HSUS Rebrands as “Humane World for Animals” in an Attempt to Escape its Past
After over a decade and a half of criticism, the Humane Society of the United States seems to have finally waved the white flag. The controversy-ridden animal rights group recently announced that it has changed its name to Humane World for Animals.
The move vindicates our 15-year campaign. We launched in 2010 to warn the public that HSUS was not what it appeared to be. While it deceptively called itself a “humane society” and ran ads full of cats and dogs, it was not an umbrella group for local humane societies, did not run a single pet shelter, and generally gave about 1% of its budget as financial grants to local shelters.
At one point, HSUS called our complaints about name confusion a “contrivance.” But now, with changing its name, HSUS acknowledges that “the ‘humane society’ term … is more associated with local animal shelters.”
Gee, ya think?
However, it’s hard to believe that HSUS is motivated by pure desire to reduce name confusion. After all, local shelters have barked about this for years without result. A more likely explanation is that HSUS is attempting to run away from the countless scandals that have hounded the group.
In 2010, then-HSUS-CEO Wayne Pacelle spoke out in support of convicted dog fighter Michael Vick becoming a dog owner again. Coincidentally, the remarks came shortly after a $50,000 grant to HSUS by Vick’s employer.
Pacelle then became a former CEO in 2018 when he resigned after being accused of sexual harassment by several former HSUS employees and interns. Other highlights of his tenure include scrutiny from federal officials and settling a multi-million dollar racketeering and bribery lawsuit.
Sending Pacelle to the pound did little to rescue HSUS’s brand. The organization has been under heavy scrutiny in recent years for sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars in investments and reporting less than one percent of its budget as financial grants to local pet shelters – all in the midst of an ongoing pet shelter crisis.
With a record like this, is it any wonder that HSUS is rebranding?
Of course, HSUS’s convenient admission doesn’t change the fact that HSUS has siphoned away money from local shelters. According to its latest tax return, it has $390 million sitting in investments. A petition calling on HSUS to donate this $390 million in ill-gotten gains to local shelters has garnered nearly 20,000 signatures as of this writing.
But we won’t hold our breath for HSUS to do the right thing. The same highly paid executives, led by $650,000 Kitty Block, are still running the show.
At the end of the day, you can’t put lipstick on a pig. HSUS may now be Humane World for Animals, but it’s the same scandal-ridden donation-hoarding organization it’s always been.
