The Humane Society's Cleverly Deceptive Advertising

It used to be, when I saw one of the heart-wrenching Humane Society commercials featuring the pleadings of Wendy Malick (or the SPCA commercials with the melancholy music of Sarah McLachlan), I would want to leave the room. The images of animals pulled from puppy mills, backyard breeders and other horribly abusive situations broke my heart. I was already giving money to their cause, but I didn’t need to SEE the pain and misery on national TV.

Now, when I see these commercials, I’m more angry than anything. Why? Because these commercials are LIES. Clever lies perpetrated by some very powerful organizations. What they fail to tell you about these emotionally stirring images is that many (if not most) of these poor “rescued” animals end up dead. Not because they’re hopelessly vicious or irremediably suffering … but because that’s what the Humane Society does. They believe in killing. In the eyes of these large & powerful organizations (ASPCA, PETA, HSUS), many of these animals are better off dead.

The Humane Society has oodles of cold, hard cash. In 2009, their total revenue was reported at $126,650,617. Their CEO, Wayne Pacelle, makes more than $250,000 a year including benefits. And yet, they advocate killing at every turn. It’s certainly not because of a lack of resources (the common excuse made by kill shelters and organizations). How much of that massive revenue was actually given to hands-on animal care (IE, taking care of the poor abused dogs and cats shows on TV)? Half of one percent of the total budget: $450,000 (in 2008). That’s how much money made it to local shelters and rescue groups trying to save these animals’ lives.

This organization (and the others like it) is a disgrace, and they’ve been brainwashing the public for far too long. I had NO idea (until I was properly educated) about their deceptions, and most of the animal-loving American public is completely unaware of the true state of affairs. It’s a common perception that the Humane Society is the go-to cause for the animal welfare movement, and that everything they do serves to benefit animals – hence the millions of dollars in donations they accept from animal lovers every year. Unfortunately, these people don’t know the truth, and I’d even be willing to bet many of their celebrity endorsers are not aware of their true policies. Sad, but true.

Here are some examples of the ways in which the Humane Society has betrayed our animal friends:

• They lobbied to have all the Michael Vick dogs killed (while still accepting donations for them).
• They defended the massacre of 150 dogs from a dog-fighting ring in North Carolina, many of whom were just puppies.
• They defend kill shelters nationwide despite horrific stories of abuse and neglect.
• They oppose shelter reform legislation that would save lives and regulate how these facilities operate.

And this is just the beginning of their dirty work. Please read further about the deceptions of the Humane Society, PETA and the ASPCA at Nathan Winograd’s blog, which includes extensive writings on these topics.

I hope that from now on, when these heart-wrenching commercials appear during your favorite program – you’ll watch them with a different perspective, and share my anger at the HSUS (and other organizations like them) for exploiting American’s love for animals and reaping the financial rewards. These animals need help – but the responsibility really ends up falling to the No Kill shelters and rescue groups in these communities to re-home and rehabilitate these animals. Don’t look to the HSUS for help … unless there’s a TV camera present, of course.

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