Finally a politician that speaks from the heart on behalf of his people and doesn't come out the next day with an "oops I didn't really mean that" (just get to reelected). I am sure him or the people of Nebraska don't care where the HSUS takes their agenda next as long as it is out of Nebraska. I would also love to see Wayne Pacelle show up in any small town west of Kearney and see what kind of treatment he would get.
After we moved to Nebraska and found out a month later that Ohio had negotiated, I really thought it would be a long time before Pacelle would show up in Nebraska. I hope Nebraska is where the pendulum swings the other way on the HSUS movement. I believe the people of Nebraska can't afford to negotiate with HSUS and I also believe with the Agriculture that thrives there, they have the ability to stand their ground.
As for the people who believe the HSUS are the leaders on the correct treatment of farm animals, they are wrong. The people who lead the fight on the best way to treat animals are the people calving in the Sandhills of Nebraska and the cowboys riding the pens in Platte River Valley. Another leader of the continuance of caring for animals may be a stop by the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. I don't believe traveling the US and getting innocent people to vote on something by twisting the reality is a fair or an American way to achieve any goal.
As a member of the Nebraska Farm Bureau and a Nebraska feed yard owner I believe the state of Nebraska with leadership of Governor Heineman will give Wayne Pacelle and HSUS a fight of their lifetime. GOOD LUCK and don't give up the Good Life to HSUS.
Humane Society of U.S. wants Heineman to tone down
LINCOLN — Gov. Dave Heineman got a standing ovation in Lexington earlier this month when he used a vulgar word to deliver a message to the Humane Society of the United States.
Omahan Jocelyn Nickerson isn't among those cheering, however. Nickerson, state director of the Humane Society of the United States, says the governor's comments were offensive to the approximately 51,000 Nebraskans who believe in her organization.
"The governor says he wants to kick us out," she said. "Where does he want us to go?"
The Humane Society of the United States is a national nonprofit group that bills itself as "the nation's largest and most effective animal protection organization." It is not connected with local animal shelters such as the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha or the Capitol Humane Society in Lincoln.
In recent years, under the leadership of President Wayne Pacelle, HSUS has launched initiatives on farm animal welfare, succeeding in outlawing tight confinement practices for pregnant sows, veal calves and laying hens in at least a half-dozen states.
The society's positions have made it public enemy No. 1 for several major Nebraska farm groups. Five — Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Pork Producers, Nebraska Egg Producers and Nebraska State Dairy Association — formed a coalition last year just to fight the HSUS.
Those farm groups represent a fair share of people themselves. The Farm Bureau, for example, lists 56,000 households as members, and the Cattlemen report about 3,000 members.
In March 7 comments at the Nebraska Cattlemen symposium in Lexington, Heineman said of the HSUS: "We're going to kick your ass and send you out of the state."
And in a speech in Washington in January, he called upon farm-focused lawmakers from across the country to fight the HSUS.
"I'm a graduate of West Point. I'm an Army Ranger," Heineman said then. "This guy (Pacelle) wants to engage in guerrilla warfare, I'll teach him a thing or two."
In a December 2010 speech to the Cattlemen, Heineman said he didn't trust Pacelle and his organization. "No deals. No compromise," the governor said.
In a letter hand delivered to the governor's office last week, Nickerson called on Heineman to tone down his rhetoric.
"Get off your soapbox and join the discussion about animal welfare's place in agriculture," she said.
Some Nebraska HSUS members have posted their photos — or those of their pets — on a website to demonstrate their support for the organization's work. As of Monday, however, fewer than three dozen had been posted.
Though the group has successfully launched petition drives to change animal welfare laws in a number of states, Pacelle has repeatedly said that the group doesn't intend to mount a petition drive in Nebraska.
In October, the HSUS and the Nebraska Farmers Union agreed to partner on an effort to promote animal agriculture that refrains from practices deemed cruel by the animal welfare group.
A leader of an HSUS opposition coalition said Heineman's comments resonate with animal producers in Nebraska.
Pete McClymont, president of We Support Agriculture, said his group believes HSUS's ultimate agenda is to eliminate meat from the American diet — which would put most farmers out of business.
"Obviously when we hear the governor being so defiant supporting Nebraska agriculture, it makes you feel good," McClymont said.
McClymont said Nebraska farmers treat their animals humanely. He also said he hasn't noticed an increase in support for the HSUS agenda.
Nickerson, however, said Heineman's comments were unnecessarily divisive and underestimate the support for animal welfare issues in the state. She said she isn't a vegetarian and her goal is not to end animal agriculture.
"I think (Heineman is) underestimating his own farmers and ranchers," she said. "There's wonderful producers out there providing humane and sustainable products. I want Nebraska to be a leader in these markets."
Heineman is making no apologies. His office shared a video clip Monday from a recent youth agriculture conference at which he appeared.
"They're out to destroy the future for these kids standing behind me," Heineman says in the clip. "That's not fair, it's not right, it's not appropriate. I'm willing to stand up and fight for these young people and for the citizens of Nebraska. Yes, I did say it, and I'm not apologizing for it."
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