501(c)(4)
A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...
non-profit
advocacy organization
Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...
founded by
Forrest Lucas
Forrest Lucas (born February 1942) is an American businessman, the founder of Lucas Oil.
Early life
Lucas was born in February 1942, in Ramsey, Indiana, where he grew up, the eldest of four children. His parents Raymond and Marie had a small fa ...
which opposes "the radical
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...
movement" and particularly the
Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...
(HSUS), which it calls "a wealthy and successful attack group". The organization has an allied political action committee, the Protect the Harvest PAC, which funds campaigns to assist or defeat candidates for political office.
Background
The organization's founder and executive director is millionaire
Lucas Oil
Lucas Oil Products, Inc. is an American manufacturer and distributor of automotive oil, additives, and lubricants. It was founded by trucker Forrest Lucas and his wife Charlotte in 1989. The company is a medium size manufacturer of lubrican ...
owner
Forrest Lucas
Forrest Lucas (born February 1942) is an American businessman, the founder of Lucas Oil.
Early life
Lucas was born in February 1942, in Ramsey, Indiana, where he grew up, the eldest of four children. His parents Raymond and Marie had a small fa ...
, who has invested over $600,000 in the organization. Brian Klippenstein was the executive director of the organization and treasurer of the associated PAC before joining the
U.S. Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...
as an advisor to Secretary
Sonny Perdue
George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is an American veterinarian, businessman, politician, and university administrator who served as the 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as t ...
(who was in the position from 2017 to 2021.)
Protect the Harvest is a supporter of " right-to-farm laws" as proposed or supported by the
American Legislative Exchange Council
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United State ...
. Lucas put money into the losing campaign to defeat Proposition B, designed to prevent cruelty to dogs in
puppy mill
A puppy mill, also known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility characterized by quick breeding and poor conditions. Although no standardized legal definition for "puppy mill" exists, a definition was established in ''Avenson v. ...
s, in Missouri in 2010. He also invested in the winning campaign to pass Measure 1 in Missouri, which amended the state Constitution to protect "the right of Missouri citizens to engage in agricultural production and ranching practices" in 2014. Lucas contributed almost $200,000 to oppose Question 3, a Massachusetts ballot initiative banning the sale of products from animals raised in "extreme" confinement, which passed with strong support in 2016; Protect the Harvest also underwrote a failed legal challenge to the measure.
Finances
Between October 2011 and December 2012, Protect the Harvest raised approximately $927,000. In 2012, according to FEC records, Lucas Oil contributed $200,000 to Protect the Harvest to fund advertisements against
Christie Vilsack
Ann Christine Bell Vilsack (born July 9, 1950) is an American literacy advocate and politician. Vilsack is married to former Iowa Governor and United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. She served as the First Lady of Iowa from 1999 ...
, who challenged and lost to incumbent Iowa congressman Steve King. Protect the Harvest also received funds from American Action Network, a group led by former senator
Norm Coleman
Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a United States Senator for Minnesota. From 1994 to 2002, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota. First elected ...
, and a group called Missouri Farmers Care. The Protect the Harvest PAC spent $256,018 in the 2014 election cycle, and $116,300 in the 2016 cycle.
Films
''The Dog Lover''
Protect the Harvest collaborated with ESX Entertainment to produce the 2016 movie ''The Dog Lover''. The film depicts an idealistic college student sent undercover by an animal welfare organization to investigate a puppy mill, and eventually becoming disillusioned with the welfare organization, which is presented as unethical. The film presents itself as "based on a true story", although there are major differences between its portrayal and the South Dakota court case which inspired it.
The film received an overall rating of "rotten" from review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, with seven out of nine negative reviews. Michael Rechtshaffen, writing for the
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
, called the film's execution "spottier than a kennel full of caged Dalmatians," and
Glenn Kenny
Glenn Kenny (born August 8, 1959) is an American film critic and journalist. He writes for ''The New York Times'' and '' RogerEbert.com''.
Biography
Kenny attended William Paterson University, where he majored in English literature.Rogerebert.com labeled it "shamelessly manipulative", while Owen Gleiberman of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote that "it’s a prosaic piece of muckraking, but it grazes a nerve", calling its pro–breeding industry strategy "cunning". The film's premiere in
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
, which included a live
auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
of an
Australian shepherd
The Australian Shepherd is a breed of herding dog from the United States. The name of the breed is technically a misnomer, as it was developed in California in the 19th century; the breed was unknown in Australia at the time. It is claimed that A ...
, inspired a small protest.
''Pray for Rain''
In 2017, Protect the Harvest and ESX entertainment produced ''Pray for Rain'', directed by
Alex Ranarivelo
Alex Ranarivelo is a French filmmaker known for his sports dramas.
Early life
He was born into a French- Malagasy family in Saint-Jean-d'Angely, France. His great-grandfather, a Malagasy man, married his great-grandmother, a white woman, in 19 ...
, which follows a young reporter (
Annabelle Stephenson
Annabelle Stephenson is an Australian actress. She began her career playing Miriam Kent in '' H2O: Just Add Water''. After graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Stephenson moved to Los Angeles, where she filmed a pilot for MTV. ...
) as she investigates the murder of her farming father amid the 2011–17 California drought. The film advances a form of the California drought manipulation conspiracy theory, incorrectly blaming environmentalists and bureaucrats for creating a "man-made" water shortage. The film received negative reviews, with Roger Moore of Movie Nation calling it a "ludicrous Lucas Oil-man financed propaganda picture" and Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com writing, "As much as I enjoy the image of
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...
blasting away with a shotgun that’s probably bigger than she is, the melodrama of the effort only manages to cripple the production."