YOUR TEXAS AGRICULTURE MINUTE

Support local animal shelters

By Gene Hall

As the leadership of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) changes hands this month, people who care about animals should reassess their donation habits.

It might be useful to remember what HSUS is and what it is not. It is a very large and lavishly financed activist group bent on reducing or eliminating animal agriculture by boycott, corporate pressure and lawsuits. It is not an organization that takes care of abandoned and mistreated pets. Only a very small portion of the $100 million dollar-plus annual budget is spent on that.

That important work is almost completely in the hands of local pet shelters. They put kindness to work in a way that large national lobbying groups cannot. Many of them struggle every day to provide services and keep the lights on.

If you want to help animals in your community, think locally. Donate locally. That’s where your dollars can make a difference.

The preceding commentary is brought to you by Texas Farm Bureau, the “Voice of Texas Agriculture.” Called “Your Texas Agriculture Minute,” TFB will issue thought-provoking editorials each week—via print and audio—to spark understanding of agriculture in the Lone Star State and its impact on each and every Texan.

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