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Nov. 23, 2010 BrownfieldAgNews reports: Speaking in Lincoln Sunday night, Wayne Pacelle again denied that Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) has anything on the drawing board for Nebraska's livestock industry. "No-never was-more false information," he says. In fact, Pacelle calls Nebraska "one of the safest states in the country" as far as animal agriculture is concerned. "I think there's tremendous political support for agriculture in the state," Pacelle says. "There's a very well-organized set of trade associations and I just don't see the prospect of any big changes in agriculture that are kind of legislatively-induced." Nebraska Farmers Union president John Hansen says he didn't get any indication that HSUS plans a major animal welfare initiative in Nebraska. "I didn't hear anything that would cause me to think they're getting ready to do a launch-some sort of major effort in Nebraska," Hansen says. "That was the concern of a lot of our members. I didn't hear that-so we'll see how we go forward." But Nebraska livestock leaders remain skeptical. Central City, Nebraska pork producer Mark McHargue is the Nebraska Farm Bueau's representative in a special Nebraska livestock coalition. "If anything good comes out of Wayne Pacelle coming to Nebraska, it's the fact that it has encouraged the dialogue between livestock producers and the associations," says McHargue, "and I think we are on solid ground to move forward if any action comes from HSUS to Nebraska. We have a lot of groundwork laid to prepare to engage." Pacelle indicated HSUS has no major concerns with Nebraska's cattle feeding industry. Destry Brown, a rancher from Hyannis, Nebraska and executive director of the Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska, is not convinced. "I know the feedlot industry and CAFO's are a burr under their saddle. They do not like the fact that all those cattle stand in a spot," says Brown, "and I'm not going to stand here and let them say that is wrong, or inhumane, when it is not." Livestock groups in some other states, when faced with a costly battle with HSUS, have chosen to compromise. We asked McHargue, if and when the time comes, would Nebraska's livestock industry consider doing the same? "We don't have an official statement on that, but we all recognize the threat. We all recognize that this is an animal rights group, not an animal welfare group," says McHargue. "You look at all their actions and it has to do with animal rights-and the things that we're doing on our farms-we certainly take care of our animals. I think we care for them much better than we did even 10 or 20 years ago-and so I think as far as animal welfare, we are where we need to be." Pacelle indicated HSUS would be working in the Nebraska legislature to address concerns with dog breeders in the state. Tweet |
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