Shortly after a "win" was made in Ohio for animal agriculture, it now looks like the battle isn't quite won yet. Last fall, Ohioans approved a constitutional amendment that created the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board known to many as Issue 2. The board is to be consisted of family farmers, consumers, the state veterinarian, and others. To find out more about who this board is made of, visit the details of it here.
Just recently announced though, is a countermeasure to Issue 2 spearheaded by groups including (surprise, surprise) the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).The countermeasure aims to set standards (that are HSUS approved) for animals that the animal care board must uphold. While they claim it would force certain minimum standards to be in place, we know that abolishing mainstream animal agriculture is in their long-term plans.
The groups could be bringing this countermeasure to the ballot, too. By collecting 1,700 signatures from 48 counties, the first step has been made. If the language of the countermeasure is approved, their next step will be gathering 402,275 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters in 44 of 88 counties. The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is relaunching a website to keep an eye on actions just like this by the wealthy and powerful HSUS.
Humanewatch.org will be a blog, document gallery, and more which will be relaunched next week. The site is aiming to expose anything and everything about the group and its actions. Right now, the group has put a call out for information. They are looking for fundraising mailers (including forwarded e-mails), old tax returns, advertisements, magazine back-issues, correspondence, legal papers, photos, contemporaneous accounts of historical events - you name it. Humanewatch.org will authenticate and post relevant information when the site is launched next week. Why do we need this site? CCF says, "because even a dog-watcher needs a watchdog."
