Aug 29, 2009... "I'd like to take a few minutes to respond to recent statements from Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, which were highly critical of the AVMA.
When you don't have all the expertise at your fingertips, the result can be inaccurate statements, and it can be easier to mislead with a sound bite than inform with the facts. Unfortunately, it appears that Mr. Pacelle has fallen into both of these traps in his most recent comments on the AVMA's approach to animal welfare.
Mr. Pacelle's statements regarding the AVMA's positions and approach on downed livestock and induced molting are just factually wrong so I won't belabor those. His horse slaughter example, however, serves to illustrate an important difference between the two organizations. In contrast to what Mr. Pacelle has suggested, the AVMA is not "pro-slaughter." Rather, its membership includes equine veterinarians who, day-in and day-out, are forced to personally confront the realities of the large population of unwanted horses in this country. These experts understand what happens when an option for humanely killing these horses in a regulated environment is taken away—large numbers of horses end up being abandoned and left to starve. The current economic climate has only made things worse. Open the paper today in any area where people keep horses and you will begin to understand why knee-jerk responses to welfare concerns, such as the position taken by the HSUS on horse slaughter, are not in the best interest of animals.
Tugging on people's heartstrings to raise money is easy; finding real solutions to animal welfare challenges is not. HSUS certainly excels at the former; the AVMA continues to direct its energies toward the latter.
Mr. Pacelle is ignoring the legitimate concerns of animal welfare scientists and veterinarians, and misleading the American public to further his organization's agenda. If he truly cared about the welfare of animals, he would not be so quick to criticize and minimize the input of veterinary experts.
Veterinarians choose their careers because they care about animals. At the same time, veterinarians understand that, when it comes to animal welfare, a knee-jerk response based solely on emotion, not science, might not be in the best interest of animals."