Why is anyone still giving money to HSUS?
It’s amazing the bits and pieces that can all eventually come together after a day or so of web surfing.
A comment on the Bad Rap Blog tipped me off to the fact that, while HSUS said “no thanks” to helping the suffering Pit Bulls of Oklahoma, they were right there when a recent North Carolina dog fighting bust went down. According to an article in the Wilkes Journal Patriot,
The 127 pit bulls were taken away with help of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Control personnel with four vans. A tractor-trailer belonging to the Humane Society of the U.S. also was used to transport dogs.
On the HSUS website, a press release about the raid says
“The raid of this suspected dogfighting operation is the culmination of an extensive investigation, and dogfighters everywhere should worry that they could be next,” said Chris Schindler, deputy manager of animal fighting law enforcement for The Humane Society of the United States.
“We are grateful to the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office and Wilkes County Animal Control department for acting quickly and efficiently against this suspected dogfighting operation.”
It is a felony to possess a dog for the purpose of dogfighting in North Carolina. Those involved in illegal dogfighting can receive four to 10 months in prison.
What I find most telling is what this press release (so full of praise for the work of Wilkes County officials) fails to reveal – that a successful prosecution will lead to the immediate death of every Pit Bull confiscated in the raid, puppies included.
He said the pit bulls were being kept as evidence at an undisclosed location until the completion of court proceedings in the case, with a goal of moving through court as rapidly as possible.
“If the state wins the case, the dogs will be euthanized, as called for under the county’s Animal Control Ordinance, based on the dogs being trained and used for fighting,” he said, adding that the dogs were therefore considered dangerous.
No condemnation of this policy is found on the HSUS website. On the contrary, this singular fact is conspicuously absent, although calls for more donations to help ‘end dog fighting’ abound. In fact, right next to the press release is a banner touting the HSUS’ $5,000 bounty for information on suspected dog fighting operations. Seeing it there, and knowing HSUS’ “Kill ’em all” policy on Pit Bulls, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the bounties some areas pay for the bodies of dead wolves. I can hardly think that a stance of ‘death to all fighting Pit Bulls’ is also conducive to convincing people to turn the dogs in – unless, of course, you plan to do your level best to prevent the general public from ever learning that the only Pit Bull HSUS cares for is a dead Pit Bull.
Of course, there’s also the distinct possibility that HSUS’ $5,000 bounty kill fee reward is actually a scam, as the author of this blog asserts.
I find it quite striking that when live Pit Bulls (by which I mean, Pit Bulls that were alive, and were going to remain alive) were involved, HSUS wanted no part of the situation – but when dead Pit Bulls (by which I mean, Pit Bulls that will be murdered killed euthanized as soon as the case is completed) were involved, HSUS could send transport trucks across the country. Apparently, while Pit Bulls can be quite useful tools for raising money, HSUS isn’t quite so keen on spending any of those funds to actually keep them alive.
Of course, as the recent cases taught us, the insistence of Wilkes County that the operators of Wildside Kennels should be actually found guilty in a court of law before the Pit Bulls are murdered slaughtered euthanised must be quite frustrating to HSUS. After all, why wait for a court decision? It certainly wasn’t necessary in the Pat Patrick case, where all of his dogs were put down before he’d even had his day in court – an action taken with the full support of HSUS, and their ‘dog fighting Czar’ John Goodwin. Blue Dog State does a phenomenal job of re capping the horrors of the Floyd Boudreaux and Pat Patrick cases – horrors not related to ‘dog fighting’, but to the needless extermination of dogs only suspected of being used or bred for fighting. As Blue Dog State points out, Boudreaux and Patrick both had their charges tossed out – but that didn’t save their dogs. To HSUS, the only tragedy in these cases is the fact that the court cases were lost, and not the needless deaths of literally hundreds of dogs, or the suspension of the rights for the accused to be innocent until found guilty (a grace we should be applying to their dogs, as well).
A recent comment by Jennifer of Adamant Bulldogs tipped me off to HSUS’ recent activities in San Luis Obispo County. Seems that the San Luis Obispo County shelter asked HSUS to come in and help them to overhaul their antiquated shelter system. Aside from the colossal waste of money that this whole fiasco involved (topping $22,ooo!), the recommendations included this sentence (emphasis mine):
The HSUS recommends that no dogs seized from dogfighting operations, even puppies, be placed for adoption or transferred to placement partners.
The full report can be downloaded here, and the specific section mentioned is section 9.9 . In the event that the report disappears, I’ve done a screen cap of the actual section. It just gets progressively stupider, the more you read.
This all cohered into a post for me when I was watching the Dogtown episode on the progress of the Vick Pit Bulls who are being offered sactuary at Best Friends. Aside from the fact that the HSUS was one of the “Animals Rights groups” who called for the murder extermination euthanization, there was the tidbit thrown out at the end of the show that “The Humane Society estimates one million Pit Bulls are euthanized every year”. Well, yes – at their recommendation, and if the HSUS had their way, that number would be even higher.
So, here we have HSUS, busily fund raising on the backs of fighting Pit Bulls with one hand, while calling out for their death with the other. Isn’t there a name for that kind of behaviour, over above the obvious one of ‘hypocrisy’?
As Gina always says, “Why is anyone still listening to PETA?“.
Can I now add my own?
“Why is anyone still giving money to HSUS?“.
“Please send money to help us end dogs” would be a more accurate pitch from HSUS.
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Actually, it gets worse. Floyd Boudreaux, one of the old-time ‘dog men’ had all his dogs seized and killed – yet was exonerated of all charges in court.
Recently, another well known breeder had all his dogs seized and killed – he too was found innocent of all charges.
The HSUS and a couple of its cronies were trying to pass a civil forfeiture bill in CA which was fortunately quashed. It would have meant that all property and assets seized would be split between the HSUS, Best Friends and the ASPCA in ‘dog fighting’ (read: APBT breeding) busts.
They were fundraising for the care of the Vicktory dogs even though they weren’t involved in the case at all and were never considered as caretakers for the victims, since they don’t do that kind of thing. They changed their website lickety-split when people caught on. Meanwhile, they were calling for the deaths of the dogs in media reports.
The HSUS and its executive are hard-core animal liberationists. The use of ‘humane society’ in their name seems to shut down any inquiry by media even though you don’t have to dig deep to find out what they are really about.
Soft-hearted suckers who love animals are their bread and butter. If only they knew the truth…
I get especially insensed when the above organizations “euthanize” dogs “in their best interest”. “Ones best interest” would seem to be alive over being dead.
As the owner of a sweet, loyal, snorty Pitty, my heart aches for the innocent dogs suffering at the hands to deplorable people, of all forms. I hope that in the future the spotlight will be taken off my loyal companion, and instead be put on the crooks who use, abuse, and exploit these dogs.
PETA, and HSUS are from from caring, unless it fills their pockets, IMO. The “Kill all Pit Bulls” slogan is IMO just as deplorable as human genocide statements. I know, the would would be a much emptier, and lonelier place without the love of Bully breeds, esp of America’s ‘nanny dog’. May there never be a world, without the love of wonderful dogs like my Kiwi.
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> It certainly wasn’t necessary in the Pat Patrick case, where all of his dogs were put down
Hey FrogDog. In the Patrick case, AC decided to ignore the HSUS recommendations for euthanasia and all of his dogs were offered to rescue. Several got out and are living as pets. They went to BadRap, Our Pack and a few other groups that have asked to remain anon.
Two of the defendants from that same case decided not to sign their dogs over and their trial starts next month. I can’t imagine their dogs are still sane after this long stretch of confinement.
Hi Donna —
Thanks for clarifying that. I’m glad to know that at least some of the dogs got out, despite HSUS’ best efforts.
Let’s hope more AC heads and judges start to listen to opinions other than those of PETA and HSUS. In the case of HSUS, a loss of popular opinion on their side might be what it takes to convince them to change their stand (that might just be optimism on my side, of course).
In our experience, the AC’s tend to be very happy to ignore HSUS/Peta when offered reputable alternatives to mass destruction. Nobody likes putting down dozens of soulful dogs. In the Patrick case, AC was actually very sad that more rescues didn’t step up to take more dogs. We have to continue to help them to understand that while rescue resources will always be limited, mass slaughter of innocent victims is immoral and unnecessary.
I don’t claim to know the answers, but we need to get to the point where ACs treat incoming dogs of all breeds the same. I don’t think I’m wrong in assuming that an incoming group of Toy breed dogs wouldn’t have to worry about being killed before their owner’s case goes to court. The public outcry would be deafening.
Absolutely true! In a crazy coincidence, the AC dealing with the Patrick dogs (Southern AZ Humane) took in a massive amount of chihuahuas at the same time they took in P’s dogs. The chis were really screwed up — fear biters, etc. But there was no question that they were all going to live.
As expected, hoards of people wanted them and there were actually fist fights in the shelter lobby over lottery numbers people were holding to claim their new dogs. Crazy.
Sadly, not too many people want to adopt pit bulls from these cases, so rescue is limited in what it can absorb. As much as we want to save these dogs – ALL these dogs – we have to be realistic about our ‘market’ and educate so people don’t buy into the same myths. Game dog fanciers – who would be the best homes – tend to steer clear of neutered dogs, etc, so we have to create a new adopter base out of novice homes. Not easy. And you can bet the HSUS/Peta would LOVE to see one of these dogs set up to fail. They’d be all over it.
So many challenges. Thanks so much for your interest and support.