Have you participated in the Republican candidate AgWeb poll yet? With more than 5,800 votes so far, Rick Santorum is in the lead by a nearly 5%. My question for you is do you believe that he is the best possible candidate to support agriculture?

 

I think Santorum has more than a "Google Problem." I mean while he is a "conservative" and he does advocate for the need for farm workers with his stance on immigration laws, his website leaves one small piece of information buried further in the ground than most dead bodies, and I don’t mean in Lousiana. Santorum is an avid supporter and partner of both HSUS and PETA. Wait just a minute, I need to find my stomach. Yep, you heard me right… supporter and PARTNER of HSUS (not pet shelters people, the man Wayne Pacelle himself) and PETA!

 

His loyalty to these extremist groups runs deep. In 2001 Santorum introduced the Puppy Protection Act with his friends from HSUS. The Puppy Protection Act of 2001 (PPA) began the long and continuing effort by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Doris Day Animal League (DDAL), and PETA to regulate breeders of dogs and cats at the retail level. He continued to be an avid supporter of PETA in 2005 as the senator sponsoring the Pet Animal Welfare Statute (PAWS). In 2006 the animal rights political action committee donated $5,000 to his campaign for reelection to the Senate and the Humane Legislated Fund (a division of HSUS) endorsed him according to a press release by the organization.

 

A recent article in USA Today consents he is on this ins with these extremist groups, "Santorum, R-Pa., has won high praise from the Humane Society of the United States for pushing legislation aimed at ending breeding facilities known as puppy mills…About the only legislative issue on which Santorum has gone against PETA’s view was oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."

 

"We support elected officials who have a proven record of leadership on animal welfare issues and Rick Santorum fits that characteristic precisely," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society and a Humane USA board member in a recent press statement. In fact the Human Society Legislative Fund (a division of HSUS) recently ranked him the highest scoring candidate on animal rights issues, giving him a score of 60 out of 100. 

 

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that just like his friends, Santorum is not the friend of agriculture he wants us to believe he is.