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Steve Hindi Response to HSUS

Hi folks, I’m Steve Hindi for SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness.

In September 2017 Heidi Prescott, Senior Vice President of Campaigns for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) released a statement in which she claimed the following about live pigeon shoots:

We have stopped shoots in California, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas -- and most recently secured an attorney general's opinion in Maryland that will prevent live pigeon shoots from occurring there.

There are a number of problems with this statement. First, the pigeon shoots in North Carolina had not stopped. In January we learned that the shoots in she referenced in Maryland had also not stopped.

I sent an email to then HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle, asking for HSUS records on the pigeon shoots referenced by Ms. Prescott for California, Ohio, Texas and anywhere else, that SHARK might be able to verify that the shoots were indeed stopped. If they were not stopped, we would move to make them stop.

Mr. Pacelle first ignored my request. After receiving additional outside pressure, Mr. Pacelle outright refused to turn over the information. I pushed again, but then Mr. Pacelle was ousted from HSUS for unrelated issues.

Shortly after interim CEO Kitty Block was installed, I redirected my request for pigeon shoot information to her. Like Mr. Pacelle, Ms. Block initially ignored my request. After pushing again, Ms. Block sent the following February 17, 2018 email:

I had hoped you could appreciate that I've been acting CEO and President of HSUS for just two weeks. I"m also running HSI, My first priority is to ensure that staff feel supported and confident during this transition and that our programs and campaigns to help animals remains as strong as ever.

I will respond to you more fully when i have the time.

I would have expected a little understanding.

In the interim - if you feel the need to demand action now please do whatever you like.

I appreciate your patience and understanding.

sincerely

Kitty

I gave Ms. Block the time she requested, two months in fact. Now it is time for Ms. Block to step up, and again she, like her predecessor, is refusing to respond.

Why is SHARK pushing so hard to get the information HSUS is hoarding about those shoots? First, because HSUS has made false claims about ending shoots in North Carolina and Maryland. Beyond that, in just the past six months, SHARK has achieved more success in stopping pigeon shoots than the rest of the movement combined in all the decades that preceded.

In PA, we’ve hit the pigeon shooters so hard that they’re running scared. The killers aren’t announcing shoot dates or locations in fear that we will show up - and we would - and we’re looking.

We would have better luck finding those pigeon shoots if personnel from HSUS and its allies in the Federated Humane Societies of Pennsylvania (FHSP) would assist, but they won’t lift a finger to help. This certainly calls into question Heidi Prescott’s claim made in a January 14, 2018 email which states:

The commitment of The HSUS and The Fund for Animals to eradicate live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania is unfaltering. It is a cause that has been at the forefront of the thinking of a number of our leaders for the past quarter century, and it’s a piece of unfinished business that we will complete.

Ms. Prescott’s statement is nonsense. The effort of HSUS and FHSP combined aren’t unfaltering - it’s nonexistent, and making bold statements of what you’re going to do are, at best, empty. It is the tiny SHARK team, and its tiny budget, that have succeeded because we’re on the ground, not sitting in offices or attending galas.

Last year we shut down Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe’s live pigeon shoot fundraiser after a 3-year campaign. We asked for HSUS’s help in that campaign, and they wouldn’t even respond.

In January, we exposed a live pigeon shoot in Maryland, the place HSUS claimed to have shut down. We learned about the place in 2017, and were keeping watch over it. The Maryland shoot was a relative stones-throw from the headquarters of the Humane Society of the United States, also in Maryland, but apparently HSUS - which claims to be at the forefront of fighting pigeon shoots - had no interest keeping an eye on the place.

In March we documented and exposed a live pigeon shoot in Alabama held by the Alabama Forestry Association, and its largest member, Georgia Pacific, announced there will be no more. Time will tell, and we are watching.

The Philadelphia Gun Club, which has held pigeon shoots since 1877, never even started its October to April season. Is that a permanent end? Can’t say right now, but we’ll be watching.

While the demise of pigeon shoots is something that should have happened many decades ago, SHARK’s use of high-end drones and other technology is now making the end of pigeon shoots a real possibility.

Given all the groups that once had pigeon shoots as a major campaign, it is reasonable to assume that those groups would now do what is required to further the effort, and terminate the issue. Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth.

HSUS claims it has information about pigeon shoots in other states, and SHARK wants to act on that information. By what possible logic or ethical code would any supposed humane organization refuse cooperation?

If HSUS is correct about shoots in other states having been shut down, then what is the harm in sharing the information with us, and for that matter, the world? Surely a credit-grabbing organization such as HSUS wants nothing more than to parade that information in front of everyone, unless of course their claims are untrue.

Years ago I had a confrontation with Wayne Pacelle over rodeos. The Illinois office of HSUS was defending the Illinois Department of Agriculture over its refusal to take action against rodeo cruelty. The head of the HSUS office wanted to be in tight with Ag. officials, and he was willing to sacrifice the animals in the process.

I told Pacelle in no uncertain terms that in the event that someone put themselves between SHARK and its target, we don’t go around the interloper - we go right through them. To his credit, Pacelle made the Illinois office back off, and SHARK successfully pressured the Ag. Department to start investigating and citing rodeo cruelty. This led to the first prosecutions in Illinois history against rodeo stock contractors.

I am now passing the advice I gave to Wayne Pacelle on to Kitty Block, the HSUS board, and anyone else. If you are actually going to stand in the way of SHARK’s efforts to end live pigeon shoots, then you become our target. If we have to fight through you to get to the shooters, so be it. Be prepared to get the same treatment as any other animal abuser. I have neither the time nor the patience to put up with your self-serving corporate bullshit.

As for HSUS supporters, I have to ask - are you aware that HSUS supported a 2017 bill in Vermont, which was ultimately passed, which reduced the cage size for dogs and cats in Vermont? SHARK worked with humane organizations in Vermont to try to dissuade HSUS from this terrible bill, which was supported by the puppy mill industry, but HSUS refused to stand down, and the horrible bill became law. Why would you support such an organization?

HSUS threw pigeons under the proverbial bus with a new humane law in Pennsylvania that literally gives pigeon shooters legal cover for their heinous and depraved behavior. This constitutes the utter betrayal of the worst victims of abuse in Pennsylvania. Why would you support this betrayal?

We’ve included links to videos about both the Vermont and Pennsylvania bills in the description section of this video, so you can see what HSUS has done for yourself.

Now HSUS refuses to share information that could put us on the trail of more pigeon shoots - an issue that SHARK has confronted in the most effective way of any organization in animal protection.

Please, take time to know what you are supporting, because enabling corporate profiteers such as HSUS, with its overpaid and unproductive bureaucrats, does not help animals.

In any case, and to whoever this applies, have no doubt. SHARK will take on anyone and everyone on this issue, and to the degree it includes the supposed animal protection movement, it’s game on.

SHARK and I did not want this fight. For decades we have tried to work with HSUS and other groups to advance animal issues. Now, unfortunately, the inaction and stonewalling for the sake of profiteering has become so blatant that it can simply no longer be ignored.

I’m Steve Hindi, for SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness.

Wisconsin Geese Kill

DEAR WISCONSIN, PLEASE DON’T KILL THE CANADA GEESE, PLEASE LET THEM LIVE

Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.

There is a different way, a better way, a more humane and cost-effective way, to control your Canada Geese population. It might take a little bit of work and results might take a bit longer but saving lives is worth it and the solution is permanent. It is practiced throughout Canada and it does control the geese humanely. Please read https://www.animalalliance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Goose_Manual-Habitat-Modification.pdf).

To summarize this article, the geese are here because we have recreated their ideal habitat; mowed lawns with long sightlines next to open water. This is not typical of a natural Wisconsin lake area which is why the population growth of geese is a recent phenomenon. If residents continue to create these ideal environments for Canada Geese, the geese will continue to come. The above article describes how the landscape can be modified to make it unattractive to Canada Geese thus solving the problem on a long-term basis without the need to kill the geese every few years.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has approved state wide geese gassing using carbon dioxide. So far as has been determined it is believed that as many as thirty municipalities have applied for the permits to date. Only three locations are publicly known. They are 1) Twin Lakes WI; 2) City of Oconomowoc WI and; 3) Mondovi WI.

Many municipalities in Wisconsin have plans to decrease the Canada Goose population with the help of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) by gathering the geese along with their babies during the months of June and July and gassing them to death.

The USDA’s abusive round up; dividing the geese from their families, caging them, and gassing them with carbon dioxide, is about to happen anytime now. And it will use taxpayer dollars for its work. The time and location of the USDA’s culls are usually kept secret from tax payers to avoid witnesses. This is wasted tax money with no public oversight. There are more humane and cost-effective methods to control the geese. Experience has shown that other geese will move in into the area after the cull because people have not changed the environment that is attractive to the geese, thus necessitating more tax dollars being used to kill the new geese. It seems our governmental officials are not taking advantage of the knowledge available to resolve their constituents concerns without destroying native, beautiful and useful animals. Instead of educating our citizens on how not to create ideal conditions for the geese, the officials approve culls which will not solve the problem in the in the following years. The only way to permanently solve and eliminate this problem is by habitat modification. It is the people who are creating these conditions that are creating the problem.

After Canada Geese nest, the geese undergo an annual feather molt which is a four-week flightless period when they shed and regrow their outer wing feathers. Molting occurs between mid-June and late July and this is when the USDA kills the Canada Geese, mother, father and babies. It is easy to round them up during this period because the geese usually congregate on ponds or lakes and can’t fly.

Gassing the Geese with carbon dioxide is not humane. Animals that are forced into such gas chambers experience fear and suffocation. This is no way to treat an animal whose primary offense is producing feces. It is inhumane and very sad. The geese travel hundreds of miles northward to favored molting areas not knowing they will be gassed and killed.

The only crime the Canada Geese commit is to poop. Should pooping warrant a death sentence? Many residents / businesses / tourism related entities are upset that the geese are is producing too many feces in areas populated by people. Among the other outrageous allegations being made are that the geese make too much noise, and eat too much grass from the lawns. Instead of handling the situation in a humane manner many are calling for a cheap and quick fix by destroying / gassing the geese, their families (geese have mates for life) and their young.

This death sentence is not only supported by some Wisconsin residents, vacation home owners, businesses, and tourist towns (Wisconsin has a huge tourism industry) but also by many out of state individuals who own vacation home property. Twin Lakes Wi has applied for a permit to have the geese rounded up and gassed. The killing is strongly supported by lake front summer home property owners, the vast majority of whom come from Chicago and Chicago suburban areas.

All this killing so certain people can make their Wisconsin lake home look just like their suburban yard in Chicago rather than like a natural Wisconsin lake shore would look.

In the mean time please keep calling and emailing the following people and organizations asking them politely to please consider implementing more humane methods of controlling the geese.

Town of Twin Lakes

Village Hall 262-877-2858

Elected Official Contact Information: All Officials listed were responsible for approving the cull of the Canada Geese

Board Member Phone Number Email Address

President Howard Skinner 262-877-2858 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Trustee Sharon Bower 262-448-1022 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Trustee Tom Connolly 262-877-3580 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Trustee Kevin Fitzgerald 262-208-9772 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Trustee Aaron Karo 262-877-4111 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Trustee Jeremy Knoll 262-206-2324 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Trustee Barbara Andres 262-960-0194 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

City of Oconomowoc

Joe Birbaum - Village President 262-567-5301 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Donald G Weimer - City Administrator 262-567-5301 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

City of Mondovi

Treig E. Pronschinske-Mayor715-926-3866 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please ask all your friends worldwide and most importantly your Wisconsin friends to contact the above authorities implore them to call off the Canada Geese cull. Let’s all help make and keep Wisconsin humane.

“Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings” – Oscar Hammerstein II