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There has been a public outcry since the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) first alerted the nation about Australian wine maker Yellow Tail’s planned $100,000 donation to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).  Subsequently, Yellow Tail has stated it still plans to make the donation to the nation’s largest anti-hunting group despite the growing opposition of America’s sportsmen and farmers. 

Immediately after the USSA action alert was distributed on February 3, Yellow Tail’s American distributor, W.J Deutsch and Sons Ltd., began receiving thousands of e-mails from sportsmen.  Joining sportsmen in disagreement over the Yellow Tail-HSUS partnership, members of the farming community also began contacting Yellow Tail on the decision it made by leaving hundreds of comments on the winemakers Facebook page.  This grassroots effort prompted Yellow Tail to respond with a news release saying:

“[yellow tail] has targeted its $100,000 donation to support The HSUS' Animal Rescue Team, which rescues animals in peril whether from natural disasters or large-scale cruelty cases."

Responses like the one below also came back to those who had contacted W. J. Deutsch and Sons Ltd,

“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.”

This response is inadequate.  Despite its intention to target how the donation is spent, Yellow Tail is advancing the HSUS agenda.

Yellow Tail apparently is unaware that HSUS spent millions in 2007 and 2008 on a political committee called "pushing for the Proposition 2” ballot issue in California that has devastated Golden State farmers. They are also advancing at their anti animal agriculture message in Florida, Ohio, and many other states.

Further,  HSUS is the undisputed, number one threat to hunting and trapping nationwide.  Those and other similar actions are the main goals of HSUS, not rescuing animals in peril.

 “The response from Yellow Tail is not good enough for the three million plus sportsmen that USSA serves,” said Bud Pidgeon, USSA president and CEO.  “Clearly, Yellow Tail continues to operate under the delusion that HSUS is something other than a big time lobbying group dedicated to ending hunting and traditional farming in America. Sportsmen should continue to register your complaints and educate them on the real HSUS agenda.”

Take Action!  Sportsmen should continue to contact W.J. Deutsch and Sons Ltd. at:

108 Corporate Park Drive
White Plains, NY 10604
Tel: 914-251-9463
Email: info@wjdeutsch.com  

Ask to speak to Bill Deutsch, W.J. Deutsch’s chairman or Peter Deutsch, the company’s chief executive officer. Sportsmen with Facebook accounts can also comment on Yellow Tail’s Facebook page by becoming a “friend.” 

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