John Block Reports from Washington

Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you. And now for today’s commentary-- It is time to sound the alarm. If the agriculture industry does not come together and aggressively defend our interests, we will see our ability to compete in the production of food diminish every year. Animal agriculture is under attack. More laws and regulations are introduced every day to tie our hands. We need to understand, the ultimate objective of the animal rights activists is not ethical or humane treatment of animals. I know a lot of people give money to the Humane Society of the U.S. I don’t think they realize the real goal of that organization. According to J.P. Goodwin, Grassroots Coordinator: "My goal is the abolition of all animal agriculture." We need to wake up. They shut our horse slaughter plants down. They want to release the animals from the zoos. Let them run wild. No more elephants in the circus. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is just as bad or worse than the Humane Society. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services reports that PETA killed 2100 pets last year and placed only 7 in adoptive homes. Since 1998, more than 21,000 dogs and cats have died at the hands of PETA. David Martosko, Research Director for the Center for Consumer Freedom, had this to say: “PETA hasn’t slowed down its hypocritical killing machine one bit, but it keeps browbeating the rest of society with a phony 'animal rights' message. What about the rights of the thousands of dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens that die in PETA’s headquarters building?” Martosko added: “Since killing pets is A-OK with PETA, why should anyone listen to their demands about eating meat, using lab rats for medical research, or taking children to the circus? PETA attracts a lot of money. They have a 32 million dollar budget. The Humane Society has 200 million dollars in assets. The animal rights groups are strong and well-financed. We need to be pro-active in defending our interests. Why? I don’t want to be a vegetarian. Until next week, I am John Block from Washington, DC.