| An earlier version of this article was published on Dec. 9, 1992 as "The Trojan Horse of Animal Protectionism". The following revision was published in March 1994, and is reproduced with the author's permission.
The Trojan Horse of Animal Protectionism: The Battle Over Curriculum By Patrick H. Cleveland, Ph.D.
Virtually every medical advance has used animals in some stage of the research or testing. Thus whether medical progress continues at the same pace in the next century depends upon an informed public supporting the continued use of animals in responsible research and testing. Let us hope that the children of today make their decision tomorrow using a moral value system that distinguishes between humans and animals and between animal welfare and animal rights. In the war for the hearts and minds of America's students many battles are being waged to indoctrinate our children with a new moral value system. This new moral value system states that animals should be given the same consideration and respect as given humans and that it is morally wrong for humans to use or kill animals. This new moral value system has come to be known as animal rights. Animal rights groups are making a major thrust to get their moral value system accepted into the school curriculum. Confrontation Some groups have taken a direct approach and clearly label their curriculum as animal rights. They mislead students about issues of animal abuse. Adrian Morrison, the National Institutes of Mental Health Director of Animal Research Issues, summed up their approach best when he said "Everyone has the right to believe a rat is due the same moral consideration as a child. What is wrong, though, is the promotion of beliefs among the untutored by dishonest presentations of the ways animals are used by humans. Such tactics have, in fact, been used to discredit biomedical research using animals - tactics that were a necessary prelude to the current campaign against biology education: Convince people that animals are badly used in one sphere and reap carry-over benefits from this 'softening-up' process when you focus on another arena."(1) Deception Other animal rights groups have elected a devious approach - a secret battle. They disguise their goals and methods by disavowing the methods of the militant animal rights movement. Instead of animal rights they call their curriculum humane and environmental education. They avoid the term animal rights but teach the same value system. Most educators are unaware of this deception. Teachers welcome humane education as a means to prevent violent behavior in some students and environmental curriculum as a means to develop sensitivity to the environment. Over 20,000 teachers nationwide have bought into this program. Have their efforts in the schools been successful? Several different student polls have shown steady gains for the acceptance of animal rights as a philosophy. The most alarming of these was a 1993 national Gallup poll which demonstrated that 60% of American teenagers "support animal rights" including bans on all laboratory and medical tests that use animals. How have they been able to produce such a striking change in attitude? HSUS The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) with its 1.5 million members calls itself the nation's largest animal protection organization. Few people know that HSUS's animal protection philosophy is not animal welfare but an animal rights philosophy that says it is morally wrong for humans to use or kill animals and that they have been guided by that philosophy since 1980.(2) Furthermore, HSUS has set as its goal the abolition of animals in laboratory research and education.(3, 4, 5) In recent years, HSUS elected to call themselves "animal protectionists" to disassociate their group from the bad press that the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have brought to the animal rights movement. HSUS shares the same animal rights philosophy and goal of abolishing the use of animals in laboratory research with militant animal rights groups, but they differ in the tactics and time table for reaching that goal. Their tactic is to slowly but progressively wean society away from using animals. In order to avoid the extremist label, they have deliberately sought to project a "moderate" image and hide the animal rights message under animal protectionism and the guise of humane and environmental education. Many of HSUS's projects are laudable and could be described as animal welfare. They work very hard to keep that image. Corporate donations and the respect of the education community are dependent upon that image. However, their hidden agenda is to get people to give animals the same respect they give humans. What better method to accomplish a change in societal values than by incorporating it into a nationwide elementary school curriculum on humane and environmental education? NAHEE Is HSUS a Trojan Horse being covertly carried into the citadel of elementary education?(6) HSUS have endeavored to establish themselves as The Authority in humane and environmental education. Indeed they have won several awards for KIND News and had the Adopt-A-Teacher program placed in the 1992 Environmental Success Index. One of their representatives was appointed to the prestigious National Environmental Education Advisory Council of the Environmental Protection Agency. To help establish this reputation HSUS has created a separate youth education division, the National Association for Humane and Environmental Education (NAHEE). NAHEE had a 1992 budget of $940,000 and fourteen full-time staff (an increase of 30% over the 1991 budget). The goals for NAHEE were articulated in the 1992 HSUS annual report: "... NAHEE strives to ensure that humane attitudes become a viable part of mainstream education and environmental perspectives." "NAHEE continues to monitor and evaluate new children's books, children's magazines and newspapers to encourage the promotion of humane values in publications other than our own."(7) Indeed, they have been successful in influencing other publications as evidenced by a series of three grossly misleading articles biased against using animals in medical research which appeared in the 9 million circulation Weekly Reader and its companion for middle schools, Current Science.(6) NAHEE's influence even extends beyond the USA as they have sent their educational material to 13 foreign countries. It is clear that they have been acknowledged as The Authority and are being warmly welcomed through the educational gates of Troy by unsuspecting teachers and administrators who thought they were getting "humane and environmental education" but end up with those elements mixed with a subtle animal rights message. It is a message that says humans must respect animals and it is wrong for humans to kill, capture or use animals for any reason. A message that elevates respect for animals to the same plane as respect for humans. This is a brilliant tactic as respect and consideration for animals are the hallmarks of animal welfare. They have reduced the difference between animal rights and animal welfare to the degree of respect and consideration given animals, thus blurring the difference between the two. KIND News - KIND Teacher NAHEE's primary effort is directed at publishing and distributing a classroom newspaper covering laudable humane and environmental themes laced with a heavy dose of respect for animals, endangered species and an emphasis on not harming animals - Kids in Nature's Defense (KIND) News. KIND News is published at three reading levels for children in grades one through six and is read by more than 600,000 children in 20,000 classrooms nationwide. KIND News does not cover controversial animal rights issues. However the accompanying teachers guide (KIND Teacher) brings up animal rights issues without identifying them as such. KIND Teacher indoctrinates the children by having the teacher lead discussions on the use of animals in dissection, the use of wild animals in laboratory research, the use of animals in product safety testing, the keeping of wild animals in zoos and circuses, the capture and sale of wild birds, hunting, trapping and rodeos.(8) KIND Teacher also promotes the students to form "KIND Clubs" and engage in club projects. The nature of the project and the agenda is determined by the club and club president. Given HSUS's emotional and strongly held position on these issues, can we expect a balanced presentation? Student Action Guide NAHEE's newspaper for middle and secondary students, The HSUS Student Action Guide, is more direct as they openly seek to promote activism by forming Earth-Animal-Protection clubs. These clubs target a number of animal rights issues including laboratory animal research, product safety testing, dissection, animals in science fairs, zoos, animals in entertainment, hunting, trapping and dolphin-safe tuna. The students are referred to HSUS to obtain specific misleading materials on these issues as well as animal research and so-called alternatives to animal research. California's Environmental Education Given this background I was concerned when I learned through the 1992 HSUS annual report that "Materials published by NAHEE, such as 'Sharing Sam', and lessons from KIND Teacher, had been incorporated into 'A Child's Place in the Environment', California's new environmental education curriculum guide. The guide promises to have a substantial impact since one out of nine children in the US attends school in California. In addition the guide will inevitably serve as a model nationwide." NAHEE and Animal Rights in California's Public School Curriculum In 1993 I obtained a late stage draft of the first grade edition of the guide "Respecting Living Things" from the California State Board of Education. Fortunately the guide had not been finalized and was still in draft form. I was surprised to find that 3 out of the 9 guide reviewers were affiliated with NAHEE and one NAHEE field representative was on the guide committee. The guide had a pronounced animal rights bias as half the recommended resources at the end of several units were animal rights books such as The Animal Rights Handbook, 67 Ways to Save the Animals by Anna Sequoia and Animal Rights International, The Animals Agenda and Going Green. A Kid's Handbook to Saving the Planet. These resources contained grossly misleading and dishonest presentations of how animals are used by humans and in some cases gory pictures of animals that are totally inappropriate for first graders. Furthermore over half the resources listed as "organizations concerned with Humane Treatment of Animals" turned out to be animal rights organizations such as the HSUS, NAHEE, The Fund for Animals, American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and the Animal Protection Institute of America. The guide also suggested additional names of humane organizations listed in the book 67 Ways to Save the Animals. There were 77 organizations listed there and all 77 were identified by the author as "animal rights organizations". Respect = Sacred Reverence for Animals A common theme that ran through the unit on Respecting Living Things was that animals were anthropomorphized and respected to the point they were elevated to the same plane as humans. Animals were held in such reverence they were equal to humans. Another theme that was repeated many times was that out of respect for the animals they should not be captured and taken into the classroom for study, - the theme "Look Learn and Leave Alone" was inviolate. It was even stressed in the teacher preparation section not to capture animals (including insects) for classroom study. The source of these themes is hard to determine. Were they placed there by the guide's author? How much influence did NAHEE have on the author or this curriculum? It is interesting to note that one poem that NAHEE contributed titled "Are You A Good Kind Lion" contained a line that is the heart of the disguised animal rights message "Don't hurt the animals for any reason". Would that message tell first-graders that it is morally wrong to eat animals? Balance Working with the California Biomedical Research Association we took our concerns to the California State Board of Education. We were successful in deleting all the animal rights organizations and books as resources prior to the guide's publication in 1994. We also were successful in deleting the NAHEE poem "Are You a Good Kind Lion". Furthermore the prohibition against capturing animals for classroom examination was replaced with a discussion on the proper methods of capturing and caring for animals. Although our partial success was heartening, this episode graphically illustrates how close animal rights activists came to having their philosophy accepted as part the nation's largest and most influential humane and environmental educational curricula. The educational community needs to be alerted to the hidden agenda of "animal protection" organizations. Local Humane Societies, WHEEA and Animal Rights in Schools Another source of concern is the local humane societies that have been hijacked and taken over by animal rights activists. They have also developed educational curricula with animal rights propaganda and have been taking it into the schools for many years. A group that is often affiliated with HSUS and NAHEE is the Western Humane and Environmental Educators' Association (WHEEA) [Now renamed the Association of Professional Humane Educators - Ed.]. WHEEA is comprised of education officials from at least 21 western humane societies or SPCA. Most of these societies are located in California. WHEEA provides a framework for these educators to network and share classroom material on animal rights along with humane and environmental themes. For example March 16 & 17, 1994 WHEEA held their annual meeting in San Diego. The keynote speaker was Kim Sturla of the Fund for Animals - a national animal rights group. Also two HSUS representatives were there promoting the KIND News and Adopt-A-Teacher programs. The WHEEA newsletter, The Packrat, is a bulletin board for animal rights educational material from a large number of animal rights groups such as: the American Anti-Vivisection Society, Animals Agenda, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Rights Information Service, Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, Fund for Animals, HSUS, Last Chance for Animals, NAHEE, PETA, PETA Teachers Network, Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and the United Coalition of Iditarod Animal Rights Volunteers. Most humane societies have one or more education officers who go to schools and teach children about proper pet care, humane treatment of animals, endangered species and environmentalism. Because most teachers perceive the local humane society to be an animal welfare organization they are welcomed by the schools. WHEEA members take advantage of this relationship to introduce an animal rights message along with their regular presentations. For example the Peninsula Humane Society of San Mateo, CA publishes an informative unit on endangered species, however at the end of the unit they urge the students to read animal rights books, join animal rights organizations, write politicians about animal rights issues, sign petitions about animal rights issues, boycott specific companies that do product safety testing on animals and boycott products made from animal skins, fur or other parts. They also provide grossly misleading information on animal research. Animal Rights and New Age Religion If the Catholic church had set out to indoctrinate public school children with a new moral value system imbedded in a humane and environmental curriculum, there would have been a huge outcry and controversy. A religious cult is indoctrinating public school children but there is little outcry or controversy because the religious overtones and the value system have been masked, the religion is called New Age, the value system is animal rights. Thomas Berry, an "Ecotheologian" and the "Spiritual Guide" for HSUS's Center for Respect of Life and Environment, was one of several of the speakers at HSUS's 1992 annual meeting who focused on New Age themes of total reverence and respect for animals and the environment because the spirit of god was in the whole universe equally. Although totally open about the spiritual and religious aspects of their movement in the annual meeting, HSUS is careful not to present its KIND News as part of a religious movement. Bernard Palmer in his book What Are They Trying to Do to US? The Truth about the Animal Rights Movement and the New Age illustrates how the animal rights movement takes on the fundamental tenets of New Age religion. Furthermore Rod and Patti Strand make a similar observation about the religious nature of the animal rights movement in their book The Hijacking of the Humane Movement. Both these books make a case that the energy that propels the movement is the faithful volunteers spreading the gospel of respect and sacred reverence for animals. What Can You Do? Get involved! Give a copy of this article to your friends. See if your school subscribes to KIND News, check your school's curriculum on humane and environmental education. Find out if local humane societies are invited to give presentations. Do those presentations contain animal rights propaganda? Ask to see the material and the teacher's guide. Alert your children's school teachers, administrators and school board about animal rights messages being hidden in humane and environmental curriculum. Volunteer at your local school. If animal rights is discussed, make sure that a balanced discussion of the issue is presented. Check the school's library for books presenting both viewpoints. Encourage your professional society, institution or employer to support educational programs that present the use of animals by society in a balanced manner. The Massachusetts Society for Medical Research (MSMR) has produced such a program: People & Animals: United for Health Teaching Curriculum. Contact MSMR at 1440 Main St., Waltman, MA 02154-1649 for more information. References 1. Morrison, Adrian R.; "Biomedical Research & the Animal Rights Movement: A Contrast in Values", The American Biology Teacher, Volume 55, No. 4 P204-208-1993. 2. HSUS; A Discursion ...Rights for Animals, HSUS pamphlet, 1990. 3. Stephens, Martin L.; Alternatives to Current Uses of Animals in Research, Safety Testing, and Education, A Layman's Guide. Published by HSUS, 1986. 4. Hoyt, John A.; Animals - It's Their World Too, Report of the President 1990 HSUS Annual Meeting 10/27/1990. 5. Welborn, Robert F.; "The potential for the Institutional Animal Committee", HSUS News, Spring 1992. 6. Cleveland, Patrick H.; "The Trojan Horse of Animal Protectionism", CFAAR/San Diego Special Report, 12/09/1992. 8. KIND Teacher, pages 51 & 53, September 1991. *CFAAR/San Diego is a non-profit, pro-animal research group of San Diego County physicians, veterinarians, scientists, students, research staff and concerned citizens, who are interested in educating the public about the use of animals in research and teaching, and about the regulations that govern the humane treatment of research animals.
Further reading: In Their Own Words: Humane Society of the United States Eye-opening quotes from the leaders of HSUS, compiled by Fur Commission USA. Careers in the Conflict Industry : HSUS and the Making of a Conflict Industrialist By Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA; August 2001. (Outside link.) Charities Report Says HSUS Misleads Donors National Animal Interest Alliance press release, Jan. 10, 2001.
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