HSUS: Pennies for Pets

PennyShavingsThis from humanewatch.org…

After years of examining how the deceptively named Humane Society of the United States spends the more than $100 million it receives from hardworking Americans ever year, very little surprises us anymore. However, a recently-released “Pennies for Charity” report of telemarketing by professional fundraisers made us do a double take. HSUS actually lost $169,922 annoying Americans with telemarketing calls.

The annual report, which is issued by the New York Attorney General, shows that HSUS spent more than it received in three out of five (60%) of its telemarketing campaigns in 2014. By comparison, only 17% of the total campaigns were in the red for other organizations. In one instance, HSUS paid $69,501 for a campaign that raised $13,403 – a net return of a whopping negative 518%. See the table below for the full results.

Solicitor Gross Net to HSUS % to HSUS
Donor Care Center, Inc.  $232,423  -$65,955 -28%
Donor Services Group, LLC  $966,851  -$282,781 -29%
Fine Line Communications, Ltd.  $258,371  $248,073 96%
InfoCision, Inc.  $41,915  $243 1%
PDR II, Inc.  $13,403  -$69,501 -519%
TOTAL:  $1,512,963  -$169,922 -11%

 

We’ve previously written about two HSUS fundraisers that are listed in the Pennies for Charity report: Donor Services Group and Donor Care Center. Another firm HSUS pays to solicit funds was exposed in a report by Bloomberg Business titled “Charities Deceive Donors Unaware Money Goes to a Telemarketer.”

The Humane Society Legislative Fund, the HSUS’s lobbying arm, didn’t fare much better. It spent $14,000 more on telemarketing than it took in for the year. And HSUS has had similarly poor telemarketing results in Massachusetts and California.

Of course, deceiving donors and then spending their money inefficiently is nothing new for HSUS. It recently received a paltry C-minus grade from Charity Watch for high overhead costs, only gives about 1% of contributions to local pet shelters, and had a donor advisory issued against it.

Here’s the upshot: If HSUS is on the line, hang up.

Animal Rights

Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015

CSF’s President, Jeff Crane Testifies Before Congress  

March 12, 2015: Bill numbers change but the mission of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and its valued conservation partners does not. S.405, titled The Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015, was introduced on February 5, by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Members Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), with the bipartisan Senate CSC leadership as original co-sponsors. Senate CSC leaders for the 114th Congress include: Co-Chairs Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Vice-Chairs Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND).

 

“The Bipartisan Sportsman’s Act is not only an access bill, but also a way to promote economic growth in our country. Sportsmen and women across the country spend billions of dollars each year on outdoor activities. In Alaska alone there are more than 125,000 individuals who engage in hunting each year. This economic activity not only helps local communities but aids conservation efforts as well,” said Senator Murkowski (R-AK). “This commonsense, bipartisan legislation supports conservation efforts while also improving access to recreational hunting and fishing on federal lands.”

 

“This widely supported, bipartisan bill will open more areas to hunting and fishing and grow America’s thriving outdoor recreation economy,” said Senator Heinrich (D-NM). “This is what brings us together. This is the one thing that is still bipartisan, the love of passing these traditions on from generation to generation. We need to make this sportsmen’s package happen. We need to do it in this Congress. We need to show people across the country that Washington can do the right thing [for sportsmen and women].” Read more

Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Elk, Deer Research Honored by Boone and Crockett Club

MISSOULA, Mont. – A big-game research program in northeast Oregon is the recipient of the Boone and Crockett Club’s inaugural Conservation and Stewardship Award.

 

The Starkey Project, established in 1989 by the U.S. Forest Service, is one of the most comprehensive field research programs in history. Research trials in an enclosed 25,000-acre working landscape measure the effects of timber management, livestock grazing and recreation on elk and deer populations. Results help guide resource-management decisions across the West.

 

Boone and Crockett’s new award recognizes Starkey’s development of  “applied science” for effective, science-informed management.

 

“There is a significant difference between basic research and the applied research conducted at Starkey,” explained Tom Price, chairman of the Club’s Stewardship and Multiple Use Sharing Committee, which administers the award. “Most public and private lands are not like national parks. They are working landscapes where people and wildlife must co-exist. We need sound, applied science that tells us what is best for wildlife, people and the land under shared conditions, and that’s what the Starkey Project has been supplying for the past 25 years.” Read more

Wildlife

Ruger Auctions Raise $28,200 For YSSA

Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. presented a check for $28,200 to the Youth Shooting Sports Alliance (YSSA) to help promote the safe and responsible use of firearms. The donation represents the proceeds generated by Ruger firearms auctions held between September 24, 2014 and February 4, 2015 to support the YSSA mission.

Ruger initiated the auction program in 2010 to provide an opportunity for collectors and shooting sports enthusiasts to bid on and acquire rare, unusual, discontinued, or one-of-a-kind Ruger firearms and accessories. “We decided to clean out the attic and utilize these collectibles to bring additional traffic to our website” said Michael Fifer, CEO of Ruger. “We also decided to direct the proceeds from our auctions to advance the efforts of organizations like YSSA that work to preserve our American hunting and shooting heritage.” Read more

Firearms

Bushnell Trophy Cam™ Aggressor HD in Realtree Xtra®

COLUMBUS, Georgia – The new 14MP Bushnell® Trophy Cam Aggressor HD, available in Realtree Xtra®, provides the reliability and ruggedness you want and need in a game camera. The super-fast 0.2-second trigger speed, extended nighttime photo range and 1-year battery life ensure you won’t miss that critical photo revealing the buck of a lifetime. Add in 14MP high-definition images and 1080p HD video with audio, and the Aggressor HD provides maximum clarity.

The Aggressor HD is available in two Low-Glow IR models and two No-Glow models with Black LEDs that are invisible to game and other hunters.

Features & Benefits

  • 0.2 second trigger speed to capture moving game
  • < 1 second recovery so you don’t miss the next shot
  • Improved nighttime images
  • Eight AA battery case provides up to one year of operation
  • 1080p HD video with sound
  • 14MP images
Hunting, Wildlife

Browning to Add Cynergy 20 Gauge to Micro Midas Line in 2015

For 2015, Browning introduces a new Cynergy Micro Midas 20 gauge over and under shotgun. Weighing a mere 6 lbs. and having a compact 13″ length of pull, the new Cynergy Micro Midas promises to give smaller shooters a high quality shotgun that is easier to handle.

The Cynergy features Monolock Hinge technology that gives the Cynergy the lowest profile receiver in the industry. This ingenious hinge system pivots on significantly more surface area than other over and under shotguns with low profile receivers. In addition to strength, the low profile receiver design aids in controlling recoil. Read more

Firearms

Remington Defense Products Now Available Commercially

Madison, N.C. –Remington Arms Company, LLC (“Remington”) today announced that it is making available, effective immediately, certain Remington Defense products for the civilian consumer market.

Remington’s Defense Division is comprised of a highly-specialized team of former U.S. Special Operations personnel whose mission is to design and build the best firearm-based weapon systems in the world, and to sell those weapon systems to the U.S. Military, law enforcement agencies in the United States, and allied nations around the world. The Division has its own dedicated team of research and development engineers as well as its own dedicated unit of manufacturing personnel who do not perform any work at Remington except for work in support of the Division. This means that the firearms manufactured by the Division embody the utmost level of quality as well as the most advanced technology available today. Never before have firearms manufactured by the Division been sold on the consumer market.

Initial offerings from Remington Defense available to consumers will include the following models – R4GP (Remington Gas Piston) Carbine, R4 Carbine, PSR/MSR (Modular Sniper Rifles) and M2010 (US ARMY replacement for the M24 Sniper Rifle). Read more

Firearms

Potterfields Donate $100K to NRA After M855/SS109 Decision and Issue Two Twenty Three Challenge

Larry and Brenda Potterfield, owners of MidwayUSA, will make a $100,000 donation to the NRA/ILA National Endowment for the Protection of the Second Amendment. The donation is being made in honor of NRA/ILA’s hard work in rallying NRA members and Congress to combat the ATF’s proposed changes to the M855/SS109 ammo exemption framework. The donation also celebrates ATF’s recent decision to refrain from seeking to issue a final framework at this time.

The Potterfields have also announced the Two Twenty Three Challenge. Issued specifically to organizations in the Outdoor and Shooting Sports Industry, the challenge is for each organization to have their own celebration and to make a contribution to NRA/ILA National Endowment for the Protection of the Second Amendment, at whatever financial level is appropriate. Read more

Ammunition, Firearms, Gun Control

Throw Rapalas for Cold-Water Bite

When the water’s cold, Rapala baits are red hot. If you’re not slinging Shad Raps, Husky Jerks, X-Raps, or DT’s this time of year, you might as well stay home.

So says a Who’s Who of Bassmaster Series pro anglers — Michael “Ike” Iaconelli, Ott DeFoe, Brandon Palaniuk and Pete Gluszek.

In water 55 degrees down to nearly freezing, a Shad Rap’s tight wobble “makes fish bite that won’t really bite a lot of other baits,” says DeFoe, a three-time Bassmaster Classic contender and 2011 Bassmaster Rookie of the Year. The reason? “It’s a balsa-wood bait that has a natural swimming-type motion,” he explains. “And, it still resembles a shad better than anything else out there.”

Gluszek, another three-time Classic contender, agrees. “It’s got to be one of the greatest-all-time cold-water baits ever designed,” he says. Read more

Fishing

CCRKBA to ATF Director: “Step Down or Be Dismissed”

BELLEVUE, WA – In the wake of what can only be called a colossal blunder by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in its effort to ban popular rifle ammunition, ignoring the fact that the round was exempted from such regulation and the process may have violated the Administrative Procedures Act, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is today calling for the resignation or dismissal of ATF Director B. Todd Jones.

“I’ve put a lot more thought into this than the ATF apparently did when it suggested that the M855 ammunition should be re-classified,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “But when Jones took over the agency, first as an acting director in 2011 and then became the permanent director in 2013, the public, and especially the Second Amendment community, had high hopes that he would straighten out the ATF. This ammunition ban blunder clearly shows that he hasn’t.” Read more

Ammunition, Gun Control
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