They Have No Shame.

Last week we told you about a Humane Society of the United States fundraising vehicle that the group called an “Animal Survivor” story—the tale of a horse that, well … didn’t actually survive.

Days after the horse named Second Chance died, HSUS was blithely raising money without telling the public the truth.

Shortly after we exposed this dishonesty, HSUS began quietly altering its online fundraising pitches to reflect reality. We thought that would be the end of it.

But as of last night, HSUS was still raising money on at least one web page with a rather incomplete story of Second Chance.

“This is Second Chance,” the page’s header intones. “He survived.”

“Second Chance wouldn’t have made it without you,” adds HSUS West Virginia Director (and former beauty queen) Summer Wyatt in the accompanying video.

Right.

We fully expect HSUS to quickly cover its tracks again, but you can click on the image above for a time-and-date-stamped screen capture from just before midnight on the evening of January 4.

As of this morning, HSUS president Wayne Pacelle has also not updated his December 20 blog article. In that piece, Pacelle's ghost-writer claimed that Second Chance “grazes contentedly in the pastures of his new loving home, back to a healthy weight and having regained his strength.”

We’ve resisted the temptation thus far to talk about HSUS “beating a dead horse,” but this is getting ridiculous.

Second Chance

UPDATE: As usual, it has fallen to us to try and keep HSUS honest. About nine hours after we published this article, and four hours after our Editor discussed it on KOA-850 radio in Denver, HSUS has quietly begun to add disclaimers to its online fundraising pitches about "Second Chance." They generally disclose that the horse was recently euthanized, but ask the public to donate anyway "in memory of" Second Chance. As of 3pm EST on December 30, Wayne Pacelle has not updated his December 20 fundraising blog article about the now-deceased horse. 

Meet Second Chance, a horse that we rescued from a horrific neglect situation. Watch his story of survival!

—HSUS Facebook page, December 20

No, this "Second Chance" article isn’t another story about Michael Vick.

It’s about a horse the Humane Society of the United States has been using since December 20 in its end-of-year fundraising scheme.

Watch the great video about Second Chance, this horse is a true survivor - watch, then share

—HSUS Twitter account, December 20

Second Chance’s story is one of three such tales HSUS is telling and re-telling this month in its attempt to reach a $1.2 million fundraising payday. There’s Boomer the dog. There’s Powell the cat. And, of course, Second Chance the quarter-horse.

Second Chance has gone from a walking skeleton to a beautiful horse on the road to recovery. Watch Second Chance’s inspiring story, then make a tax-deductible donation below to help us continue our lifesaving work for animals like Second Chance.

—HSUS fundraising website, December 20–present

There are two problems with the “Second Chance” story HSUS is pushing. For one, many observers say HSUS caused the situation that led to horses like Second Chance needing rescue in the first place. (More on that later.)

And also, Second Chance is dead.

Today, you wouldn’t recognize Second Chance as he grazes contentedly in the pastures of his new loving home, back to a healthy weight and having regained his strength.

—HSUS President & CEO Wayne Pacelle, December 20

The HumaneWatch Interview: Jake Geis

The Humane Society of the United States has put many Americans in uncomfortable positions during the current decade, but few have found themselves in a box quite like veterinarians.

Just last week the American Veterinary Medical Association (whose chief executive we interviewed back in September) made significant changes to The Veterinarian's Oath, which had only been amended once since its creation in 1969. It now refers to "animal health and welfare," along with "the prevention and relief of animal suffering." (New words are in italics.) The first reaction of many observers was that the move was taken in reaction to HSUS—and specifically to its threat to capture the hearts and minds of young vets, and of vets-to-be.

Many vets—especially the youngest ones who are most comfortable questioning authority—recognize that they’re caught between the proverbial “rock” and the corresponding “hard place.” On one hand, many of them are visibly uncomfortable with seeing the animal rights movement gather steam. But on the other, they recognize the need to maintain the dignity of the veterinary profession by refusing to return fire when HSUS slings mud. In short, playing dirty is supposed to be beneath them. And for good reason.

With everything going on in the veterinary world, it's fitting that we're talking with Jake Geis. He’s a second-year veterinary student at Iowa State University. (That school’s cooperative agreement with the University of Nebraska has put him in Lincoln for the first half of his training.) Geis first pinged our radar screen on November 19 when The Daily Nebraskan published his passionate essay titled “National Humane Society has Backward Priorities.”

Shortly after the November 21 “Town Hall” meeting hosted by HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle, we caught up with this articulate young vet-to-be and asked him what he thought about all the hoopla.

A Peek Inside Wayne Pacelle’s Brain

Brace yourselves. It’s a little odd in there.

Today Brownfield Ag News published an opinion piece from a Washington, DC lobbyist named Steve Kopperud. Now, before you sound the “LOBBYIST!” alarm, bear with us. This particular guy knows whereof he speaks.

Long before Kopperud went into private practice, he was a reporter with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the San Diego Union-Tribune. He also ran the Washington bureau of ABC’s magazine & newspaper publishing division. Later on, Kopperud ran the American Feed Industry Association and founded the Animal Agriculture Alliance.

Suffice it to say the Humane Society of the United States has been on his radar screen for many, many years.

He writes:

The greatest sin of HSUS is its arrogance. The organization and its leaders honestly believe because they deem a practice to be “wrong” or “unacceptable,” the world must stop and embrace that definition.

Inherent in that arrogance is blindness. I’ve never heard HSUS or any of leaders acknowledge the consequences – intended or unintended – of the group’s actions. While Pacelle proudly points to his victories in Florida, Arizona and California, he does not acknowledge the two producers in Florida who no longer operate, or the single producer in Arizona who spent I-don’t-know-how-much to stay in business. The vagueness of Prop 2 in California has led to even greater spending and uncertainty as the state government and industry struggle with how to comply with a program no one seems to be able to define …

HSUS chooses not to talk about the consequences – intended or unintended – of its actions. To force the changes [Pacelle] champions works against not only the best interests of animal agriculture, but against the best interests of consumers. That’s anti-animal agriculture.

Read the whole piece here.

Art concept

Animal Enterprise Terrorism at 2100 L Street?

Last week we updated you on the case of Denisa Malott, an Arkansas horse owner and trail-ride operator whom HSUS raided last November. We found it particularly ironic that the “Humane Society” of the United States took 25 horses from Malott and left them without adequate food and water. And this was after an HSUS’s press release said the animals would be immediately taken to a proper care facility.

Meanwhile, Malott—who apparently ticked off the wrong animal rights activist and wound up facing 25 felony animal cruelty charges—got a court order allowing her to care for her own animals so they wouldn't starve.

Now Malott has raised the stakes by asking the FBI to investigate the Humane Society of the United States under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). Unlike HSUS, we don’t have the benefit of a medium-sized law firm on our payroll. But to our eyes, it looks like her September 28 letter lays out a reasonable case.

HSUS: “Neigh” on Horse Care?

It’s another day ending in the letters D-A-Y, so that means there are a gazillion new press releases from HSUS’s media department. (OK, maybe just a dozen or six.) One of them in particular caught our eye.

HSUS is complaining that three horses sustained minor injuries at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. (The games included about 1,000 horses.)

It’s never a good thing to see an animal injured. And the newsworthiness of HSUS's complaint is, we suppose, not for us to determine. But it's ironic, considering some other news we're reading about HSUS and its own abysmal record of horse care.

This particular story won’t appear in any press releases or self-congratulatory videos HSUS puts together.

Cross Pollination, HSUS-Style

Out of the seemingly endless stream of self-promotional press releases to shoot out of HSUS’s media department last week, one caught our eye in particular.

HSUS announced that its Oregon-based Duchess Sanctuary for horses had received accreditation from a group called the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS).

That sounded just dandy—until we took a closer look at GFAS.