Where’s the Beef? Not in HSUS Lawsuits

News came across our desk on Friday that an HSUS-backed lawsuit has failed. Mike Callicrate, who is on HSUS’s Colorado Ag Council, sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture last year over its administration of the beef checkoff, alleging that checkoff money was being used to lobby (a big no-no). Callicrate dropped his suit last week, presumably because he was going to lose. The Associated Press reports:

His legal move comes a week after the Agriculture Department’s Office of Inspector General released a report finding no evidence that the association board’s activities did not comply with legislation.

The inspector general’s office said it examined more than a thousand invoices amounting to more than $20.5 million in reimbursement payments from the beef checkoff fund.

Callicrate said last year that HSUS, while not a party to the suit, “hired people to go through these [USDA] documents and carefully analyze the information that was in them. This is what gave us the basis for this lawsuit, to be able to file it.” Great—so Callicrate filed something and Wayne Pacelle got to hear himself speak out in Kansas City, and then the plaintiff dropped the suit after a credible party, the Inspector General, investigated and found no evidence of wrongdoing. What a flop.

How many hours of legal research did HSUS provide the basis for this frivolous lawsuit? How many dollars went to salaries or billable hours that could have gone to care for pets—you know, cats and dogs like the ones all over HSUS’s advertising?

This isn’t the first failed lawsuit backed by HSUS, and it won’t be the last. And that’s to say nothing of the lawsuits against HSUS, including one over a raid in South Dakota and another brought under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

You may have seen our parody of HSUS’s national TV ad called “Lawyers in Cages.” A good parody is never too far from reality.