Mar 02 2010
Nationwide Poll: 7 out of 10 Americans Wrongly Believe HSUS is a Pet-Shelter “Umbrella Group”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Consumer Group Reminds Americans that Less than One Percent of Donations to HSUS Benefit Local Pet Shelters
Washington, DC – Seventy-one percent of Americans questioned in a new opinion poll wrongly believe the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an “umbrella group” for America’s local humane societies. Sixty-three percent incorrectly think their local “humane society” is affiliated with HSUS. And fifty-nine percent falsely believe HSUS “contributes most of its money” to local organizations that care for cats and dogs.
The poll, which sampled the opinions of 1,008 Americans, was commissioned by the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) of Princeton, New Jersey.
“These numbers indicate that Americans don’t really know what the Humane Society of the United States is all about,” said CCF Director of Research David Martosko. “HSUS intentionally uses those sad dogs and cats in its TV infomercials as props in an animal rights fundraising shell game. Meanwhile, thousands of American pet shelters are underfunded and struggling.” David Martosko blogs about HSUS at www.HumaneWatch.org.
According to the federal income tax return filed by HSUS for the tax year 2008, less than one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the organization’s budget consisted of grants to hands-on pet shelters. HSUS does not run a single shelter for dogs or cats anywhere, and it is not affiliated with any local “humane society” organizations.
David Martosko continued: “This poll indicates that most Americans think HSUS is a worthy charity. But very few Americans understand what HSUS really is—a super-rich lobbying group that puts more money into its executive pensions than in the hands of local humane societies.”
Survey Methodology
The survey of 1,008 adults nationwide was conducted by telephone between February 25 and February 28, 2010 by Opinion Research Corporation. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.
Questions:
I'm going to read you the names of several nonprofit organizations. For each one, please tell me if you are very familiar, somewhat familiar or totally unfamiliar with the organization.
The Humane Society of the United States: 79% familiar (“very”/“somewhat” net)
I'm going to read you several statements. For each one, please tell me if you think the statement is true or false.
71% “TRUE”: The Humane Society of the United States is an umbrella group that represents thousands of local humane societies all across America
63% “TRUE”: My local humane society or pet shelter is AFFILIATED with the Humane Society of the United States.
59% “TRUE”: The Humane Society of the United States contributes most of its money to local organizations that care for dogs and cats.
48% “TRUE”: My local humane society or pet shelter receives financial support from the Humane Society of the United States.
(Tax records filed by HSUS show that all four statements are false.)
To learn more about the Humane Society of the United States, visit www.HumaneWatch.org. To arrange an interview with David Martosko, call Allison Miller at 202-463-7112.
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit watchdog organization that informs the public about the activities of tax-exempt activist groups. It is supported by American consumers, business organizations, and foundations.
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Posted on 03/02/2010 at 08:04 AM by the HumaneWatch Team
The Best of HumaneWatch • Press Releases • Pets • (12) CommentsComments
Thank you for all your work in getting the correct word out there. It’s so important for all of us to do are part in spreading the word.
Do we have the results of any past studies? Are there plans to repeat this in the future to gauge how much impact we’re having?
Well, there goes my membership, and the other donations I make to the HSUS several times per year. I think my money will better be used locally, and I shall now send my donations directly to the local shelters or to Guiding Eyes for the Blind and other such organizations.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for such clear and concise information.
I"ve known this for a long time, I’m having to take 3 of our pets to HSUS in Bend Oregon today, but there are no pet shelters here I can find, just one for cats and it is full. The human society also makes it darn near impossible for people to adopt a pet, they charge high amounts of money to do so, they price according to “breed” and charge what people raising the animals charge for specific breeds, I’m taking our little chihuahua there today, I’m sure they’‘ll have a price tag of over 100 dollars on her. Not much different than a puppy mill.
our kitties will surely be put down. It is breaking my heart.
I think the key, with knowledge in hand, is to encourage EVERYONE to go local - support local shelters with money, goods and volunteer efforts. Take the money you’d like to use to help animals and put it in your community to help local rescue efforts, special case vetting and special needs animals. Put it in your gas tank and go work at the shelter for a few hours a week - the animals benefit from the hands-on of people who care. Just don’t put in in the pocket of greedy, meddling people with a political agenda that does not include animal welfare at any level. Seriously - we need to post this site everywhere and make sure that 79% of the population is educated! Thanks!
I, too, was not aware of the amount of money, or lack thereof, that is donated to shelters around the country. I believe the HSUS has received it’s last dollar from me. I will contribute to my local Humane Society instead. I thought this organization raised money to directly benefit animals, not for lobbyists and their own pension funds.
yea I agree with you Pam, I used to work (not volunteer, mostly quarantine, parvo pups, rabies observation etc) at a ‘Humane Society’ and puppy mill is a good analogy.
Geeze, Pam! Why on earth are you taking your pets to a shelter??!! Could you not find homes for them? Advertise them in local newspapers?
I’d take them myself if you were close to NC, or could get them here. Oregon is a bit far! We are opening a new rescue and I love Chihuahuas! We’re rescuing dogs and cats. I’d love to have them and get homes for them. I hate that they’ll be put down because you couldn’t keep them. So unfair to the poor animals!!
alecia,
contact riverside county shelter, rcdas.org.
they are euthanizing chi’s by the hundreds!
Animals cost so much at shelters because a) they have been FULLY vetted and spayed/neutered, not to mention fed the whole time they were there (not free to do any of these…) and b) because animals cost money. Having a price of 100 dollars ensures that the people adopting the animal can financially support the animal. The idea is, if you don’t have 100 to get the animal, you probably don’t have enough to take care of it, either. Obviously, if the price was astronomical, like 500, it would be different. I easily spend about 300 a month on my dog and two cats. I feed them quality food and make sure they are well taken care of. They’re not “spoiled”, but they are very healthy. Animals are a financial responsibility, just like children.
why do people think that the animals in a pet shelter has an illness or bad behavior-it’s not true!!!!
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This confirms what we all knew, but it’s nice to finally have some numbers behind it.
Of course, Wayne and his underlings will play the “CCF is evil!” card, even though the survey itself was conducted by ORC, a well-respected marketing research firm. A simple Google search shows that CNN frequently uses them to conduct polls.