The HSUS X-Files

This is an unsourced, unfootnoted research dossier on HSUS leaked to HumaneWatch by an anonymous person who claimed it was written in 1996.

Here are some highlights:

• Page 41: Claims that in 1994, HSUS made a $2,500 donation to "Zero Population Growth"
• Pages 49-51: Refers to two separate independent legal investigations of HSUS's internal finances (which have now seen the light of day on this blog), along with numerous alleged financial improprieties
• Page 54: Speculates that one reason HSUS maintains such huge cash reserves could be that directors of HSUS may be involved in private banking schemes which depend on HSUS's revenue stream for their personal financial gain
• Pages 56-57: Reports on published claims that a former HSUS chief executive accepted kickbacks from a direct-mail fundraising company, and diverted HSUS funds into the lucrative European fundraising market because of the lack of financial accountability there
• Pages 69-70: Hints at a criminal investigation of HSUS by California authorities
• Pages 84-85: Retells a story about Wayne Pacelle dating from the time when he ran the Fund For Animals, when (according to Animal People News) FFA's Black Beauty Ranch "was caught breeding 'rescued' animals and selling the offspring for slaughter" with Pacelle's knowledge
• Page 85: Puts Pacelle's infamous 1993 "one generation and out" quotation in context, alleging that it came after he was asked, "What about domestic animals? That includes pets."
• Pages 87-93: Describes in some detail the career trajectory of one of HSUS's most controversial former officers, David Wills
• Pages 190-197: "The Trojan Horse of Animal Protectionism," a 1994 article by Dr. Patrick Cleveland that's a very worthwhile read and still relevant

Perhaps most eye-opening, though, will be pages 203-207, on which you can find a transcription of a 1990 HSUS flyer. It begins with language that modern readers would typically expect to hear from PETA:

The Humane Society of the United States has long been in the forefront of advocating the recognition of rights of and for animals. At its national membership conference held in San Francisco in 1980, the membership of The HSUS formally resolved to "pursue on all fronts … the clear articulation and establishment of the rights of all animals … within the full range of American life and culture." (emphasis added)