This is a sample of fundraising appeals sent by the Humane Society of the United States in 2009 and 2010.

Most of the appeals use language that is dog- and cat-centric, such as:

[T]he only way we can make these critical life-saving programs work and help save the lives of puppies and kittens in peril is with the continued support of our very best members such as you.

However, HSUS doesn't run a single pet shelter, is not affiliated with any local-level "humane societies," and shared less than 1 percent of its budget with pet shelters in 2009.

We believe reproducing this material constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

This is the annual report that HSUS published to describe its program priorities in 2008. It contains a message from president Wayne Pacelle to supporters, testimonials from a selection of HSUS employees, and a summary of its program accomplishments and consolidated financial data.

Highlights included details of the HSUS-backed Proposition 2 to force Californian egg farmers to redesign their facilities or close their doors, acquiring undercover video from a cattle ranch, a state law enacted in Massachusetts to ban greyhound racing, distribution of HSUS's KIND News publication to nearly 1 million elementary schoolchildren, and $3.5 million spent on an animal-care initiative in the Gulf Coast inspired by Hurricane Katrina (despite raising $34 million for rescue activities in 2005).

The 2008 annual report listed a total of 470 employees -- nearly double the size of HSUS's staff in 2001.

On page 16, HSUS claims to have "cared for" more than 70,000 animals during 2008. But nearly 33,000 of these were dogs and cats that were spayed or neutered in conjunction with HSUS's "Spay Day," a promotion that saw HSUS supporting pet shelters in nominal amounts to do the surgeries. (Neither HSUS nor any of its affiliates ever actually "cared for" these pets.) 

We believe reproducing this material constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

This Humane Society of the United States direct-mail fundraising letter was received by countless Americans on the animal rights group's mailing lists in July 2010.

In the three-page letter, which was packaged with a "2011 Pet Lover's Calendar," HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle writes:

One of my goals is to build this nationwide animal protection organization from 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 members.

This startling statement is directly at odds with HSUS's long-standing practice of claiming it has "11 million supporters"—a statistic which now appears to have been inflated by more than 900 percent.

We believe reproducing this material constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

This two-page letter, titled "From the desk of Wayne Pacelle," was sent to HSUS contributors in 2009 in an attempt to induce them to renew their memberships.

The letter's language seems to indicate HSUS's full awareness that most of its members are primarily (or even exclusively) interested in animal welfare issues pertaining to dogs and cats. This is how Pacelle ends his letter (emphasis added):

I know that you are a person who is appalled and outraged about animal cruelty, abuse and neglect, and the terrible things that happen to puppies, kittens, dogs, cats and other pets. That's why you joined The HSUS in the first place!

So stay with us — please. We need each other.

It will take only a few minutes to renew your membership for 2009. By doing so, you'll be helping us continue to speak out for the animals who cannot speak for themselves.

We believe reproducing this material constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

This is a scan of the back of a blue envelope sent out with an HSUS direct-mail fundraising letter in 2008. (The envelope was meant to contain the recipient's pledge form and financial donation.)

Two of the "5 ways to help farm animals" endorsed by HSUS include "reducing our consumption of animal products" and "replacing animal products with readily available vegetarian alternatives."

We believe reproducing this material constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

This is Google's "cache" of an HSUS Internet fund-raising pitch dated July 18, 2007.

It asks Americans to:

"make a special gift to help The Humane Society of the United States care for the dogs seized in the Michael Vick case ... your gift will be put to use right away to care for these dogs."

Two weeks after Google captured this page, HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle told The New York Times that his organization (1) didn't have custody of Michael Vick's dogs; (2) didn't know anything about the conditions in which they were being kept; and (3) recommended to federal government authorities that all of them should be euthanized.

We believe reproducing this material constitutes a "fair use" as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.