HSUS IN TROUBLE IN ANOTHER STATE

Last month we wrote about Oklahoma State Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s investigation into the deceptive fundraising practices of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Now comes word that HSUS is in trouble in yet another state.

According to a September 6 article in the Columbia Daily Herald, Tennessee State Representative Sheila Butt (R-Columbia) is asking her state’s Attorney General to conduct a similar investigation in Tennessee, contending that “the national organization (HSUS) uses deceitful advertising to attract donations.”

In defending itself against the allegations, HSUS’s Washington DC media relations manager Stephanie Twining said that HSUS spent 81 percent of its budget on “animal protection” programs. “The HSUS work on a national level affects the well-being of animals in all states, including Tennessee,” Twining said.

The allegations of deceptive fundraising stem from widespread public perception that HSUS is mostly about helping pet shelters. A 2013 poll by Humanewatch.org found that nearly two-thirds of HSUS donors support the group in order to help HSUS care for animals in shelters or to reduce the number of animals put down in shelters. A full 84 percent of donors believe that HSUS misleads people into thinking that it supports local humane societies and pet shelters.

However, even HSUS has been forced to acknowledge that it does not operate any local animal shelters, and only about 1 percent of the money it raises is donated to local shelters. HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle himself has admitted that “there is some confusion among the general public and…occasional confusion with donors.”

That confusion doesn’t happen by accident. HSUS knows full well that many well-intentioned pet lovers think “animal protection” means shelters. In fact, they’re counting on it.