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McCook Gazette
Letter to the Editor

It's not the HSUS

Friday, May 6, 2011

Dear Editor,

The local animal shelter in McCook held its annual rummage sale. It was quite an event with wall-to-wall people looking at wall-to-wall "stuff" all jammed into one building. If you enjoy a combination of marathon shopping and wrestling, it is definitely a wild way to spend a Saturday!

The official name of the shelter is "The McCook Humane Society." The McCook Gazette referred to the annual event as the "Humane Society Sale." You can imagine how that raised the hair on the back of the neck of this old farm girl!!

This illustrates the need to educate the public on the difference between our local ANIMAL SHELTER and the HUMAN SOCIETY of the United States (HSUS). The local shelter is the entity that actually cares for homeless or unwanted animals, provides neutering to prevent population growth, and is a source of loving pets. The HSUS is the national organization focused on eliminating certain types of animal agriculture and promoting vegetarianism. Despite the words "humane society" on its letterhead, the HSUS is not affiliated with local animal shelters. Despite the presence of dogs and cats in its fundraising materials, it is not an organization that runs spay/neuter programs or takes in stray, neglected and abused.

HSUS is the wealthiest animal rights organization on Earth. It has accumulated $113 million in assets by capitalizing on the confusion its very name provokes. HSUS raises enough money to finance animal shelters in every single state, with money to spare, yet it doesn't operate a single one anywhere.

Less than 1 percent of the HSUS budget goes to actually helping animals. The rest goes to publicity, lobbying, and petitioning efforts. It is thought Nebraska may be a target state for their next petition drive. We will all need to be prepared to fight on this issue. Animal agriculture is a big economic contributor in Nebraska. Let's make sure we don't shoot our state's economy in the foot!

So, if you want to truly help local animals, send your donations directly to our local animal shelter. They don't have any hidden agendas. Many of the workers are local volunteers. And the animals there are truly treated humanely.

Pam Potthoff

Southwest

Nebraska WIFE

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  • Thank you, Pam. I didn't know that about HSUS. Sadly, HSUS is not the only 'Special Interest' groups in the system.

    A great way, when a group calls is to ask the 'percentage' the charity receives, and the 'percentage' of received monies actually used for the ascribed benefit. I have been surprised, many times about the paltry sums actually being used to achieve the goal, with vast amounts being spent on overhead (high salaries), and advertising 'expense' (high salaries). End of Rant.

    Thanks, again.

    -- Posted by Navyblue on Fri, May 6, 2011, at 2:44 PM
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