Your 10 Favorite Blog Posts of 2011

Within the last few weeks, I wrote about The HSUS’s top 10 accomplishments for 2011 and also the biggest news stories related to HSUS campaigns and programs. The information contained in these recent blogs is a catalog of our progress and awareness-building, and should give you hope amidst the crises that animals face every day.

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Today, in another look back on 2011, I'm sharing the top 10 blogs for the year—those that had the most views and the biggest reaction from readers. I write a blog every weekday, so I produced more than 250 this year, and these are the readers’ picks.

Two of the top five blogs focus on individuals who work against the interests of our cause. The top blog was my counter-attack against then-CEO of GoDaddy.com, Bob Parsons, after he trekked to southern Africa to slay elephants and other beautiful creatures while claiming the whole trip was done as a humanitarian enterprise. It was a stunning blend of animal abuse and human rationalization. Fourth place goes to the biggest hypocrite of all—Rick Berman, who has constructed more than a dozen phony front groups to attack some of the most noble and life-affirming charities in America, including The HSUS. I think the self-serving behavior of Parsons and Berman and their utter contempt for animal protection values drew your ire and special focus.

Puppy mills also drew attention—not just the outrageous efforts of Missouri lawmakers to undo the ballot measure on puppy mills that voters approved just more than a year ago, but also our rescue of 500 dogs from a mill in Quebec, our Vermont dog rescue, and the adoption of a puppy mill dog by a freshman Congressman from New York.

Photo: World Vets

You also focused on our other priority efforts—our progress on getting chimps out of labs, but also the setbacks we experienced on the horse slaughter front. And you had empathetic responses to natural disasters—hoping that animals could be saved in the aftermath of the earthquake that rattled Japan and the tornadoes that scoured so much of the South.

I write the blog as a chronicle of our work, and as a way of tracking in real time the trajectory of animal issues in society. It is a platform I use to drive reform, to advance ideas, and also to answer our critics and deconstruct their arguments. And it’s good to see the ones that have meant the most to readers.

I hope you’ll keep following the blog closely in 2012. I will continue to focus on the most important issues of the day, and I always welcome hearing from you here or on my Facebook page.

1. GoDaddy elephant killing – GoDaddy.com CEO Under Fire for Killing African Elephant
2. Japan disaster response – Help for the People and Animals of Japan
3. Prop B repeal passes the Missouri Senate – Missouri Senate Passes Bill to Eviscerate Prop B
4. “Humane Society for Shelter Pets” – More Deception from Con Man Richard Berman
5. Endangered Species Act protections for chimpanzees – Feds Set Stage for Critical Action to Help Chimps
6. Vermont puppy mill rescue – Dozens of Dogs Saved from Deplorable Conditions in Vermont
7. Rep. Grimm adopts a puppy mill dog – A Tiny Dog Makes a Big Splash Against Puppy Mills
8. Horse slaughter could reopen in the U.S. – Urgent Action Needed to Save American Horses from Slaughter
9. Bertie the puppy’s adoption story – Rescue Story: A Tiny Puppy Plucked from the Rubble
10. Quebec dog rescue – Saving More than 500 Suffering Dogs in Canada