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The article continues with assertions from the CCF that the public believes the group serves as a "national umbrella group" for local dog and cat shelters; that the national organization raised close to $300,000,000 last year but contributed less than $7 million to pet shelters; it gave grants of only $31,000 to humane societies in Arkansas over the last several years.
The HSUS does not dispute the numbers; after all, they came from the organization's 2008 federal tax return.
But, as Michael Markarian, Chief Operating Officer of HSUS explained, "All our members know our mission is to bring public attention and change to the big issues like dog fighting, cock fighting and puppy mills. We never claimed we would help fund the thirty five hundred animal shelters and numerous rescue groups."
Instead, in addition to all their national work, the HSUS offers local help by offering training in fundraising, as well as other aspects of maintaining animal shelters. Their role is advocacy and oversight; if there is a large local bust for animal cruelty, law enforcement can ask the national organization for help in placing the animals, as they did in the Michael Vick case.
Not that long ago, HSUS lobbied in Arkansas for better animal cruelty laws. And they are currently involved in the national Shelter Pet Project, a campaign urging people to adopt shelter animals rather than purchase them from other sources.
Markarian said in a recent phone interview that "we don't think the CFF is credible, and they are not out to help, they're out to destroy animal protection groups."
He went on to say that CFF is funded in part by large agribusiness, whose lack of concern for animals is known, and suggested that there is a bias on the part of these businesses towards silencing protests of animal cruelty.
The HSUS website, www.humanesociety.org, gives more thorough information, describing CCF as" a front group for corporations trying to thwart animal welfare, environmental, and other public interest reforms. It is not a consumer protection organization, and it has no social welfare mission."
They point out CCF was started with a grant from tobacco companies to attack anti-smoking organizations and has mounted campaigns against Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Humane Society of the United States, and others, with the financial support of the restaurant, alcohol, and agribusiness industries.
According to the HSUS, big business "invests in CCF in an attempt to thwart even the most modest animal welfare reforms, defending lifelong confinement of animals, inhumane slaughter practices, and the reckless use of antibiotics on factory farms."
The HumaneWatch website, www.humanewatch.org, tells what the organization is capable of in very clear detail. According to Marty Falkenstien, manager of Good Shepherd Humane Society in Eureka Springs, the local shelter receives all its money from memberships and donations. It is not a county operation, and the county does not financially support the operation.
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I am very tired of the attacks on "big agriculture". This country has a huge majority of the farms organized as family farms. The only way they can exist is to continue to grow to maximize efficiency. With very narrow profit margins, a person with a small number of animal on a lot of land just can't make a living. In Ohio 71% of our farmers depend on off farm income to cover basic living expenses because the profits are so limited. I know I am living it.
Futhermore, we do provide very good care for the animals. Basic science shows that animals not receiving food, drink, shelter,... will not produce. I have been in the barn during blizzards to take care of animals, in 90s with 100 % humidity, in the dead of night... HSU wants to eliminate animal agriculture. I suggest you do an investigative story on all of the ways that we benefit from agriculture. Agriculture is the essential root of a strong society,
PLEASE.. the HSUS did NOT advocate for Vicks dogs.. in fact they wanted all of them KILLED.. but not before they begged for money to "help Vicks dogs".. when they were called on their lies.. they changed their tune to "helping dogs like Vicks".. but meanwhile their "policy" was and is.. to KILL any dogs seized in a fight bust..HSUS is a SHAM.. a vegan cultist organization that wants to eliminate all forms of animal ownership.. including agriculture of farming and ranching any domestic animals.. don;t be fooled..
Friends DO NOT let Friends Donate to the HSUS
www.humane watch.org
All animals deserve humane treatment, even those raised for food. That's why the HSUS works on issues like intensive confinement (e.g. battery cages, gestation crates) and humane slaughter. Farmers need to make a living, but animals raised for food are not simply production units; their welfare needs to be part of the conversation.
The Michael Vick case was a real game changer as far as public awareness about dogfighting. The HSUS paid for the housing of some of the confiscated dogs before guilty pleas were entered, and the federal court ended up ordering Vick to pay nearly $1 million for the long-term care of the dogs. Since the prosecution of this case, our organization has continued working to upgrade state and federal laws against animal fighting. It's now a federal felony to engage in animal fighting, and dogfighting is considered a felony in all 50 states.
It's true that our organization has had longstanding concerns about the adoptability of game-bred animals, but last year we changed our official policy after meeting with a number of other animal groups. The HSUS now recommends that all dogs seized from fighting operations be professionally evaluated to determine whether they are suitable candidates for adoption.
Hillary, HSUS
In spite of the comments by Hillary HSUS and other supporters of the HSUS, the bottom line here is that the HSUS is working to eliminate the ownership of pets, the raising of farm animals, rodeos, circuses, zoos, and use of research animals. These people have an agenda and it is not mainstream, but radical. They challenge the www.humanewatch.org website. There are many websites that promote the truth about the HSUS and other animal rights orgs. Such as www.bewareanimalradicals.com There are other national organizations that do support animal welfare, farming, responsible pet ownership, and all the various human/animal relationships. HSUS is a fund raising organization where the majority of the funds are used to 1) raise more funds, 2) lobby for anti-animal laws, and 3) pad their salaries and retirement accounts. That is why so many individuals have written the IRS about the non-profit status of the HSUS that now the IRS is investigating these allegations. So, wake up folks in the public. Don't buy this HSUS stuff and nonsense...their bottom line is NO ANIMALS.
Long standing CONCERNS?/ That's rich Hillary.. you mean KILLINg don't you? You lied about Vick and the care of the dogs.. HSUS stated categorically that they has possession of Vicks dogs.. until they were reported to the FBI and other REAL government agencies..
Since the prosecution of the case the HSUs has apologized for Vicks behavior ( maybe because they too think all "pit bulls" or as Hillary calls them incorrectly "game bred" should be killed) and even HIRED him to speak on behalf of the HSUS.. sickening..
7 Things You Didn't Know About HSUS
(The Humane Society of the United States)
1. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is a "humane society" in name only, since it doesn't operate a single pet shelter or pet adoption facility anywhere in the United States. HSUS operates sanctuaries for large animals only, not shelters within the commonly accepted definition of shelter. During 2006, HSUS contributed only 4.2 percent of its budget to organizations that operate hands-on dog and cat shelters. In reality, HSUS is a wealthy animal-rights lobbying organization (the largest and richest on earth) that agitates for the same goals as PETA and other radical groups.
2. Beginning on the day of NFL quarterback Michael Vick's2007 dog fighting indictment, HSUS raised money online with the false promise that it would "care for the dogs seized in the Michael Vick case." The New York Times later reported that HSUS wasn't caring for Vick's dogs at all. And HSUS president Wayne Pacelle told the Times that his group recommended that government officials "put down" (that is, kill) the dogs rather than adopt them out to suitable homes. HSUS later quietly altered its Internet fundraising pitch.
3. HSUS's senior management includes a former spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a criminal group designated as "terrorists" by the FBI. HSUS president Wayne Pacelle hired John "J.P." Goodwin in 1997, the same year Goodwin described himself as "spokesperson for the ALF" while he fielded media calls in the wake of an ALF arson attack at a California veal processing plant. In 1997, when asked by reporters for a reaction to an ALF arson fire at a farmer's feed co-op in Utah (which nearly killed a family sleeping on the premises), Goodwin replied, "We're ecstatic." That same year, Goodwin was arrested at a UC Davis protest celebrating the 10-year anniversary of an ALF arson at the university that caused $5 million in damage. And in 1998, Goodwin described himself publicly as a "former member of ALF."
4.HSUS raised a reported $34 million in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, supposedly to help reunite lost pets with their owners. But comparatively little of that money was spent for its intended purpose. Louisiana's Attorney General shuttered his 18-month-long investigation into where most of these millions went, shortly after HSUS announced its plan to contribute $600,000 toward the construction of an animal shelter on the grounds of a state prison. Public disclosures of the disposition of the $34 million in Katrina-related donations add up to less than $7 million.
5. After gathering undercover video footage of improper animal handling at a Chino, CA slaughterhouse during November of 2007, HSUS sat on its video evidence for three months, even refusing to share it with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. HSUS's Dr. Michael Greger testified before Congress that the San Bernardino County (CA) District Attorney's office asked the group "to hold on to the information while they completed their investigation." But the District Attorney's office quickly denied that account, even declaring that HSUS refused to make its undercover spy available to investigators if the USDA were present at those meetings. Ultimately, HSUS chose to release its video footage at a more politically opportune time, as it prepared to launch a livestock-related ballot campaign in California. Meanwhile, meat from the slaughterhouse continued to flow into the U.S. food supply for months.
6. According to a 2008 Los Angeles Times investigation, less than 12 percent of money raised for HSUS by California telemarketers actually ends up in HSUS's bank account. The rest is kept by professional fundraisers. And if you exclude two campaigns run for HSUS by the "Build-a-Bear Workshop" retail chain, which consisted of the sale of surplus stuffed animals (not really "fundraising"), HSUS's yield number shrinks to just 3 percent. Sadly, this appears typical. In 2004, HSUS ran a telemarketing campaign in Connecticut with fundraisers who promised to return a minimum of zero percent of the proceeds. The campaign raised over $1.4 million. Not only did absolutely none of that money go to HSUS, but the group paid $175,000 for the telemarketing work.
7. Research shows that HSUS's heavily promoted U.S. "boycott" of Canadian seafood--announced in 2005 as a protest against Canada's annual seal hunt--is a phony exercise in media manipulation. A 2006 investigation found that 78 percent of the restaurants and seafood distributors described by HSUS as "boycotters" weren't participating at all. Nearly two-thirds of them told surveyors they were completely unaware HSUS was using their names in connection with an international boycott campaign. Canada's federal government is on record about this deception, saying: "Some animal rights groups have been misleading the public for years ... it's no surprise at all that the richest of them would mislead the public with a phony seafood boycott."
Want evidence? Visit www.AnimalScam.com www.ActivistCash.com www.consumerfreedom.com
Revised October 2008. Complete sources and documentation available upon request.
www.exposeanimalrights.com www.bewareanimalradicals.com www.humanewatch.com www.naiaonline.org www.saova.org www.pet-law.com
From the article: "the HSUS offers local help by offering training in fundraising, as well as other aspects of maintaining animal shelters"
You make it sound like the advice and training is offered free. Well, it's NOT. An "audit" of a shelter costs $10K and up; training is not free, either.
HSUS and its minions such as Hillary are masters of the Big Lie, as perfected by Propaganda Minister Goebbels in 1930's Germany. Also similarly to the Nazis, HSUS would like to control our lives. They would like to force us to stop eating animal products, stop using animal products such as wool, leather and fur (and silk?) for clothing, stop the use of animals in zoos, circuses and rodeos, stop the use of animals in biomedical research, and STOP THE USE OF ANIMALS FOR COMPANIONSHIP, i.e., as pets.
Looking at photos of Wayne Pacelle with animals, you can tell from his body language that he's un comfortable with them. You can also tell from the animals' body language that they are uncomfortable with HIM.
Once again Hillary pops up to perpetuate the big LIE!
HSUS paid for the housing of the *some* of the dogs while at the same time calling for them ALL to be killed. Thanks to HSUS, Micheal Vick is back and this time educating YOUTH on dog-fighting. Good Lord,that's like sending in a child abuser to teach kindergarden kids! Wonder how that's working for Pittsburgh ... dog fighting is on the uprise according to recent article by the local spca.
Do a little research first and don't take everything that Hillary and the like say for the truth. It is out there but googling helps.
They also didn't intercede in the death of three week old puppies in NC last year from another dog fighting bust. Their own John Goodwin dog fighting CZAR claiming that they were too aggressive! Really! Three week old puppies, too aggressive to change into good dogs. HA!
HSUS is too involved in the big picture to give a rat's potooty about animals.
Not a bad article and thanks for the letting it be known that HSUS isn't for the local shelters.
Give locally PLEASE! Your dollars will go instantly to the animals and you will be able to do so much more for them. Give them to HSUS and you are only supporting people like Hillary and their pension plans.
There are a few problems with this article. First, there is no 'national humane society.' HSUS is a CORPORATION -- a business just like any other, except that it has been able to fool the IRS into treating it as a non-profit, so donations to it are tax deductible.
HSUS makes nearly all of its money from the fact that most people believe that it really DOES help animals with the money it gets. Not so: less than one percent gives any direct help to an animal.
They're now changing their message to "We PROTECT animals" -- but when you read the details of the laws they pass, they are supporting 'protection' by passing laws that make it steadily harder to legally breed, use, or own animals of any kind. They don't offer proof of the need for more laws, they simply SAY they are needed, and with enough advertising and enough donations to weak kneed lawmakers, new laws happen. But it's never enough and never will be: As their ever tightening noose chokes off good and legal practices, underground and less good ones will replace them and will be justification NOT for going back to the old laws, but for new and even more problematic restrictions.
Think about it: Animals have been part of human society for millenia. Does it really make sense that there are important animal laws that nobody ever thought of?
Look at how HSUS is responding to the Humane Watch/CCF criticisms: They don't point out errors, they attack the messenger. Gee ... if what Humane Watch says about HSUS is true, then does it matter who paid for the message?
Would you truly want food producers, animal researchers, and pet breeders to simply shut up and let HSUS pass whatever laws they want? Not if you want animals to be well cared for and their products to be affordable, you wouldn't.