Seeing Clearly on HSUS

Thanks to our new billboards in Times Square, New Yorkers and visitors from around the country (and the world) are learning the scandalous truth about the Humane Society of the United States: It gives just one percent of the money it raises to pet shelters. Despite its name, it doesn't run a single pet shelter.

Of course, it’s hard to fit a billboard in your office. So help clear up any blurry visions of HSUS with our new eye chart.

Hindsight’s 20/20—so do shelter pets a favor and make sure your next gift goes to your local humane society, not HSUS. Give a copy to your vet or maybe even your optometrist. 

Click the image below to view a PDF (designed for 11” x 17” paper, but will also print on 8.5” x 11”).

The Visual HSUS, Part 12

The Humane Society of the United States (unrelated to your local humane society) is facing more and more public scrutiny as people catch on to its misleading and deceptive tactics. As the Attorney General of Nebraska recently put it, “They are advertising puppies on TV, but then they come in here … trying to end meat consumption in America.”

We’ve documented how HSUS’s fundraising is misleading. And the Attorney General has the basic formula down pat: Heart-wrenching images of abused pets are the vast majority of animals in HSUS’s TV appeals, yet HSUS doesn’t run a single pet shelter and donates just 1 percent of its budget to pet shelters.

How great is the disparity between the language HSUS uses in its fundraising appeals versus what the organization and its leaders really think? Click the graphic below for a few choice examples.

The Visual HSUS, Part 11

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) isn’t affiliated with any local humane societies or pet shelters, and it doesn’t run any pet shelters itself. It could certainly afford to—HSUS spent $126 million last year. Yet less than 1 percent of its budget was grants to support pet sheltering.

HSUS raises millions from local communities and doesn’t give the money back. In West Virginia, for example, HSUS raised over $420,000—but didn’t make a single grant to support pet sheltering in the Mountain State.

How little does HSUS give to support sheltering in your state? We’ve updated our U.S. map to reflect the most recent (2010) figures. (Click on the map to view the PDF.)

Update 11/14/11: To be clear, the percentages are of HSUS's total budget.

Follow the links to view our past entries in the Visual HSUS series: [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10]