It was a ground-breaking day on Thursday May 14, 2009, the first day a mainstream media organization dared to publish an investigation into the fundraising practises of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). WSB-TV, the Atlanta GA affiliate for ABC published an article and video segment titled “Where Humane Society Donations Really Go“.
The WSB-TV article addressed a number of important points that are commonly mis-understood about the Humane Society of the United States:
- The Humane Society of the United States has little to no affiliation to local shelters and local Humane Societies, despite having a name that leads to the convenient but mistaken identification of the HSUS as the parent organization.
- Only a small percentage of donations made to the Humane Society of the United States are granted to local shelters and Humane Societies. In 2007, less than 6 million dollars were handed out as US grants out of over 152 million* taken in (less than 4%*). Of the almost 4%, a large percentage of the grants were handed out to organizations that did not provide direct care to animals in need.
- After Hurricane Katrina, Humane Society of the United States fundraising efforts raised 34 million dollars. By 2 years after Hurricane Katrina, only 52% (18 million) could be accounted for as spent on Katrina-related activites. The connection between reconnecting animals with their owners, the premise for the Hurricane Katrina fundraising, was tenuous at best for a number of the projects indicated as supported by Hurricane Katrina funds. As of the 2 year mark, funds related to the Gulf Coast began to make a shift to HSUS legislative goals again.
- Channel 2 attendance at a local HSUS meeting found the 2 hour discussion to be dominated by activist planning and lobbying efforts. This impression was confirmed as accurate by Cheryl McAuliffe, Georgia Director for the HSUS. Ms McAuliffe also confirmed that all budgeting was directed from the Humane Society of the United States Washington headquarters
By Friday morning, there was a response from HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle claiming WSB-TV had used discredited source information from the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF). It is difficult to understand how Mr. Pacelle can take the position that the CCF information has been discredited when it is able to be verified independently using HSUS IRS documents and HSUS press releases. Mr. Pacelle also indicated that all funds raised for the Hurricane Katrina crisis have been spent helping Katrina families and pets, yet this is also established as dubious, based on HSUS press releases. (unless introducing items such as cock-fighting bills are counted in this position) By Friday evening, all links to this ground-breaking and courageous article had disappeared from the WSB-TV website.
Yet, the most interesting result of the investigation is a point not (yet) pursued by WSB-TV. Is the HSUS in compliance with requirements to maintain its 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt status? According to Cheryl McAuliffe, Georgia Director for the HSUS, activist and lobbying efforts form the bulk of her activities. Yet, according to IRS 501 (c) 3 regulations:
Yet the Humane Society of the Unites States dedicates a significant amount of resources to its efforts to introduce and influence legislation as demonstrated by the portion of its website tracking HSUS legislative efforts at the state and federal levels as well as through ballot initiatives.
This raises an important question. With an income of over 152* million annually, is the IRS being cheated out of substanial revenue if the Humane Society of the United States is not in compliance with the 501 (c) 3 charitable organization requirements? The HSUS claimed involvement in 140 legislative bills at the state level in 2008 alone, has claimed credit for a great deal of legislation in 2009 and publicly acknowledges ’urging’ assorted legislators on a variety of bills.
It seems fishy to me & I simply don’t understand why the mainstream media doesn’t find it interesting as well.
Copyright 2009 by Erica Saunders http://AR-HR.com
All rights reserved
*CORRECTION: Originally stated 200 million should have referred to HSUS assets. HSUS 2007 gross income was just over 152 million. Percentages have been corrected to reflect this.
don’t you people have anything better to do with your time?
I haven’t looked at HSUS’s individual case, so I know nothing about their specific situation. But it is possible that HSUS has a 501(c)(4) arm, which would allow them to conduct lobbying. The money donated towards lobbying would not be tax deductible to the donor, and monies donated to the two separate arms would have to be kept separately.
Ryan Clinton
(follow on Twitter @ryanclinton)
HSUS does have a subsidiary group set up called the Humane Society Legislative Fund. However, it is unclear what percentage of resources are diverted from HSUS to HSLF. It is also unclear if this behavior is in compliance with 501 (C) 3 requirements
It is clear, however, that HSUS volunteers and paid staff are actively participating in activist and lobbying activities as per the IRS definitions and that this forms a significant part of their activities, if not the majority of their activities. Therefore, the question regarding HSUS 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt status entitlement remains an important one, in my opinion.
Thank you VERY much for your contribution to the discussion!
Do you have an animal sir? Well i sujest that you rethink what is happening to these poor animals. Thank you selfish sir…….
I do own animals and have owned animals all my life (and am not a sir by the way)
I stand by what I have written. You are welcome to disagree
How many people do you think contribute specifically to HSLF? How much HSUS staff time is spent lobbying? In 2007, HSUS donated $1.36 million to Californians for Humane Farms – a lobbying organization (I believe begun by HSUS!) to pass Prop 2 in California. Since 501(c)(3) organizations can’t spend more than $1 million on direct or indirect (e.g., passing on the money to HSLF) lobbying, it appears they’ve violated the Internal Revenue Code. If you would like to complain about this, contact the IRS. They have an online complaint form – see http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=139029,00.html. The online form has a box “excessive lobbying.” HSUS EIN (taxpayer number): 53-0225390
“I don’t have a hands-on fondness for animals…To this day I don’t feel bonded to any non-human animal. I like them and I pet them and I’m kind to them, but there’s no special bond between me and other animals.” Wayne Pacelle quoted in Bloodties: Nature, Culture and the Hunt by Ted Kerasote, 1993, p. 251.
As we know, Ellen DeGeneres supports this animal rights ********* group known as the Humane Society of the United States. Now we can take action. Breyers Ice Cream is now supporting the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Tell them what they are supporting. Visit their web site and send them a message about their support of an absolute vegan and pet free America. Together we can make a difference, always!
(edited by admin for excessively inflammatory language)
Agreed. We need to stop HSUS at every point.
All I can say is thank God for compassionate people like Wayne Pacelle who are trying to do some good in the world; just read your words to see what Wayne is up against!
You go Wayne, I’m rooting for you and I’m in your corner. You are a blessing. What you do to bring attention to the disgraceful way that humanity treats animals is so important – you are doing the Lord’s work and of course, that’s going to bug a lot of people!!!
No one is listening to the HSUS BS anymore. Facts speak the truth. HSUS only wants a vegan America, it is all over their web site as well as Wayne "Gotta have more suits" Pacelle's blogs. Your comments are misguided and unnecessary at this point. America is on to the TRUE HSUS agenda. Thanks.
Excellent article! Thanks so much for speaking out with the little known truth. So many people are misled by the abused and neglected puppies in kittens in the HSUS advertising campaigns but they don’t realize that money never goes to help those animals.
Their money goes towards legislation to make pets extinct and to force on all Americans to a vegan diet (which is bad for our environment with all the GMOs and pesticides etc).
Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to help spread the truth about HSUS and the Animal Rights Industry!
Erica, this blog is excellent and long overdue. Thank you for doing this. I’ve told hundreds of folks about it. Keep up the good work. You Go Girl!
AS of right now the story has been taken down from the ABC station and the the you-tube video was pulled as well and the people on Twitter that started getting the word out have had their accounts killed by twitter till they say can check to see if they are not spammer.
Its seems to me that H$U$ is flexing that ill gotten money to buy a judge or two to get the truth pulled from the airwaves. If anyone int eh are Tvo or DPR the news that night get the video of the store and get back on the net this BS if the anime right Extremes think the can stop free speech and the truth from getting.
the story was something I knew all along but to see if pulled because some said they will sue? what is going with the Press when have they back down from anyone when the truth is on their side?
I will bet that H$U$ will strike the bogs and all next.
CC
It is so good to see that the truth about HSUS is finally getting into the main-stream, if only for a few hours. Many years ago, we raised show ferrets and on occasion, temporarily took in shelter ferrets. In that regard, we had dealings with lots of other breeders and shelter operators around the country and through that experience, we learned that virtually every law hampering ferret breeders and shelters for any kind of animal, is instigated by and/or backed by HSUS. The same applies to lots of other exotic pets. I’m just saddened that Ch. 2 Atlanta backed down to pressure from HSUS and didn’t keep the story active.
Video is here at a friends Blog
Money Misconceptions
Regards,
Albert
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles.
What is amazing to me is that people can not see the bigger picture. Sure, HSUS uses sad looking puppies in their advertising and money goes to lobbying instead of direct rescue, but this is a good thing! Helping one animal does just that, only helps one. By lobbying and working to change animal welfare laws, in time, millions more animals will be helped. I don’t think it is false advertising to use photos of animals, they are helping animals, just indirectly.
I am a director of a grassroots animals rescue group who does direct rescue and I need the HSUS to speak for me, to help me change laws and to raise public interest.
Hello Andrea,
Unfortunately, there is an even bigger picture than the one you have presented. 1) Fund-raising through deceptive practises serves to drive the public away from charitable giving to a wide spectrum of worthy charities, hurting the very ones who need the most assistance. 2) If an organization is using deception in its campaigns, how can you trust that the organization is actually speaking for you?
Deceptive fundraising practises only hurt the reputations of worthy rescues, it drives away donations, it drives away volunteers and as a result ends up hurting the animals you are trying so hard to save. Are you really ok with that?
If you, the director of a registered charitable organization, see deceptive fund-raising practices as in the interest of the ‘greater good’, shouldn’t that give your rescue’s own donors pause?
Over and above all that has been mentioned,what I find very disturbing is the fact that WSB-TV removed the links to their stories on this. Who got to them. If they are truly a news station, they should be standing behind their stories and follow through to the end. Doesn’t the American public and the world deserve the truth? The media needs to stop drinking the kool-aid and do their job. Isn’t there a real journalist left in this country? Think Pulitzer!
Overall, it is worth remembering in these difficult times that media companies are suffering terribly financially. Advertising dollars are dramatically reduced, sales are down, investment is near non-existant. That makes the idea of fighting a potentially expensive lawsuit a daunting one, even one that a media company is likely to win.
Certainly, the journalists brought the story and did their job. They are to be commended for that. It is entirely possible that the decision to remove the story was simply a financial one. The important thing is that the story has been told by more than ‘just’ the blog-o-sphere.
[...] the frantic action to snuff the report. Some have wondered if the possibility that the report calls into question the 501(c)3 status of the HSUS is the reason. Another guess came from a reader named Hillary who [...]
I know the truth about HSUS I was with the HSUS team and I have done the research. Also it was not 34 million it was closer to 70 million. I watched the fluctuations in stated funds. HSUS international is where many believe money is. Pacelle was partying in his jet with Laura Mahoney while the rescuers were struggling to save animals from horrible miserable conditions.
Most animals were sent to shelters where they were killed immediately and some still sit in no kill shelters cages waiting for ther families.
HSUS and Pacelle are stealing from animals that need help. The organization and Pacelle are FRAUDULENT and should be indicted by the U.S. Attorney General.
Kudos to Ms. Saunders for showing the HSUS as the great pretenders that they are. In an effort to eliminate Georgia's animal control gas chambers of horrors, I contacted HSUS to enlist their support. Their reply was a refusal to help eliminate those cruel and antiquated chambers. Add to that their recruitment of Michael Vick, one of the biggest animal abusers of all time, in a shameless ploy for donations, and it is obvious how money is more important than the animals they claim to help. I wouldn't trust Pacelle to take out the garbage, let alone to run an organization such as the HSUS.