THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK!
Overview
Despite the words “humane society” on
its letterhead, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is not affiliated with your local animal shelter. Despite the
omnipresent dogs and cats in its fundraising materials, it’s not an organization that runs spay/neuter programs or takes
in stray, neglected, and abused pets. And despite the common image of animal protection agencies as cash-strapped organizations
dedicated to animal welfare, HSUS has become the wealthiest animal rights organization on earth. HSUS is
big, rich, and powerful, a “humane society” in name only. And while most local animal shelters are under-funded
and unsung, HSUS has accumulated $113 million in assets and built a recognizable brand by capitalizing on the confusion its
very name provokes. This misdirection results in an irony of which most animal lovers are unaware: HSUS raises enough money
to finance animal shelters in every single state, with money to spare, yet it doesn’t operate a single one anywhere.
Instead, HSUS spends millions on programs that seek to economically cripple meat and dairy
producers; eliminate the use of animals in biomedical research labs; phase out pet breeding, zoos, and circus animal acts;
and demonize hunters as crazed lunatics. HSUS spends $2 million each year on travel expenses alone, just
keeping its multi-national agenda going.
HSUS president Wayne Pacelle described some of his goals
in 2004 for The Washington Post: “We will see the end of wild animals in circus acts … [and we’re]
phasing out animals used in research. Hunting? I think you will see a steady decline in numbers.”
More recently, in a June 2005 interview, Pacelle told Satya magazine that HSUS is working on “a guide to vegetarian
eating, to really make the case for it.” A strict vegan himself, Pacelle added: “Reducing meat consumption
can be a tremendous benefit to animals.”
Shortly after Pacelle joined HSUS in 1994,
he told Animal People (an inside-the-movement watchdog newspaper) that his goal was to build “a National Rifle
Association of the animal rights movement.” And now, as the organization’s leader, he’s in a position to
back up his rhetoric with action. In 2005 Pacelle announced the formation of a new “Animal Protection Litigation Section”
within HSUS, dedicated to “the process of researching, preparing, and prosecuting animal protection lawsuits in state
and federal court.”
HSUS’s current goals have little to do with animal shelters.
The group has taken aim at the traditional morning meal of bacon and eggs with a tasteless “Breakfast of Cruelty”
campaign. Its newspaper op-eds demand that consumers “help make this a more humane world [by] reducing our consumption
of meat and egg products.” Since its inception, HSUS has tried to limit the choices of American consumers, opposing
dog breeding, conventional livestock and poultry farming, rodeos, circuses, horse racing, marine aquariums, and
fur trapping.
