Aug 11 2010
“Looked at my kingdom, I was finally there…”
Now this is a story all about how
My life got twisted upside down
And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there;
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air.
Is the Humane Society of the United States channeling Will Smith, circa 1990?
HSUS spends a lot of time, money, and energy trying to recruit B-list celebrities to its cause. And that only makes sense when you realize that it has a dedicated West Coast office located right at the mouth of Tinseltown. This week a helpful HumaneWatch reader sent us a close-up of that "HSUS Hollywood Office." And it’s located in the elite, gated community of Bel Air, which is home to more stars than a U.S. flag.
The HSUS Hollywood Office used to be known as The Ark Trust before it merged with HSUS in 2002. And the big-bucks HSUS is still holding on to the Ark Trust's prime office real estate, smack-dab in the middle of gazillionaire land. Just imagine how many dogs and cats the group could help if it just moved its Hollywood base of operations to a more modest part of Los Angeles!
The median income in Bel-Air is over $200,000, according to the Los Angeles Times. That puts it at the top of all neighborhoods in L.A., surpassing even Beverly Hills. The HSUS Hollywood Office is literally just down the street from some of the most luxurious and expensive homes in America. (Watch this video and weep.) And hey! There's a tennis court just a stone's throw away too.
The next time HSUS grumbles about how supposed "moneyed interests" are making its agenda difficult to realize, remember that HSUS is itself a moneyed interest. (How many farmers, food companies, or pet stores can even afford to set up shop in Bel Air?)
As for the humble hands-on care of abandoned pets? That’s for the little people (those lower-case “humane societies") to handle. Cocktail parties won’t throw themselves, after all.
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Posted on 08/11/2010 at 03:37 PM by the HumaneWatch Team
The Best of HumaneWatch • Celebrities • Fundraising & Money • (7) CommentsComments
Love the Fresh Prince video and the sense of humor.
I can hardly imagine that my donations are going to support this kind of excess. However, has this office been donated? Could we be bemoaning this situation without both sides of the story? Let’s get all of the information and Be fair…
Cynthia I hate to say it but you might need to do a little more research on where you are sending your money to.. You would be shocked at soem of the stuff you can find out about the HSUS when you start looking.. Like when hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans the HSUS cried out that they needed all these donations so they could take in and rescue the pets and animals people had to leave behind, promising that they (the HSUS) would re-unite these pets to their owners, well guess what they did not and most were put to sleep. Even a political figure in New Orleans complained on TV that the HSUS did not in no way do what they said they were going to do. This is just one of many really do your research, please.
Until H$U$ spends 75% of every dollar on the Hands On animal care they espouse like good nonprofits are expected to do, why would anyone give them money for this kind of smoke and mirrors and Hollywood hype?
The non-profit watchdogs not only give H$U$ one of the lowest ratings they issue (I think the latest rating was a D), but I found something even worse in my opinion! H$U$ is listed as a “closed to scrutiny non-profit” because of their clandestine record-keeping. As I reviewed the A to A+ ratings of organizations to which I donate money, I discovered that nonprofits are also rated for openness:
“The American Institute of Philanthropy offers ratings on over 500 nonprofit organizations in its Charity Rating Guide. AIP considers a group’s willingness to provide basic documents to serious donors as an important factor in one’s giving decision. These documents include an annual report, complete audited financial statements, and Internal Revenue Service form 990, with Schedule A where applicable. Groups which have complied with AIP’s request and sent these documents are marked in the list below by an open book symbol.”
http://www.charitywatch.org/ratingguide.html
GUESS WHICH ORGANIZATION DOES NOT HAVE AN OPEN BOOK NEXT TO THE H$U$ LOGO! SURPRISED?
If you take the time to go through the entire list of nonprofits, you will find that 80% of all the nonprofits listed provide an open book policy to the rating companies and serious donors. Not only is H$U$ NOT an open book nonprofit—but the groups that merged into H$U$ (like Doris Day’s animal group) are all listed separately and none of them are open book either. Add them together and suddenly, H$U$ and its merged entities are the biggest percentage of the closed book group!
EVEN PETA IS AN OPEN BOOK NON-PROFIT! WHAT IS H$U$ HIDING?
How the heck are we supposed to know what to believe?! I see ads on TV of the HSUS saving animals. Then I see all of the stuff about their supporting Vick (who should be in prison still) and NOT helping animals, but using donations to support this type of lifestyle?!
I’ll be giving no donations to HSUS until I find out what to believe.
I really hate this! Thought I had a wonderful animal rights organization to donate to. And I’ve JUST had my respect for PETA shot down when I found out how many animals they had euthanized rather than finding homes for. They are also completely species-biased AGAINST Pit Bulls.
So to whom CAN we SAFELY donate and know that animals are really being helped?
Alecia,
If you want to have a serious impact on helping animals survive and find homes, then donate your time and your money to your local animal shelter. Most are desperate for donations, since H$U$ is drawing huge amounts ($100 million per year) from their late night “kitty & doggie porn” which is being used for Wayne Pachelle’s personal vegan political agenda rather than hands-on animal welfare programs. Local shelters report cash donations drying up and in this difficult economic time, shelters are filled with pets that people cannot afford to keep. DONATE LOCALLY.
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great, what’s the dollar figure on this prime corner piece of property?
keep sending those donations folks, Wayne and his friends have an image to maintain you know.