Post by Woody Williams on Aug 21, 2006 19:22:54 GMT -5
Zazzle.com Removes Animal Rights Stamps: USSA Asks for Freeze on Funds Raised- (08/21)
Thanks to the protests of sportsmen, Zazzle.com will remove postage stamps which benefit animal rights organizations from their website and discontinue their sale. In a recent letter, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance urged the U.S. Postal Service to determine how much money the online business raised for animal rights causes and order it to be returned.
Zazzle.com, the online business which has been selling customized postage stamps featuring anti-animal use and anti-hunting slogans, has reported that it will remove stamps whose sales benefit the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and The Committee to Restore the Dove Ban from its website and discontinue their sale.
In the August 15 letter, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) asked the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to determine how much money HSUS has received from the sale of the illegal stamps and direct HSUS and Zazzle.com to return these ill-gotten proceeds or prohibit Zazzle.com from using those funds to support HSUS’s anti-hunting political agenda.
In an August 17 letter, Zazzle.com marketing director Michael Karns stated, “Zazzle did not anticipate that some of the HSUS designs and the Dove designs would be controversial or could be seen as advocating a specific agenda. Over the past few weeks, we have concluded that the most prudent course of action is to remove the designs from our website, and to discontinue their sale as postage.”
Karns also stated that “no portion of the postage value of custom postage sales benefits any group or individual. In other words, the Postal Service always receives the full face value for every ZazzleStamp sold, and does not approve or endorse any custom postage image.”
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) first alerted sportsmen in April about stamps for sale on the Zazzle.com website which depicted the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) logo and featured anti-animal use slogans. Zazzle advertised that 20 percent of the profit from the sale of the stamps would be donated back to the HSUS. At the urging of the USSA, sportsmen unleashed a firestorm of letters to Zazzle.com, the U.S. Postal Service and state and federal legislators detailing their outrage at this abuse.
Earlier this month, the USSA was alerted by Ed Owens, of Washingtonians for Wildlife Conservation, Hunters Heritage Council and Washington State Bowhunter’s Association to nine stamps being sold by Zazzle which featured photos of mourning doves and the slogan “Protect Michigan Mourning Doves.” The Zazzle.com website reported that all profits from the sale of the stamp would go toward protecting the mourning dove in Michigan. In November, Michigan residents are scheduled to vote on a proposed ban on dove hunting in their state.
Because of the diligent work of Mr. Owens and the thousands of sportsmen all over the country who wrote to the U.S. Postmaster General, their legislators and to Zazzle.com these stamps will no longer be sold, putting a halt to a source of fundraising for anti-hunting groups such as HSUS and ending the outrageous misuse of the USPS as a pulpit for anti-animal use political messages.
Sportsmen need to remain vigilant to ensure that businesses are not misled into supporting an animal rights agenda. Businesses such as Zazzle.com, once educated, have terminated their support of animal rights groups, but only because sportsmen took action.
Thanks to the protests of sportsmen, Zazzle.com will remove postage stamps which benefit animal rights organizations from their website and discontinue their sale. In a recent letter, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance urged the U.S. Postal Service to determine how much money the online business raised for animal rights causes and order it to be returned.
Zazzle.com, the online business which has been selling customized postage stamps featuring anti-animal use and anti-hunting slogans, has reported that it will remove stamps whose sales benefit the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and The Committee to Restore the Dove Ban from its website and discontinue their sale.
In the August 15 letter, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) asked the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to determine how much money HSUS has received from the sale of the illegal stamps and direct HSUS and Zazzle.com to return these ill-gotten proceeds or prohibit Zazzle.com from using those funds to support HSUS’s anti-hunting political agenda.
In an August 17 letter, Zazzle.com marketing director Michael Karns stated, “Zazzle did not anticipate that some of the HSUS designs and the Dove designs would be controversial or could be seen as advocating a specific agenda. Over the past few weeks, we have concluded that the most prudent course of action is to remove the designs from our website, and to discontinue their sale as postage.”
Karns also stated that “no portion of the postage value of custom postage sales benefits any group or individual. In other words, the Postal Service always receives the full face value for every ZazzleStamp sold, and does not approve or endorse any custom postage image.”
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) first alerted sportsmen in April about stamps for sale on the Zazzle.com website which depicted the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) logo and featured anti-animal use slogans. Zazzle advertised that 20 percent of the profit from the sale of the stamps would be donated back to the HSUS. At the urging of the USSA, sportsmen unleashed a firestorm of letters to Zazzle.com, the U.S. Postal Service and state and federal legislators detailing their outrage at this abuse.
Earlier this month, the USSA was alerted by Ed Owens, of Washingtonians for Wildlife Conservation, Hunters Heritage Council and Washington State Bowhunter’s Association to nine stamps being sold by Zazzle which featured photos of mourning doves and the slogan “Protect Michigan Mourning Doves.” The Zazzle.com website reported that all profits from the sale of the stamp would go toward protecting the mourning dove in Michigan. In November, Michigan residents are scheduled to vote on a proposed ban on dove hunting in their state.
Because of the diligent work of Mr. Owens and the thousands of sportsmen all over the country who wrote to the U.S. Postmaster General, their legislators and to Zazzle.com these stamps will no longer be sold, putting a halt to a source of fundraising for anti-hunting groups such as HSUS and ending the outrageous misuse of the USPS as a pulpit for anti-animal use political messages.
Sportsmen need to remain vigilant to ensure that businesses are not misled into supporting an animal rights agenda. Businesses such as Zazzle.com, once educated, have terminated their support of animal rights groups, but only because sportsmen took action.
