Hunters 1 – HSUS 0

This just in from the United States Sportsmen’s Alliance:

The leadership at Meijer, a Michigan-based regional chain of retail superstores, has responded to the concerns of the sportsman community and ended its partnership with the anti-hunting group, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), in an online pet photo contest.

Meijer initially refused a U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) request to abandon the partnership, which according to information on the Meijer website, called for the company to donate $1 for each person that entered the contest, up to a maximum of $5,000, to the HSUS Foreclosure Pets Fund.

On Friday, April 25, the USSA sent out a call to action for sportsmen to voice their concerns over these donations to the biggest anti-hunting organization in the world.  Sportsmen immediately took action, flooding the retailer with phone calls, faxes and emails. 

Thanks to this action by sportsmen, Meijer has now eliminated the portion of the contest that included a donation to HSUS.

“Our program was an outgrowth of our history of supporting local humane societies.  We were not aware of the concerns that exist among hunters about HSUS.  As you know, we have strongly supported the hunting community over many decades,” said Meijer vice president of corporate communications and public affairs, Stacie Behler.  “We have discontinued our donation program as a result of the feedback.  No new funds will be collected.  The funds that were collected will be used exclusively for their Foreclosure Pets Fund, which is a grants program for animal shelters, non-sheltered rescue/adoption groups and animal care and control agencies to establish, expand, or publicize services or programs that assist families caring for their pets during the current economic crisis.”

Kudos to USSA for their work.  HSUS recently lobbied against dove hunting in my home state of Minnesota.  In a nice bit of editorial work Tori McCormick of my local paper, the Republican Eagle, noted that:

I’m not one to cry foul when an anti-hunting group fires one of its patented rhetorical bombs about the cruelty of hunting and how it isn’t justified in modern-day society.

 If I did, I’d have to spend every waking hour trying to set the record straight.

 Our nation was founded on the broad shoulders of free speech, and I strongly believe that everyone has the right to express their opinion, whether I agree with it or not.

After that insightful little volley where she acknowledges their right to free speech (but not to spew volumes of inane propaganda) she follows up with:

Fact is, hunters waste too much energy worrying about the antis when we should be firing back in their face a simple question: What have you done for wildlife and wildlife habitat? Nothing, that’s what. At least nothing meaningful.

When’s the last time they’ve fought for wetlands protections, healthy forests, farm bill conservation programs, sustainable fisheries and other land and water stewardship initiatives?

The anti-hunting movement has been AWOL, while hunters and anglers, historically and today, have been on the front lines slugging it out.

But when an anti-hunting group wages an anti-hunting campaign based on misinformation, lies and propaganda, a campaign whose ends would comprise conservation and science-based wildlife management, I believe the public record must be corrected.

Amen sister.  While the whiney losers at HSUS and PeTA sit around on their fat, donation-supported asses accomplishing nothing more than spewing lies and promoting bad laws; groups like Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, the National Wild Turkey Foundation, Quail Unlimited, the Ruffed Grouse Society, Trout Unlimited, the Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America, and the Sierra Club support hunting AND work actively to conserve wild lands.

So, if habitat conservation and the preservation of wildlife are really important to you…. where should YOU donate?