Happy Birthday! (part 3)

HumaneWatch’s first year was chock full of groundbreaking reports, documentary “Eureka!” moments, and fearless commentary.

To celebrate the project’s birthday, we’re flashing back to the most memorable moments.

Continuing what we started on Tuesday and Wednesday, then, let’s return to last fall and take a peek at what we—and the Humane Society of the United States—were up to during HumaneWatch's third quarter.

AUGUST 2010

• We funded some pet shelters. We heard from one that HSUS let down. We stopped discriminating against cats. Missourians showed us some love. HSUS gave itself an award.
• We took a hard look at the loony vegan campaigns in one HSUS campaign director’s past. We read an even loonier column that HSUS’s “number two” would probably rather forget. And we started unraveling the financial scandal that almost brought HSUS's collapse.
• A well-worn HSUS feline talking point turned out to be about as credible as HSUS’s animal-rights veterinary association. We debunked one new HSUS talking point, and primate researchers debunked another.
• We got a good look at HSUS’s financial statements and boiled its 55-point action plan down to just two. We found HSUS’s Hollywood digs. And a gazillion legal briefs.

SEPTEMBER 2010

• Someone in Maryland got a little squirrely. A former HSUS lawyer preached population-control-by-government. Washington, DC process servers stayed busy.
• HSUS’s self-promotion reached a new low(again), and the Dalai Lama cleared up a few things.
• We interviewed America’s top veterinarian, and exposed the “diploma mill” Ph.D. of HSUS’s top academic.
• We learned the sordid, secret past of a former HSUS vice president, and the shocking truth that HSUS used to help fund pet shelters.
• We learned there’s something less efficient than Bono’s anti-poverty charity. And HSUS needs a few numbers guys.
• We asked you to help save a pet shelter. Wisconsinites showed us some love. And saving animals can be rewarding—just ask Michael Vick’s dogs.

OCTOBER 2010

• HSUS put on a good show in Missouri, but farmers didn’t buy it.
• HSUS collected money it didn’t need.
• One HSUS spokesperson had foot-in-mouth disease.
• We analyzed HSUS’s money-train of a tax return.
• HSUS’s overseas leader has a dicey past.
• A new HSUS Board member made a whopping gaffe.
• And a top HSUS money man found himself in a scandal.

Take a deep breath, everyone. We’re three-quarters of the way there! Join us tomorrow for the final installment of the HumaneWatch birthday look-back.