Friday, April 16, 2010

Support Your Local Animal Shelter

Tonight I am sitting here petting our 14 year old Blue Heeler. I must admit it I am a dog person. I can't think of all the dogs I have had in my life, but they have all made an impression and many memories. I would guess many of you would agree with me that pets are an important part of our lives and add to them greatly.

That is why I support my local animal shelter. Our local shelter does great work on a shoestring budget. That is why I am concerned when I see ads on the television for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) on t.v. These ads pull at your heart-strings showing forgotten and neglected animals of all kinds. They would lead you to believe that the hard-earned money you send them goes directly to save those poor forgotten animals.

That is simply not the truth. Only 0.47% goes to local shelters. Yes, less than half of a percent of the money HSUS collects goes to support local animal shelters. Yet they continue to collect money through misleading ads and even through their very misleading name. Many people (and many celebrities, I suspect) fall victim to this sham each year, and give HSUS their support. HSUS actually takes money away from our invaluable local animal shelters through their deception.

The truth is that HSUS is a radical animal rights organization bent on destroying animal agriculture, removing meat from your dinner plate and depriving us of wholesome entertainment such as rodeos and circuses. They use money and influence to impose their unpopular opinions even though the majority opposes their extreme views. Their budget last year was somewhere around 99 million dollars. Want more proof of how shady they are? Recently their status as a charity was down-graded because of the fund-raising techniques they utilize.

In short, if you send them money thinking it will help the stray cats and dogs in your local shelter, you are sadly mistaken. The money goes to promote the destruction of anything related to animal agriculture, medical research involving animals and sports involving animals. I hope that everyone reading this will support your local farmers and ranchers and the local animal shelters by donating money directly to the shelters themselves and not to HSUS.

5 comments:

  1. I used to volunteer at an animal shelter (before I had to move away to college, where I am now too busy to volunteer at the shelters up here =( ). I can not stress how badly local shelters need money. I approve of some adds the HSUS has put out about how shelter animals are not bad animals; that needed to be said. But it's ridiculous that they then want you to donate to them, when they will openly admit that they don't help local animal shelters in your area (or any animal shelter, for that matter).

    Local animal shelters need you. They need money (they depend on their community for support!), they need your time if you can volunteer (cleaning cages every day and taking care of countless animals and giving them the love that they deserve while trying to help people pick out the right pet for them is a LOT of work!), and they need your publicity, to be quite honest. And ALWAYS consider adoption before even looking at a pet store or breeder; often times shelters will have wonderful animals, and even pure-breds or rare breeds (and don't skip over the older animals; they are probably already trained, which is great for first-time owners, and need love and a home too!).

    Do the most good; support your local animal shelter.

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  2. Volunteer Locally~!
    Donate Locally~!
    And Tell Everyone~!

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  3. I know in my local area the ASPCA and HSUS had a lobby day together. Its scary to see our legislature being spoon fed by these people. The more they work together the more we will see our rights be taken away. This is effecting what you will be able to buy at the store, and put on your plate, to how many pets you can legally own. One of the laws that I really love that they have where I live is that if you feed a stray cat for 30 consecutive days then they are legally your cat, but you are only allowed to own 4 cats. Animal Control, ASPCA, HSUS, PETA... call them what ever you like they are all animal haters.

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  4. This is what I posted in my March 28 blog. Thought you might find it interesting.

    This article was in the Hoard’s Dairyman, March 25, 2010 issue.

    The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) collected over $86 million in contributions in 2008, reports the Center for Consumer Freedom. Of those funds, $24 million went to fund-raising more money. Put another way, 28 cents of every dollar goes to raising more funds. Another $30.9 million went to employee salaries with 41 of HSUS employees making over $100,000. Based on Center for Consumer Freedom research, only $450,000 – just half of 1 percent of its total budget – went to organizations that provide hands-on care to dogs and cats.

    We need to take good care of our animals and be responsible.

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