7 Things You Didn't Know About HSUS

[Foofy_Miru]

Taken from: http://blog.beefmagazine.com/beef_daily/2009/02/05/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-hsus/, by Amanda Nolz


It’s no secret that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) isn’t the organization it pretends to be. Instead of using its money to save pets and care for animals, HSUS utilizes their monetary gifts in their work as a lobbying giant. Their main goal is to eliminate animal agriculture in this country, and they are finding success by passing legislation that makes food production more costly than ever before. I was sent this Center for Consumer Freedom article titled, “7 Things You Didn’t Know About HSUS,” and I thought I would share it with all of you. Undoubtedly, it will be some good coffee talk at the local elevator or cafe this weekend.


“7 Things You Didn’t Know About HSUS”

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. 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’s 2007 dogfighting 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) 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.

5) 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.”

6) 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.

7) 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.  

[Shanna66]

to me the only difference between them and peta are their names. the HSUS is just as nuts as peta and really seems to hate the reptile trade and likes to pray on the publics ignorance of the hobby to sway opinions and votes.

its people like them, peta, and alf that make me proud to eat meat  

[Foofy_Miru]

Shanna66

to me the only difference between them and peta are their names. the HSUS is just as nuts as peta and really seems to hate the reptile trade and likes to pray on the publics ignorance of the hobby to sway opinions and votes.

its people like them, peta, and alf that make me proud to eat meat

They really are essentially identical, aren't they? Other than the fact that HSUS is more subtle and conniving... I'd bet you know several people who know PETA is BS, but still give money to HSUS thinking they're helping all the needy puppies and kitties in shelters. =P

What's "ALF"? I've never heard of it.. xP  

[Shanna66]

animal liberation front

alf are the ones who break into places and set animals free, sometimes even burn buildings. they are more nuts than peta and dont even try to hide it as much as peta does

plus they are 100% agaisnt hunting even if its for population control or to get rid of an invasive species thats destroying natural wildlife  

[Foofy_Miru]

Shanna66

animal liberation front

alf are the ones who break into places and set animals free, sometimes even burn buildings. they are more nuts than peta and dont even try to hide it as much as peta does

plus they are 100% agaisnt hunting even if its for population control or to get rid of an invasive species thats destroying natural wildlife

Ah. I see. They sound rather psychotic. xP  

[Shanna66]

Foofy_Miru

Shanna66

animal liberation front

alf are the ones who break into places and set animals free, sometimes even burn buildings. they are more nuts than peta and dont even try to hide it as much as peta does

plus they are 100% agaisnt hunting even if its for population control or to get rid of an invasive species thats destroying natural wildlife

Ah. I see. They sound rather psychotic. xP

yes they are. they are also against keeping any sort of caged animal. they have a website and i have emailed them before and they seemed polite enough but still, their ideals make them crazy  

[Foofy_Miru]

Shanna66

Foofy_Miru

Shanna66

animal liberation front

alf are the ones who break into places and set animals free, sometimes even burn buildings. they are more nuts than peta and dont even try to hide it as much as peta does

plus they are 100% agaisnt hunting even if its for population control or to get rid of an invasive species thats destroying natural wildlife

Ah. I see. They sound rather psychotic. xP

yes they are. they are also against keeping any sort of caged animal. they have a website and i have emailed them before and they seemed polite enough but still, their ideals make them crazy

Bleh. Where are their political focuses? I know HSUS and PETA are working on getting reptiles banned, and I'm sure a whole hell of a lot more than that (only I don't pay attention to "animal rights" legislation other than the python/boa bans). What about ALF?  

[Shanna66]

Foofy_Miru

Shanna66

Foofy_Miru

Shanna66

animal liberation front

alf are the ones who break into places and set animals free, sometimes even burn buildings. they are more nuts than peta and dont even try to hide it as much as peta does

plus they are 100% agaisnt hunting even if its for population control or to get rid of an invasive species thats destroying natural wildlife

Ah. I see. They sound rather psychotic. xP

yes they are. they are also against keeping any sort of caged animal. they have a website and i have emailed them before and they seemed polite enough but still, their ideals make them crazy

Bleh. Where are their political focuses? I know HSUS and PETA are working on getting reptiles banned, and I'm sure a whole hell of a lot more than that (only I don't pay attention to "animal rights" legislation other than the python/boa bans). What about ALF?

im not sure, they probably want the world to be pet free someday like peta but im not sure