I remember, when growing up, the local Humane Society in Pikesville, Maryland, with great fondness. They took care of our injured and sick dogs and other animals and livestock on our farm. It was a good place with good people who did good things. It was started in 1927 and still has, today, much the same mission as when it was started: a glance at their website shows they are still doing good things, especially animal adoption, animal safety and caring for pets. But they are not in any way associated with, affiliated with, or in partnership with, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
The HSUS is in Washington and has some branches nationally, but mainly it has become an advocate for animal rights as opposed to animal welfare. Out of a spending budget of $100,000,000 in their tax return for 2008, apparently only half a million dollars, half of one percent, actually went to help animals. About one quarter of their budget went to raising more money. Their biggest expense is lobbying. When contributions dropped 10% in 2008, HSUS’s president Wayne Pacell actually increased staff salaries and related expenses from $27 million to $38 million. They do not appear to maintain one pet care center in the entire US.
HSUS would have all of us become vegans, as is president Pacell. Here is an excerpt from a 2010 USHS report for which no attribution was given: “Each year in the United States, approximately 11 billion animals are raised and killed for meat, eggs, and milk. These farm animals—sentient, complex, and capable of feeling pain and frustration, joy and excitement—are viewed by industrialized agriculture as commodities and suffer myriad assaults to their physical, mental, and emotional well-being, typically denied the ability to engage in their species-specific behavioral needs. Despite the routine abuses they endure, no federal law protects animals from cruelty on the farm, and the majority of states exempt customary agricultural practices—no matter how abusive—from the scope of their animal cruelty statutes.”
Well, no doubt someone should report real animal abuse … HSUS went after Michael Vick hammer and tong. This no doubt boosted donations to support lobbying for ridiculous animal rights regulations.
The fact is, HSUS would not hesitate to increase the cost of animal products (meat, for example) through new regulations to protect animals from pain, and ensure that they experience more joy.
One thing is for sure. President Pacell will never try to ban bull-riding. Anyone can see that these frisky briskets experience, not just joy, but a genuine thrill from tossing off their grossly outmatched riders. In this case, however, it's only the people who get hurt.
