HSUS Peddles Overpriced Jewelry to Misled Pet Lovers

We frequently write about the outrageous spending priorities of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which gives just 1 percent of its budget to pet shelters. A new video recently came to our attention underlining the grossly misguided—and misleading—financial agenda of HSUS.

The endlessly greedy HSUS recently hosted a TV sales event featuring an animal-themed “PawStyle” jewelry collection. As you might expect, the HSUS-themed hawking is wrought with manipulative and deceptive advertising. For starters, most of the pieces in the jewelry collection feature bejeweled cats and dogs—an odd choice, given that HSUS gives just one percent of donations to pet shelters. (Then again, we suppose a bedazzled hog might not make for the most aesthetically pleasing pendant.)

Meanwhile, the network host is almost comically misinformed about the radical agenda of her guest. Like most of the public—including nearly three-quarters of HSUS’s own donors—the host seems to think that HSUS primarily exists to help pets and pet shelters. She opens the segment by explaining that many viewers regard their cats and dogs as members of the family—again playing on viewers’ misinformed views of HSUS.

So where does the money raised from HSUS’s jewelry line go? Much will go to direct mail promotional items—such as HSUS calendars and Christmas ornaments—used to rake in more donations. Over one-third of the organization’s budget is funneled into fundraising expenses. The rest could be invested in HSUS’s offshore hedge funds in the Cayman Islands, or into HSUS’s self-serving pension.

Animal lovers who want to help pets should avoid donating to HSUS, or buying its overpriced, promotional trinkets, and donate directly to local shelters instead.