AR-News: HSUS Believes in Working With, Not Against, Groups to Foster Change

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http://www.hsus.org/ace/20342


   HSUS Believes in Working With, Not Against, Groups to Foster Change 
 
   
The business of social change is often a complex undertaking. There are many tactical approaches that can be used to pursue similar goals. These axioms are in evidence in a flap that's developed between The HSUS and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in our separate dealings with The Iams Company—the pet food company that is co-sponsoring Pet Fest America in six cities across the United States. 
PETA believes The HSUS should not co-sponsor an event with Iams because a PETA investigation turned up troubling information about the treatment of dogs at a contract research facility doing work for Iams. The story broke on March 25, 2003, with the posting of graphic images, including images of cats who were not included in the Iams-sponsored study. The HSUS, of course, strongly agrees that no animals should be subjected to de-barking, invasive surgery, forced feeding, or lack of socialization simply for nutrition studies. 

The HSUS looked into the matter, after PETA brought the issues to light, and asked Iams what corrective actions it would take. Iams was already in the process of investigating the circumstances; almost immediately, it terminated the project at the laboratory where PETA's investigation occurred. The company removed its 19 dogs back to its own facility and then adopted them out to employees. Iams conducted inspections of all remaining study sites, terminating a number of studies, and reasserted the importance of the company's humane care policies at the remainder. 

The HSUS has neither endorsed the past actions of Iams, nor the company's current practices. We are, however, working with the company to see that any animals under its care are properly treated. What's more, we are demanding that the company move away from laboratory tests that might cause harm to the dogs and cats, and put their resources into clinical studies that result in no harm. 

In short, The HSUS has chosen a different tactical approach than PETA. We have chosen the course of discussion and co-operation rather than confrontation. We did not invent this approach. It is similar to one first developed by Henry Spira, an animal activist highly regarded for his successful tactics, and we believe it can work in many circumstances. 

"For 50 years now, The HSUS has taken as its No. 1 priority the protection of all animals as we see best," said Paul G. Irwin, president and CEO of The HSUS. "All our programs are designed to advance that cause. They are designed with great care and attention to detail. Our projects are not designed to accommodate commercial interests, but we do accept money from organizations whose interests coincide with ours in specific areas, like Pet Fest America." 

If we do not believe Iams is making progress, we will reassess one of the core relationships between HSUS and Iams: our representation on Iams's Animal Care Advisory Board. The HSUS's Chief of Staff, Dr. Andrew Rowan, sits on the board. 

In the early summer of 2003, Dr. Rowan was invited to sit on an Animal Care Advisory Board that Iams was establishing to review the company's animal care procedures and to recommend how Iams might move forward on its nutrition studies and its quality-control testing. 

After detailed discussions with senior management at The HSUS, Dr. Rowan agreed to serve on the panel because we believed it presented excellent opportunities to improve the lot of laboratory and companion animals. As a member of that panel, Dr. Rowan is aggressively promoting The HSUS position that nutrition studies for companion animals can be conducted through clinical studies that do not use laboratory animals. We have communicated this position to Iams in unambiguous terms. In short, we share the goal of other organizations, and are urging Iams to move away from laboratory-based tests in an expeditious manner. 

Confrontation or Dialogue? 

Our stance in this matter is based on our own philosophy. The HSUS has often publicly taken individuals and corporations to task for their conduct. However, we have also attempted to work in a co-operative way with companies to reform their practices. Both approaches have been successful for us, but this time, we're opting for the co-operative approach. 

It is an age-old debate about which tactic is better—the carrot or the stick —and we reserve the right to exercise the application of either tool, or even both, depending upon the circumstances. We have numerous examples of where good faith dialogue has resulted in significant gains for animals. 

One of the more effective animal activists of the past century, Henry Spira, had a ten-point set of rules for achieving success for animals. Three of the more important rules are—1) do not divide the world into saints and sinners; 2) seek dialogue and attempt to work together to solve problems by positioning issues as problems with solutions that will satisfy all concerned; and 3) be ready for confrontation if your target remains unresponsive. 

These rules coincide with core tenets of The HSUS for the 50 years of its existence —including a focus on making the world a better place for all animals, a wish to be inclusive rather than exclusive, and the use of accurate information and innovative scholarship to achieve these ends. 

The Importance of Pet Fest 

The HSUS intends to honor its decision—one made with due care and attention to all the strategic issues—to allow Iams to be a financial sponsor for this year's Pet Fest. We were persuaded that Iams is engaged in a good faith effort to ensure that the company is never again party to the animal suffering that occurred at the contract laboratory exposed by the PETA agent. 

With that said, we have made no commitment to Iams beyond this year, nor has Iams made any commitment to us beyond this year. 

Our partnership with Iams is designed to serve companion animals in the best way possible via Pet Fest America. Iams has agreed to sponsor six Pet Fest events around the nation, allowing us to deliver a basic humane message to tens of thousands of Americans, provide literature on a range of animal cruelty issues to them, and draw them into the animal-protection movement. 

These events are intended to educate people with companion animals about their responsibilities to their animals, and to all other animals. We also hope to encourage them to celebrate the importance of the human/pet bond. Indeed, we hope that these events will prompt people to join with us in shaping personal behaviors and corporate and public policies that will ultimately benefit all domesticated and wild animals.