Category: Animal Rights

HSUS Petition Fails to Fracture Alliances

On June 30, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected a petition by the Humane Society of the United States concerning the listing of gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act. The petition requested that the status of gray wolves across the contiguous United States be changed from “endangered” to “threatened,” excepting Mexican wolves in the Southwest, which would remain as endangered status. HSUS couched this request under the guise of attempting to appear moderate and in search of compromise. Neither is true and the Sportsmen’s Alliance applauds USFWS for seeing it as an unwarranted smokescreen.

“This petition was nothing less than the radical HSUS trying to push its agenda on yet another wildlife management issue that they are in no way qualified to deal with,” said Nick Pinizzotto, Sportsmen’s Alliance president and CEO. “There is no room for misguided emotion when it comes to managing wildlife, and USFW clearly agrees.”

By proposing to list wolves as threatened, HSUS hoped to split the powerful alliance of sportsmen, agriculture and wildlife professionals. Under a “threatened” listing, more leeway exists to manage wolves preying on livestock. However, this “compromise” is not based on facts or science, and would, as a practical matter, would prevent proper wolf management that includes hunting.

With wolf populations rapidly expanding, and no other scientific reason to keep gray wolves listed under the protections of the Endangered Species Act, USFWS correctly rejected the petition. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

MUCC Applauds U.S. Fish and Wildlife Decision Not to Downlist Wolves

USFWS Rejects HSUS Petition to List Wolves as ‘Threatened.’

LANSING—Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) praised the decision by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to reject a petition seeking to list gray wolves in the United States as “threatened,” under the Endangered Species Act. The USFWS announced its findings yesterday.

“This decision by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists confirms that wolves are biologically recovered in the western Great Lakes and that state management plans, like Michigan’s, are sufficient to sustain the wolf population and are the appropriate way to manage wolves in the region,” said Amy Trotter, deputy director for Michigan United Conservation Clubs and a member of the Michigan Wolf Forum.

The petition was filed by the Humane Society of the United States and other anti-hunting organizations including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Fund for Animals, the Detroit Zoological Society, National Wolfwatcher Coalition and the Detroit Audubon Society. It requested that gray wolves in the conterminous United States, except for the Mexican Gray Wolf, be listed as “threatened,” which would preclude any state from holding a hunting season for them for any reason. The USFWS ruled that the petition lacked “substantial scientific or commercial information” necessary to consider it any further.

Among its findings, the USFWS stated that wolves in the conterminous U.S., which are made up of multiple distinct population segments of gray wolf, are not likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future due to any of the five listing factors, and that HSUS’s claim that they have to be present in all unoccupied suitable habitat to be considered recovered is “based on a misinterpretation of the Act.”

The USFWS further stated that state management plans are sufficient to sustain wolf populations in recovered areas, including where hunting and trapping is allowed. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

HSUS Vows to Expose Internet Hunting…Even Though It Doesn’t Exist

This from www.humanewatch.org…

We recently obtained a fundraising letter from the Humane Society of the United States that really piqued our interest—and not just to mock the low-grade socks that were included. In the letter, the Humane Society of the United States claimed that donations help the organization “investigate and expose brutal industries” including “internet hunting.”

Huh? Come again? We have some familiarity with hunting terminology, but this one mystified us. Since HSUS is asking for money to help “investigate” internet hunting (while only spending 1% of its budget on funding local shelters), we thought we would do some investigating of our own to learn more about this industry. Here’s what we learned about Internet hunting: Read more

Animal Rights

How Does HSUS Use Donations? Cheap Socks, For One.

This from www.HumaneWatch.org…

We frequently point out that the misnamed “Humane Society” of the United States gives a minuscule percentage of the money it raises to local pet shelters. But this begs the question: If HSUS isn’t spending money on shelters, where are its donors’ dollars going? Below is a breakdown of HSUS’s expenditures from its most recent financial statement.

Dollar_Graphic1 (2)

Employee compensation is the group’s single greatest expense. It’s not cheap to pay the salary of the $4 million man as well as HSUS’s army of lawyers and PETA alumni. Also noteworthy is the money HSUS is spending on “education.” Education can be a very misleading term in the charity world.

For instance, we recently received mail from HSUS that came with a free pair of socks (another thing the group squanders donor money on). The socks featured dogs and cats on them, which we thought was ironic since these are the same animals HSUS deprives of funding at local shelters. The socks came with two sheets of paper discussing HSUS’s agenda, and an envelope asking for a financial contribution. Read more

Animal Rights

HSUS Pleads, Lies to Florida Gov. to Stop Bear Hunt

A surprise to nobody, the Humane Society of the United States is protesting the state of Florida’s consideration of managing their ever-increasing black bear population. In a June 10 press conference, HSUS mouthpiece Laura Bevan spread false information and called on the governor to interfere with biologist recommendations and to stop any future bear hunt. As is typical HSUS style, you can bet the press-conference circus was just the first step in perverting state and federal systems to advance their radical agenda.

With human-bear encounters, road kill and other issues increasing throughout many regions of Florida, the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has proposed a one-week hunting season in October for the bruins.

And, never missing an opportunity to stop hunting under any and all circumstances, HSUS used emotion and grandstanding to get the media’s attention in hopes of appearing relevant in any science-based discussion of hunting. The words they uttered, however, betray any semblance of knowledge on the subject. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting

Rhino Hunter Culls Problem Bull in Namibia

DALLAS – Seventeen months after DSC’s controversial black rhino auction, the actual hunt ended in Namibia this week when the hunter killed a bull that scientists had identified as an impediment to the survival of its own species.

The old, aggressive, non-breeding rhino was known to charge and kill breeding bulls, as well as cows and calves, decreasing productivity and increasing mortality of the herd.

Removing this specimen will benefit rhinos both biologically and financially.

The $350,000 paid for the permit will go to Namibia to help fund law enforcement efforts to curtail indiscriminate killing by rhino poachers. (Note: It’s unclear whether the funding could be stopped by a recent lawsuit filed by animal-rights group PETA.) Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting

PETA Lawsuit Imperils Rhino Populations

DALLAS – Animal-rights group PETA is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop a management hunt that scientists say would benefit endangered rhino populations both biologically and financially.

Against a torrent of death threats, DSC auctioned the hunt in 2014 on behalf of the Namibia Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The auction generated a record $350,000. All proceeds were earmarked for rhino conservation in the African nation, and held in escrow pending U.S. approval of an import permit that would allow the hunter to bring home the taxidermy from his hunt. That permit was recently approved after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists confirmed the benefits to rhino populations.

Basically, the hunt would be used to remove an older, non-breeding, aggressive black rhino bull known to decrease productivity and increase mortality of its herd, while the $350,000 would fund law enforcement efforts to thwart indiscriminate rhino killing by poachers.

PETA’s lawsuit could postpone the hunt as well as the funding for rhino protection.

“Next time you hear about poachers slaughtering rhinos in Namibia, thank PETA,” said Ben Carter, executive director of DSC. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

NSSF Recognizes Sen. Inhofe for Shining Light On Anti-Hunting Group’s Misleading Fundraising Tactics

WASHINGTON, D.C-The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, this week recognized Sen. James M. (Jim) Inhofe (R-Okla.) for his success in bringing attention to the misleading fundraising tactics of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

During a recent U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee hearing on the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015, Senator Inhofe questioned HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle about the organization’s fundraising activity, citing the group’s animal-focused advertising. Senator Inhofe pointed out that although HSUS raised $1.7 million from Oklahomans from 2011 to 2013, largely through ads implying the funds raised would be used to help animals displaced by tornadoes, legitimate Oklahoma animal welfare organizations received only $110,000.

“Sen. Inhofe deserves great credit for taking the opportunity afforded by the hearing on the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act to point out that HSUS clearly has a different agenda than they want the public to understand,” said Larry, Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “While HSUS masquerades as an animal welfare organization, the group has as its ultimate goal the ending of all hunting nationwide. HSUS opposition to the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act is only one example. This radical group takes any opportunity it can find at the federal and state levels to diminish Americans’ opportunities to exercise their hunting traditions. We thank Sen. Inhofe for working to expose the ongoing duplicity of the Humane Society of the United States.”

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

New Poll: HSUS Continues to Dupe Donors

GW:  A corrected version of a previous post is here from humanewatch.org

CapitolSouth6Evidence continues to mount that the Humane Society of the United States is betraying its donors’ trust. Last week we reported that HSUS internal polls showed the vast majority of HSUS donors believe their contributions to HSUS are used to fund local animal shelters. Now this week, new polling data reinforces our assertion that HSUS is knowingly misleading its donors.

We recently asked 1,051 HSUS donors why they support the Humane Society of the United States, and the results of the survey are very revealing. Over 80% of the HSUS donors said that the primary reason they support HSUS is “to help HSUS care for homeless dogs and cats in animal shelters” and to “reduce the number of animals put down in shelters each year.” We then asked the logical follow up question—“were you aware that HSUS gives just 1 percent of its budget to local pet shelters?” Over 87% of HSUS donors answered “No.” Also, HSUS does not run a single pet shelter of its own and is not affiliated with similarly named local humane societies.

Download the survey in PDF format here.

And that’s not all. After learning that HSUS only gives 1% of its budget to local animal shelters, 75% of HSUS donors are less likely to support HSUS. Lastly, 95% of HSUS donors agreed that HSUS should be required to disclose the fact that is not affiliated with local humane societies in its advertising.

Read more

Animal Rights

New Poll: HSUS Continues to Dupe Donors

CapitolSouth6Evidence continues to mount that the Humane Society of the United States is betraying its donors’ trust. Last week we reported that HSUS internal polls showed the vast majority of HSUS donors believe their contributions to HSUS are used to fund local animal shelters. Now this week, new polling data reinforces our assertion that HSUS is knowingly misleading its donors.

We recently asked 1,051 HSUS donors why they support the Humane Society of the United States, and the results of the survey are very revealing. Over 80% of the HSUS donors said that the primary reason they support HSUS is “to help HSUS care for homeless dogs and cats in animal shelters” and to “reduce the number of animals put down in shelters each year.” We then asked the logical follow up question—“were you aware that HSUS gives just 1 percent of its budget to local pet shelters?” Over 87% of HSUS donors answered “No.” Also, HSUS does not run a single pet shelter of its own and is not affiliated with similarly named local humane societies.

Download the survey in PDF format here.

And that’s not all. After learning that HSUS only gives 1% of its budget to local animal shelters, 75% of HSUS donors are less likely to support HSUS. Lastly, 95% of HSUS donors agreed that HSUS should be required to disclose the fact that is not affiliated with local humane societies in its advertising.

The results of our survey are disappointing, but not surprising. Based on the fact that 75% of our survey respondents are now less likely to support HSUS, it is clear that HSUS’s financial support is almost entirely dependent on its ability to continue this hoax. HSUS is in no rush to clear up the widespread confusion it has with its donors. That’s why we’re here.

Survey Results Below:

Read more

Animal Rights
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