Bank of America blasted for HSUS support
Geni Wren, Bovine Veterinarian Magazine | Updated: June 21, 2012
The Animal Agriculture Alliance has come out strongly against Bank of America’s newest product offering – a Bank of America VISA that supports the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
The Alliance says this new credit card provides the radical animal rights organization with $60 for every new account opened and an additional 25 cents for every $100 spent.
In a letter to Bank of America President and CEO Brian Moynihan, Alliance CEO Kay Johnson Smith says, “HSUS is a radical animal rights organization that is not affiliated with local animal shelters and instead uses its more than $100 million budget to threaten America’s hardworking farmers and ranchers. While many Americans mistakenly believe HSUS is the national organization affiliated with local animal shelters, very little of its funding is used for hands-on animal care. Instead, HSUS uses its resources to attack farmers and ranchers with legislation, litigation, and public relations smear campaigns.”
Johnson Smith goes on to suggest that the Alliance, which has been a Bank of America customer for over two decades, may reconsider its relationship with the bank, and will suggest that its members do the same.
The Alliance encourages those in the animal agriculture community to voice their opinions to Bank of America about their HSUS support by either writing to Bank of America, tweeting about it or sending comments to Bank of America’s Facebook page.
Ag campaigns can work
This isn’t the first time a large corporation has supported HSUS and has received industry backlash in the process. Who can forget in 2010 rancher Troy Hadrick’s infamousYouTube video showing him dumping out a bottle of [yellow tail] wine while standing out in front of his cows, because the winemaker’s parent company gave a large donation to HSUS?
Spurred on by Hadrick’s actions, the Ag Alliance and many ag organizations and individuals bombarded the [yellow tail] parent company, W.J. Deutsch, resulting in the company vowing to stop further support of HSUS.
