HSUS Getting Taste Of Its Own Medicine In Court
Wednesday, August 1, 2012

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Editor's Note: The following news item is reprinted with permission of
Outdoor News Service. It appeared on Saturday, July 28, 2012, in their
online publication.

By Jim Matthews

The Humane Society of the United States, an organization that does
little to nothing for animal shelters, but sues, badgers and lobbies
politicians and businesses into adopting its radical animals rights agenda,
is getting a taste of its own medicine.

In a little-reported ruling by a judge in the District of Columbia earlier
this month, the HSUS is going to court to face charges under RICO statues on
racketeering, obstruction of justice, malicious prosecution and other
charges for a lawsuit it brought and lost against Ringling Brothers Circus¹
parent company Feld Entertainment, Inc.

After winning the case alleging mistreatment of elephants in its
circuses brought by Friends of Animals (later merged into HSUS), the
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the
Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), lawyers at Feld filed a countersuit with a
litany of charges ranging from bribery to money laundering to racketeering.
The attorneys for the animal rights groups asked the judge to dismiss all
charges, but most stuck because the evidence was overwhelming. So in early
August, HSUS will be facing the music in a case that should attract the
attention of hunters, ranchers and farmers, and anyone impacted by HSUS
radical animal rights agenda.

While district judge Emmet G. Sullivan did dismiss allegations of mail
and wire fraud, but he only did so because Feld didn¹t have standing to file
this charge. His ruling all but set the stage for a class-action RICO
lawsuit against HSUS for misrepresenting itself in its fundraising campaigns
across the nation. This future lawsuit could easily bankrupt HSUS and put it
out of business ­ and send some of its top executives to prison.

For the first time, a group has fought back against the animal rights and
environmental extremists who have been setting policy in this country for
the past 20 years or more. Now, instead of getting rich off their lawsuits
and fund-raising schemes that misrepresent their efforts and
accomplishments, they could be driven out of business when they start
getting larger doses of their own medicine. These animal rights groups have
cost the farming and ranching industry jobs and raised the price of products
we all buy every day. They are behind the efforts to ban sport hunting
across the nation. They have forced state wildlife and fishery agencies to
waste countless millions of dollars on lawsuits, and they have spearheaded
policies and legislation like the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), which
has ruined livelihoods in recreational and commercial fishing without
helping marine resources.

These groups operate with surly arrogance, and they believe they are
above the law. Thankfully, that is not the case. Stay tuned. I'm sure there
will be more to talk about in the near future.

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