And after all this, the HSUS welcomed Vick with open arms.
It doesn’t get anymore black and white than this, right here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef7MIg453aA

Here is the National Geographic special on the rehabilitation of the worst of the Michael Vick dogs. Note not ONE word of HSUS helping out is mentioned in this series. It is 89 min. long but very interesting to see how they attempt to rehabilitate these dogs.

This was not the end of the HSUS’s efforts to kill the victims of dog fight abuse. While they failed to get the Vick dogs killed, they were more successful in getting 127 dogs and puppies killed, most likely in a gas chamber after a dog fight raid in Wilkes County, NC. Some of the dogs ordered killed were infant puppies born after the raid and raised in foster homes where they had only known gentleness and love. The judge in the case did not want to order the deaths of so many dogs, but the HSUS insisted that they all must die and the judge accepted that EXPERT ADVICE and ordered their deaths. There were rescues clamoring for the chance to evaluate and rehabilitate these dogs, but the HSUS would not allow it. There was a veritable blog storm following that HSUS action, and the HSUS response was essentially, “get over it.”

which is why AAWL helps by taking animals from the MCACC euthanasia list &nurses; them back to health.

Hmmm… HSUS step by step:

(1) PLEASE DONATE to help save Michael Vick’s Dogs. A good cause. Please help the helpless dogs. They do not have a voice. Be their voice. Donate.

(2) OK. Now… Get rid of (kill) the dogs, they were just a publicity “prop” that worked pretty well.

(3) Hey Vick is still a celebrity, let’s use him as a prop and use him to raise more money saying we’ve rehabilitated the dog fighter! That’s even better than pretending to care about his dogs. Brilliant! Who came up with that? Give them a raise (after all, we have all this donated money to spend.) Make that a raise and a bonus!

One must wonder how long it will be until people who donated their hard earned money to “save Vick’s dogs”, “save pets affected in Haiti”, “save pets affected by the Gulf oil spill”, etc… stand up and scream! It is one scam after the other. Maybe it’s time people contact HSUS and ask for their money back.

HSUS will use everyone and every animal issue for their benefit to make money to fund their massive lobbying initiatives. After all, it’s an expensive undertaking to rid all Americans of their pets, burgers, eggs and milk. But for only $19 per month, you too can help. Not.

This post is really disingenuous.  First, the HSUS was not alone in recommending euthanasia for deeply entrenched fighting dogs. Most animal welfare agencies at the time recommend or would have recommended the same thing.  Best Friends did an amazing job in rehabilitating many of the dogs, but let’s not forget that Best Friends has the largest companion animal sanctuary in the world, and very few other organizations would be able to undertake a project of this magnitude.

Second, the HSUS has changed its policy on pit bulls.  Right now they are working a huge pit bull case in Ohio.  A guy in Jefferson County apparently bred pit bulls for use in fighting operations and had over 200 chained up on his property, along with hundreds of snakes, chickens and other animals.  The owner was put in jail on a drug charge, and something had to be done with the animals.  The local sheriff called on the HSUS to help, and no they have not publicized their good deeds.  They are working to place these dogs in homes, which is an especially difficult task because Ohio is the only state in the nation that designates pit bulls as dangerous animals by law. 

One employee told me about the dog she adopted from this situation.  He was kept at the end of a chain for 10 years.  She sleeps on an air mattress in her living room every night so she can be there to comfort him when he wakes up with nightmares.  I bet this dog doesn’t care anything about Michael Vick or the Vick case.  His life and the lives of 200 of his friends are being saved.

@ Amy—I guess HSUS better tiptoe around in Ohio after the big commotion Wayne Pacelle has caused with the crap he pulled with the livestock laws there! Give Wayne some time. He will get the pits put to death too. He wants to annihilate the pit bull breed completely and has said it—he wrote it, and will succeed if given the chance. You animal rights activists have such a bunch of double standards when it comes to supporting/defending HSUS and then trying to save the pits!

Yes, I also followed the Wilkes case and feature a photo of one of the 4 week old pups killed at the demand of HSUS on my site.  Humane?  Not in ANYONE’S mind who has a brain!

HSUS had to change their public stance on pit bulls, since they were lambasted from one side of this country to the other for what they did to the Wilkes County dogs. They have not changed their opinion of pit bulls and still actively support banning the breed or anything that resembles it, which is just one more step down the road to eliminating companion animals of any type.

In his slippery way, Pacelle has paid lip service to the idea that pit bulls should have a chance at rehabilitation, but Nathan Winograd laid out in great detail why that can not be believed: http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=780

@AMY K.  I live in Jefferson County, And I know for fact that the dogs were taken by the Jefferson County Humane Society..NOT the Humane Society of the United States. Big difference…

AmyK:The local sheriff called on the HSUS to help, and no they have not publicized their good deeds.

mark:

I live in Jefferson County, And I know for fact that the dogs were taken by the Jefferson County Humane Society..NOT the Humane Society of the United States. Big difference…

HA! That explains why there was no publicity! It was the local Humane Society! Another mistaken identity for HSUS! Just what they want! Even their supporters can’t keep them straight! GIVE CREDIT where CREDIT is DUE!

Let’s see, why would HSUS want Vick around? Oh yeah, both Wayne and Vick want to kill dogs.  Nice partnership there.  Vick abuses dogs, HSUS solicits TONS of donations to care for the dogs, which is doesn’t actually have, then HSUS reccommends the dogs should all die! Wow.  That’s a great plan, good thing some people who actually CARE about animals managed to step in and put some love towards the poor dogs!

Killing tiny pups.. way to go Wayne, bet those little dead puppies won’t ever be on a commercial with a blurb saying “Give us money so we can kill more puppies, just like this one!”

I had no idea this had gone on.  I thought HSUS was involved in saving animals, not killing them.  This is outrageous and I’m wondering why they haven’t been stopped by ASPCA for example.  All animal rights and prevention of cruelty to animals can’t be corrupt and just taking peoples money and not using it to care for animals and save them, can they?  This makes me sick.  I volunteer at our no kill shelter and we do all we can to never ever put an animal down.

Sorry to tell you this “Sandy” but ASPCA is in cahoots with HSUS-they are made from the same cloth!

And No Kill Shelters have a dirty little secret. They don’t actually kill any animals themselves but what do they do when they run out of options…......They send them to shelters that do! FACT! Do some investigating at your shelter. What happens with that really old crippled up dog that nobody wants or the one they place over and over again and it keeps coming back because it is destroying their furniture or is too aggressive with kids???? The shelter doesn’t keep them forever….Do They? They all have other shelters they work with or swap out dogs.. Food for thought.

One of our local “No kill” shelters sends cats to the local college for - YOU GUESSED IT! For dissection - The better good to teach the vets, but the shelter isn‘t euthanizing them the college is! Wake Up America!

Sandy, the ASPCA recently put all of its considerable influence to bear to prevent the passage of “Oreo’s Law” in New York State. Oreo’s law would have required animal shelters to notify qualified rescues before killing an animal, in order to allow those rescues to take the animal out of the shelter and save its life. Oreo’s law was named for a dog that Ed Sayres, head honcho at the ASPCA, decided needed to be dead. Oreo was thrown off the roof of a six story building and survived. The ASPCA took the dog, treated her, and then decided the pit bull was too aggressive to be adopted out. There was at least one accredited agency that offered to take Oreo, and provide rehabilitation and a lifetime home, if necessary, but Sayres refused to allow Oreo that second chance and had her killed.

The ASPCA is another bloated, wealthy animal “charity” that is more interested in preserving its power and income than in doing the right thing for the animals.

Quite frankly, the only national animal charities I would consider giving money to are Maddie’s Fund, which is dedicated to ending shelter killing, and the AKC Canine Health Foundation, which funnels hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to research being conducted by veterinary colleges for the benefit of dogs.

Aside from that, all of my donations of time, money or other resources are made to local rescues and shelters.

Amy says:
“First, the HSUS was not alone in recommending euthanasia for deeply entrenched fighting dogs. Most animal welfare agencies at the time recommend or would have recommended the same thing.”

name ONE and then name one that piggybacked the misery of the dogs (to be killed) to the DONATION of M-O-N-E_Y..
HSUS wins .. hands down

Friends Don’t Let Friends Donate to the HSUS killing machine

@ Amy K. no HSUS wasn’t alone. They were standing side by side with PeTA & The Butcher of Norfolk, Ingrid Newkirk. Oh yes HSUS changed it’s stance on Pit Bulls, at least the stance that is shown for public consumption. Amazing how that took place around the same time people were demanding the Vick dogs be saved. HSUS’s PR people must have taken the loss of potential donors very seriously & worked frantically to try to polish their rotten apple. It’s totally transparent why & when HSUS was suddenly sympathetic to Pit Bulls.

Isn’t it interesting how HSUS thought disgusting animal torturer Michael Vick was redeemable but the innocent abused dogs were not. It says a lot for the true nature of HSUS. Anything for a buck & whatever way the winds of public opinion blow so does the public face of HSUS.

I have supported the HSUS for a long time and my family has as well. I never heard this story until now. And what i mean is I have heard HSUS trying to get funds to care for the dogs, but what i never heard of is that they never had the dogs and their plans were to kill them once they were found. That disgusts me. I have believed in animal rights my entire life and i am trying to pursue starting an animal refuge and adoption agency myself. I already have the land donated to me but i need to clear out the land in order to start this sanctuary and as of now I do not have the funds to do so. So hearing that they are asking for money and getting money for their lies makes it harder for people out there who either have their own reputable and honest shelters and those who would like to open one, the funds to do so. How can anyone continue to condone their lies and still support them after an episode such as this. I can only hope the animals under their care currently do not suffer the same fate as of HSUS’s wishes of Michael Vick’s dogs. All animals have the right to live. Especially those who never had a choice in their life, those dogs never wanted to suffer like that. So for them to place their hatred on animal abusers when it turns out HSUS is condoning the same injustice as those they are supposedly trying to stop, is an outrage and they are a disgrace to their cause. I hope people open their eyes and they realize the HSUS is nothing more than a fake shelter scamming people out of their hard earned money in order to live whatever type of lifestyle they chose to live. HSUS YOU ARE PATHETIC!!!!

I read Lost Dogs, and almost put it down in the third chapter because the cruel killings of many dogs turned my stomach.  While not a literary blockbuster, the book was worth reading, and the dedication of the may players to the redemption of the Vick victims was heartening.  HSUS has egg on their faces once again for insisting on the euthanasia of these abused dogs.  Shame on them.

can y tell me more about aspca. i thought they helped in the puppy mill raids,and the no kill shelters.most of my dogs have been strays or rescued.please let me know i have donated toaspca for quite awhile.