Can someone explain the bad side of the Humane Society of the US?

From things I’ve heard in the past, some people don’t like they way they operate. I remember reading something earlier this year about a circus suing them for racketeering, money laundering, bribery, and a few other things. I never heard what happened from it though.

I also know that some farmer’s and other agricultural groups have issues with them because of some of the tactics they use to steer people away from eating meat (I read a story about them trying to use religion to make people feel guilty about eating pork once).

Some people do not want to protect animals and they will always find a way to discredit decent organizations. That’s not to say that each chapter is the same. Who knows what happens at local levels.

The HSUS is the nation’s greatest force for animal welfare.

However, some ranchers, puppy mill operators, irresponsible breeders, and certain restaurants and meat companies whose unsavory practices have been spotlighted by HSUS are eager to see the organization shut down.

HSUS is currently the target of an expensive smear campaign from the deceptively-named “Center for Consumer Freedom” (CCF), which is actually a front group for meat-packers, restaurants, and other corporations that profit from unhealthy and unlawful activities (such as puppy mills, or using terminally ill “downer” cows in slaughterhouses).

CCF perpetuates myths and misrepresentations about HSUS, and several news outlets have been forced to issue retractions and apologies for parroting CCF misinformation.

Their current tactic is to scream that HSUS only uses a small portion of its resources for pet shelters, ignoring the fact that HSUS is involved in a huge array of animal welfare activities like strengthening animal welfare legislation, spay and neuter programs, low-income veterinary services, animal rescue in the Gulf…

It’s like saying that your doctor wants you to die of heart disease, because she’s not devoting all of her resources to that one issue. It ignores everything else your doctor may have done to ensure your health. Similarly, the HSUS devotes only a portion of its revenue to pet shelters because it’s deeply involved in all aspects of animal welfare.

Read the Wikipedia pages on Richard Berman, Berman and Company, and Center for Consumer Freedom for a taste of their shameful activities. Then read the entry for the Humane Society of the United States. It’s pretty clear who’s running a scam, and who is genuinely concerned about animal welfare.

Star Tribune: Humane Society Fighting A Smear
ABC News: Lobbyists Hide Behind Front Groups
CBS News: Meet Rick Berman AKA Dr. Evil

Could you tell us about the true nature of PETA?
I don’t support them on general principles like omnivory and a quiet disdain of Gaia worship, and I’m not keen on their propaganda, but I’d not heard of any actually criminal behavior. Not that I wouldn’t put it past them.

Of course, I make a point of periodically avoiding the news. Makes for a happier Nullo.

@nullo Here are just a few quotes regarding PETA. From what I understand, they believe that just keeping companion animals and training dogs for programs for the disabled such as seeing-eye-dogs is cruelty. Basically, they believe that all companion animals should be killed, because they are better off dead than being slaves in our own homes.

“In the past, PETA has handled the press for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a violent, underground group of fanatics who plant firebombs in restaurants, destroy butcher shops, and torch research labs. The FBI considers ALF among America’s most active and prolific terrorist groups, but PETA compares it to the Underground Railroad and the French Resistance. More than 20 years after its inception, PETA continues to hire convicted ALF militants and funds their legal defense. In at least one case, court records show that Ingrid Newkirk herself was involved in an ALF arson.

PETA has even begun to adopt the tactics of an ALF offshoot known as SHAC (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty). This group is notorious for taking protests outside the boardroom and into the living room, attacking their targets at their homes.

In 2001, three masked SHAC members brutally bludgeoned a medical researcher outside his home in England. The lead attacker was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. A few months later, SHAC attacked another research industry employee on his doorstep with a chemical spray to his eyes, leaving him temporarily blinded and writhing in pain. The following year, Newkirk was asked her opinion of SHAC in the Boston Herald. Her response? “More power to SHAC if they can get someone’s attention.”

By 2003, PETA activists had adopted SHAC’s protest techniques, stalking and harassing fast-food restaurant executives. Not content to write letters and picket the chain restaurant’s offices, PETA’s leaders met with the CEO’s pastor, and visited his country club and the manager of one of his favorite restaurants. PETA activists, one dressed in a chicken suit, even protested at the church of two executives, annoying worshipers by driving a truck with giant screens of slaughterhouse video back and forth along the street.”

”# PETA exploits sick people.
PETA famously suggested that drinking milk causes cancer, in an advertisement mocking then-NYC Mayor Rudy Guliani with the words “Got Prostate Cancer?” PETA has also erected a billboard reading: “Got Sick Kids? Drinking milk contributes to colic, ear infections, allergies, diabetes, obesity, and many other illnesses.” In 2003 the group held a demonstration in front of a Toronto-area hospital that was under a SARS-related quarantine, spuriously alleging that animal husbandry has something to do with the epidemic’s spread. Upon hearing that Charlton Heston had fallen ill with Alzheimer’s Disease, Ingrid Newkirk suggested that PETA would “toy with the idea that both Alzheimer’s and CJD [Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease] are related to meat consumption.” According to a profile in The New Yorker, she considered “renting billboards that would display a large picture of a gaunt Charlton Heston foaming at the mouth.”

# PETA propagandizes children.
PETA’s website for kids puts a skull and crossbones next to the logo of Disney’s Animal Kingdom and tells the horror story of a fast food restaurant employee who “had taken a patty into the potty with her, then returned and said she had peed on it.” It hands out trading cards to kids that allege drinking milk will make them fat, pimply, flatulent, and phlegm-ridden. PETA also has a child-themed website, and a kiddie-oriented magazine, called GRRR! Kids Bite Back. The name is significant, as it is intended to prep children to identify with the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), which has long-used the phrase “bite back” in its promotional materials. In fact, as early as 1991, convicted ALF arsonist and PETA grantee Rodney Coronado was calling his own crime spree “Operation Bite Back.” PETA also sends “humane education lecturer” Gary Yourofsky into high schools—and even middle schools—to promote the “animal liberation” agenda. Yourofsky is a convicted ALF criminal who has said he would support burning down medical research labs even if humans were trapped in the flames. ”

PETA openly supports violence and terrorist activity.
PETA has long-standing ties to militant groups like the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). The FBI calls these criminal groups a “serious domestic terrorist threat.”

I’ve never heard or read anything negative about the Human Society. On the other hand, I’ve never heard or read anything good about PETA.

My local Humane Society has been slammed for killing peoples pets multiple times. The owners will immediately show up for their cats or dogs, and they have already put them to sleep. They don’t wait. I believe they fired everyone and started over…but no one in that area really trusts them.

OK, so your local Humane Society is not affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States. But the HSUS does offer practical solutions, and has representatives in most states to give shelters better ideas on how to run. Casheroo, sounds like your animal shelter is simply inhumane. Volunteering could open up a great opportunity to see what is going on inside your local shelter.
The HSUS is about providing compassion for animals. It is a carefully run organization currently under attack by a group of lobbyists for anti-thinking causes: smoking, drunk driving, anti food safety, and a wide variety of animal welfare organizations. What differentiates HSUS from other groups is that it is a powerful lobbying force, and it does not want to destroy our human existence with animals. It just wants to ensure that animals are treated well in the world.
And, as far as PETA goes, they are an awesome animal rights organization. They use more controversial tactics to get their message across, but they are acknowledged as an effective and great animal rights and welfare organization. They are also under attack by the Consumer Freedom Foundation, which means you will hear misinformation about them. As far as PETA’s ties with ALF (ELF is a now defunct organization), there is no direct proof of this, and this information was provided to a Senate committee via David Martosko, Rick Berman’s second in command. He’s a music major, and knows nothing about animals, terrorism, or organizations besides the one that is bilking thousands of dollars from people in the name of “watching the Humane Society of the U.S.” How bored do these people have to be? Apparently enough that they create and propagate lies. Do yourself a favor, and develop your own opinions and thoughts on issues.

There’s nothing negative about the Humane Society of the United States. Some people in agribusiness are pissed off that the HSUS supports and promotes legislation that protects animals in factory farm or puppy mill situations, and so they’ve mounted a slander campaign against the HSUS to try to stop these improvements in the lives of animals. Plain and simple.

Contrary to the insinuations and outright lies, the HSUS is clear about it’s mission—confronting animal cruelty.

Want some facts? This was written by Adam Wysocki of NatPet.org (National Pet Association)

There is a common misconception about the relationship between local humane societies and the Humane Society of the United States. Many people think that they are one in the same, but the reality is that they are very different and separate entities.

As always, we can look directly to the HSUS website to find out exactly what they do for local humane societies.

1. They provide national shelter standards, guidelines and recommendations for care and operations.

2. They offer a Animal Services Consultation (ASC) program, which provides in-depth animal shelter evaluations (unfortunately, this is a program that the HSUS charges several thousand dollars for and many shelters cannot afford it).

3. They provide training programs. (again, these are not free and most of the time local shelters cannot afford them)

4. They offer shelters a bi-monthly magazine.

5. They provide outreach through their website to “help citizens find, understand and support their local shelters, plus classroom support for humane education programs”.

6. They offer a cooperative buying service to provide discounts to shelters on a wide variety of products and services. (kind of like CostCo or BJ’s for shelters… Btw, according to their tax filings HSUS makes money off of products purchased through this buyers program)

7. “Inspiration and direction in the establishment of a new federation of humane societies.” (I’m not even sure what this means?)

8. Disaster assistance, including on-the-scene leadership in the collection and care of animals during crises. Plus, The HSUS assists in the rebuilding of animal shelters damaged in disasters, and supplements local budgets for unexpected disaster expenses.

9. Direct and indirect support for spay and neuter programs.

10. Standby assistance for a variety of other needs including legislation, operational guidance and more.

11. Fundraising events for local shelters and rescue groups, such as Walk for the Animals and Spay Day USA.

12. Financial assistance in the form of scholarships, periodic grants and other opportunities.

13. National and global advocacy for the core mission and values of America’s animal shelters.

This line from the HSUS website is very important…

“By long-standing tradition, local humane societies remain independent entities, each with its own policies, governance, and priorities”.

You can find all of the information above on the HSUS website at this link – http://www.hsus.org/pets/animal_shel..._for_shelters/

AmericanHumane.org estimates that there are 3,500 shelters operating within the United States although the exact number is unknown… If you take the $6,774,268.00 from the HSUS 2008 annual report that they say they spent on animal care facilities and assume that they divided that money equally between the 3,500 shelters… What you get is $1,935.50… $1,935.50 is what the HSUS financially contributes to each US shelter. 180 million dollars a year in donations and they give each shelter that they are helping $1,935.50. That pays for one minimum wage employee to work at a shelter for about 6 weeks.

Shame on them.

The even sadder part is that the HSUS operates 5 of it’s own animal care facilities Nationwide… So that $6,774,268.00 from their annual report that was spent on animal care facilities also includes the money that directly went to the 5 facilities that they run… Including a 1,300 acre ranch in Texas… Leaving less money for local shelters.

So to be clear, the Humane Society of the United States doesn’t run, fund, own, or directly participate in the day to day operations of local humane societies and shelters. They are more like a trade organization that provides standards, publishes a magazine, charges money for some services, and gives a little money here and there to help out with local shelters. This isn’t opinion, it’s fact based on information freely available on the HSUS website.

$180,000,000.00 a year in charitable donations, and that’s how they’re supporting your local shelter… Shame on them.

The confusion comes from the fact that many people actually believe that the HSUS is directly running local humane societies and the Humane Society of the United States is happy to let them believe that. Why you ask?

$180,000,000.00 a year in charitable donations.

I’ll say it one more time… Shame on them.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is one great big scam. They have no ties to any local Humane Society. Indeed, less than ½ of 1% of their yearly $100 million income is spent on direct sheltering of dogs or cats. Not what they imply with those heartbreaking commercials you see all the time, is it? They spend more on salary, pensions, and buying buildings than they do on any direct animal care. The rest of the money goes to lobbyists and lawyers. Humanewatch.org is dedicated to telling the truth about HSUS—go there to begin your research on the scam, but you don’t have to stop there. The truth is out there. The only reply that HSUS can come up with is to attack Humanewatch, but they have so far been unable to refute the facts that Humanewatch has presented. If you want to continue enjoying having animals in your life, you will never support HSUS or PETA.

WSB TV in Atlanta did this expose on the HSUS:

ATLANTA—A Channel 2 investigation is looking into millions of dollars in donations given to the Humane Society of the United States.

A national consumer organization says the society solicits pet-lovers for money, but little to none of that money ever goes to help local shelters.

Critics tell Channel 2 Action News reporter Amanda Rosseter that this isn’t just consumers misunderstanding who they are giving to—but an organization actively misleading donors to get money.

“They do their marketing very well, that’s for sure,” said Trey Burley of PAWS Atlanta.

Critics say the national organization takes advantage of people who think they are giving to local shelters. DeKalb’s “PAWS” shelter says there is no regular funding help from the $100 million HSUS budget.

“I think that some of the folks who donate to the national organization may be under the false pretense that that money is going to a local cause,” said Burley.

While the HSUS does work to stop puppy mills, it also gets media coverage and donations doing it. But the puppies then go to local shelters who have to pay and care for them.

“They may initialize the resources for a rescue, but again the animals go to a shelter somewhere in the country,” said Richard Rice, VP of the Atlanta Humane Society.

Critics said HSUS also takes advantage of high-profile events. After hurricane Katrina, HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle promised on national TV to reunite pets with their owners—and raised $34 million for the cause. But public disclosures of where that money went add up to less than $7 million.

The Louisiana attorney general launched an 18-month-long investigation, and then ended it, when HSUS offered to build the state a new shelter.
The HSUS annual report for 2007 showed $120 million in revenue, including $5.4 million just from online donors.

Then there’s $112 million in expenses—most of which appears to have gone to legislation for animal rights bills. The list includes raccoons, mice, wild horses, burros and primates. The center for consumer freedom says all worthy causes, but HSUS shouldn’t mislead to get money.

So where does all the money go?

“It goes to lobbying, it goes to political contributions, it doesn’t go to pay huge staff salaries and benefits,” said David Marposko with Center for Consumer Freedom.

Channel 2 Action News went to a local HSUS meeting to find out. The two hour discussion was about activist plans and lobbying. The Georgia director for the HSUS agrees that’s mostly what she does.

“I think that in all of our literature, it is very explicit as to what our campaigns are and what we are doing,” said Cheryl McAuliffe, Georgia Director for HSUS. “We help where we can and focus on our programs, which are national and international.”

McAuliffe said there are just too many local shelters to help.

“I always tell people, contribute to your local shelter first,” said McAuliffe.
When asked how much her budget is for the state of Georgia, McAuliffe said she didn’t have a budget and neither did other states. McAuliffe said all money is controlled from headquarters in Washington, D.C.

HSUS presents itself in advertising soliciting donations as an organization that is soliciting funds in order to care for the poor, sad cats and dogs in its ads. It does NOT say in the advertising that those funds will be spent for lobbying efforts, and many people donate under the misapprehension that (a) they are donating for the care of animals and (b) those funds will go back to their local shelter, so when the local shelters ask for donations, they say, “I already donated to you through the national organization.” This has been clear for some time, and HSUS, when charged with this, whines, “But it’s hidden away on our web page that we don’t support shelters!”, but it doesn’t change its advertising to represent what it really does. Looking at the financials (NOT on the HSUS site, but the financials they have to provide the IRS as a nonprofit that is supposed to do only very limited lobbying – lobbying is NOT supposed to be their primary purpose, and last I heard not only was there the racketeering case, but the IRS is looking into the matter), less than ½ of 1% of the HSUS budget is spent on actual animals.

Go to your local shelter. Check them out. Ask them how much support in the way of funding HSUS has provided to them over the last decade. Ask them how much funding they’ve LOST because people, watching the ads, have donated to HSUS and then, when their local shelter asks for support, say, “I already gave to you through the national association.” Then, instead of donating to HSUS, donate to your local shelter – even the most rabid HSUS supporter can’t possibly legitimately object to you doing that, after all, can they, if the welfare of the animals is their true purpose?

If you, rather, want to support lobbying for the ultimate goal of a vegan, petless society, by law, then donate to HSUS. Heck, donate to PETA, and ALF (and take a good, long look at the resumes of some of the HSUS personnel and you’ll find ALF on there, as well), while you’re at it.

It’s your call.

Some HSUS apologists (paid and/or gullible) troll the internet looking for anyone pointing out any facts negative to HSUS. When they find them, their approach is always the same – anyone who doesn’t think HSUS walks on water and the HSUS Emperor’s New Clothes are just gorgeous must be (a) an animal abuser, (b) involved in agri-business and© they’ll try very very hard to discredit the messenger rather than the facts, why? Because they CAN’T deny the facts, and their only hope is to try to distract attention from them so that no one will look too close.

Unfortunately, most everyone I know that has problems with HSUS is involved in one way or another with animal rescue, and sees precious little difference between PETA and HSUS, other than that HSUS is appointed to appear to be more “moderate” than PETA because the personnel that move back and forth between them figured out that PETA was turning off a lot of potential donors. However, HSUS’s “moderate” mask appears to be slipping lately.

If you like PETA, you’ll LOVE HSUS, because if you follow the money and the personnel over the years, you’ll learn that HSUS = PETA, in spirit if not on paper (and there IS a paper trail connecting the two).

HSUS and PeTA have the same goal: animal rights. Do you understand what animal rights means in legal terms? Basically it means that animals have the same rights as human children. That means a lot of things, among them (1) they can’t be eaten, (2) they can’t be owned (3) advocates can sue on their behalf. In a nutshell no more farm animals, no more pets, no more service dogs, no more police dogs, no more fur or feathers or leather (just think about sports being played with plastic balls and gloves) and we all follow strict vegan diets. HSUS spends the majority of their money lobbying to pass laws to acheive these goals. Their laws marketed as stopping farm animal abuse are actually designed to make it animal food products so expensive that nobody can afford them. Their laws marketed as to stop puppy mills are written such that they stop puppy mills by stopping all dog breeding, even by responsible hobby breeders. The main difference between HSUS and PeTA is that HSUS publicly is against using violence to acheive their goals. However, HSUS has used violence on some of their puppy mill raids, ones that were led by a former ALF member. HSUS also has a former ALF spokesperson in a high up position. Start investigating the people in the high up positions at HSUS. They have ties to other groups like PeTA, ALF, DDAL, etc. HSUS is just the nicely dressed nicely speaking con man version of PeTA.

Personally, I thought that HSUS was part of all Humane Shelters, it saddens to me to hear that they are not. I used to donate to them, instead I donate directly to my local shelter, which is a no kill shelter and part of several in my state that rotate animals to be adopted.

I am owned by 6 cats (spayed/nurtured), and 2 dogs (spayed) and I can tell you that I don’t want to see a petless, meatless, milkless, vegan society (I like my steak, pork chops, and chicken). So simply I don’t donate to HSUS. And I support Humanewatch, simply they put the truth out there.

I went to the HSUS website and did a little poking around yesterday and was disheartened with what I saw. I went a long time with a belief that they were helping animal shelters, etc….like their ads say and found out how wrong I was. Once again, I want to tell no shout it from the rooftops, DONATE TO YOUR LOCAL SHELTERS!!!! SHOW YOUR SUPPORT LOCALLY!!!! and I can tell you that I will be doing much more research for what I donate to BEFORE donating from now on.

And as for “puppy mills”......There are tooooo many homeless animals out there for anyone to support a puppy mill, or even a “hobby breeder”. Once again, support your local shelters and adopt a homeless pet instead of buying a “purebred” or anymore even a mix breed. Thats where more people can help. Get your pets spayed/neutered, and take care of them! The solution is simple from what I can see.

Yes CFCF has an agenda, but so does HSUS which basically serves as PETA’s PC face. Make no mistake, the goal is ultimately the same: the elimination of all animals as companions, food etc. Kiss Fido goodbye! They are extremely deceptive in their fundrasing advertisements, using pictures of one eyed puppies and whatnot to con the public into donating more money to them. They hardly ever advertise saving the chickens, cows, horses, lab rats etc. that are their focus more often than not. I suppose that’s because none of those animals are very ‘cute’ but we are talking about honesty here.

The worst part is that HSUS takes much needed funding away from local shelters and rescues that actually treat, foster and rehome unwanted pets. Case in point, one of the oldest existing rescues in my area is closing after 3 decades because they finally ran out of money. That quite frankly makes me angry as HSUS allocates next to nothing to help REAL humane societies, it’s not even affiliated with them! Most of their budget is spent on legislation against agriculture (animal husbandry in general), real estate and juicy pension plans for higher ups. Less people would have a problem with them if they were upfront in regards to their AR philosophy and what those millions of dollars worth of donations are actually being spent on.

HSUS DOE’S NOT, I repeat, DOE’S NOT have any national shelters! In fact, they don’t have even one! No not even one! They are a political action group. They charge legitimate shelters for their services. I know of a Texas shelter that was charged 25,000.00 for an evaluation. Imagine that, charging a legitimate shelter for their help. HSUS solicits multiple millions in donations annually. They use those heart wrenching commercials to imply that they actually care for those animals. They do not. The HSUS is not an umbrella for our local legitimate shelters. They are all independent and funded by the municipality they are located in. HSUS causes local shelters to suffer financially, because people actually think that by donating to the HSUS they are helping the local legitimate shelters. As provided by IRS form 990 submitted by HSUS and is available for public view. The HSUS put 5 times more money in their pension plan than they gave in financial support to legitimate shelters. That is 2.5 million to themselves and 500,000.00 to shelters. Consider that 19.00 a month ole’ Wayne asks for, he’s the HSUS CEO, only .10 cents of that will go to a legitimate shelter! So out of an annual donation of 228.00 only 1.20 will be divided among all the shelters in the USA. On top of that again, ole’ Wayne Pacelle makes approximately 300,000.00 a year from YOUR donations! The better question would have been what’s the good side. I am not even going to get into the legislation they try get passed that make it increasing harded to own any anmals. They are anti animal use, be if for food, breeding, zoo’s, circuses ect. They are currently trying to pass laws to free range chickens, ie use no cages for production. I was at the store, free range eggs were 2.99 and regular eggs are 1.00. They will succeed in phasing out animal agriculture one step and a time, if people don’t become aware of their true agenda. They promote Veganism. Do some research, there are many sources.

Here is just one example of the HSUS’s high profile “rescue” efforts: http://bit.ly/cj8jE5
The HSUS crafted a totally bogus “cruelty” case, then as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, abandoned the horses to starve without food; indeed without even making provisions for someone to occasionally check on them. Other high-profile HSUS clusterf*ks happened recently in South Dakota and Hawaii. Local law enforcement left holding the bag after the cameras stopped rolling. The HSUS’s press releases still crow “victory over animal abuse” in these cases.

The HSUS commits the illegal act of impersonating law enforcement during these door-kicking operations.

The HSUS publicly opposes the No Kill shelter movement, along with PETA and the ASPCA (read up on Oreo’s Law for more information).

The HSUS supports BSL and publicly advocates for the mass slaughter of “pit bulls” and any dog that happens to bear the vague physical characteristics of a potentially pit bull type dog (Lab/Boxer mix? Kill ‘em. Can’t be too careful, you know. Anyone who would adopt a dog that looks like that must be a criminal dog fighter animal abuser).

Quite aside from the fact that they do not support local animal sheltering/adoption efforts, and their misleading-in-tone advertising which leads the general public to believe they do, they also frequently flat-out lie about the causes behind their fundraising efforts. For example, raising $34 million dollars for Hurricane Katrina pets, and pocketing nearly all of it. They raised millions of dollars with horrific photos of a dog whose name they misspelled, and it wasn’t until the blogosphere started spreading the news like wildfire that not a penny of this fundraising was being funneled to the people actually caring for this dog that the HSUS ponied up a SHOCKING $5 grand of the MILLIONS raised. Even after this dog’s death, they are still exploiting her in advertising. http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2009/12/04/hsus-fund-raising-pitch-raises-hackles/

Wayne Pacelle’s cozy-cozy relationship with Michael Vick is downright nauseating. Wayne is pimping this guy out for the HSUS like there’s no tomorrow. Of course, the best way to reform a dog fighter is to parade him around in limos and wine and dine him, right?

The HSUS illegally violates its own charter and founding documents, which claim that political lobbying shall not be a “significant” aim of the organization.

Of course, the HSUS fans in the room will have no answers for any of this. Their sum total stock response is “we hate the CCF!”. As though the CCF/Humane Watch… somehow has anything whatsoever to do with any of these things.

“OK, so your local Humane Society is not affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States.”

Yes, we know that. However, why does HSUS thru deception of advertising seem to be affiliated with them, when in fact they are NOT? They misrepresent themselves by not being clear in their advertising.

” But the HSUS does offer practical solutions, and has representatives in most states to give shelters better ideas on how to run.”

What solutions are those? Seriously, where do you find that information? They give sparse financial help and then what? Please enlighten me?

“The HSUS is about providing compassion for animals.”

Well, lets see what compassion they are about? They want you to give up your pet, stop eating meat, and put that glass of milk down! HSUS doesn’t support milk drinking! What exactly does HSUS want done with the pets its looking to outlaw? Put them to sleep? Please tell me, since they are not supporting local shelters, are they expecting the outlawed pets to live on the streets?

“It is a carefully run organization currently under attack by a group of lobbyists for anti-thinking causes: smoking, drunk driving, anti food safety, and a wide variety of animal welfare organizations. What differentiates HSUS from other groups is that it is a powerful lobbying force, and it does not want to destroy our human existence with animals. It just wants to ensure that animals are treated well in the world.”

Ok, so everyone that is against HSUS and the deception it stands for is a smoking, drunk driving, anti food safety animal abuser?? Wow! Too ridiculous for words.

“And, as far as PETA goes, they are an awesome animal rights organization. They use more controversial tactics to get their message across, but they are acknowledged as an effective and great animal rights and welfare organization.”

Do you really think so? SO your for little old ladies in fur coats having paint thrown on them, and violent acts against anyone who disagrees with their methods? Wow! Kinda like having your own terrorist type group running around the US telling us what is and isn’t ok to wear, eat, and do? I don’t, so PETA can take a hike in my book.

“They are also under attack by the Consumer Freedom Foundation, which means you will hear misinformation about them.”

As always, disagree with a group and fight to keep the public informed and your labeled a liar.

” As far as PETA’s ties with ALF (ELF is a now defunct organization), there is no direct proof of this, and this information was provided to a Senate committee via David Martosko, Rick Berman’s second in command. He’s a music major, and knows nothing about animals, terrorism, or organizations besides the one that is bilking thousands of dollars from people in the name of “watching the Humane Society of the U.S.” ”

And how do you know all this for sure? Check his resumee? Did you do a background check? Have YOU done YOUR research?

“How bored do these people have to be? Apparently enough that they create and propagate lies. Do yourself a favor, and develop your own opinions and thoughts on issues.”

I think someone needs to do some of her own research as well. And since I am on here speaking my mind and letting you know where I stand and I have been doing research I can tell you, I have developed my own opinion and thoughts on the issue and it apparently is the opposite of yours.

My reason for not supporting the hsus or peta for that matter are my dogs, 2 of the 3 happen to be American Pit Bull Terriers. Both groups advocate for Breed Specific Legislation which leads to the round up and slaughter of family pets for being deemed vicious automatically by breed type. While hsus jumped on the vick bandwagon for donations they also recommended euthanasia of the dogs. Some of the dogs where rescued by Dogtown and went on to be adopted and lead perfectly happy lives with great owners. At least peta makes their agenda known for the most part. The hsus is rather sneaky in my opinion.

Anyone considering giving to any charitable org should do some research and make sure the money you’re going to donate will be used as you intended.

Rabernet, the WSB-TV report was PULLED by the station for inaccurate reporting, like so many media outlets that were suckered in by the CCF. All of the allegations you raise have been addressed. Maybe you should do some research before you parrot CCF misinformation.
HSUS Bad Press

You’ll notice that the overwhelming majority of critics here are NOT shelters; they are breeders and ranchers with a financial interest in suppressing the HSUS. Without the HSUS, irresponsible breeders are free to sell genetically damaged dogs and torture factory-farmed animals without fear of consequences. (Not slamming all breeders here, just the irresponsible and uneducated problem breeders.)
Finding a Good Breeder

Oh, and MrsCarder? You are hardly one to point the finger—your paranoid conspiracy theories are astounding. How can you honestly believe that HSUS wants everyone to give up their pets when you’d be hard-pressed to find an HSUS employee who doesn’t have pets? For crying out loud, the link above even includes tips on how to find the right pet! You spew ridiculous, indefensible lies like that, and then wonder why we suspect you of being a shill.

I challenge anyone here to show me ONE, repeat ONE deceptive advertisement from the HSUS. I’ve made this challenge several times, and have yet to see one example. We’re still waiting!

Whoops! I skipped over some of MrsCarder’s key points. There’s just too much silliness to address in a single post!

“As always, disagree with a group and fight to keep the public informed and your labeled a liar.”
No, MrsCarder, disagreeing with a group doesn’t get you labeled a liar; perpetuating lies and misinformation get you labeled as a liar. I document my claims. Where’s your proof?

“And how do you know all this for sure? Check his resumee? Did you do a background check? Have YOU done YOUR research?”

Yes, I have. For one, Martosko’s bio supports that claim.
(Martosko was convicted of DUI while campaigning to weaken drunk driving laws. The hypocrisy is mind-blowing. He’s got a criminal record and a list of infractions the length of my arm, easily obtained from the Fairfax County VA court system.)

”...I have been doing research I can tell you, I have developed my own opinion and thoughts on the issue and it apparently is the opposite of yours.”
Clearly, you have done research—on CCF and anti-HSUS propaganda websites. Try getting a balanced picture, as I have, looking at the pros and the cons, and maybe you won’t embarrass yourself with laughable statements like “HSUS wants to outlaw all pets!”

Is HSUS perfect? No organization is. The HSUS does tremendous good for animals, and belittling that, accusing them of deception, slandering their work, all because you don’t agree with their strategy? That does a huge disservice to animals—not to mention the devoted men and women behind the organization.

That kind of sniping is petty, and cheap, and unbecoming of an animal lover.

You don’t have to support the HSUS. You don’t have to love them. But don’t spread lies and discredited nonsense because you don’t agree with how they operate.

“You’ll notice that the overwhelming majority of critics here are NOT shelters; they are breeders and ranchers with a financial interest in suppressing the HSUS.”

What utter horseshit is this? “We can’t address any of the actual concerns on the table, therefore, we’ll just go ahead and accuse anyone who disagrees with us of… something.” This makes just about as much sense as me saying “you’ll notice that the overwhelming majority of supporters here are NOT animal welfare advocates, but paid employees of the HSUS”. Oh… wait.

So to recap, the HSUS is facing federal RICO charges, violates their own charter documents, pocketed tens of millions of dollars in the name of Hurricane Katrina pets, the Vick dogs, and Fay, without bothering to pass along even a tiny fraction of the money raised, they trot out their pet dogfighter in luxury limousines, they advocate for the mass slaughter of pit bull and pit bull type dogs, they commit illegal acts of entry and impersonation of police officers, they stick local law enforcement with enormous bills, they watch animals be tortured for months without bothering to interfere, and they abandon animals without food or water the instant the cameras stop rolling… but of course, none of this is important because anyone who points it out must be a dog breeder???

This would be abso-friggen’-lutely hysterical if it weren’t for the fact that the money they divert from local humane societies could be saving millions of animals a year.

As far as “misleading” advertising… pick a f*kin commercial, dude. They’re ALL misleading. Try this one, for a start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Xh-tZrzwk it’s the first hit on a YouTube search. The entirety of the commercial shows sad, abused dogs and cats, mostly in settings that look a whole lot like animal shelters or vet offices. The commercial itself doesn’t say “we’ll send your money along to help these sad dogs and cats”, it just uses the imagery of dogs in shelters to great financial effect.

Note that there’s a single image of a “downer” cow flashed for about one second in the middle of the thing. Otherwise? PETS. Sad pets in shelter-type cages. I am quite sure, though, that you’ll very seriously assure us that “anyone could see that what we’re advertising here is the fact that we’ll spend nearly all of your donation on political lobbying and pension funds!” Ridiculous.

Oh, and dude? How about the ads which lovingly exploited Fay, the Vick dogs, and campaigned for funds for the Hurricane Katrina victims?

http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2009/12/04/hsus-fund-raising-pitch-raises-hackles/
Ads raising money for the Vick dogs while simultaneously campaigning in court to have them slaughtered?
Ads for Hurricane Katrina affected pets, over which your organization pocketed tens of millions of dollars, only avoiding a statewide investigation by bribing the governor with a shiny-new shelter building?

There’s three ad campaigns for you. I imagine this reality won’t stop you from insisting that you’ve “never seen evidence” of a misleading ad by the HSUS.

Locavore: You’re right, I don’t know that the people complaining about breeder legislation are breeders, although I have suspicions about one poster being a known CCF shill. I cannot prove that though, and I cheerfully withdraw the accusation.

I will stand by my assertion that I am NOT affiliated with HSUS in any way beyond being a donor and infrequent volunteer.

You raised a lot of issues in two posts; hopefully I’ve covered them all here.

The RICO suit is a retaliatory tactic by Ringling Bros., an unrepentant animal abuser who’s been previously sued and is looking for payback. Filing suit means nothing other than “I have a lawyer and can make vague accusations”, and Ringling/Feld are capitalizing enthusiastically on the negative publicity generated by the bogus charges. Even when they lose, it will have been a PR victory, because the filing of the suit will be all over the internet, and the dismissal will be ignored. Feld is challenging the circumstances surrounding a single witness out of many, Tom Rider. Claiming that Rider was “paid for his testimony” is pretty hilarious when you look up the man’s history.

I’m sure you’ll have an opposing view, but until the evidence is made public and a verdict is rendered, this is just “your opinion vs. my opinion”. I personally think it’s vindictive bullcrap from Ringling Bros., and it will be promptly dismissed. Time will tell.

Katrina funds have been fully accounted for. This is another lie CCF loves to perpetuate, that HSUS somehow “pocketed millions from Katrina”. HSUS has issued numerous statements pointing to the full accounting of funds. HSUS opponents blithely ignore the evidence that the numbers add up just fine.

Regarding Fay, I do know that HSUS paid $5000 towards Fay’s surgery and care. I’m not sure what the deal was concerning Gale Frey—I just don’t have the details of that situation, so I can’t really make an educated comment. I’ll investigate and educate myself on that, and get back to you.

As for Vick’s dogs, HSUS contributed substantially to the support and care before a verdict was returned, and the court ordered Vick to pay nearly $1,000,000.00 for the care of the dogs. In addition to that, HSUS pushed successfully for stronger penalties against dogfight operators, cracked down on dogfighting rings, and paid out rewards on information leading to the arrest of animal fighting rings.

The ad you referred to said: “It’s ambitious — but so are our plans for saving animals next year. We’ll not only continue to help bust dogfighting rings, but we’ll also take on the individuals and industries that profit from animal suffering — from people who club baby seals to death, to those who confine animals in factory farms, to those who abuse dogs in puppy mills.”

It was very clear that this money would be used to support an array of anti-cruelty efforts, but folks just didn’t read the whole ad. That’s not the fault of the HSUS.

The Vick affair was contentious, and I personally do not agree with how HSUS handled it. But in my opinion, it was one bad call among hundreds of thousands of good calls.

Now, how was the Wendy Malick ad deceptive?? “They can’t speak up against animal abuse, but you can. For just $19 a month, you can join the HSUS in our fight to eliminate animal abuse everywhere.” ”...or visit us online to fight animal cruelty with your donation.” Every aspect of that ad hammers home HSUS is trying to stop animal abuse and cruelty. The word ‘shelter’ is not mentioned ONCE. Are you really upset because the animals they showed are in cages, and they didn’t show enough farm animals?

I stand by my statement that the ads are not deceptive. I would not have assumed this was a shelter operation, but then, I’m a cautious consumer by nature. Maybe the typical viewer is more prone to jumping to conclusions.

And your claim that “half of your donation goes to political lobbying and pension funds” is a blatant lie. Administrative expenses accounted for 4.2% of HSUS expenditures in the most recent CharityNavigator analysis. Program expenses were 71.4%, and fundraising expenses were 24.2%. ASPCA’s figures are comparable, and they also received the second-best ranking from CharityNavigator. The Red Cross expended 4.4% on administrative expenses. They also received the 3-star rating.

Those are FACTS, documented by respected, independent non-partisan watchdogs. Real watchdogs, not corporate-funded astroturf groups.

Where did you get your incorrect 50% estimate?

JohnDopp – no, I am not a CCF shill as you’d like to believe, I’m a concerned citizen who doesn’t buy into the lies of the HSUS. What exactly is YOUR title at the HSUS?

“The RICO suit is a retaliatory tactic by Ringling Bros., an unrepentant animal abuser who’s been previously sued and is looking for payback. Filing suit means nothing other than “I have a lawyer and can make vague accusations”, and Ringling/Feld are capitalizing enthusiastically on the negative publicity generated by the bogus charges. Even when they lose, it will have been a PR victory, because the filing of the suit will be all over the internet, and the dismissal will be ignored. ”

This is HYSTERICAL. Of course it should make perfect sense, because this is precisely how the HSUS operates when filing trumped-up “cruelty” charges, then breezing out of town as soon as the cameras stop rolling. Who’s left holding the bag (and the feed bill?) you got it—local humane societies and local law enforcement. But of course, what the HSUS hopes people will remember about situations like the Denisa Malott case are the ultra-masturbatory HSUS press releases, right?

And ahh yes, I love that you refer to HSUS “statements” to “prove” that they’re spending the money that evaporated. Way to go there, Sherlock. Isn’t that just like the HSUS issuing statements from their own front groups to support the claims they make about the “good” they’re doing for local humane societies?

Love to see that you blame the general public for the fact that they don’t understand what their money is being spent on. Love it!

“As for Vick’s dogs, HSUS contributed substantially to the support and care before a verdict was returned, and the court ordered Vick to pay nearly $1,000,000.00 for the care of the dogs. In addition to that, HSUS pushed successfully for stronger penalties against dogfight operators, cracked down on dogfighting rings, and paid out rewards on information leading to the arrest of animal fighting rings.”

Your logic here actually has me laughing like a loon. So the fact that Vick paid the HSUS a million bucks is supposed to make me feel better that the HSUS ran ads to bilk people out of money to help support and care and rehabilitate these dogs, raised millions of dollars to do it, and SIMULTANEOUSLY campaigned in court to have these dogs SLAUGHTERED? Hilarious! The group that purports to “work to stop cruelty everywhere” actively supports and promotes BSL, advocates the wholesale slaughter of healthy, temperamentally sound dogs, and PUBLICLY OPPOSES the No Kill shelter movement. You wanna guess why that is? For the same reason that Wayne Pacelle colluded with the AKC to sink legislation that would have actually done something useful to curb puppy mills. The HSUS doesn’t really want to end puppy milling. They just want to keep a good show going of high-profile “raids”, so that they can keep racking up endless profits from images of animal cruelty.

About Fay—read the link I provided, big guy. The HSUS only shelled out the five grand AFTER people got rightfully upset that they were racking in piles of cash by exploiting her photographs. You get that? They ONLY paid out AFTER it went public that they were using her photos to raise funds without any involvement or support.

“The word ‘shelter’ is not mentioned ONCE. Are you really upset because the animals they showed are in cages, and they didn’t show enough farm animals?”

Just as I thought—you’re being deliberately obtuse, as though showing photos of dogs in shelters isn’t going to lead the casual observer to believe that it’s a commercial raising money to help dogs in shelters. Hilarious! As though flashing a single, one second image of a farm animal behind the statement “we fight animal cruelty everywhere!” is enough to counter the other, oh, let’s say 99% of the images in the ad. This is like showing a commercial full of images of salads and veggies and lean meats with a line that says “we serve healthy food” over a one-second flash of a corndog… then looking all doe-eyed and innocent when people get mad when it turns out you’re selling shitty food made of pig anuses behind the scenes.

You’re right that half of the donation was a low estimate. I got it from the HSUS’s own legally filed tax returns. Those are FACTS, documented by the HSUS themselves. I know it’s uncomfortable to face that truth, but hey—you can’t win ‘em all.

By the way? The ASPCA is also infamous for murdering healthy, temperamentally sound dogs when rescue options were available. Aligning yourself with them is not helping your case.

When the Red Cross collected money for the families of 9/11 their decision to use the money for the “long-term plans for an (their) organization” it had the public in a rage. (http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/11/06/rec.charity.hearing) People wanted their donations to be used for where it was intended. Heads rolled and jobs were lost. HSUS does this kind of thing all the time. Campaigns for Katrina, the dog Faye, Michael Vick’s dogs come to mind the quickest, I’m sure there’s more. Do you really believe people who watch their doggie ads know their money is going to anything and everything but shelters? Do they even have/use a Charter? HSUS sure has accumulated a LOT of money to play with. Shouldn’t someone be watching?.

When a person is truely for the cause of animal welfare or any charity, they should start by fully researching the area of their home and community and put their $$$, their volunteerism, and their watchfulness there first.
Then keep and eye on the big picture nationally. Some local and national society’s or clubs will have a hidden agenda and will use their money for purposes other than the statement issued at collection. For example many city councils move money without the citizens “careing.” This money switching happens often in local and small clubs and organizations with “sleeping” membership so why should it not happen in a national one.
We must be diligent in saving our rights and the rights to the proper and just husbandry of the animal kingdom. Animal Welfare is good and just.
Crafty people with an agenda count on people NOT reading between the lines of the posturing and the action. It is up to us to demand truth in the spending of our money and in the declaration of the intent of the organization. A self serving organization can write ads and tell you what you want to hear and champion a cause and then bait and switch the Money. It is our job as consumers and advocates to protect our donations of time and money so that both go truely to causes we intend.
By HSUS’ own 501 c3 public tax records they spent less than 1% of their income on $ to local shelters that hands on care for animals. Their advertising implies otherwise. I would advise everyone to research HSUS facts on HumanWatch.org . HSUS does not practice truth in advertising. If you are secure in your personal beliefs platform then you should be open to discussion and be able to do real research and do so with facts and support being discriminating. Facts should referenced on a site, giving proof outside your own organization. In this case 501.c3 $ facts are public and they are under law to publish their tax return publicly. All facts concerning all charities ( and politicians) are sorely in need of factual research outside of their website and HumaneWatch.org gives many links for fact checking HSUS including links to HSUS itself.
Where animals (and children too) are concerned we can not afford to waste time and money that is not directly helping the cause we intend.

JohnDopp: after thinking over your position here, I have no illusions whatsoever that you have any interest whatsoever in truly exploring this situation. The fact that you’re still an ardent PETA supporter, despite very public “outings” of their nauseating hypocrisy (like so: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-35783-Atlanta-Animal-Welfare-Examiner~y2010m6d18-Still-killing-after-all-these-years--five-years-after-PETAs-Piggly-Wiggly-dumpster-incident?cid=sharing_facebook%3A35783 ) tells me that you’re a true believer; a fanatic of that sort can never allow themselves to see behind the curtain.
I’d like to hope that I’m wrong about this, and maybe you will honestly consider what we’re saying here, but I doubt it.

How you can chastise people with comments like “You don’t have to support [them]. You don’t have to love them. But don’t spread lies and discredited nonsense because you don’t agree with how they operate.”—is absolutely mind-boggling to me. I have to hope that you are saying this with some sense of irony… right? Right?! Because spreading lies and discredited nonsense about people when the HSUS doesn’t like how they operate is precisely how the HSUS accomplishes the majority of the scams they pull. Oppose horse husbandry? Let’s just have our “Director of Equine Protection (A DVM who damn well knows better)” spread lies to the general public about how horse breeders operate! : http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/sports/article_ee11b80c-7c29-11df-9fd7-001cc4c002e0.html

Want to get people to support your ridiculously redundant and absolutely unnecessary agriculture laws? Lie to ‘em, and tell them the local farm bureau supports it! http://www.timesreporter.com/newsnow/x1501905141/Threats-alleged

Want to keep rolling in enormous piles of donor cash? Lie about how dog breeders operate! Of course, we can’t stop the actual puppy mills themselves… who else would you “raid” for fabulous media ops? Nothing tugs the heartstrings more than sad puppies in puppy mill conditions. Whatever the HSUS does, they aren’t working to stop puppy mills… just “raid” ‘em occasionally for photo ops and factory fundraising opportunities galore. http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/3TroubleHSUS.html

AKC CUT LETTER’S DEMANDS
“Congressional and Senatorial aides who spoke to ANIMAL PEOPLE—some of whom called before their offices were asked for comment—confirmed that this is exactly what happened: after 124 other legislators had already signed on, Santorum huddled with AKC lobbyist Jim Holt, AVMA lobbyist Pamela Abney, and Pacelle, deleting the requests that cage sizes be increased, water be always available, tethering be banned, temperature guidelines be re-examined, flooring follow specific material requirements, and the number of times an animal may be bred be restricted, and putting the onus on the USDA to enforce the existing regulations that it had already found to be unenforceable.”

The HSUS is disgusting. I know you can’t see this—neither could Jim Jones’s followers see the trouble brewing in the KoolAid vat—but at least those of us who truly DO care about animal welfare activism and bettering the condition of animals everywhere can be heartened that the general public is finally becoming aware that the HSUS is no better for helping animals in distress than is PETA with their corpse-filled Piggly Wiggly dumpsters.

ETA: Anyone still need more info on the HSUS’s deceptive fundraising practices, and their public spread of fear and hysteria over “pit bull” type dogs? Anyone still need more info on how the HSUS advocates for the mass slaughter of innocents while reaping enormous sums of money on their “behalf”? http://www.examiner.com/x-15464-Kansas-City-Pets-Examiner~y2009m7d18-Why-is-anyone-listening-to-the-Humane-Society-of-the-United-States-anymore…JohnDopp won’t care about Wayne Pacelle campaigning for the murder of innocent puppies, but someone else out there might. I sure do.

In response to a few other answers, The HSUS actually opposes breed-specific legislation:
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/facts/statement_dangerous_dogs_breed_specific_legislation.html

@locavore Your link about the HSUS “supporting BSL” was written by an idiot. A shelter putting down dogs bred for fighting isn’t pro-BSL… it’s just being responsible. At no time does this article say that the HSUS said “We are putting down these dogs because they are pit bulls.” They said they weren’t adopting out the dogs because they were bred for fighting.

I would hope the HSUS wouldn’t adopt out dogs they knew were bred for fighting. That would be unforgivable.

@stemnyjones
hsus would not adopt out dogs because they do not have shelters nor collection or adoption. Their latest publically published tax return showed that they gave only less than .5% of their funds to rescue shelters. They say on their own site that they are not associated with any rescues or shelters. They seem to use animal abuse sympathy to make a nice retirement program for their exectutives, shown on their tax return.
Everyone should give their money locally to organizations they know and that produce concrete results from the donations.

@MaryW I don’t donate to HSUS, because I don’t have money to be giving to other people like that. I donate my free time to the local Animal Control shelter where I volunteer, and Monday when I cash my student loan I plan on going down and adopting a couple of cats who have been there for too long and need a home :)

The group behind the anti-PETA crap is the same group trying to smear HSUS

http://brianpellis.blogspot.com/2010/11/humanewatch-comes-to-lincoln.html?spref=fb

@bpe3812 Well, that was definitely an interesting read. Thanks for that.

But as far as PETA goes, I don’t need an outside group to convince me that PETA is insane. Their own website convinces me enough.