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Voting bloc for agriculture needed

The online dictionary Wikipedia defines a voting bloc as a group of voters that are so motivated by a specific concern or group of concerns that it helps determine how they vote in elections.

Author Julie Lewin’s new book “Get Political for Animals” pleads the case for the animal activist movement to get together and vote as a bloc to win legal rights for animals. Although I am in strong opposition to the cause she promotes, I agree that the best way to ascertain success in the law-making world is to get the attention of the politician. Numbers of people in a voting bloc represent numbers of votes for the incumbent or his challenger in the next election.

As a member of a voting bloc, you are willing to vote for the person that supports your cause or issue despite his or her party affiliation. It is not strictly about money, although money helps. It is about making sure that your voice is heard.

When you hear the name “Humane Society of the United States” or HSUS, you probably picture a local animal shelter where unwanted dogs and cats are housed, awaiting adoption. HSUS does not operate a single animal shelter. HSUS opposes animal agriculture. Paul Shapiro, director of The HSUS’ Factory Farming Campaign, said, “Of all the ways in which we exploit animals, none compares to animal agribusiness in terms of the number of animals involved. As a nation, we raise and kill roughly 10 billion land animals for food every year, representing approximately 95 percent of all of the animals we use in the United States.”

Shapiro continues, “Farm animals are among the most abused—and most ignored—in our society. The trend for the past 60 years has been to cram more and more of these animals into harsher confinement operations. But due in large part to the efforts of farm animal campaigns in the animal protection movement, we are finally seeing our societal attitudes about farm animals begin to mature.”

Shapiro is quite proud of the work of anti-animal agriculture activists for their role in getting gestation crates banned in Florida, Arizona and Oregon. He also points to successes outside of the legal realm. “We’ve even seen agribusiness giants such as Smithfield Foods (the largest pig producer in the United States) bow to consumer concerns and begin phasing out the most abusive confinement systems.”

Shapiro challenges supporters of animal rights: “The societal shift from eating larger to smaller animals has meant that an increasing number of animals are being raised and killed for food annually. Most of the worst abuses we force on animals are still legal in most of the country. The plight of farm animals remains dire and the universe of animal suffering is still unfathomably large.”

The anti-animal agriculture voting bloc is doing all it can to make sure HSUS, PETA and other animal rights groups gets solid footing in Illinois. (Stop and think about the horse slaughter ban supported not only by anti-ag groups, but by those in your state who have been appointed to protect and serve the ag industry.)

The Animal Agriculture Alliance alerted us recently that Microsoft, the software giant, plans to make a $100,000 donation to animal rights behemoth Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and is partnering with the vegan-led group on a pilot program called the ‘i’m Initiative.’ Through the new program, whenever a Windows Live Messenger user has a conversation using i’m, Microsoft will give a portion of the program’s advertising revenue to one of ten organizations selected by the user. HSUS is one of the choices, and there is no limit to the amount of money that can be donated.

Are you willing to be part of a pro-agriculture voting bloc? Let’s do a trial run. Let’s contact Microsoft and its founder Bill Gates to demand that it terminate its financial support for HSUS. Write to Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft, 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052; phone 425-882-8080; or fax 425-936-7329.

Have you had enough? Prove it. Write a letter. Send a fax. Make a phone call. Tell your friends.

According to The Animal Agriculture Alliance, in September of 2006, at HSUS’ Taking Action for Animals conference, Wayne Pacelle, President of the organization vowed to redouble the animal rights group’s efforts against animal agriculture.

Let’s show him what we’re made of. Let’s stand up this time and let Pacelle and all the others who would destroy our industry know we’re not going to take it lying down.