HSUS Contributions Drop $20 Million in 2013
It must be a bad day for Wayne “I don’t love animals” Pacelle and company over at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). They’re desperately trying to put lipstick on a pig, and it’s obvious.
Today Pacelle released HSUS’s annual report for 2013, which is essentially a rah-rah marketing document, along with a bulleted list of accomplishments for last year. Oddly enough, we noticed that he omitted one thing in his blog post: the growth in HSUS’s public support. That’s because there was a serious shrinkage of support for HSUS last year. Contributions and grants to HSUS were down $20 million, or 13%, in 2013.
We’d love to hear him try to explain away that one to his board.
Overall, HSUS’s revenue dropped $10 million, with HSUS seeing an increase in bequests to offset some of its loss in public support. What that means to us is that HSUS managed to sucker a few little old ladies—nothing new—while a lot of the public is starting to catch on to HSUS’s deceptive practices.
HSUS’s budget is also down about $10 million. Interestingly, HSUS only made $3 million in investment income despite having $200 million in investments at the end of last year, which was a great year for the stock market. Did the $25 million that HSUS sent to Cayman Islands and Bermuda hedge funds in 2012 not pay off? When HSUS talks about helping “shelters,” maybe it’s not referring to the kind that has pets.
We should be clear that this annual report is for HSUS and its affiliates, so the HSUS network shrunk in 2013. That’s likely true for HSUS itself, but we won’t have those numbers until HSUS files its tax return in the fall. And when that return is filed, HSUS should make sure not to overstate its revenue and violate IRS instructions. We’ll be watching—again.
And in 2014, we’ll keep up our work to expose HSUS among the public. Given that the year has already seen a state attorney general open an investigation into HSUS—not to mention the RICO lawsuit still hanging over the group’s head—HSUS has got to be sweating already, no matter how many self-promotional galas it puts on.
As for our readers, keep up the good work in spreading the word about HSUS. Your advocacy is a vital part of this fight, and it has been paying off—just not for HSUS.
