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Moles must be rooted out

Joe Luter is the CEO of Smithfield Foods. They are the world's largest pork producer; from birth to girth they own the business. Would anyone mind if he were hired by the USDA and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to oversee meat inspection and regulations regarding how pork is grown and harvested? Oh my goodness! It would be sheer madness if anybody were even to hint that it should happen.

Why then is Sarah L. Conant serving as the chief enforcer for APHIS within the USDA? She has spent the majority of her life trying to end animal agriculture and being an activist for animal rights. Her last employer (assuming she is no longer still collecting a check from them) was the Humane Society of the United States. HSUS is the world's largest animal rights organization, yet nobody said a word when USDA hired her. Why not?

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran asked some questions on the Senate floor that shed a tremendous amount of light on the current relationship between the USDA and HSUS. Apparently, even though nobody I know in animal agriculture had any knowledge of this, there was an animal welfare forum being planned by the USDA and organized by HSUS. That is until the good senator from Kansas got wind of the event. Here are the highlights of what he said:

"The ironic thing about this forum is that there is little science involved. It is nothing more than, in my view, the Department of Agriculture spending taxpayer dollars on a forum to provide the Humane Society of the United States a public forum to espouse its anti-agriculture views.

"If the Department of Agriculture was interested in science, why would it allow an animal rights organization to steer its agenda?"

So I ask this question: Just exactly how many people with ties to HSUS are actually planted in the USDA and APHIS at this time?

I am not the only one asking by the way. Frank Losey, an attorney with no ties to animal agriculture whatsoever, is also asking. In fact, he submitted a formal complaint with the Inspector General on Aug. 30 suggesting that not only is there a tremendous conflict of interest with the USDA hiring Sarah L. Conant but that the record surrounding her employment seems to have gone missing.

In the same calendar year, lawsuits were filed by Conant on behalf of the HSUS against the USDA only for her to resign her position with HSUS and two days later be appointed to a newly created position with APHIS.

Another question that Losey is posing about HSUS is how can this nonprofit organization, with annual revenue in excess of $100 million, spend less than 1 percent of that money on animal shelters. They are so busy lobbying but never seem to get the attention of the IRS. We know for a fact that thousands of letters have been sent to the IRS asking them to conduct a full-blown investigation into how this organization can so openly admit to breaking the law and continue to get away with it.

I so often ask you do to something because of the columns I have written. Friends, I have honestly never felt the importance of your input more than I do on these two issues. Call your senator and tell them an investigation needs to take place regarding the relationship between USDA, formerly known as "the people's department" and HSUS, the wealthiest animal rights organization in the world. Ask them how Sarah L. Conant can be employed by the USDA when it is clearly a violation of the Conflict of Interest.

Secondly, ask how it is that HSUS can maintain nonprofit status when they clearly are a lobbying entity, which is explicitly forbidden under nonprofit laws. Complacency is our only real challenge at the end of the day, not HSUS. Please understand that and get busy digging to help us root out the moles in this system before they destroy our entire foundation!

Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or email Trent at trent@loostales.com.

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Reader Comments CEWare — 02/08/2012 10:02:58 I heard today that Ms. Conant has been quietly transferred OUT of her position of authority within APHIS. The source I heard this from said there was no public announcement and likely will not be one in the future. Can you guys look into this? Is it in fact true, and where was she transferred to? Thanks for any additional info you can give me. Reader Comments urfarmer — 12/13/2011 01:12:57 My family is most important to me. That is the reason why I raise all my livestock in a humane manner. There is no such thing as a "Factory Farm" due to the fact that we cannot manufacture animals. Every farm, no matter it's size, is run by a family. I don't appreciate the animal rights organizations misleading the public with their false advertisements and not sharing the whole story. When a producer is found negligent, they are punished to the full extent of the law. Do we see that in the TV ads? NO! As a 3rd generation farmer, I am proud of the product we provide. Before you bash our industry, take some time to find the scientific data regarding cages for laying hens. That's all we farmers ask is that you educate yourself with scientific date and not just listen to what someone tells you is fact. If there were no more farms, where will your food come from? Reader Comments lj — 12/08/2011 06:12:58 "Ask them how Sarah L. Conant can be employed by the USDA when it is clearly A VIOLATION OF THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST." Did you research this or are you just printing whatever you want? I have a guess. Reader Comments Laura J — 12/06/2011 06:12:26 While we all want fairness in the application of federal and state laws, that is not going to happen when we have a strong representative for the animal rights agenda sitting in the position of Enforcer for USDA/APHIS regulations. Speaking from past experience, there have been several occasions where ex-HSUS persons worked for federal agencies and implemented their animal rights agenda in writing and enforcing regulations. The result has been changes made to law that was NOT the intent of Congress. It is important to have knowledgeable and technical persons in positions of power in state and federal governments, but NOT persons with an agenda that does not mesh with the basic agenda of US citizens, nor Congress, nor the industry being inspected. Reader Comments Mike in Mich. — 12/06/2011 02:12:10 HSUS has very successfully made people believe that they are in favor of humane treatment of animals. This is not true. They are against animal ownership for any reason. They oppose animal agriculture, oppose animals kept as pets and,if allowed to have their way, will eliminate all ownership, of animals by humans. Yes, they often settle for a position less that their ideal as the chip away at our rights to keep animals. USDA should not employ people with an agenda that is opposed to agriculture in any form. It simply is contrary to their mission. HSUS may well have a secondary for profit branch but the bottom line is that the money is raised under the umbrella of the nonprofit corporation and as such must be used in a manner congruent with those laws. It is no more legal to transfer funds collected by a nonprofit to another Corp. and then used for lobbying than it is for them to do it directly. HSUS misleads the majority of those who contribute and should be stopped. Reader Comments Faith — 12/04/2011 06:12:50 The IRS has investigated HSUS. They are not in violation of any law. The issue is not family farming but the inhumanity of factory farming where animals are treated like mere commodities by big AG. Theories of scientific management are applied where the concept is to apply the least input and achieve the greatest output. Battery cages, gestation cages etc. I am surprised that family farmers would align themselves with big AG because they are the ones threatening your farms. Individuals who are becoming aware of the cruelty of factory farming are seeking out family farms to purchase Reader Comments UncleRob — 12/04/2011 05:12:59 Gee, We all sound so scared that someone with different opinions than us might be in a government position. What's that say about us? Is the sky falling? Last place I went where people wanted one opinion in government was the USSR. Reader Comments Justin S — 12/03/2011 10:12:19 Let's not forget Norma Worley, long time animal rights activist in Maine who was accused of stalking animal owners and entered property without warrant was in the APHIS position. She certainly had all the information before her. Worley has been a crusader for animal rights legislation for many years. Her activism goes back to more than twenty years and decades of service on the California Animal Welfare Committee, which instituted several radical policies, and a long career as an animal cruelty investigator in California and head of an animal control program there. This seems to be like the fox guarding the hen house! After being sued a couple of times I believe she left her position. Not to mention she was nearly 700,000 dollars over budget. So how and why does this happen by a government agency. Similiar happening in many more states whre people who are animal rights activist are employeed in positions where one would feel they could not be partial in fact if they were really stable at all in their agenda of no more animal use by humans. Reader Comments TomKi — 12/03/2011 09:12:34 I would much rather have Joe Luter run Aphis than Sarah L. Conant. Such a person would be far more trustworthy than would an HSUS lawyer. Reader Comments Sparks Nowood — 12/03/2011 03:12:20 Humane Watch and the Center for Consumer Freedom do not beg the public for donation, nor do they send out tons of crappy junk mail begging for donations. Any donations to Rick Berman are done by those who know it is going to Rick Berman. Animal rightists would scream to high heaven if Rick Berman were acting as chief enforcer for the USDA. So why don't the rest of us have to right to complain about HSUS' ties to USDA through Sarah Conant? Sounds like a the fox in the hen house to me. Add Your Comment To post a comment on this story, enter your screen name and email address then click "Add Comment." Your email address will not be displayed. 245 Recommend | 14 Comments

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