Eye on the Antis – April 2006

A decade ago if you mentioned that hunters should be allowed on Georgia State Parks to deal with a serious ecological problem caused by too many deer, folks looked at you like you had two heads. Each time that GON brought the issue up, the responses ranged from a parks-aren’t-for-hunting attitude to flat-out denials that there was even a problem — despite evidence from DNR’s Game Management Section to the contrary.

Fast-forward to the current situation. Last month DNR announced plans to hold two deer hunts next season at Fort Yargo State Park in Barrow County, which follows the first-ever hunts on Hard Labor Creek and Red Top Mountain last fall. Because Fort Yargo is in the city limits of Winder, the Parks Section went before the city council to make the case for hunting to get an exemption in Winder’s firearms-discharge ordinance.

The current DNR leadership took the reins on an issue that previously was ignored. Not only did they get the ball rolling, but the manner in which DNR handled the issue of hunting on parks has resulted in a casual acceptance by the press and the public. None of the television or print coverage of the latest announcement on hunts for Fort Yargo had a single mention or comment from an anti-hunter.

Kudos to our Parks Director Becky Kelley, and to the other DNR folks who swallowed what most thought would be a bitter pill and did the right thing in initiating deer hunts on parks where there were problems.

The habitat and wildlife are better off — and hunters are far better off. More than ever, we are seen as a recommended solution to deer overpopulation problems. As other situations arise on tracts of land, maybe a county park or golf course or a local airport, the success of the State Park hunts will be help make the case for hunting.

Jail Time for Animal Rightists
Six leaders of the animal-rights group SHAC (Stop Huntingdon Cruelty) were convicted last month on domestic-terrorism charges. The group had conducted a campaign of violence and intimidation against a medical-research firm whose lifesaving work sometimes requires tests on animals. A seven-year stint in prison is the likely sentence for the convicted terrorists.

According to The Center for Consumer Freedom, several of the convicted terrorists have ties to PETA. One of the six received a $5,000 grant from PETA. Another has signed his emails indicating that he worked for PETA. Another co-signed a series of letters with Neal Barnard, the president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, who is also the president of the Foundation to Support Animal Protection, which shares a mailing address with PETA, and Ingrid Newkirk, PETA’s president, is listed as a director.

FBI Investigating PETA Links to Terrorists
In December the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) made a big splash by unveiling FBI documents obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request. An unintended consequence of the ACLU’s action was exposing FBI documents that indicate a connection between PETA and the animal-rights movement’s violent underbelly.

The complete set of FBI pages is available on the ACLU website. The Center for Consumer Freedom has collected the most interesting material on their website <AnimalScam.com>. One tidbit in the FBI documents says that PETA recruits interns from overseas for “the sole purpose of committing criminal acts.”

HSUS Probed Over Katrina Fund-Raising and Spending Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti has launched an investigation of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) over the animal-rights group’s efforts to raise money following Hurricane Katrina.

Donations to HSUS after Katrina were generous beyond expectations, according to notorious anti-hunter and HSUS president and executive director Wayne Pacelle, who said the group received $30 million toward relief efforts for pets and other animals after the hurricane.

PETA Sues Circus, Loses
PETA lost a lawsuit Wednesday against the head of the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, whom it had sued for conspiring to infiltrate and harm its operations.

PETA’s civil suit against Kenneth Feld, chairman and chief executive officer of Feld Entertainment, alleged that Feld and his associates orchestrated a “massive conspiracy” aimed at harming PETA because of the group’s longtime campaign for the rights of circus animals.

PETA’s suit claimed Feld and his associates sent agents into PETA and other animal-rights groups in the early 1990s to steal documents, monitor their activities and hamper their work.