HSUS: Farmers Don’t Prioritize Animal Care
HSUS head honcho Wayne Pacelle, a Yale grad who’s never run a livestock farm in his life, was in Nebraska late last week to continue his organization’s phony campaign to pretend that it supports some farmers and ranchers and that it isn’t against animal agriculture. (It is.) But even slick Pacelle slipped up.
Speaking to Nebraska TV, Pacelle said what he really thinks: “Animal welfare may not be central to the psyche of farmers.”
We expect that farmers and ranchers will be deeply offended by this statement. Any farmer will tell you that animal care is central to their psyche. Just take this story from April, in which ranchers braved an extreme blizzard to carry their calves to safety (photo: Dunn County Herald):
Elsabe, who is originally from South Africa and helped warm and feed the calves, posted a photo online of her husband cradling a newborn calf in his arms in an effort to save the animal as he ran through the knee-deep snow during Sunday’s blizzard-like conditions.
The picture captured the attention of Facebook users, who shared the photo hundreds of times and showed their support for Hausauer’s efforts under the worst of circumstances with comments, like “Bless his heart” and “That’s a hero for you.”
The Hausauers were married a few years ago and have an almost 2-year-old daughter, Kenzley, who Elsabe said sat — and sometimes hollered at the calves or slept — in the tractor as her parents rushed the newborn calves to safety.
Yet Wayne Pacelle, a city-dwelling Ivy Leaguer, would rather just caricature farmers as not being caring enough. Apparently he doesn’t know the honest, hard-working farmers we’ve met over the years.
By the way, isn’t it telling that Wayne would try to fit in with farmers…by wearing hip clothing? Wayne usually sports a Washington D.C. power suit and tie, but when in Nebraska on Friday he was trying to fit in with some plaid. (Here are some pictures.) Someone needs to tell Wayne that farmers usually don’t wear designer plaid with gingham accents.
A trendy shirt plus sneakers isn’t the look of a farmer or rancher. It’s the look of a pretender. The ag community should keep that in mind as Pacelle and HSUS try to swindle them.
