Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
As 2012 begins, it’s important to take note of groups that are working against your opportunities to hunt, trap, fish and enjoy the outdoors. To that effect, here is what we call The Dirty Dozen:
1) Humane Society of the United States or HSUS—needs no commentary or introduction to hunters and trappers everywhere, but Read more
This from the U.S. Sportsman’s Alliance.
Hunting and trapping are prohibited on these sites, many of which are donated to the HSUS. In fact, they boast that “recreational and commercial hunting and trapping will always be prohibited”.
Unfortunately, they garnered $5 million in donations last year alone for this trust.
Additional details, in case you want to determine if these anti-hunting properties are located near you, can be found at: www.wlt.org. And in true HSUS fashion, you’ll spot a donation link if you go there.
Courtesy of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance/ www.ussportsmen.org.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), through its quest to become a mainstream organization, has again resorted to “backdoor” tactics by partnering with—or possibly forcing its agenda on—the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Those HSUS efforts to infiltrate USDA regulations were recently exposed on the floor of U.S. Capital with testimony by Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas).
Moran noted in his Nov. 2, 2011 comments that Read more
A recent USA Today full-page ad went straight for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) jugular vein and decried the multimillion dollar fund raising and animal rights organization for only giving one percent of the millions of dollars it rakes in annually to actual animal shelters. The ad, straight from an HSUS playbook with a sad looking puppy centered on the page, was sponsored by HumaneforPets.com. (click here for the ad) Read more
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?
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
The New York Post explains how the Humane Society of the United States pulls in cash but doesn’t share much with local animal shelters.
The HSUS has infiltrated California’s Department of Fish and Game – an alliance that spells insanity. With a little cash donation, HSUS has its foot in the door to push its no hunting agenda.
http://www.wonews.com/t-PerspectiveReport_AnimalRights_102011.aspx
So how did HSUS fare in 2010? Veteran readers won’t be surprised. Here are some low-lights:
HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle’s total compensation package was $287,786, up roughly 7 percent from the previous year.
HSUS stuffed $2.6 million into its pension plan, bringing the total since Pacelle took over to about $14 million.
HSUS spent $3.6 million on lobbying. (If you see an HSUS ad showing an abused and malnourished lobbyist, let us know.)
HSUS had 636 employees, including 29 who earned more than $100,000. Read more