Fourth Quarter Blog Favorites
Happy New Year!
We hope 2011 will be the year when Americans' "humane" giving is finally aligned with their intentions and their best interests. We sure couldn't say that in 2010, although HumaneWatch made a good dent in the persistent misinformation (and "factory fundraising" missives) coming from the Humane Society of the United States.
Following our custom for last year's first, second, and third quarters, our server kittens have determined which articles attracted the most HumaneWatchers since October. Snark the cat and Rico the dog provided tie-breaking votes.
So without further ado, here are the most popular HumaneWatch articles from the last three months. Is anyone surprised at which articles topped the list?
- HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle scandalously told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that convicted dogfighting kingpin Michael Vick "would do a good job as a pet owner." While Pacelle tried to weasel his way out of trouble, there was still an enormous backlash against HSUS.
- We published a two-page guide called "Understanding HSUS," exploring the group's animal rights philosophy and vision.
- The first annual HumaneWatch "Shelter Supply Saturday" was December 4. We asked HumaneWatchers to step up where HSUS is lacking, and you didn't disappoint.
- Our analysis of HSUS's 2009 tax return determined that HSUS shamefully neglected America's pet shelters yet again.
- HSUS spent the holidays raising money on the "survivor" story of a horse named Second Chance, and HSUS's factory fundraising machine didn't skip a beat after the horse died.
- We sponsored a HumaneWatch billboard in Lincoln, Nebraska, ahead of Wayne Pacelle's town hall meeting; when we showed up to this supposedly "open" meeting, Pacelle's armed guards were there to keep difficult questions from being asked.
- HSUS sent some animals from an Alabama dog rescue to a North Carolina facility with a gas chamber and a very high "kill rate." (Is it really a "rescue" if the animals don't live out the week?)
- HSUS's "Proposition B" ballot initiative squeaked out a victory in Missouri. But with some odd claims by an HSUS employee in charge of its campaign and our analysis that Proposiiton B's proposals were mostly redundant with currently Missouri law, it's no surprise that state legislators are looking to roll back the proposal.
- This fall saw the emergence of Snark, the HumaneWatch cat, who took time out of his busy napping and eating schedule to write about HSUS's tax return and its holiday "Scrooge"-ness.
- Animal People News, the animal rights world's inside-the-movement paper, estimates that HSUS squanders up to 50% of its budget on overhead costs.
- The American Institute of Philanthropy released its December analysis of nonprofit groups, HSUS earned another "D" grade, and its excuses are getting weaker and weaker.
- HumaneWatch interviewed a young veterinarian-to-be who pulls no punches when he talks about HSUS.
- If you're confused when HSUS spins its vegetarian/vegan/anti-meat leanings, we have a five-point analysis that should clear things up.
- HSUS's new board member, Internet radio personality Jerry Cesak, pulled a little fuzzy math in claiming that 33 percent of Americans are HSUS supporters.
- An Arkansas horse owner on the receiving end of a 2009 HSUS raid is now asking the FBI to investigate the group under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.
Stay with us in 2011 as we continue to shine a bright light on America's richest (and least accountable) animal rights group!
