As I sat in the recliner watching the evening news tonight, I finally reached my limit as it relates to the shameless fundraising advertising being conducted by the Humane Society of the United States.
HSUS works tirelessly to portray themselves as an entity that really cares about our puppies and kittens. They go to great lengths convince you that if you'll just send them $19 per month they can save puppies and kittens from horrible people all over the country and the world.
Everyone loves puppies and kittens and no sane person wants to see animals that abused. But claiming to prevent abuse of animals and intentionally misleading the public to raise money to further an underlying agenda just seems to fly in the face of the charitable mission HSUS purports to accomplish.
While the ads on TV push the idea that HSUS is affiliated with the local humane shelters that actually care for animals, the fact remains that HSUS spends a very, very, very small amount of the tens of millions of dollars they raise each year actually providing care for animals. In April 2009, a TV station in Atlanta did a feature on HSUS and its fundraising efforts and where they actually spent the money they raised. A summary of the story and a link to the video feature can be found at http://activistcash.com/news_detail.cfm?hid=3899.
The story indicates that in its general fundraising efforts, only about 4 cents of every dollars actually ends up in your local animal shelter helping dogs and cats that are in need. Further the story focused on HSUS fundraising efforts following Hurricane Katrina and pointed out that a specific call for donations to help the animals that were impacted by Katrina brought in $34 million, but only $7 million actually went to help animals - $27 million went to fund HSUS administration and their true underlying agenda of forcing a vegan lifestyle on the rest of the country.
HSUS even went so far as to start a fundraising effort for animals impacted by the earthquake in Haiti. While a huge number of the humans living in Haiti are still struggling to dig out of the destruction, HSUS is trying to get people around the world to donate money for the animals. While the people of Haiti are enduring suffering that is beyond the imagination, HSUS thinks we should be giving money for the dogs and cats. If that isn't an organization with out-of-whack priorities, I don't know what is.
I don't fault anyone who wants to help a local animal shelter. What I hope is that if you want to help your local shelter, you'll contribute direct to that shelter. Don't let HSUS have a vast majority of your donation for their vegan-creating drives and political efforts. Give your dollars where they can actually do some good.
I have thought about writing this piece for months, but seeing the add during tonight's evening news really pushed my buttons. I encourage everyone to support the charities of their choice, but please take just a few minutes to really understand where the charities will use your donations. Some of these charitable organizations - HSUS especially - have absolutely no shame.
