Ringling Brothers Circus' parent company Feld Entertainment, Inc. After winning the case alleging mistreatment of...

Columbus, OH --(Ammoland.com)- Last week, a federal court ruled that Feld Entertainment, the owner of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, could move forward with its racketeering and conspiracy claims against the Humane Society of the United States and other anti-hunting, animal rights extremist groups and their attorneys. According to a report by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Feld Entertainment’s claims arose out of a lawsuit brought by the groups and a former circus employee in 2000 that accused Feld of mistreating elephants under the Endangered Species Act. In dismissing the prior lawsuit, the Court found, among other things,...

Washington, DC –-(Ammoland.com)- Today, HumaneWatch.org, a project of the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), petitioned twelve state Attorneys General to investigate the deceptive fundraising practices of the animal rights group Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). HumaneWatch.org released a full report today exposing HSUS’s misleading telemarketing, direct mail, and television appeals. The new analysis reveals that the animal rights group’s fundraising activities might be more than just dishonest, speculating that these tactics could violate some charitable solicitation or consumer protection laws in several states. The new report delves into years of HSUS’s direct mail, telemarketing, and television appeals,...

CNSNews.com) -- Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says he is worried that a new District of Columbia law that governs how pest control operators must handle rats may result in entire rodent “families” being relocated across the Potomac River into Virginia by D.C. pest control personnel. Lately, there have been reports of growing rat infestations around the Occupy DC protests at Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square. Cuccinelli said D.C.'s new rat law--the Wildlife Protection Act of 2010 (Wildlife Protection Act of 2010.pdf) --is “crazier than fiction” because it requires that rats and other vermin not be killed but captured, preferably...

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman criticized the Humane Society of the United States on Monday, saying he would fight any efforts by its lobbyists to push legislation that could hinder Nebraska's agricultural industry. The Humane Society of the United States opened an office in Omaha last year. A group spokesman has said the new office and state issues director in Nebraska were intended to help small farmers gain access to markets traditionally dominated by larger operations. But Heineman, a Republican, said he did not trust the group's intentions.

Congress Reverses Domestic Horse Slaughter Ban Federal lawmakers last month quietly found a way to reverse a policy that has devastated the equine industry in recent years and advanced cruel and inhumane treatment of horses nationwide. In 2006 animal rights activists celebrated Congress’s actions to end funding for government inspections at U.S. facilities that slaughtered horses for meat to be exported to Europe and Asian countries. Emotionally driven advertising campaigns funded by national animal welfare groups helped impact public opinion and convince lawmakers that slaughtering and exporting horsemeat was cruel and should be ended. The benevolent move had unintended consequences,...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   HSUS to Stage Anti-Hunting Call-in-Day in Pennsylvania   Wednesday, September 14, 2011   When the Pennsylvania Senate reconvenes on Monday, September 19, the anti-hunting extremists of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) will stage an “End Live Pigeon Shoots Call-in-Day” to members of the state Senate.  The HSUS “Call-in-Day” is in support of immediate action on Senate Bill 626, legislation sponsored by state Senator Patrick Browne (R-16) prohibiting organized bird shoots.  This proposal still remains active on the Senate Calendar for possible consideration.Organized bird shooting is a traditional shooting...

The Missouri Farm Bureau opposes an initiative petition being circulated to require a three-fourths vote of the Missouri legislature to change an initiative statute. The initiative petition, known as “Your Vote Counts,” is backed by the Humane Society of the United States, the organization that successfully initiated the so-called puppy mill measure in November. “If we adopt the position of HSUS, the initiative petition will have no ability to correct a mistake and we think that would be a mistake,” said Blake Hurst, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau. The HSUS is using vast financial resources to get on the...