Consumer enemy numero uno, Wayne Pacelle of HSUS (in case you forgot, the radical animal anti-farming activist lobbying group) is none too happy with the American Veterinary Medical Association. AVMA, you see, has its own opinions about the well-being of animals on the farm, and they don’t happen to line up with the activists’ ideological and fund-raising agendas. Remember well that HSUS is driven by donor dollars, and as a business, will act in its own rational self-interest, rather than in the best interest of farm animals or the farmers who care for them on a daily basis. To whit: when AVMA took issue with the Pew Commission report, an activist-authored piece of anti-farm propaganda, Wayne responded by condemning AVMA, the very medical professionals who dedicate their lives to the very arduous and often thankless task of caring for our animals.

Here’s what Wayne has to say about the flap:

My thesis is simple: If there is a professional veterinary group that works for an animal-use industry (e.g., the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, which typically works for large-scale pig producers), these vets are in the employ of industry and their “science” often reflects the thinking of the industry itself. These veterinary subgroups typically drive the policy positions at AVMA, and the broader consequence is that AVMA often defends obviously inhumane practices or, at the very least, stands on the sidelines as The HSUS, our Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, and other leaders in animal welfare advocate for the interests of animals.

It therefore stands to reason, in my thesis, that if HSUS sets up a front group under the guise of a “Veterinary Medical Association,” those vets are in the employ of THAT industry, i.e. activist fund-raising, and their “science” certainly reflects the ideological agenda of the activists themselves. So, by attacking AVMA for a principled stand against overreaching radicals, Wayne Pacelle has himself discredited his own puppet “veterinary” group.

Remember the great maxim: always follow the money. What is the purpose of HSUS? The fundamental laws of economics tell us that HSUS is in business to be in business. As a business, it will act in its own rational self-interest, which in this case is shaking down more donors for dollars, or current donors for more dollars. To do so, it needs more “calls to action.” These are things like Prop 2 in California, in which HSUS raised tens of millions of dollars from their left-coast allies, or it might be in calling on donors to “stand up” to veterinarians who don’t tow the party line of bashing farmers to advance a radical vegan lifestyle.

Food animal vets are second in my book only to the farmers they serve. These medical professionals spend nearly a decade in schooling and training to learn their profession and hone their craft. They live in out of the way places, earning far fewer dollars than they could by opening up a pet-centered small animal clinic in a more populous area. The food animal vets I know cover an increasingly expanding territory because there are fewer of them to service the same number of animal patients, meaning their cost of service is increasing at the same time their farmer clients are in a financial squeeze themselves. By attacking the AVMA for taking a principled stance against junk science, Wayne Pacelle once again reveals HSUS’ true colors: green, for greed.

With a war chest exceeding $120 million and thousands of employees on the payroll, HSUS is big business; much bigger than most of the “factory farms” they spend so much time and money trying to run out of business.