Rizeye,
The links you have posted are indeed damning. It should be said that there are lots of ties between organizations and individuals in the animal welfare and the animal rights movement. That doesn't mean the two groups are the same. They have philosphies that differ in important ways, even if they often find common ground. Wayne Pacelle came to the HSUS from the Fund for Animals and the Sea Ship Conservation Society, both groups who would fall in the animal rights movement. It is somewhat unfair to attribute to HSUS comments made by Mr. Pacelle before he joined the group. The quotes in the activistcash website and the article from the Baltimore Sun are events that occurred prior to Mr. Pacelle joining the HSUS.
I have found little evidence that Mr. Pacelle's worldview has had much of an impact on HSUS's activities. Again, I have happy to be proven wrong. HSUS has traditionally acted as an animal welfare organization. The activities they continue to pursue, like the one Fishpond agrees with, are consistent with an animal welfare philosophy.
I admit the websites you have directed us to are new to me. I would encourage you do to the same thing you encourage me to do - research. The Center for Consumer Freedom is not exactly an objective mouthpiece for reasoned argument supported by logic and empirical evidence. (The same can be said for HSUS.) It is a lobby group for the restaurant industry. The media has exposed the CCF on more than one occassion for misinformation campaigns (including one against HSUS).
Rather than reading secondary sources, why not read the primary ones? From my review of the HSUS literature, the group promotes animal welfare, not animal rights. Based on my review, I simply disagree with the CCF.
I still think this is an interesting discussion and an important one. I again encourage members of this community to vote with their $$$.
