The Importance of Giving Local

The story is spreading like wildfire: The Arizona Humane Society put down a recovering drug addict’s 9-month-old kitty Scruffy after the man couldn’t afford a $400 treatment following the cat getting injured by some barbed wire.

The outrage is understandable, and the Arizona Humane Society says it has since made some reforms. You can read a reply from its Director here. But to us, the bigger picture here is the lack of resources that many local shelters have that limits their ability to provide care for dogs and cats.

Consider the following facts about the Humane Society of the United States, which isn’t affiliated with any local humane societies and doesn’t run any pet shelters:

• HSUS raised $131 million from the public last year and uses deceptive ads chock full of cats and dogs;
• HSUS’s CEO made $287,786 last year, and has pulled in nearly $3 million in compensation in his time at HSUS;
• HSUS put $2.6 million into its pension plan last year;
• HSUS shared just 1 percent of the money it raised with pet shelters.

If you know anyone who donates to HSUS, share this with them and ask them if that’s really how they want their contribution used.