Opposition
Dissecting the Attack on Chipotle
PR operative Rick Berman now includes Chipotle among his dozens of targets. He and one of his many front groups, the Center for Consumer Freedom — operating from his office in Washington, D.C. — have placed a couple of ads in the New York Post attacking . . .
Our Dizzying Array of Animal Care Programs
This week, The HSUS worked with law enforcement and both local and national groups in Chatham County, N.C. to rescue nearly 200 animals, most of them from a single mobile home. Sheriff’s Capt. Doug Stuart called it an “intervention,” and like too many cases we . . .
The Propaganda Machine and `the Backfire Effect’
In 2006, scholars Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler presented a paper to the American Political Science Association about the “backfire effect” – presenting evidence from a series of studies to show that “when your deepest convictions are challenged by contradictory evidence, your feelings get stronger.” In . . .
Animal Protection: A Domestic and Foreign Affair
In the July-August issue of Foreign Affairs, I wrote a long-form essay, “The Long Road to Animal Welfare,” that tracks our movement’s unmistakable progress in recent years, and attempts to explain how much of it has happened. I’ve written at prior times on this blog that, . . .
Right to Farm, Right to Poach, and Other Shenanigans in the States
It’s been a busy week in the states for animals. Yesterday, a key California Senate committee approved a ban on bullhooks, as the wake from last month’s Ringling Bros. announcement to retire its traveling elephant acts continues to be felt. Also on elephants, the Oregon . . .
In Oklahoma, A Right to Harm?
We all know about the effort by some agribusiness interests to make it a crime for whistleblowers to take photographs or videos that document the suffering of animals on a factory farm, or for an animal advocate to apply for a job at one of these . . .
Fortune-Teller: Big Gains on Animal Welfare
Fortune has just published a pretty extraordinary round-up of our high-impact work with the world’s largest food retail corporations. The piece details the work of Josh Balk, Matt Prescott, and other members of the HSUS Farm Animal Protection team who have worked so expertly with . . .
Ivory Wars – Right Here in the United States
Last week, we received the extraordinary news that Ringling Bros. plans to retire the elephants from its traveling circus and place them at its elephant care facility in Florida. Given the tremendously favorable response to this action from the public and the press, you might . . .
The March Toward Moral Progress for Animals
King Midas is remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched to gold. Rick Berman, the public relations operative who’s been hired by corporate interests to perpetuate animal cruelty, coal-fired power plants, and mercury in fish, amongst other ignoble causes, seems to . . .
Big Ag Getting Its Hen House in Order – Cages and All
Soon, a group composed of many conventional thinkers in the food and agribusiness industries, calling itself the “Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply,” is expected to release a report on various forms of housing egg-laying hens—including cramming them into barren cages so small they can’t even . . .
The Fur, Feathers, and Scales of Justice: Scoring the Highs and Lows of Attorneys General on Animal Protection
Last week, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring burnished his pro-animal record when he established an Animal Law unit in an attorney general’s office. The unit will serve as a resource for local law enforcement and state agencies on animal fighting and animal cruelty prosecutions, providing . . .
Bootlegged Speech of Rick Berman Shows Deception and Dirty Tactics Off the Charts
“People always ask me one question all the time: ‘How do I know that I won’t be found out as a supporter of what you’re doing?’ ” That’s Rick Berman, the lobbyist and PR operative who collects money from corporations to try to tear down animal . . .
