By Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation
“Do you love wildlife?” This (or something similar) is one of the lead in questions for the HSUS signature gatherers as they begin to get out and about.
You may not recognize them at first, because they are disguised as “Arizonans for Wildlife”, but remember, Halloween is upon us!
Unfortunately what they’re attempting to do is neither flippant nor factual, and in reality is misleading and candidly underhanded.
HSUS will be concentrating in the three urban “centers”, Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff, but they have already been sighted in other places as well.
Signature gatherers will most likely approach you with the wildlife question. They’ve been coached to steer away from mentioning “wildcats” and not get into discussion with you. If you question anything, you will likely get a flyer and the person will walk away. These folks will be gravitating towards pet friendly places and events, college campuses and large crowds.Some may venture to places like Walmart or grocery stores.
Here’s what you can do:
1. Decline to Sign.(as politely as possible, you won’t change the mind or position of the volunteer signature gatherer)
2. If you are approached on private property, ie; at a Walmart, politely ask the store manager if the petitioners have permission to be on their property?
- If they don’t have permission, advise them as a store patron, you don’t appreciate the solicitation.
- Write down the name and address of the store and the manager’s name and email the information with date and time to [email protected]
3. Help us educate your friends, family and the non-hunting voting public that HSUS is trying to replace professional science-based wildlife management with emotion-based ballot box management.
4. Help us expand our social media reach with connections, shares, likes and links. (Facebook link below)
We knew HSUS was coming to Arizona and now they’ve shown their hand. This will be a marathon not a sprint, with the immediate goal to keep the initiative off the ballot!
Here are some of the efforts going on behind the scenes:
- We are in the process of forming a campaign committee to coordinate the opposition to this initiative
- We are building a coalition of organizations, both state and national that oppose the HSUS effort
- We are establishing media contacts to rebut HSUS op-eds and articles – if you see one, send us the link or a copy so someone can respond
To keep this initiative off the ballot, we’ll need everyone to get involved to some degree, at the minimum spreading the truth about the HSUS motives!
Contact us at [email protected] with any questions or information.