Pat's Note: I completely agree with both sides in this dispute.

But find it really amusing that it should be the CLA complaining about
lobbyists abandoning criminal activity and taking to suits. 

They do describe themselves as "lobbyists" and as everyone here knows
have sailed a bit close to the wind themselves from time to time.

Really the right thing for the government to do is to put severe
constraints on the activities of both groups.

Paid lobbyists should be tightly controlled by their paymasters and
state their interest on relevant communications.

Confiscate the uniforms and ban the RSPCA from parading on TV. Get rid
of Freedom Foods. It is a protection racket under a politer name.

Tighten up on Charity status and the administration thereof to exclude
political lobbying.

Personally, I'm against all physical demonstrations. There is no need.
They cost the taxpayer a fortune in policing. The world has moved on.
So long as we protect free speech on the WWW, walking up and down with
banners is archaic..

As we all know this newsgroup has been plagued by lobbyists, most of
who have shot their own industry in the foot.

Yet one rather sick slightly bad tempered ex-shipbroker with a passion
for truth and decency is able to achieve so much.

"So much" I said, not "enough." There is more to do, but no need to
pay lobbyists and make an idiot of myself picketing supermarkets or
pig farms.

Animal health and welfare is an issue. It will not go away, now it is
firmly linked to human health.

It  is best tackled soberly and quietly by getting Britain's bent
government vets before the Courts and, when convicted, locked up.

Half the problems will disappear with their incarceration

http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2008/07/25/111363/lobby-groups-hijacked-by-animal-rights-fanatics.html


Lobby groups hijacked by animal rights fanatics
25/07/2008 14:01:00
FWi
Organisations like the RSPCA and RSPB have been hijacked by former
animal rights campaigners who have swapped their balaclavas for smart
suits and abandoned their beards to convince people of their
respectability, according to Simon Hart, chief executive of the
Countryside Alliance.

 Speaking in a debate on the future of animal rights at today’s Game
Fair, Mr Hart said:

“Animal rights as a movement has become less fashionable. We’re seeing
less of the really vile, semi-terrorist activity of the Animal
Liberation Front but more of the legitimate welfare organisations –
the so-called reputable ones like the RSPCA and RSPB.

“The animal rights agenda is being played out by people who have
shaved off their beards and bought a smart suit and are saying the
same thing as before but in another coded language. They are the
original architects of the lunatics in balaclavas but they are
delivering the message in a sinister and subtle manner. It’s very
dangerous.”

Solicitor Jamie Foster, who runs the CA’s legal helpline, agreed that
animal rights activists were getting smarter and working hard to “look
uncontroversial”. He queried the charity status of the RSPCA when it
has £100m worth of capital and about £50m worth of income.  

RSPCA inspectors have no right to enter anyone’s home without a police
officer, he warned, and they are only prosecuting extensively because
the publicity fuels more public donations.

Another panellist, author and TV personality Clarissa Dickson-Wright,
claimed that she had been number three on the ALF’s death list. She
said her media career was destroyed by activists appealing to the BBC
governors not to use her after her hugely successful Two Fat Ladies
cookery series.

“The BBC was hijacked by activists, “ she said.  “All the Countryfile
presenters were told that if they went to the Great Countryside March
in London they would never work for the BBC again. That’s worthy of
Hitler’s Germany.”

On the government’s decision not to cull TB infected badgers, she
said:  “I have the answer on the badger cull. Badgers are delicious.”

Simon Hart described the Government’s move not to cull as “principles
abandoned because of political expediency”. 

He reminded the audience that politicians were terrified of a public
backlash on animal health issues and therefore were unable to have a
meaningful debate and do the right thing. He called for better use of
the media to get across simple, positive messages about the
countryside and to convince the public that the government meddles too
much.

-- 
Regards
Pat Gardiner
Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!
www.go-self-sufficient.com