“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.