Last week a new animal advocacy group called the Humane Society for Shelter Pets (HSSP) jumped onto the scene with a high-profile advertising campaign asking people to give to their local pet shelters instead of to national groups that give the impression of helping shelters, but don’t pass more than a pittance of the money along. I’m proud to say that my firm, Berman and Company, helped get this excellent group off the ground by providing substantial pro bono PR and operational services. The group is managed by two long-time animal advocates, Jeff Douglas, who has 30 years of experience promoting veterinarians, and Diana Culp, the former director of education for Humane Society of the United States who now works at a local animal shelter. The group’s Board of Directors is chaired by Debbie Price, Director of Education and Policy at one of the nation’s largest non-profit groups.
You’d think that this venerable team coming together in an organization devoted to encouraging funding local pet shelters wouldn’t be controversial. Unfortunately for the group, Wayne Pacelle does not like competition. He was apoplectic at the notion that people would forego giving to his behemoth organization in favor of local shelters and irate that a pet shelter group was pointing out that HSUS—despite more than 85 percent of the animals in their ads being dogs and cats—gives only 1 percent of the money it raises to local pet shelters.
Perfectly understandable…
Wayne Pacelle is desperately defending his “iron rice bowl.”
It’s really a wonder he hasn’t commisioned Black Water to deal with this threat….maybe he has….
Good work. Community first, right?
I recently persuaded my wife to stop giving to any animal help organisation except our local BCSPCA, we know the manager and two of the vets that help out so I believe that most of the money does provide assistance to abandoned pets. I’m pretty sure that most of the national and international organisations are at least a semi-scam or have a political agenda which I don’t agree with. PETA is the worst.
I volunteer at the Oakville and Milton Humane Society and as a conservative, I have to say that it’s a pretty diverse group of people, most of whom are pretty level headed regarding animal welfare. I’d say at least half of them consider PETA to be a bunch of kooks who make real animal welfare supporters look bad.
HSSP’s success will be in direct proportion to Pacelle’s blood pressure.
I give to my local SPCA
Paul M. Your chapter must be the exception then, as the two humane societies I visited out west are awash in animal “rights” bigots that care little about animal welfare. In the last I was astonished to hear them discussing a junket to a climate conference in Bali and laughing at how they could “hide the cost in admin” That is but one of the things that finally convinced me to leave the left. I’ve been all right ever since!
Be careful who you give money to. Most are front groups for the global socialist movement.
Always better to do it locally.
Particularly charities.
As we have seen before HSUS is a disgrace. A con. Like Greenpeace is too the warmists. Its now just a corporate charity with a brand that does nothing for animals. Indeed is hostile to animal owners or breeders.
It just a shell organization to enrich the people working their at the top. We used to call these groups cults. Take The Moonies or Harri Krishna’s as examples. Though there are many more.Only these did it in the name of religion. The new ones do it in the name of Green Religion.
The only animals HSUS is interested is is their personnel bank accounts, while pervading Marxist nonsense.
If this wasn’t true they would welcome this.
Being just a money mob this cuts at the root of their money racket.
We only give local to any charity.
Wonder if Coke is happy with this polar bear story
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16081214
Doubt if the WWF wants this to get out either.
It is pretty sad when one has to hold suspect almost every organization that is asking for donations to see if it has become a political front for subversion.
Quick gather up the leadership of PETA, WWF etc and send them north to the edge of the ice pack…..here polar bear, time for supper big boys !