Yellow Tail makes it a G'day, sort of
By Geni Wren
| Friday, February 05, 2010
Yesterday we reported about Yellow Tail wine’s new promotion (http://tinyurl.com/yderv3g) to contribute $100,000 to the Humane Society of the
An e-mail Thursday afternoon to Yellow Tail US by Bovine Veterinarian editor Geni Wren questioned Yellow Tail’s contribution to an organization that spent less than one-half of one percent of its total budget according to 2008 tax documents in grants to organizations providing hands-on care to dogs and cats (source: Center for Consumer Freedom) and described HSUS’ activities to attack animal agriculture. This e-mail was met with an immediate response by the Yellow Tail company (albeit it was the same response that was sent to other organizations questioning their tactics).
Yellow Tail’s e-mail response said:
Thank you very much for your email. We recognize that many consumers have commented on our donation to the Humane Society.
We’ve listened to your recent feedback and it was very helpful to us – in fact it prompted us to specifically choose the areas where we’d most like to celebrate animals. Here’s what we’ve decided: We’ll still honor our monetary commitment to the HSUS, but now we are specifically directing our $100,000 donation to HSUS’ Animal Rescue Team, which launch on-the-ground missions to rescue animals in peril. The HSUS Animal Rescue Team is a leading disaster response agency for animals, contributing millions of dollars to rebuild animal shelters destroyed in natural disasters, responding to floods, fires, and other disasters.
We may not always agree with 100 percent of what an organization represents, but rescuing animals displaced from natural disasters is a cause we support.
It is our policy to continually assess the impact of all of our charitable gifts and consumer feedback is extremely important to us. We hope that you will understand that this allocation of money is a direct result of hearing your concerns. We are listening, and we thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
Sincerely,
[yellow tail] wines
I was pleased with Yellow Tail’s almost immediate response, and even more pleased that it sounded like they had received a lot of customer feedback -- even though it was the same form letter they sent to others such as the Animal Agriculture Alliance. Many large companies would not have bothered to even respond. I realize they have already made a commitment to HSUS, but it’s heartening to see that they are modifying how the money will be spent. Even they must think it’s ridiculous to spend $100,000 on a program such as a Spay Day online pet photo contest – how does that help one dog or cat get spayed?
I asked Animal Agriculture Alliance’s Kay Johnson Smith for her take on this situation of HSUS and its seemingly endless ways of garnering funds from the public. Johnson Smith said: “Considering the amount of funding dedicated to lobbying and legislative efforts, as well as the additional funding provided to groups serving as HSUS' lobbying front, it's extremely important for agriculture to step up its collective action to educate both the public and policy makers.
“In addition to HSUS' many ag-focused campaigns making scientific-based and ethically sound production systems illegal in certain states, HSUS also won many campaigns limiting the number of animals dog breeders can own. We see that as a stepping stone to setting limits on agricultural animals in the future - all the while HSUS builds its fund chest from its misleading campaigns while gaining familiarity with state legislators and the local government leaders.
“Agriculture leaders must act now by talking to legislators, talking to the public, getting involved in their communities and using social mediums like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to tell their true stories rather than letting animal rights activist groups, like HSUS, PETA and others, tell it for them.”
I think Yellow Tail is doing the right thing by responding to consumer concerns and modifying their commitment. If you want to drop them a line, you can do so at info@wjdeutsch.com, and please, let’s keep it on a respectful, professional level.
Geni Wren, Editor, Bovine Veterinarian Magazine
