Were Donor Millions Squandered in “Groundless” Lawsuit?
Donors to animal rights organizations like the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) need to think hard about how their charitable dollars can best be spent to improve the welfare of animals. Recent events suggest that local animal welfare shelters might put those dollars to better use for animals than does the HSUS and their cohorts. Driven by the fanatical certainty of their ideology, HSUS and others risked ethical misconduct and wound up losing millions of dollars in a frivolous and groundless lawsuit.
HSUS vs. Circus
A lawsuit brought in 2000 by HSUS and other animal rights organizations against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus turned out to be so tainted that twenty-five million dollars have been paid by the plaintiffs to the circus owners in settlements. In 2012 the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) paid $9.3 million in a settlement for its part in the false claims made. As the lawsuit fell apart, other animal rights groups abandoned the action.
In May of this year, HSUS and others paid another $15.7 million in settlement fees as part of the same failed lawsuit, bluntly described by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia as “groundless and unreasonable from its inception.”
Congress Bans Horse Slaughter…Again
The Congress passed, and the President signed the new budget, effectively banning horse slaughter once again by cutting funding for USDA inspections at horse slaughter facilities. Congress did this very same thing in 2006, an action which effectively closed all horse processing plants in the country. Much has happened between then and now. In 2011, […]
Not Stupid; Just Misled
A recent poll by the Opinion Research Corporation revealed that seventy-one percent of Americans believe that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an umbrella organization for local humane societies across the country. They’re wrong.
Further, sixty-eight percent believe that donations made to HSUS help to fund these humane shelters. They’re ninety-nine percent wrong.
HSUS, according to IRS filings, gives one percent of their budget to animal shelters, according to JoAnn Alumbaugh’s article in Dairy Herd Network.
Are all these people wrong because they are stupid, or are they being misled?
Just Be Honest
According to a recent national poll, seventy-one percent of Americans believe that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an umbrella organization of their local pet shelters. This, according to an article by Rick Berman of the Center for Consumer Freedom published in MyCentralJersey.com, a Gannett Company publication.
HSUS is not, in fact, associated with your local humane shelter. But certainly due in part to this misunderstanding, HSUS raised $131 million last year. I’m not about to debate here the merits or shortcomings of HSUS. That has been done, some would say, ad nauseum. But I do fault HSUS for not setting the record straight.
Six US Congressmen Seek Probe of HSUS Tax Status
Six Republican members of Congress have written to Inspector General Eric Thorson claiming that the level of lobbying activity conducted by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is incompatible with HSUS’s 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Previous letters written to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman and Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner have been unproductive. […]
Federal Judge Protects Hunting on Public Lands
Sportsmen won a major courtroom battle when Federal Judge James S. Gwin in Columbus, Ohio denied a lawsuit seeking to close hunting on fifty refuges within the National Wildlife Refuge System. The lawsuit was filed in 2003 by the Fund for Animals, which later merged with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The […]
Is HSUS Subverting Children?
HSUS has been publishing a newsletter for school children—KIND News—since 1983. It’s printed for three levels of readership: kindergarten through second grade, third through fourth, and fifth through sixth. HSUS President Wayne Pacelle claims that the newsletter focuses on non-controversial subjects. “We really believe in teaching kids about being good to animals and kindness as […]
Right-to-Hunt Prop 109 Defeated in Arizona
The ballot measure to make hunting a constitutional right was defeated by Arizona voters. Poor communication among pro-hunting groups, confusing language in the legislation, and large expenditures by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) opposing the bill were cited as reasons for the measure’s defeat. A single cash donation by HSUS of $250,000 […]
Iowa Invests in Plan for the Humane Euthanasia of Horses for Animal Consumption
On July 15 an Iowa state economic development board agreed to co-fund a feasibility study by a start-up company seeking a humane way to euthanize and process horses for consumption by animals. Responsible Transportation, LLC wants to develop innovative methods to collect and euthanize horses with no charge to the horse owners.