Second Quarter Blog Favorites

It's time once again to shamelessly rip off a helpful idea from HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle's seldom-read blog. So, just like we did three months ago, it's time for a look back at the articles that grabbed the most eyeballs in the past three months. Pacelle's list is ten items long, but we publish far more original content here than he does. So our list goes to fifteen.

Here are the most-read HumaneWatch articles from April, May and June:

1. "What I Learned at the Dog Show" leads the list; it has now been republished in more than two dozen magazines and newsletters. (Thanks, everyone!)
2. We explored HSUS's jackbooted attempt to play SWAT team, in a case that has been dismissed in every court that's heard it.
3. Since more than 1,200 of you participated in our live-blog experiment with HBO's anti-Petland schlock-u-mentary, it wasn't surprising to see lots of you reading the next morning's extended recap.
4. Our challenge to Wayne Pacelle—"Donate half of HSUS's money to pet shelters and we'll shut HumaneWatch down"—quickly went "viral" (but hasn't yet elicited any response from Wayne).
5. Lots of you followed along as we explored just what HSUS is doing (and what it's not doing) to help with animal rescue in the Gulf of Mexico.
6. Our report "Not Your Local Humane Society" was remarkably popular, especially in the 35 U.S. states where HSUS made absolutely no pet-shelter grants in 2008.
7. Iowa Congressman Steve King offered his frank, unvarnished view of what HSUS is trying to do to his state and his nation; tens of thousands of you read along.
8. Did you know that HSUS's Maryland fundraising "factory" is bigger than a football field? Lots of you do now.
9. Sportsmen and women appreciated our in-depth look at how HSUS is trying to ban hunting, one heavy metal at a time.
10. When the "insolvent" Humane Society International topped Charity Navigator's list of "10 Charities in Deep Financial Trouble," we were all over the story.
11. We got our own "undercover" video—this time of an HSUS horse sanctuary—and it doesn't look too pretty.
12. When Wayne Pacelle barnstormed into Iowa with a new anti-egg-farming horror movie, farm journalists and broadcasters were barred from the press conference.
13. HSUS found an ingenious new way to boost its ballot-petition signature count in Ohio: It sued the state for the right to pay carpetbagging mercenaries to do the dirty work.
14. We took a look at a few of the useless trinkets that HSUS passes out to anyone who becomes part of its mythical "11 million" supporters.
15. And finally, we took a look at HSUS's "guilty until proven innocent" policy on human interaction with wildlife, going back to the 1970s.

It's been an amazing quarter, and you—the readers— deserve so much credit for spreading the word. Thanks for being devoted HumaneWatchers, and for being unafraid to help us ask some pretty tough questions about America's richest animal rights group.