Letters for July 31, 2016

Letters for July 31, 2016

HSUS is all about protecting animals

A recent column (TGI, July 26) from Will Coggin (“Animal lawyers dog the legal system”) was predictably misleading. As the director of research at the Center for Consumer Freedom, Coggin represents one of a network of front groups for unscrupulous businesses trying to thwart public interest groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Humane Society of the United States. Rather than accurately presenting the ways we are helping animals, he uses hyperbole and improbable scenarios to scare people into believing falsehoods about our organization.

Take a closer look at the Center for Consumer Freedom and you’ll find it has no social welfare mission. The group has been condemned by the media for misleading the public. 60 Minutes dubbed its president, Richard Berman, “Dr. Evil.”

But look at The HSUS and you’ll find that we’ve always been about protecting all animals from large-scale cruelties. When it comes to the law, our attorneys work tirelessly against factory farming, puppy mills, the fur trade, the exploitation of captive animals and more. In the past year alone, our legal efforts have protected millions of living, feeling creatures from cruelty. The only ones who have anything to fear from the legal prowess of The HSUS are the industries who regularly and systematically disregard their welfare.

Sarah Barnett

Public Affairs Adviser, Special Assistant to the COO

The Humane Society of the United States

Washington, D.C.

Abandon the TPP or Dems are doomed

The Investor State Dispute Settlement process would make U.S. taxpayers liable for transnational lawsuits. The deregulations in the TPP supersede the laws of the U.S., and hard-fought-for worker protections are nullified by this betrayal of a treaty.

Susan Oakley

Kapaa