Huh, interesting. San Francisco also recently passed a law forbidding the feeding of the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (invasive species cherry-headed conures), an act that will help protect them from disease and lessen their dependance upon humans.

Jennifer: You are so right on that point. Most hunters I know don't disdain kind animal practices--they needn't be lumped into a category with animal rights abusers.

Deanna: I agree strongly with the pet store category, too. It puts Miami only third from last. And while most people I know who buy from stores are by no means animal rights abusers on principle, they are certainly doing their part to keep them in business.

Am I the only one that finds it ironic that they encourage cage-free eggs but discourage cage-free birds? "Bird Shooters" may not be considered "humane" but most contribute far more to the environment than they take. Somehow, the fact that these people shoot their own food rather than pay someone else to raise it in cages and slaughter it in filthy conditions makes them "inhumane." Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever are two other good examples of the way hunters contribute. The wetland and prairie conservation projects supported by hunters support not only game birds, but song birds and wildlife of all kinds. Ducks Unlimited has conserved over 9 million acres of wetlands habitat worldwide and my father-in-law alone has set aside and maintained more than 20 acres of his own land to include in the hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat Pheasants Forever has protected and restored.

There is such an overwhelming stereotype of hunters as blood thirsty rednecks that most people don't realize that hunting organizations are some of the biggest and most effective conservation organizations in the world.

Gotta admire the HSUS PR/marketing machine, but I don't hafta like it. (The AKC could learn by example, but alas, continues to ignore every tenet of good marketing and PR to the annoyance of many purebred owners. But I digress.)

I don't have enough faith in the critical thinking skills of most people to think that anyone with half a brain could see through how arbitrary the categories are. Fur wearing: how many fur retailers would there be in southern climates? Captive Entertainers: are they talking about zoos? The same zoos that engage in conservation efforts? Or are they talking about pets or even my horse whose existence in my life is for recreation activity (my entertainment)?

One category I find entirely valid is the existence of pet stores. Ohio is the home of Petland, a fact I'm deeply embarassed about. I think the number of pet stores can be correlated to awareness of animal issues among the general population and thus is a good guage of how "humane" the community is.

I prefer "fruitbat," too. I don't know what a moonbat is so maybe that skews my vote somewhat.

I happen to take an interest in slaughterhouses, too--especially now that I'm looking into local ones for the purposes of selling my baby goats once they arrive. (I know that sounds horrible but that's part of how milk gets made.) And I fully agree--we Americans are way too divorced from our food supply. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't work hard for better conditions in slaughterhouses. Most in my state are not as horrible as I might have expected, it's true, but there are a great many improvements to be made, nonetheless. Crowding, in particular, is my issue. Factory farms aren't necessarily the bad guys, either. In fact, some of these are my all-time favorites.

To be sure, the HSUS list is not comprehensive or supremely meta-analytical. It's a PR tool. And, as such, I think it does a good job. These are the animal rights tactics we should applaud.

Pardon, we anti-factory farming, uber liberal, crazy hippies prefer to be referred to as 'fruitbats' not 'moonbats'.

In a way I agree, although I will tell you this.... I have been to slaughterhouses here and in FR. Because of this I strongly believe that there are severe issues that need addressing in the ag industry in the US. The recent green movement is a start, and it's carrying the ag, building, auto, and electric industry along with it for the ride,.. but mass agriculture in the US, including some deplorable conditions for livestock,isn't going to be eliminated for quite some time.

No offense, but I think that list is a bunch of crap. I used to have empathy for the animal rights crowd, but that is before they started trying to demonize any dissenting opinions. If people want to go vegan fine, but don’t preach to me about the horrors of “factory farms” when 99.9% of them have never set foot on one in their lives. I enjoy fishing and hunting (and by hunting, I’m not talking about shooting over a baited field or releasing hand raised quail just prior to the “hunt”). Does this make me cruel and inhumane? To me, this list is more of a “Top 10 radical animal activists destinations” list than any substantive measure of humane treatment of animals. I love San Francisco, it’s a beautiful city. However, you couldn’t pay me enough money to live out there amongst all those moonbats.