(Beth & Merritt Clifton collage)

Incredibly,  that is what HSUS is promoting!

For $125,000,  would you confine every breeding kennel dog in your state in a cage half the size or smaller than that dog gets now –– FOR LIFE???

Of course not!!!

But that is what the Humane Society of the U.S. is doing in Vermont,  through an HSUS-pushed bill,  H. 218,  which cleared both houses of the state legislature before many and perhaps most animal advocates in the state were even aware of it,  and at this writing is before Governor Phil Scott.

Peggy Larson, DVM at work in front of the Vermont state capitol.
(Beth Clifton collage)

Helping grassroots activists get the word out

Former USDA inspector Peggy Larson,  DVM,  who in her “retirement” career has spayed or neutered more than 78,000 cats,  and Vermont Volunteer Services for Animals founder Sue Skaskiw are desperately urging Scott to veto H. 218 –– a bill representing a rollback of Vermont animal welfare standards to those of 1966!

You know about this only because ANIMALS 24-7 is on the job,  24 hours a day,  seven days a week,  watchdogging the charities and self-anointed leadership who pretend to be fighting for the animals,  but all too often fall down on the job,  or worse –– as in the instance of Vermont H. 218 –– take a dive for the money.

And,  make no mistake about it,  this is about money.  HSUS and the other major animal charities that inundate you with appeals,  night and day,  raise much of their money by persuading caring & trusting people that they are “winning victories for the animals” even when some of the bills they sneak to passage undercut and weaken existing humane legislation.

(See HSUS pushes bill to cut Vermont puppy mill cage sizes by half or more.)

(Merritt Clifton collage)

Cynical timing

Vermont H. 218 was timed to pass coinciding with the HSUS Mother’s Day and “Day of Giving” fundraising campaigns touting action against “puppy mills.”

HSUS set a fundraising target for the “Day of Giving” of $125,000 –– far more than the ANIMALS 24-7 budget for the entire year!

But we told you more about H. 218 just in this message than HSUS ever told donors before the bill passed through the Vermont legislature,  and provided far more background and detail in our in-depth exposé of this disaster,  which we made priority #1 and posted yesterday instead of an urgent appeal for the donations we desperately need just to keep going.

(Merritt Clifton collage)

Tight squeeze

We made exposing how H. 218 in effect puts puppy-mill dogs in a squeeze-cage and tightens it down our very first priority because,  even though we have bills to pay and not much to pay them with,  Vermont puppy-mill dogs are going to have to be living in much smaller,  tighter cages for years and perhaps decades to come.

We need $125,000 a hell of a lot more than HSUS –– or whatever small fraction thereof you can help us with –– but puppy mill puppies need at least room enough to chase their own tails,  and trying to make sure they keep the small amount of space they already have came first.

Now,  about what we need:  it isn’t much.  ANIMALS 24-7 could squeak by and keep on watchdogging,  investigating and exposing what’s going on in the world of animal advocacy,  if we had just one hundred donors of $1,000 each,  or one thousand donors of $100 each,  or readers chipping in even 25ç for every ANIMALS 24-7 article they devour.

We work for pennies on the dollar

Maintaining ourselves and our equipment,  and keeping the ANIMALS 24-7 web site up and running,  costs less for a whole year than just paying one bloated executive top salary for a few months at HSUS –– or the ASPCA,  or any of quite a few other big animal charities that purport to oppose puppy mills,  but sat on their hands,  twirled on their thumbs,  or were even complicit as the Vermont roll-back of puppy mill caging space allowances flew past the lawmakers with few if any questions asked.

We are not just asking for ourselves.  Our work benefits the whole humane community,  even the big organizations,  whose right hands sometimes find out what the left hand is doing only because they read ANIMALS 24-7.  Our work helps the small,  local,  very dedicated volunteers doing things at the grassroots level to get the word out about issues and problems than the big groups ignore and sweep under the rug.

Most of all,  we help the animals!

Most of all,  our work helps the animals,  by revealing the truth about issues,  exposing waste,  fraud,  and corruption,  helping you to be much more effective as a donor and activist.

We don’t need or ask for a lot –– just what we need to keep doing what we do,  for example raising a howl when someone tries to claim a “victory” for stuffing dogs (and cats) into cages barely bigger than travel crates,  for life!

Please click the link below and make the most generous donation you can to help ANIMALS 24-7 continue speaking truth to power!  Thank you!!!

Beth & Merritt Clifton

www.Animals24-7.org/donate/

P.S. – We report the good news too.  Sometimes the best news is just that we are here 24-7,  keeping our eyes and ears open on your behalf and on behalf of the animals you love.