Category: Animal Rights

HSUS Gets a D from Charity Watch

HSUS’s Report Card: D

Here is the latest charity rating guide from CharityWatch (formerly the American Institute of Philanthropy). And once again, the Humane Society of the United States—a national animal-rights group, not a pet-sheltering organization—gets a “D” grade.

CharityWatch finds that HSUS spends as little as 49 percent of its budget on actual program costs, meaning the rest is overhead costs (salaries, pension plans, etc.). CharityWatch also determines that it takes HSUS up to 49 cents to raise every dollar.

For an organization that raises over $130 million a year, that adds up to considerable money spent on direct mail and telemarketers. In fact, HSUS spent almost $50 million on fundraising in 2010. All those tote bags and other doodads are tying up a lot of dollars that could be helping shelter pets. (Click the picture to enlarge.)

This is the fifth straight CharityWatch report in which HSUS has received a “D” grade, though it probably deserves an “F” for honesty given how much HSUS misleads Americans. That’s over a year and counting. Does anybody at HSUS care? Or are they satisfied with blowing doggie dollars, so long as it keeps the cash flowing?

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Was HSUS Involved in a Pay-to-Play Racket?

When we formally launched HumaneWatch in February 2010, one of the first things we reported on was that the Humane Society of the United States and two of its lawyers were defendants in a federal racketeering lawsuit. There are some key updates that you should be aware of.

First, some background: A decade ago, animal-rights groups sued Feld Entertainment (parent company of the Ringling Brothers circus) alleging elephant abuse in violation of the Endangered Species Act. That lawsuit was dismissed by a US District Court, and a US Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal the other week.

The key witness in that case was a former circus employee named Tom Rider. The case dragged through the court system for years before a federal judge ruled in December 2009 that the animal-rights plaintiffs, which included the Fund for Animals (which merged with HSUS in 2004/2005), had engaged in essentially a pay-to-play scheme with Rider, who received at least $190,000 as the lawsuit made its way through the courts (his “sole source of income,” according to the ruling). Here’s part of the ruling (Markarian is an HSUS executive who used to run the Fund for Animals): Read more

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Judge Accepts RMEF Motion in Oregon Wolf Lawsuit

MISSOULA, Mont.-The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has learned that an Oregon court has agreed to consider in its final ruling the RMEF motion outlining the need for science-based, state regulated wolf management. The court is reviewing the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s authority to manage and control wolves as part of a state-approved plan. Read more

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Animal Rights and Wrongs

While hunting can have unexpected dangers such as tripping over roots and rocks as you trek, the real dangers facing hunters these days is the animal rights lobby who are trying to stop hunting and trapping all together. While you’ve been hunting and scouting for deer or other animals, these groups have been scheming, developing, and working to pass legislation, and to win political favors and public opinion, to prevent you from ever hunting again. Some of the most dangerous groups are listed below. Read more

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Private Citizen Wins Case Against Center for Biological Diversity

The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) is no novice when it comes to lawsuits. The CBD has filed numerous lawsuits in the past decade against the federal government and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over perceived endangered species. From tiny fish to frogs to polar bears, if it’s alive, it’s possibly included in a CBD lawsuit.  This tactic does sometimes backfire.

Seems when the CBD decided to sue the U.S. Forest Service about cattle grazing allotments in 2002, it accused Arizona ranchers Jim and Sue Chilton of stewardship abuse. Read more

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RMEF Moves to Fight Wolf Lawsuit

MISSOULA, Mont.-The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is seeking to defend the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s authority to manage and control wolves as part of a state-approved plan.

Oregon wildlife officials recently announced the agency would use lethal means to stop two wolves known to habitually kill livestock in Wallowa County. Animal rights and wolf activist groups sued the state, claiming that any loss of wolves could cause “irreparable harm” to wolf recovery in Oregon. That argument was rejected in a previous lawsuit heard in a Montana federal court. But an Oregon court granted a temporary stay to stop the search for the two wolves until the legal merits of the case can be considered.  Read more

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Congress Considers Testimony on Lawsuit Reform

The abuses by animal-rights groups and environmentalists have gone on far too long.  It’s good to see that this proposed legislation is moving forward…

MISSOULA, Mont.-In testimony before a Congressional committee, Boone and Crockett Club president emeritus Lowell E. Baier told committee members that H.R. 1996, the Government Savings Litigation Act, will help America’s fish, wildlife and natural resources agencies do their jobs.

The legislation will benefit conservation and sound wildlife management by bringing fairness, transparency and accountability to the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). Read more

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