More of Wayne Pacelle's less-than-truthful Congressional testimony exposed

I commented about a month ago about how HSUS president Wayne Pacelle offered up untrue testimony before the House Agriculture Committee while testifying about animal welfare in agriculture. I pointed out that Pacelle made the false claim that a cow having "mad cow" disease entered the U.S. food supply. Now, Pacelle has been called out by swine veterinarians for yet more dubious testimony at the same hearings, in which Pacelle also made the claim that pigs could contract "mad cow" disease. This article points out, that in fact, "mad cow " has never naturally occurred in pigs. Tom Burkgren, executive director of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, said of Pacelle's assertion: "There was very little science. The testimony was basically sensationalism and fear mongering.". Indeed. But that is generally what comes out of the AR movement. Lots of lies, sensationalism, and emotionalism, but very little in the way of facts or scientific truths. If Pacelle is willing to be less than truthful when testifying in front of the duly elected representatives of the people about agriculture, then how can we trust him and his organization to tell the truth on issues like wildlife management, scientific research, or anything else that that HSUS seeks to influence public policy on?

PeTA's latest goofiness: Tax breaks for vegetarians

This story actually broke last week, and I intended to comment on it then, but I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off since about the end of last week. It's a little late, but hey, it's just so darn much fun when Ingrid, Bruce, and company come up with a really dumb idea, which seems to be most of the time. Since people get a tax incentive for purchasing a hybrid vehicle, the brilliant folks at PeTA thought that it would be a good idea to write to the leaders of Congress to ask for a tax break for vegetarians as well. According to PeTA's claims, vegetarians do more for the environment than those who switch to a hybrid car, and since hybrid owners get a tax break, they figure vegetarians should as well. The astute reader will recognize quickly the most glaring problem with this: how does one actually prove to the IRS that one is a vegetarian? It's easy to prove you've purchased a hybrid car: you've got your bill of sale, your proof of insurance card, your registration, etc. . But there is no way to provide proof that one is a vegetarian. Food receipts don't work because how does Uncle Sam know you're not hiding the ones for baby back ribs and pepperoni pizza and only producing the ones for Brussels sprouts and tofu? I know this is heady stuff for PeTA, but somebody has to call a spade a spade. It also seems to me that common sense would dictate that we need LESS red tape and bureaucracy in the tax code, not more. If PeTA is really serious about helping the American taxpayer, how about they write to Congress and ask them to stop wasteful pork barrel and entitlement spending, and to stop funding idiotic, expensive foreign policy blunders like the Iraq war. Don't hold your breath. As a footnote to this story, there is a clip from CNN of this story being read on their newscast. Scroll down to the line about PeTA wanting tax break for vegetarians, click it and it will play. The anchor woman's sarcasm after the story is read is nothing short of priceless.

Wayne Pacelle lies about "mad cow" to Congressional committee

Last week, in testimony before the House Agriculture Committee concerning animal welfare in agriculture, HSUS president Wayne Pacelle claimed that a cow infected with BSE, or "mad cow disease" entered the country's food supply ( or go here for Pacelle's complete testimony), of course offering no evidence to support this claim. This claim, is in fact, an utter falsehood; a bald-faced lie. This particular animal did NOT enter the U.S. food supply and Pacelle was quickly called out by Congressman Bob Goodlatte ( R-VA ) who rightly stated that Pacelle's claim was simply "false". Naughty, naughty, Wayne!