Annual Report 2010 - The Humane Society of the United States

Transcription

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top by A Humane Nation, the blog of HSUS president
S
and CEO Wayne Pacelle
Learn more at humanesociety.org.
Celebrating Animals,
Confronting Cruelty
The Humane Society of the United States
Annual Report 2010
[ Table of Contents ]
8
34
22
[ 2010 Key Accomplishments ]
H
SUS animal care centers provide emergency treatment and
sanctuary to nearly 16,000 animals, while our veterinary clinics
and wildlife experts rescue and treat thousands more
F ederal bills to strengthen shark finning ban and
prohibit crush videos are signed into law
F
ive HSUS undercover investigations expose horrific
abuses at industrial egg, pork, and turkey facilities
H
umane Society International launches a groundbreaking initiative in Haiti, including spay/neuter,
disaster response, and veterinary training programs
Compassionate Farmer: Bruce
Rickard, who pays special attention
to animal behavior on his farm and
lets chickens be free to express their
“chicken-ness,” has joined the fight
against extreme confinement practices.
Hero for Puppies: After seeing for
herself the inside of a puppy mill and
learning where her own beloved dog
came from, Amanda Hearst helped raise
$1 million for The HSUS’s campaign
against mass breeding facilities.
The Accidental Activist: When
Cristin Tank and her family saw
the cruel activities next door,
they didn’t stay silent, helping
bring an end to fox and coyote
penning in Florida.
Protecting Farm Animals: Page 8
Shutting Down Puppy Mills: Page 34
Protecting Wildlife: Page 22
Protecting Our Best Friends........................ 14
Providing Sanctuary & Healing................38Outreach........................................................................... 42
Ending Animal Fighting.................................... 30
Advancing Humane Science........................ 40
How You Can Help.............................................. 43
—Food writer and New York Times
Magazine columnist Mark Bittman
O
hio agriculture leaders agree to a landmark set
of farm animal welfare reforms
9
8 pro-animal state laws and regulations are
enacted, including the nation’s first ban on the
sale of whole battery cage eggs
Hellmann’s mayonnaise pledges to convert all 350 million eggs
it uses annually to cage-free, while Kraft Foods, Walmart, Subway,
Burger King, IHOP, and other major companies decrease their
purchases of eggs from caged hens
Exposed! 10
If you’re not already anti-factory
farming, this will do it: The Humane
Society just released an undercover
investigation. … The video pretty
much leaves me speechless.
HSUS teams deploy to 51 emergency rescues, saving nearly
11,000 animals from puppy mills, animal fighting operations,
and egregious neglect
Transformations: Underneath a mass of filth-caked,
impenetrable fur, this dog, long confined to the garage
of a Carriere, Miss., puppy mill, was all bones. Saved by
the HSUS Animal Rescue Team, Boomer is actually not
brown but a mostly white dog with gray patches. See
more transformations in Rescuing Animals: Page 4.
On the Cover: Responding to a request from the Fallon County Sheriff’s Office in Montana, the HSUS Animal Rescue Team removed nearly
100 animals, including this cat, from an overcrowded property in July. Taken to an emergency shelter, they were later transported to agencies
around the country for adoption.
T he federal Truth in Fur Labeling Act is
enacted, following years of lobbying, lawsuits,
and exposés of mislabeled and unlabeled
fur-trimmed garments by The HSUS
The HSUS combats Gulf Coast pet overpopulation through
innovative outreach programs and funding assistance for
three spay/neuter clinics
F lorida prohibits fox and coyote penning
operations in which packs of dogs are set
loose on captive wildlife
In Their Words
“This is a subject
that I am extremely
passionate about. By
working together, we
can find good homes
for millions of adoptable, homeless, and
abandoned pets.”
—Ellen DeGeneres, a longtime HSUS supporter
who worked with us to provide 1 million servings of
Halo pet food to shelter animals during the Postal
Service’s Stamps to the Rescue campaign
“I was troubled to
learn from my friends
at The Humane
Society of the United
States about the
practice of confining
egg-laying hens in
tiny cages. … Turning
these defenseless
animals into egg-producing machines
with no consideration for their welfare
whatsoever is a degradation of our
own humanity.”
—The Dalai Lama
“When I found
out that the last
remaining herds are
being rounded up
as we speak, this
just seemed untenable. I consider them
the living symbols
of independence
and freedom—sort of what this whole
country was built on.”
—Actress Wendie Malick, a supporter
of HSUS efforts to end wild horse
roundups and horse slaughter
[ From the President ]
O
Only through
determined,
multipronged,
and strategic
action can
we overcome
these many
roadblocks
and make
animals’ lives
better, bringing
us all closer
to creating a
humane society.
VISIT WAYNE’S BLOG
humanesociety.org/wayne
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The HSUS | 2010 Annual Report
ur 2010 annual report is a compendium of the problems
facing animals, but it is also a chronicle of our efforts to turn the
situation around. It is painful to confront cruelty, but none of us
should be bystanders in the face of the current crisis for animals. We must
do something about it, and The HSUS exists to exert the collective power of
millions of people of conscience to show a better way for the whole of society.
The task is immense because there are so many varieties of animal harm
and exploitation—in the realms of agriculture, animal research and testing,
fashion, and wildlife management, as well as in more modest areas of
commerce and entertainment that involve the use of so many animals.
Because the animals have no voice, we must act as their surrogates and call
others to a more honorable and decent standard of care for creatures less
powerful than ourselves. Our challenge is compounded by the resistance
of our political adversaries, who are often not only wedded to the status
quo but also well-equipped to defend their positions in the political domain.
Only through determined, multipronged, and strategic action can we
overcome these many roadblocks and make animals’ lives better, bringing
us all, step by step, closer to creating a humane society.
We must of course focus on the crises right in front of us, and we do.
There’s no time to waste because animals are homeless, in distress, or in
fighting pits right now. That’s why The HSUS has developed so many capabilities to provide hands-on care for animals in need—through our five animal
care centers, our veterinary services programs, our disaster response work,
and our emergency deployments in cases of cruelty and neglect. In 2010, we
provided direct care and relief to about 100,000 animals, putting our assets
to use in so many areas where local communities do not have the resources
or the expertise to step in and provide relief where needed.
But if that’s all we did, we would be failing in our mission. Our great
charge must be to prevent cruelty. If we only come to the aid of animals
already injured, left homeless, or otherwise in distress, we will expend all
of our resources attacking the symptoms of the problem. We must expand
our efforts to strike at the root causes of cruelty, so that animals don’t get
in trouble in the first place.
Take, for instance, our successful effort in Missouri to pass Prop B, a ballot
measure to crack down on puppy mills. There are 3,000 mills in the state, with
perhaps 200,000 breeding animals and up to 1 million puppies churned out
each year by these large-scale breeders. If we just rescued the discards or came
to the aid of extreme cases of cruelty, we’d be chasing our tail. We need to
put all of the bad operators out of business through the force of law, and to
set up humane standards of care for those breeders who decide they’ll play
by the rules. It’s more efficient and, in the long run, it’s better for animals
that we work on the front end—otherwise, we’d face a never-ending tide
of animals and burn though all of our resources with no end in sight.
Similarly, we also work at the federal level to combat systemic abuses of
animals. Each year, 73 million sharks are killed globally for their fins, used
as an ingredient in soup. By strengthening our federal law to ban finning,
as well as working in international circles to curb the industry, we are helping
to prevent the gruesome killing of so many of these creatures.
Building Humane Communities: In 2011, HSUS programs have continued to combat root causes of animal suffering. At a recent
End Dogfighting in Chicago event, volunteer Angela Love-Bradford (right) helped owners sign their dogs up for free rabies
vaccinations, training classes, and spay/neuter surgeries. At another April event, The HSUS worked with local church leaders
to provide vaccinations and other services for pets of families in underserved areas.
We’ve not yet shut down Canada’s seal hunt, but we
It’s part of our effort to throw back the curtain on animal
are methodically closing down markets for sealskins and
abuse, and to call the good people of America to act on
diminishing the commercial value of the pelts, making
their conscience.
the whole enterprise for the sealers and the government
And person by person, we are spreading the message—
of Canada a losing proposition. Through these efforts,
to young people in urban communities, to people of
we are saving hundreds of thousands of seal pups every
faith, to law enforcement officials, to political leaders,
year, and we’ll not relent until the job is finished once
and even to corporate leaders involved in industries that
and for all.
must find a new pathway
So much of our mission
to conduct their business
Person by person, we are spreading the
involves
exposing
abuse
or entertainment.
message—to young people in urban
and holding it up to the
There’s no group in
light of day, reminding peothe world like The HSUS.
communities, to people of faith, to law
ple that the mistreatment of
It brings more capabilities,
enforcement officials, to political leaders, more know-how, and
animals violates the standards and ideals of our
more urgency to the
and even to corporate leaders involved
civil society. In 2010, The
fight for animals than
in
industries
that
must
find
a
new
HSUS conducted five major
any group ever has.
exposés of factory farmAs we press forward on
pathway to conduct their business.
ing, investigating some of
so many fronts, we need
the largest companies in
your help more than ever.
agribusiness and exposing their extreme and callous conWe are grateful for all you do for us, and your continued
finement of animals raised for food. Factory farming is an
support will allow us to expand our efforts to usher in
example of human creativity and innovation divorced from
changes for animals that we’ve worked so long to achieve.
conscience. We are reminding the American public about
the need to sync our economic institutions and our commercial practices with our values and ideals.
Last year, we also exposed the archaic practice of
bear baiting in South Carolina, plus cockfighting in Texas
Wayne Pacelle, President & CEO
and so many other cruel practices throughout the nation.
The Humane Society of the United States
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[ Rescuing Animals ]
11,000 animals are saved by the Animal Rescue Team in 51 emergency
rescues involving animal fighting operations, puppy mills, hoarding cases,
and other abusive situations
3,380 + reports are fielded by animal cruelty experts, who
also advise law enforcement agencies in more than 365 cases
A $250,000 grant for large-scale animal rescue operations is awarded
to The HSUS for being voted a top cause in the Pepsi Refresh online contest
1,300 animal protection
in disaster response training
professionals and volunteers participate
Humane Society International provides disaster relief for animals
in partnership with local groups in Haiti, China, Mexico, and Chile
After seeing the absolute squalor these people and
animals lived in, you can’t help but feel anything but
sorrow for both. But then you get to see the whole
ordeal come to an end, and you see the compassion
the animals get from the staff and the volunteers,
and it really does make the overload of sights, smells,
sounds, and emotions you’ve experienced over the
last eight hours worthwhile.
A month after saving this Montana cat and nearly 100
other animals, The HSUS’s Adam Parascandola headed
west again for back-to-back rescues of about 250 more.
“It’s probably the first time a lot of these cats have
actually breathed outside air,” Park County prosecutor
Bryan Skoric said during a Wyoming seizure.
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—Photographer Bradly Boner on bearing witness to an HSUS rescue of 157
cats from a Wyoming home and their subsequent emergency care
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To the Rescue
When HSUS rescuers first laid eyes on the dog now known
as Chunk, he was standing on a layer of feces and trash, in
the front room of a bug-infested house in rural Mississippi
(above, left). The floor was so deep in filth, it squished when
responders walked on it.
Throughout a long, rainy day, teams removed 181 animals
from the property belonging to a hoarder masquerading as a
rescue group. Many of them were malnourished and plagued
by worms and skin infections.
After a long trip north on the HSUS rig, Chunk was taken
in and treated by the Washington Animal Rescue League.
These days, he looks like a different dog (above, right)—
“more basset-y in the snout,” says adopter Dan Metcalf,
noting that when he and his wife first got Chunk, his face
was swollen and misshapen from skin disease and medications.
The dog’s affable nature has helped bring out the best in
his new playmate, Daisy, a rescued boxer. “They balance each
other out really well,” Metcalf says. “She was isolated; she
was tied up in a backyard. … He’s very much a go-getter and
friendly, and she’s kind of shy and jumpy, but they both sort
of bring each other to the center.”
Happy endings are common following rescues by The HSUS.
Once chained at dogfighting operations, pit bulls like Abby
will never have to fight again. Fostered by a Casa Del Toro
Pit Bull Education & Rescue volunteer named Holly, Abby
befriended Holly’s grandfather during his hospice stay.
“Grandpa would have them mark on the calendar when
Abby would come back for the next visit,” reports the group’s
director, Laurie Adams. Now living permanently with Holly, the
dog is enjoying her newfound purpose in life: as a family pet.
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The good fight (opposite, clockwise from
top left): Jean is one of many pit bulls
The HSUS’s Chris Schindler has transported
to safety. The efforts are “all worth it when
you get those dogs loaded on the truck and
out of there,” he says. Read more on animal
fighting: p. 30.
A desperate scene: Spurred by the sight
of starving animals, West Virginia state director
Summer Wyatt fights for better laws. Her
allies include Wayne County’s Gary Michels,
who won a Humane Law Enforcement Award
for prosecuting cruelty. Read more on equine
protection: p. 20.
Inside a hoarding case: An HSUS collaboration
with North Star Rescue and A&E’s Hoarders
resulted in a poignant portrayal of the plight
of 2,000 rats and their overwhelmed owner.
Read more on HSUS outreach: p. 42.
Puppy factory: Opening the door to Gayla’s
Poodle Palace engulfed White County, Tenn.,
sheriff Oddie Shoupe with a suffocating stench.
“And that’s when I called for The Humane
Society of the United States because I knew
we had more than I could handle.” Read more
on puppy mills: p. 34.
The HSUS 2010 Annual Report | 7
[ Protecting Farm Animals ]
5 undercover investigations reveal endemic cruelties and food safety
concerns at U.S. factory farms
C alifornia is first state to ban sales of whole battery cage eggs,
while major companies such as Kraft Foods commit to dramatically
increase their cage-free purchases
Ohio
agriculture leaders agree to phase out or limit the worst confinement systems
A federal court rules against foie gras producer for Clean Water Act violations
The
USDA announces stronger oversight of the federal humane slaughter law
Cruelty charges stemming from an HSUS 2009 investigation result in
conviction of a former slaughterhouse co-owner and employee
Industrial farms are not a step forward. Somewhere along
the line, animals became machines, and cogs in machines.
They’re replaceable parts; when a chicken dies in a cage,
you pluck it out and stick another one in. Same thing
with a hog. We don’t operate that way. We still practice
traditional forms of husbandry. We know about animal
behavior, and we have a long-standing relationship with
these animals.
—Bruce Rickard, an Ohio farmer who has joined
The HSUS’s fight against extreme confinement practices
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Factory Farms
Unmasked
It makes me angry for people who buy
these products in the grocery stores,
where everything is bright and clean.
The barns are not bright. They’re not
clean. It’s not at all what it seems.
—An HSUS undercover investigator who spent a month
at a Cal-Maine Foods facility in Texas, where four “housekeepers” were expected to care for 240,000 animals each
Location: Waverly, Virginia
E xposed: Industrial pig breeding facility
owned by the world’s largest pork producer
L ocations: Winterset, Stuart, Guthrie Center,
and Thompson, Iowa
xposed: Second and third largest egg
E
producers in the U.S.
“I’ve seen some terrible things in my undercover experience, but nothing even begins to compare to these battery
cage facilities,” says the HSUS investigator of the 25 days he
worked for Rose Acre Farms and Rembrandt Enterprises.
At four facilities, he documented the cruelty typical of
factory-style caging systems. Countless animals suffered
painful injuries and illnesses; many became trapped in cage
wire and slowly perished. Survivors didn’t fare much better.
After months of battery cage life, they were rendered
“hollow shells” of birds, he says—scrawny, featherless,
defeated creatures ground up for chicken byproducts
or slaughtered for low-grade meat.
Nearly 270 million chickens—more than 90 percent of
egg-laying hens—in the U.S. are confined so tightly in barren
cages that they can’t even spread their wings. Working with
family farmers and other stakeholders, The HSUS is raising
awareness and prompting many producers to shift to cagefree systems. Our investigators are the public’s eyes and
ears into the conditions at the facilities of producers resistant
to change, says senior director of investigations Mary Beth
Sweetland. “They bring the suffering out in the open.”
Says the investigator of the Iowa facilities, who spent
weeks removing decomposing corpses from cages: “This
isn’t in sync with how the public wants to get their eggs.”
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Location: Willmar, Minnesota
E xposed: Largest turkey hatchery in the U.S.
Days before Thanksgiving, an HSUS investigation
revealed the unappetizing reality behind industrially produced turkey products. Working at the Willmar
Poultry Company, an investigator videotaped conveyor
belts drenched in the blood of young turkeys
whose toes, snoods, and beaks were cut off with
no anesthetic. Sick and injured hatchlings fell from
conveyor belts and flapped helplessly for hours on
the factory floor—until the end of the day, when
they and any surplus birds were tossed into a machine
that ground them up alive.
It was The HSUS’s first undercover exposé of the
U.S. commercial turkey industry, which produces more
than 250 million birds each year. Willmar and one of
its customers defended the abuses as standard industry
practices. Sadly, they’re correct: Federal animal welfare
laws don’t apply to animals on the farm, enabling
businesses to treat birds as mere production units.
The HSUS is urging the industry to adopt higher
standards, including more humane slaughter
methods, and enlisting public support for reforms.
“Investigations like this are shining a bright light
on this very dark world of factory farming,” says
The HSUS’s Paul Shapiro. “The more Americans learn
about the routine abuses, the greater the demand
for change.”
At a massive pig breeding farm owned by a Smithfield Foods
subsidiary, an HSUS undercover investigator documented
the miserable lives of breeding sows virtually immobilized
in gestation crates. Open pressure sores and untreated
abscesses were common. Some animals showed compulsive
swaying and head-bobbing; others chewed the cage bars
until their mouths bled. Outside the crates, the animals
were treated roughly—struck with iron rods or even
thrown into a dumpster to die.
The widely publicized video footage hit a public nerve,
adding pressure on Smithfield and other pork producers
to end the use of gestation crates. “If you’re not already
anti-factory-farming, this will do it,” wrote New York Times
Magazine columnist Mark Bittman in his blog. “… The
video leaves me pretty much speechless.” Grist food and
agriculture columnist Tom Philpott had a similar reaction,
concluding: “Thank goodness we have the Humane Society
acting as our eyes on the meat-factory floor.”
Location: Waelder, Texas
E xposed: Largest egg producer
in the U.S.
At Cal-Maine Foods’ million-chicken egg
operation, two details were inescapable: animal
suffering and filth. The fly infestation in one
barn was so severe, says the HSUS undercover
investigator who worked there in November, it
was like “walking on Rice Krispies.” Hens and
eggs were covered in chicken waste that rained
down from the cages above.
The exposé occurred in the wake of the
nation’s largest egg recall, in which a half-billion
eggs from battery cage facilities were deemed
at risk for salmonella contamination. The HSUS
ran ads reminding the public and policymakers
that intensive confinement systems aren’t just
cruel—they’re also a health danger. Citing
numerous recent studies that show a clear link
between battery cage confinement and salmonella contamination, The HSUS filed a complaint
with the FDA about the Cal-Maine findings,
asking the agency to amend the federal egg
safety rule. Says The HSUS’s Dr. Michael Greger:
“This is the science that the FDA cannot afford
to ignore.”
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[ Protecting Farm Animals ]
12
Justice for Abused Calves
Marketplace Reform
Appealing for Action
Building Momentum
The calves being tormented at the Vermont
slaughterhouse couldn’t walk or even stand. With
the undercover camera rolling, the newborns—many
with their umbilical cords still attached—were kicked,
slapped, and repeatedly shocked with electric prods.
Some were still conscious while they were skinned
alive or had their throats slit or heads sawed off.
In the months following its fall 2009 investigation,
The HSUS filed a legal petition with the USDA to
improve slaughterhouse calf-handling and oversight.
In December 2010, the agency announced it would
tighten rules requiring immediate humane euthanasia
of downed cattle, plus appoint an ombudsman to hear
inspectors’ concerns. In addition, the USDA is seeking
public comments on an HSUS petition it tentatively
granted to prohibit slaughter of downed calves.
The HSUS also persuaded the Vermont attorney
general’s office to prosecute the case. In his quest
for justice, HSUS director of animal cruelty investigations Adam Parascandola counted every kick and shock
in the undercover video. A co-owner and one worker
were convicted, the latter of felony cruelty—sending
a message, Parascandola says, that “people care what
happens to farm animals, and these cases can be
successfully prosecuted and taken seriously.”
Fresh from an HSUS internship and heading into her
junior year at Grand Valley State University, Lena
Spadacene decided to persuade the Michigan college
to go cage-free. In September, she began working
with a dining services advisory group. Months passed
and nothing happened. So in February 2010, Spadacene
collected more than 1,000 student signatures and
appealed directly to the head of campus dining.
Within two weeks, the first cage-free egg was cracked
on campus.
“Students have way more power than they’ve been
led to believe,” says Spadacene, who received The HSUS’s
Student Leadership Award for her efforts. “Do something
about it, because it’s possible.”
With The HSUS’s encouragement, more than 100
schools began using cage-free eggs in 2010, along with
more than 100 restaurants, including major chains like
Subway, and well-known brands such as Kraft Foods,
Hellmann’s, and Sara Lee. Along with prior commitments
from thousands of additional establishments, the
changes help drive reduction in the number of products
purchased from extreme confinement facilities.
Humane Society International also continued its
cage-free campaign abroad, winning the first pledge
from a restaurant in Brazil. This year, HSI hopes to
get the São Paulo city school system to go cage-free.
“Humane” and “happy” are increasingly popular
marketing terms—the next big thing after “organic”
and “fair trade,” according to one consumer behavior
analyst. Trouble is, they often don’t reflect what’s
actually happening to farm animals. So in 2010,
The HSUS took action against two of the most
egregious perpetrators of consumer misinformation.
In June, we filed a complaint with the Federal Trade
Commission to stop Rose Acre Farms, the country’s
second-largest egg producer, from making false and
misleading animal welfare claims to consumers. And
in November, The HSUS’s Animal Protection Litigation
team helped represent an HSUS member in a class
action lawsuit against Perdue, alleging that the
company is unlawfully marketing its chicken products
as “Humanely Raised.”
The truth behind the foie gras served in fine
restaurants isn’t pretty either, and last year The HSUS
won a major victory in a lawsuit against Hudson Valley
Foie Gras. A judge ruled that the company, which
obtains its product by force-feeding ducks, had
violated the federal Clean Water Act by polluting the
Middle Mongaup River. Hudson Valley was ordered
to fund a $50,000 environmental cleanup project,
plus pay $25,000 to $30,000 for each additional
day it continues to break the law.
It was an achievement “that few people would have
thought possible for Ohio even just a couple years
ago,” says Paul Shapiro, senior director of farm animal
protection for The HSUS: commitments by the state’s
agribusiness industry in June 2010 to phase out tiny
crates for veal calves and pigs and to place a moratorium on new battery cage facilities for egg-laying hens.
In one of the nation’s top agricultural states, where
millions of animals suffer in factory farms, The HSUS
had laid the groundwork for the agreement with
successful legislative and ballot campaigns in seven
other states since 2006. And as 2010 came to a close,
Shapiro and his staff continued to build on these
victories, gearing up for possible ballot initiatives
in Washington in 2011 and Oregon in 2012.
Overjoyed by the Ohio reforms was unemployedsalesman-turned-advocate extraordinaire David
Meadows. While gathering signatures for an HSUS-led
ballot initiative preempted by the negotiations,
Meadows had encountered many voters angry about
farm animal suffering, and he says that Ohio’s animal
lovers will be holding the industry to its promises. “This
is definitely something that we’ll keep up the pressure,
and keep pushing for what is already happening in
other states,” says Meadows, who was inspired by
his volunteer experience to join the HSUS staff.
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[ Protecting Our Best Friends ]
67 state laws are enacted to address pet protection issues such as spay/neuter,
humane euthanasia, and antifreeze poisoning
Federal ban on crush videos—fetish films where women stomp small animals
to death—is signed into law
6 8,000 +
spay/neuter surgeries result from Spay Day events in 39 countries
58,120 dogs, cats, and equines in developing nations and underserved
regions of the U.S. are sterilized or given other lifesaving care
7,076 people receive guidance to prevent pet relinquishment through
Pets for Life NYC
4 ,173 pets are brought to free vaccination clinics and spay/neuter
outreach events in Southern states
550 + veterinary professionals receive training in spay/neuter,
equine treatment, and field clinic operations
We’re all aware of the overpopulation of pets, plus
with the state of the economy right now, it’s obvious
that people are in need of help. The HSUS has a good
reputation, so it was a way to reach out to the community
with a strong organization and really do some good.
—Stephen Owen, associate pastor of Shallow Well United Church of Christ in Sanford, N.C.,
which cohosted an October 2010 vaccine clinic and spay/neuter voucher distribution
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“It’s important when you’re on a fixed
budget,” said one pet owner who came
for a spay/neuter voucher. “We have so
many dogs, we can’t afford to take them
to the vet,” said another who came for
the rabies vaccines. The HSUS-sponsored
event in Mississippi was one of many
designed to help pet owners in need.
Pioneering Spay/Neuter in Haiti and Bhutan
At first, some of the Haitians were skeptical. Like most
In Tupelo, Miss., more than
300 pets received rabies
vaccines and free bags of food.
Talkin’ Spay/Neuter in the Gulf
Build it and they will come —a proposition validated by
the early turnout at low-cost spay/neuter facilities opening
in the Gulf Coast in the years after Hurricane Katrina.
The HSUS and other groups helped fund the operations
in response to findings that pet owners cite cost as
the No. 1 barrier to spay/neuter in a region battered
by high rates of poverty and shelter euthanasia.
Though successful, the services weren’t reaching
everyone, so The HSUS helped find new ways to promote
spay/neuter beyond billboards and radio and TV ads.
“There’s a huge segment of our population that is underserved and that doesn’t respond or have access to the
traditional marketing,” says Amanda Arrington, HSUS
manager of spay/neuter initiatives. “Those are the people
that we really need to get the message and the services
to. Cable TV is not necessarily going to do it.”
Throughout 2010, the spay/neuter facilities and
The HSUS held community outreach events to provide
vaccines and microchips and talk to pet owners about
the connection between unaltered pets and euthanasia.
Promotional flyers were hung in grocery stores, laundromats, even check cashing outlets. In one community,
mosquito control workers distributed information, while
an event notice was printed on residents’ utility bills.
The unconventional marketing tactics—and a strategy
of holding the events in accessible locations—made
inroads into untapped client bases. In Hattiesburg, Miss.,
only 1 percent of visitors to the Southern Pines Animal
Shelter’s spay-neuter clinic are African American, even
16
though the demographic comprises about 45 percent of
the area’s population. But when the clinic began holding
outreach events, workers were excited to see a different
clientele emerge, with young African American males
showing up to get care for their pit bulls and other dogs.
At each event, pet owners were receptive to the
spay/neuter message, especially when accompanied by a
voucher for free or discounted surgeries. “They’re willing
to come out at 5 in the morning and stand in line for six
hours on a Saturday, for a vaccine that costs $7,” Arrington
says. “It just shows that they don’t have an option and they
really want one.”
In Jefferson Parish, La., free pet food was snatched up
by 1,500 attendees. And at an event in Lafayette, La., participants included two roommates who had been preventing
litters through constant juggling of their multiple dogs
to keep the males and females segregated. “They shrieked
with delight when they were given the spay/neuter
vouchers,” says Cory Smith, director of the HSUS Humane
Communities program. “They had wanted to get them
fixed for so long and had not been able to afford it.”
Such success stories bring hope to the shelter staff who
struggle every day with the consequences of pet overpopulation. People like Debbie Hood, executive director of the
Tupelo-Lee Humane Society in Mississippi, where about 72
percent of the animals are euthanized—close to the average
for shelters across the state. “I can’t look in their eyes and
not do something,” says Hood. “Maybe not today, but in
the long run, we’ll eventually save a lot of lives.”
veterinarians in developing nations, they’d been trained
to treat agricultural animals, not sterilize dogs. And
while eager to learn new skills, they worried that the
knowledge would be worthless when the Westerners
left and they wouldn’t have the necessary supplies to
perform the surgeries.
Dispelling such fears was just one of the challenges
Humane Society International faced in 2010—the first
year of an ambitious animal welfare initiative in a country
that, even before the January earthquake, had not a
single animal shelter, animal protection group, or lowcost veterinary clinic. HSI teams spent months assessing
the situation, meeting with government officials and
other NGOs, and mapping out a multiyear project with
long-term sustainability.
In partnership with Best Friends Animal Society, HSI
laid the groundwork for the January 2011 opening of
the Haiti Animal Care and Welfare Center, which includes
a veterinary hospital, community workshop space, and
veterinary training center. And more than 30 Haitian
vets received hands-on training in spay/neuter surgeries
and companion animal care—setting the stage for
high-volume sterilization and vaccination clinics for street
dogs and wellness clinics for working equines throughout
the island.
It’s a comprehensive, longsighted approach to
improving animal welfare in developing nations. In the
kingdom of Bhutan, HSI is leading the first-ever nationwide street dog spay/neuter initiative. By the end of 2010,
the program had sterilized and vaccinated nearly
17,000 dogs, and it had begun training local veterinary
professionals and others in the skills needed to keep
the work going in the years to come.
“Our staff are reaching into every corner,” says Sunil
Chawla, HSI’s lead veterinarian in Bhutan, describing
the thrill of visiting a remote area and finding a dog
with the telltale notched ear borne by beneficiaries
of HSI’s spay/neuter program. “They are doing very
hard work.”
The HSI street dog program caught the attention
of animal lovers and government officials in other
nations with large street dog populations. In November,
the mayor of Cebu City in the Philippines signed an
agreement with HSI to launch a two-year catch-neuterrelease program for street dogs; other Philippine cities
have expressed interest in doing the same.
HSI has also helped address cultural mindsets that
affect animal welfare. In Cuenca, Ecuador, we cosponsored the first adoption fair for ARCA (Activism, Rescue,
and Conscience for Animals)—promoting shelter pets
in a country where adoptions aren’t common. Two cats
and 32 dogs found new homes at the event, which
attracted more than 200 people.
In Haiti, the trickle-down effect on cultural attitudes
is already apparent. “Now minds are changing,” says HSI
program assistant Jean-Claude Cesaire, a Haitian native.
“They are learning that animals are our neighbors, our
friends; we’ve got to treat them better. The community
is changing in terms of appreciation of the animals.”
HSI sterilized and
vaccinated nearly
17,000 street dogs in
Bhutan in 2010.
17
[ Protecting Our Best Friends ]
Foul-Weather Friends: Long
engaged in post-Katrina rebuilding
in the Gulf Coast, The HSUS was
there to help when the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill drove out-of-work
locals to surrender more animals to
area shelters.
“Every room had dogs in it,
kennels on top of each other. You
could tell they were just struggling
to get any dogs out,” recalls The
HSUS’s Sarah Barnett, who in June
helped transport animals from two
Louisiana shelters to Washington,
D.C., groups.
“Knowing they’re going to a
good place and a safe place, it
took a load off the whole staff,”
said a relieved Beth Brewster,
director of the St. Bernard Parish
Animal Shelter.
Brewster’s shelter itself is a postKatrina project come to fruition.
Paid for with FEMA funds, insurance
proceeds, and a $250,000 grant
and other in-kind assistance from
The HSUS, the new facility is “paradise,” says Brewster—easier to clean,
pleasant for staff and visitors, and,
most important, more comfortable
for the animals.
18
Transforming Veterinary Medicine:
Ontario Veterinary School student
Erika Sullivan was disturbed that few
classmates had chosen an ethical
alternative to the school’s traditional
surgical training on live animals who
are later euthanized. As a student
member of the Humane Society
Veterinary Medical Association,
Sullivan knew simulators, cadavers,
and beneficial procedures such as
spay/neuter are just as effective and
are embraced by many U.S. veterinary
schools. After graduating in 2005, she
continued to return to her alma mater
to promote alternative training. Now a
professional HSVMA member, Sullivan
helped persuade her school to eliminate terminal surgeries in 2010.
Ending terminal surgeries is just one
way that HSVMA helps animals through
action, advocacy, and education. In
2010, members rallied for two crucial
ballot campaigns—a puppy mill initiative in Missouri and Ohio’s humane
farm initiative—and worked to ban the
devocalization of dogs in Massachusetts. HSVMA Field Services teams also
provided $1.3 million in free veterinary
care to more than 8,000 companion
animals and equines in rural and underserved areas here and abroad.
The Show Must Go On: What
happens when you play a country
song backward? Your wife comes
back, your truck gets fixed, and
your lost dog comes home.
It’s an old joke, but it was in that
spirit of reversing misfortune that
The HSUS rolled ahead with Animal
Care Expo 2010, in country music’s
mecca of Nashville, Tenn.—only
a week after the city experienced
heavy flooding that left the original conference site 14 feet under
water. HSUS conference planners
and local partners kicked into
high gear, relocating the entire
meeting—which appropriately
included workshops on disaster
planning—to another hotel with
less than a week to spare. More
than 1,000 animal shelter and
rescue staff and volunteers came
to learn, network, and get inspired.
The year 2011 will mark the
20th anniversary of Expo and
helping shelters work better
and smarter, toward the goal
of ending the suffering and
euthanasia of homeless pets.
A Roadmap for Shelters: Rural or
urban, large or small, governmentfunded or private nonprofit, animal
shelters face unique challenges.
Everything from cage-cleaning
protocols to building design to
public relations ultimately impacts
a shelter’s animals and its employees.
To help shelters reach their highest
potential, The HSUS’s Shelter Services
program provides guidance, training,
and on-site assessments, bringing
the latest research and progressive
solutions to shelters across
the country.
“I’m still astonished by all we
learned,” says Karen Stimpson,
executive director of the Coastal
Humane Society in Maine, which
received an on-site evaluation in
2010. Stimpson and her staff have
already implemented many of the
HSUS team’s recommendations—
with noticeable results. Best of
all, Stimpson says, her organization
now has a five-year roadmap
and HSUS experts to advise them.
“Whatever’s coming our way, we’ve
got the wisdom behind the report and
follow-up and guidance if we need it.”
Pen Pals: When a temporary
shelter in Gonzalez, La., filled to
capacity with animals rescued from
Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Dixon
Correctional Institute officials
offered to help. Soon, hundreds
of animals were on their way to
a converted dairy barn on prison
grounds, where inmates walked
dogs and even played Frisbee.
“A lot of guys really enjoyed
it,” says warden Steve Rader.
“They said, ‘If you ever get dogs,
I want to work with them again!’ ”
Now, thanks to a $600,000
HSUS grant and help from the
Louisiana State University School
of Veterinary Medicine, the prison
is the site of an emergency evacuation facility and animal shelter
for East Feliciana parish strays.
Providing training for prisoners
as well as a refuge for homeless
pets in a parish that previously
didn’t have a shelter, the program
reflects The HSUS’s ongoing
commitment to assist pet owners
in post-disaster recovery.
Yes, They Had Some Chihuahuas:
“When I first got him, they were
calling him Dr. Death because
he just looked so bad,” says Erin
Long-Scott, who adopted the dog
now known as Lovie. One of 158
animals removed from substandard conditions by The HSUS and
Kern County Animal Control in
California, the Chihuahua’s teeth
were so decayed that a Sacramento
SPCA veterinarian had to pull all
but one.
The SPCA is one of 100-plus
organizations in The HSUS’s
Placement Partner program, which
care for victims of large cruelty
cases investigated by The HSUS and
law enforcement agencies. Partners
like the Sacramento SPCA join
a “collaborative effort that’s key
to improving the lives of animals
in our community,” says executive
director Rick Johnson.
Today, Lovie loves to chew
on oranges in Long-Scott’s yard.
During cold weather, he rushes
outside to sit under the dryer vent
for a warm-air “massage.” His jaw’s
a little crooked, but he smiles a lot.
19
Progress for Horses
Hal Bowden will never forget the sight.
Once neglected and starving,
these horses saved by the
HSUS Animal Rescue Team later
moved on to greener pastures.
Delivered from Danger
White skulls and decaying bodies dotted the terrain,
while the trees offered another haunting reminder of just
how bad things had gotten on this decrepit Texas farm:
The horses were so starved, so desperate, they had taken
to chewing the bark off the trunks.
In December, The HSUS stepped in and helped authorities seize 43 horses from the property—one of several
major rescues in 2010. More than 20 horses were placed
in new homes, while 14 were sent to foster trainers
and five to The HSUS’s new Doris Day Horse Rescue and
Adoption Center in east Texas. The latter were expected
to attend the center’s grand opening this May to participate in a “rescue makeover,” showing off just how far
they’ve come.
“That is the model that we’re seeking to perpetuate,
that these horses aren’t old, broken down, worthless
animals,” says Stacy Segal, equine cruelty specialist
with The HSUS. “They just need the time and the
knowledge to become good equine citizens and good
partners for people.”
The HSUS helped dozens of other horses find second
chances in 2010. In May, a tractor trailer transporting 30
horses to slaughter overturned in Oklahoma when the
driver fell asleep. HSUS Oklahoma state director Cynthia
Armstrong described the scene: “We had Good Samaritan
citizens who saw the crash, called their friends, got
halters, corralled the horses safely, and got them off the
20
highway until authorities arrived.” The HSUS and Blaze’s
Tribute Equine Rescue negotiated custody of the 17 survivors, later fostered by Blaze’s board member Desiree
Walling on her Calumet farm. On the night of the spring
equinox, a mare named Catori, who was pregnant at the
time of the accident, gave birth. Named for the “supermoon” blazing in the sky that night, Moonstruck serves
as “a symbol of hope and rebirth and the survival of all
of these horses,” Armstrong says.
Also last year, The HSUS assisted the Cabell-Wayne
Animal Shelter with the rescue of 49 starving and
neglected horses, mules, and donkeys from a West Virginia
property. Seven months later, 114 horses were seized
from the overrun Arkansas property of a horse trader
and auctioneer. The HSUS and ASPCA devoted many
resources to caring for the rescued horses at an abandoned
livestock auction, as they awaited a final court disposition
with hopes of taking custody and holding an adoption
fair. A rancher later provided temporary sanctuary
throughout the legal process.
Beyond rescues and adoptions, The HSUS has found
other ways to help horses, like teaming with the American
Competitive Trail Horse Association for a weekend
of benefit trail rides around the U.S. The group raised
$70,000 from the event, then donated the money to
The HSUS, which in turn awarded grants to horse rescue
organizations.
When he adopted John Henry, the abused and underweight Tennessee walking horse suffered telltale signs of
soring—the cruel practice whereby trainers cause intense
pain in an effort to exaggerate the breed’s high-stepping
gait and thus gain an unfair edge in shows. For starters,
John Henry’s heels had been cut out, and there were three
lines of scars across his ankles.
Fast forward three years, and as part of a lengthy
rehabilitation process, Bowden had brought John Henry
to a North Carolina show to see how the horse would
react to the setting. Returning to the barn after dinner,
he got his answer: There was John Henry, cowering,
covered in a cold sweat.
“To tell you the honest truth, I just cried, and I just went
and held him for awhile,” Bowden says, adding: “I’ll never
forget that big old horse, standing in the corner of that
stall, trembling in fear.”
Today, John Henry’s hooves have grown back to
normal, he’s more trusting of people, and his adopter
promotes walking horses’ naturally smooth gait. To bring
justice to those who would cause such suffering, The
HSUS has been pushing for better enforcement of a 1970
law against soring. In March 2010, a bipartisan group of
40 senators and 131 representatives supported President
Obama’s request for the first-ever increase in funding
for Horse Protection Act enforcement, from $500,000
to $900,000 during fiscal 2011.
Although Congress ultimately did not pass the
president’s budget, The HSUS will keep up the fight,
and President Obama has again requested the $400,000
increase for fiscal 2012—a request backed by more than
100 representatives. “We’re still seeing a lot of soring being
detected in the field, and we’re still not seeing as many
USDA inspectors attending shows as we would like,”
says Keith Dane, HSUS director of equine protection.
Changes announced in 2010 by the USDA’s Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service could help, including
hiring, training, and licensing independent inspectors.
The announcement followed a recommendation from the
USDA’s Office of the Inspector General that APHIS abolish
its current problematic inspection system.
Among other horse protection efforts, The HSUS has
continued pressing for more humane and effective treatment of wild horses and burros, who are viewed as foraging
competition for livestock and other grazing wildlife. In
February of this year, the Bureau of Land Management
announced it was accelerating “fundamental reforms” to
its system of rounding up the animals via helicopter and
placing them in long-term holding facilities. Implemented
on a two-year trial basis, the changes include increasing the
number of mares treated with the fertility control drug PZP
from 500 to 2,000, and reducing the number of wild horses
removed annually from 10,000 to 7,600.
The reforms have been met with mixed reviews. “We’re
praising the BLM for the efforts that they’re making to
change the status quo and to fix the broken program,”
says Stephanie Boyles, wildlife scientist at The HSUS. At
the same time, she says the organization will continue to
push for even more use of PZP.
21
[ Protecting Wildlife ]
19 state measures are enacted against wildlife abuses
such as poaching, the exotic pet trade, and captive shooting
National
shark finning ban is strengthened
A rizonans uphold
protection issues
their right to launch citizen initiatives on wildlife
The Truth in Fur Labeling Act is signed into federal law
Florida
prohibits fox and coyote penning operations
D eaths in Canada’s
of government quota
S ea
seal hunt plummet to less than 20 percent
lion killings are halted and North Atlantic right whales gain protections
Proposals to lift the commercial whaling ban are defeated;
trade protections are gained for elephants, tree frogs, and other species
These baby seals are subjected to unimaginable suffering.
The sealing industry would like the brutality to remain
a secret, for the killing to happen out of public view.
But we can’t let that happen. The tragic deaths of
these defenseless animals will ultimately bring down the
industry. As the images of this cruelty are broadcast around
the world, global markets for seal products are closing,
and consumers are taking action to stop the slaughter.
—Humane Society International Canada director Rebecca Aldworth,
reporting live from the ice during her 12th year documenting the hunt
22
Fur Disclosure
Again and again, The HSUS’s Pierre Grzybowski helped
undercover reporters scan sales racks to find coats with
collars that resembled animal fur but labels that made
no mention of it. Again and again, sales clerks assured
them that the trim must therefore be fake. And again
and again, Grzybowski—either in the parking lot or
back at the newsroom—cut open the backs of the
just-purchased coats to reveal pieces of an animal skin
stitched together. It was real fur, after all.
In December 2010, after an Emmy-winning investigation by Los Angeles’ CBS2/KCAL and broadcasts by other
local stations as well as Inside Edition, The HSUS achieved
a major victory for fur-bearing animals. Culminating
five years of undercover investigations that showed
consumers being duped into buying clothes trimmed
with fur from raccoon dogs, rabbits, and foxes, Congress
closed a loophole in a 60-year-old labeling law that had
exempted garments trimmed in fur valued at $150 or
less. Now, consumers who want to avoid buying animal
fur have the information to make the humane decision,
as all clothing with real fur must show the species and
country of origin.
The Truth in Fur Labeling Act comes just in time, says
John Bartlett, a designer who’s working with The HSUS
to make the fashion industry more humane. While
high-quality faux fur is more and more in demand by
consumers who don’t want animals to be skinned alive
or otherwise killed for clothing, animal fur has been
reappearing on runways, he says. Some designers see
it as a luxury material that will set their work apart.
2
HSUS
2010|Annual
Report
24| The
The
HSUS
2010 Annual
Report
It inspired me so much that I wanted
to take that enthusiasm and
express it to my fellow designers.
—Fashion designer John Bartlett, describing an initial meeting
with HSUS staff that sparked his fur-free leadership
“They are not thinking about the reality of the carnage
that’s involved,” Bartlett says. “Many designers don’t
know where their fur’s coming from or even what kind
of animal it’s coming from.” The new law, which took
effect in March, forces them to find out, he says.
Retailers are getting the message as well. In response
to an HSUS lawsuit, companies including Saks Fifth
Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, and Lord & Taylor agreed to
reform their labeling and advertising policies. Saks and
Bloomingdale’s also joined Macy’s and Andrew Marc in
agreeing to endorse the Truth in Fur Labeling Act, while a
judgment was entered against Neiman Marcus in the case.
In September, a quick response by thousands of HSUS
members—many of them fans of our Facebook page—
helped persuade Talbots to reverse its decision to
reintroduce animal fur after a decade of being fur-free.
It remains one of more than 300 designers, brands, and
retailers that do not sell fur, including Ralph Lauren,
Liz Claiborne, Tommy Hilfiger, and Calvin Klein.
With the passage of the Truth in Fur Labeling Act,
that number should grow, says Bartlett. “Now the
consumer will know more, and I think the design world
and the retailers will be much more hesitant to buy
something,” he says. “I think that they will ask questions.”
Teetering on the Edge: Persecuted
by ranchers and big-game hunters as
bloodthirsty predators, America’s gray
wolves were once nearly hunted to
extinction. In the years since they gained
Endangered Species Act protection,
The HSUS has successfully defended
the animals in a series of lawsuits.
In August 2010, The HSUS and 12
other organizations helped gain yet
another court-ordered reprieve for the
Northern Rockies population, staving off
Montana’s and Idaho’s plans for public
hunts. Judge Donald Molloy declared
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could
not remove federal protections in those
two states while upholding them in
neighboring Wyoming.
In 2011, ESA protections for Idaho
and Montana wolves fell victim to a
provision slipped into a congressional
budget bill by hostile interests. The
HSUS will continue to monitor the
situation closely and carry on the fight.
First Responders for Urban Wildlife
Crisscrossing the Washington, D.C., area, The HSUS’s Humane Wildlife
Services team last year rescued more than 1,300 urban animals from
harm while providing homeowners with long-lasting solutions
to wildlife conflicts. Staff united orphaned mallard ducklings with
another mother’s brood, coached contractors on salvaging a woodpecker nest cavity from a chopped-down tree, and persuaded a
homeowner to postpone evicting a chimney-dwelling raccoon family
until the babies were older. The team also saved a maternal bat colony
at the historic Oatlands Plantation in Virginia. After the baby-rearing
season, they climbed nearly 40 feet up ladders to install netting that
allowed the bats to safely exit the roosting area but not return.
These alternatives to lethal tactics and forced relocation are
now being implemented on a large scale in the District of Columbia
with passage of the precedent-setting D.C. Wildlife Protection Act.
Testimony from our field team was critical in rebutting industry
arguments that humane resolutions aren’t possible.
Further afield, our wildlife specialists helped more than 30 communities resolve conflicts with Canada geese, deer, beavers, and coyotes.
In Maryland, staff partnered with a developer to move box turtles
from the path of construction; hazing and other nonlethal techniques
prodded animals such as foxes and woodchucks to move on their
own. And The HSUS worked alongside advocates to protest a deadly
goose roundup near the Madison, Wis., airport. Car parts salesman
Nathan Phoenix started a Facebook group, enlisting pilots and longtime goose hunters in the birds’ defense. As HSUS Wisconsin state
director Alyson Bodai notes, Phoenix is “a prime example of how
effective people can be when they put their mind to something
and get involved.”
25
New Digs for Embattled Species:
Under cover of pre-dawn darkness, HSUS environmental scientist
Lindsey Sterling Krank embarked on
an unusual series of moving days last
July: the mass relocation of blacktailed prairie dogs into protected
grasslands.
Persecuted and decimated by
disease, the species—and the other
creatures who depend on it—faces
significant threats to survival. So
when a landowner near Wyoming’s
Thunder Basin National Grassland
wanted the two colonies near his
property poisoned, a U.S. Forest
Service biologist approached The
HSUS for help. A groundbreaking
partnership ensued, and 550 prairie
dogs were moved (nearly 450 more
were humanely relocated from two
other locations in 2010).
The humane solution sets the stage
for reintroduction of the endangered
black-footed ferret—a prairie dog
predator—and future federal conservation efforts. Even the uprooted
animals seemed relieved, popping
out of freshly dug holes to chirp and
“jump yip”—a call used to spread the
news that the coast is clear.
26
Wild Revival
Ruthless “Recreation”: They
couldn’t ignore what was going
on in their state: dogs set loose
on wild-caught foxes and coyotes
trapped inside fences. So they
rose up and joined The HSUS in
persuading the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission
to take a stand.
They were people like Cristin
Tank and her family, who lived next
to a fox and coyote pen, and Ron
Wentworth, who promoted a ban
to anyone who would listen. In
September, commissioners unanimously outlawed pens, with
chairman Rodney Barreto noting,
“I think Florida needs to end this and
we need to end this now.” More than
50 pens had operated in the state at
the peak of this inhumane “sport.”
Footage of a different form of
cruelty elicited outrage in South
Carolina: hounds being released
to harass a black bear chained to a
pole before a large audience. Calls
for a ban poured in while HSUS staff
pushed state officials to act. Says
The HSUS’s undercover investigator:
“How can you not be disgusted by
this spectacle?”
Curtailing a Cruel Trade: With
their skins fashioned into home decor
and their tusks carved into necklaces,
some of the world’s most magnificent
animals also face the gravest dangers.
Every three years, special interests conspire to further decimate
the earth’s natural treasures during
debates at the U.N. Convention on
International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. But
among the ivory carvers, fur traders,
trophy hunters, and exotic pet dealers,
a powerful voice has emerged: the
Species Survival Network, a global
coalition cofounded by Humane
Society International’s Teresa Telecky.
Last year the group gained or
preserved protections for a range of
species, including African elephants,
Central American tree frogs, and
great green macaws. Critically endangered Kaiser’s spotted newts
have been poached for the pet
trade, and professor Mozafar Sharifi’s
proposal—the first by an Iranian
scientist—prompted an international commercial trade ban. “It’s very
exciting to see that your knowledge
can be linked to practical conservation
practices,” he says.
As field ornithologists John and Sue Gregoire gazed over the barren
terrain surrounding their new property in western New York, they were
profoundly disturbed by the absence of native plants and animals. “You
could see forever, from one end of the property to the other,” says John
Gregoire. “It was that open and bare.”
They set about on a mission to restore the setting to provide food,
water, and shelter for wildlife. Over the next 25 years, they planted
more than 10,000 trees and built a diversity of habitats. Their 60-acre
property is now a vibrant wildlife sanctuary rich with regenerating
fields, thick stands of pine trees for owls and other animals, and ponds
offering gradations of depth and native vegetation. They’ve sighted
more than 200 bird species there, as well as bears, deer, bats, coyotes,
and other animals.
But even as their forested property flourishes with life, the
surrounding landscape bears evidence of the destruction caused by
large-scale dairy farms. To feed their animals and reduce the amount of
waste stored in massive manure lagoons, these operations raze natural
habitats and spread manure over thousands of acres. The resulting
monoculture of feed crops creates a stranglehold on biodiversity.
To protect their property from such a fate and designate it as permanent wildlife habitat, the couple gained a conservation easement
through the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust in 2010, joining 103
other properties in the trust’s 15,000-acre portfolio. Known as the
Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory, the property has become
an inviting migratory stopover and year-round sanctuary for birds and
other wildlife. “I feel like we’ve really done something positive,” John
Gregoire says. “And perhaps the most positive is knowing that it will
always be that way.”
Wolverine Watch
Wolverines have been spotted playfully tumbling down alpine slopes—
but can also win staring contests
with grizzlies over food and scale
mountains that would defeat the
hardiest of humans. Author and
Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust
supporter Douglas Chadwick has
noted their unlikely strength:
“Trying to keep up with them
amounts to constant adventure
in a world of avalanches, blizzards,
sheer cliff faces, patches of thin
lake ice, sub-zero moonlit ski trips,
marathon hikes, cliff walls with tiny
handholds, and big silver-tipped
bears,” says Chadwick, shown above
in blue, helping to remove an anesthetized animal from a humane trap.
Partially funded by the Wildlife
Land Trust, the multiyear Glacier
Wolverine Project conducted by
Chadwick and other researchers
revealed that the little-studied
animals are vulnerable to the
warming of their Montana highcountry home. Though the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service denied them
protection in December 2010, the
study—and Chadwick’s subsequent
book, The Wolverine Way—should
help make the case for the habitat
connectivity and trapping restrictions necessary for their survival.
27
Seal Hunt Death Rattle:
For more than a dozen years,
Rebecca Aldworth, director of
Humane Society International
Canada, has documented the heartbreak of Canada’s annual commercial seal hunt, when pups as young
as 12 days old are shot and clubbed
to death for their pelts. The only
salve for the emotional wound is the
knowledge that the relentless quest
to end the brutal hunt is paying off.
While the legal catch limit rises
every year, the actual take is plummeting: The Canadian government
set the 2010 quota at 388,200 seals,
yet 69,184 were killed and fewer
sealers participated. Spurred by
footage and persuasive arguments
from The HSUS and HSI, the EU’s ban
on seal products, which took effect
last year, has driven pelt prices to a
record low and saved more than half
a million lives. An HSUS/HSI boycott
of Canadian seafood—joined
by 5,500 chefs, restaurants, and
grocery stores worldwide—sends a
clear message that the hunt’s days
are numbered.
28
Shark Finning Out of Bounds
Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year to supply the market for
shark fin soup. Many of them are victims of finning: Fishermen cut off the
fins, then toss the bodies back overboard. Essentially paralyzed, the sharks
typically die from suffocation, starvation, or predation.
“It’s like cutting off your limbs and leaving you to bleed to death,”
says Rebecca Regnery, deputy director of wildlife at Humane Society
International.
But the sharks in U.S. waters recently gained more protection from
the brutal practice after President Obama signed the Shark Conservation
Act into law. That measure, which requires fishermen catching sharks to
bring them to port with fins still attached, closed loopholes in the country’s previous ban on finning. It was a victory for the animals and their ecosystem, where sharks play an important role at the top of the food chain.
Just as important, it gave advocates a stronger hand in negotiating
increased protections with the EU and nations such as Australia and
Indonesia. As Regnery says: “It’s hard to try to convince other countries
to clean up their act when you have problems in your own country.”
State legislation passed in Hawaii last year went even further, after
The HSUS and HSI worked with state Sen. Clayton Hee on a groundbreaking measure to ban the possession, sale, and distribution of shark
fins in the Aloha State. “Legislation like that had never even been introduced anywhere,” says Regnery.
Hawaii’s stance helped kick-start a trend. Washington State, Guam,
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have since
passed similar measures.
Safe Harbor for Whales: It took the
death of a SeaWorld trainer, but in
2010 the government and media
finally started listening to arguments
against the captive display of orcas.
Naomi Rose, senior scientist for
Humane Society International, gave
congressional testimony in April, two
months after Tilikum killed trainer
Dawn Brancheau in Orlando. The
orca was previously involved in the
deaths of two other people. “No
matter how big the tank looks, it’s
a kennel to this large, wide-ranging
predator,” says Rose. In August 2010,
the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration issued SeaWorld
with a citation, which the company
will appeal at a September hearing.
Meanwhile, in March 2011, after 13
months in a back tank, Tilikum was
brought out to perform again.
Also in 2010, HSI successfully
fought to maintain an International
Whaling Commission moratorium
on commercial whale hunting. And
following litigation by The HSUS, the
National Marine Fisheries Service
agreed to propose expanding critical
habitat for the 400 remaining North
Atlantic right whales.
Stopping Reef Raiders: Some of
Hawaiian diver Robert Wintner’s
best friends are fish. He pleads for
their protection with beautiful
photos and passionate words. When
he’s not underwater taking pictures
of coral reefs, “Snorkel Bob,” who
owns a chain of snorkeling equipment and rental stores, pushes for
ending the commercial collection of
saltwater fish for home aquariums.
For years he got nowhere. Then
in 2010, Wintner, other advocates,
and The HSUS’s Hawaii office urged
the Maui County Council to pass the
nation’s first anti-cruelty laws regulating the aquarium trade. Now
Maui-based collectors, wholesalers,
and retailers must report the number
of fish who die. And collectors are
barred from piercing fishes’ organs
with needles, withholding food for
more than 24 hours during transport, and cutting their spines or fins.
Humane Society International
hopes to gain similar protections
elsewhere, says Teresa Telecky,
director of wildlife. “Many people
in the trade see mortality as the
way business is run.”
Going to Court for Sea Lions:
Along the pristine waters of
Oregon’s Columbia River, California sea lions are branded and
then monitored for their salmon
consumption. In 2008, wildlife
officials began killing sea lions
who they decided had eaten too
many fish. A few were sent to
zoos. Advocate Bethanie O’Driscoll
remembers the fearful cries of
two sea lions being removed last
spring at the Bonneville Dam. “I
had never heard them make that
sound before—the way a dog
sounds when it’s injured.”
The basis for killing stemmed
from the National Marine Fisheries
Service’s conclusion that these
federally protected animals had
a significant negative impact on
endangered or threatened salmon.
But sea lions eat an average of
0.4 to 4.2 percent of the salmon
returns, while fishermen are
allowed to take up to 17 percent.
In 2010, a lawsuit by our litigation team and other plaintiffs
prompted a federal appeals court
to block the killings.
29
[ Ending Animal Fighting ]
5 states strengthen laws against animal fighting
6,389 animals are helped by The HSUS’s work on animal
fighting raids and investigations
1,300 + law enforcement
and cruelty investigations
officials are trained in animal fighting
300 prosecutors and 100 judges attend seminars on the complexities
of animal fighting and cruelty cases
835 calls are made to the animal fighting tip line; 24 rewards are paid for
information leading to arrests
The End Dogfighting program—a comprehensive approach to combat
urban dogfighting—launches in Philadelphia
470 + schoolchildren participate in an eight-week anti-dogfighting
humane education course
[HSUS teams] made it a lot easier and a lot less stressful
to do this. [They were] a can-do, ‘we’re-going-to-getit-done’ group of people. You could tell they were
focused, they were interested in what they were doing,
and it meant a lot to them to do it. And that’s what
we’re looking at for people who are going to help us.
—Lt. Jim Burriss, describing how The HSUS helped the Greenville County (S.C.)
Sheriff’s Office investigate and raid a notorious cockfighting pit
A bloodstained fighting circle, a crater full
of dead birds, and 197 roosters on the day’s
fight docket were among the horrors discovered
in June at a South Carolina property. In August,
The HSUS helped rescue nearly 200 fighting
pit bulls in Ohio, sending them to rescues
and shelters around the country (opposite).
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[ Ending Animal Fighting ]
The Good Fight
“This program is about the dogs,” says Ralph Hawthorne,
community organizer for The HSUS’s End Dogfighting
program in Atlanta. “But it’s just as much about the
people, and helping them through the life changes that
they experience while we’re working with them.”
In 2010, The HSUS continued reaching out to communities plagued by dogfighting, working to bond owners and
pit bulls and change perceptions of a misunderstood group
of dogs. The End Dogfighting program expanded its work
in Chicago and Atlanta while launching in a third location,
the Hunting Park neighborhood in North Philadelphia.
“It’s a city that’s very much in need, as are most of the large
cities across the country,” says Amanda Arrington, asso
ciate director of The HSUS’s Building Humane Communities
Program. In more than a dozen other cities, The HSUS
helped groups plan their own End Dogfighting programs.
In Atlanta, one success story was the transformation
of DeAndre Weaver. He’d fought pit bulls for four years,
since age 16, until a dog he had grown close to was
killed in a fight. “That’s what really opened up my eyes,”
remembers Weaver.
The day he learned about free dog training classes
through The HSUS, his interest was piqued. And with
Hawthorne encouraging him to stick with the weekly
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sessions, Weaver and his dog, Champ, made such a strong
impression that he was hired last summer to serve as an
anti-dogfighting advocate.
Nowadays, Weaver recruits students for the program
by walking the streets and speaking at schools, the YMCA,
and Boy Scout meetings. With his two well-behaved dogs
in tow, he’s a model for young people who’ve previously
only viewed their pit bulls as fighting dogs.
“They don’t know exactly what to do with the dogs …
so what they do now is they’re fighting just for the heck
of it,” Weaver says. But the agility and obedience skills
learned in HSUS classes provide options: “They want to
impress people with their dogs, so now we have a positive
way to impress people.”
The training sessions are just one aspect of a campaign
that also includes humane education and community
outreach focused on pet wellness and spay/neuter. Canines
& Communities, an eight-session anti-dogfighting curriculum
featuring mock game shows and field trips to animal
shelters, reached more than 470 Chicago and Atlanta
youths in 2010. At a summer camp, 19 kids helped produce
In the Company of Dogs, a video featuring a rap song written
by 15-year-old Demetrius Ware about canine care and
approaching dogs safely.
The Law on Our Side
Out of the Ring, Into Loving Homes
When John Goodwin recalls the June 2010 raid of a
suspected cockfighting operation in Tennessee, what
stands out in his mind even more than the 100 people
charged and the 150 birds seized is the image of a little
girl crying amidst the chaos. “Her sorry dad brought her
to a cockfight that got raided, and then he started just
yelling at her and chastising her for being upset,” says
Goodwin, HSUS director of animal cruelty policy.
Last year, Goodwin and fellow HSUS experts helped
law enforcement officials bust 33 animal fighting
operations, while their advocacy work focused on
preventing cruelty in the first place: Minnesota and
Nebraska banned animal fighting paraphernalia,
Delaware increased penalties for animal fighting
participants and spectators, Illinois strengthened
penalties for dogfighting near schools, and Louisiana
outlawed attendance at a cockfight.
The immediate rewards of the campaign and
investigative work—animals freed from suffering
and perpetrators facing heavy fines or even jail
time—are significant, but the long-term effects are
equally important, says Goodwin: “These people have
to be shut down because they’re teaching a whole
generation that it’s OK to be cruel.”
What started as a narcotics bust at a southeastern
Ohio home soon turned into one of the largest
seizures for alleged dogfighting ever documented on
a single property. Last August, when The HSUS was
asked to assist law enforcement with an investigation
involving nearly 200 pit bulls, teams arrived to find
more than 500 animals, including chickens, roosters,
boars, hawks, and the desiccated remains of starvedto-death snakes. Weighted down by logging chains
attached to buried car axles, many of the dogs had no
shelter and suffered from mange, ringworm, infected
wounds, and broken bones.
Help came from volunteers, including more than
30 from Pittsburgh-based Hello Bully. The HSUS’s new
mobile crime lab served as a space for treatment and
evidence collection. A horse arena served as a shelter
for nearly three months as the dogs were readied
for adoption. “These dogs never had any normal
companion dog experiences,” says HSUS manager
of animal fighting law enforcement Chris Schindler
(shown above), who often lay in a horse stall with a
dog named Delilah because she refused to move or
even eat. “A lot of them were so scared.”
Now eating and in a foster home, Delilah is one
of nearly 6,400 animals helped by The HSUS’s work
on animal fighting raids and investigations in 2010.
33
[ Shutting Down Puppy Mills ]
3 states that produce more than half the puppies sold in U.S. pet
stores—Missouri, Oklahoma, and Iowa—enact laws to crack down on abusive
commercial breeding operations
677 dogs and 9 other animals are saved from squalor and neglect by
HSUS teams deployed to puppy mill raids; staff assist local authorities in an
additional 4 raids involving 544 dogs
A 1,000-store milestone is reached when hundreds more retailers
take the Puppy Friendly Pet Stores Pledge not to sell puppies
We are gratified to serve as the emergency
shelter and headquarters for the rescue. I can’t say
enough about the HSUS staff who made it happen.
With poise, power, and grace, they harnessed and
coordinated a fairly darn complex set of logistical,
legal, and communications issues. Pets Alive performed
spay/neuter surgeries yesterday on nine of the rescued
dogs. They will never be forced to breed again.
—James McNamara, former executive director of the Pets Alive spay/neuter
clinic in Indiana, which helped The HSUS with a December rescue
34
While most dogs at a fly-infested, feces-covered
Carriere, Miss., puppy mill shrank in fear, a few sought
attention from their rescuers. “Every time I bent over
to get another dog,” recalls The HSUS’s Michelle Cascio
(above), “one of the terriers would come up and
lick me on the chin.” Rescued animals are brought to
emergency shelters on their way to new homes (at left).
[ Shutting Down Puppy Mills ]
Missouri: The Most Important Battle Yet
Feet bloodied from wire cages. Rotten teeth. Skin and
eye and ear infections. Parasites. Bones protruding.
And in the case of Tessa (shown below), hair so matted
that her back legs were snarled together, toenails so
overgrown they curled into her foot pads, and gum
disease so severe that all but one of her teeth were
eventually pulled.
These are the symptoms of weak laws that allow the
puppy mill industry to flourish unchecked. The cure is
clear—better laws to regulate the 10,000 mass breeding
operations across the nation. But getting those laws
approved is a state-by-state battle.
In 2010, The HSUS won one of its greatest victories:
citizens’ approval of a measure to require breeders in
Missouri, the state with the most puppy mills, to keep
no more than 50 breeding dogs and give them adequate
food, water, shelter, space, exercise, veterinary care, and
rest between breeding cycles. Winning passage of the
new law involved collecting more than 190,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot and combating
a smear campaign by the Missouri Farm Bureau.
As soon as Proposition B passed in November, state
legislators set about trying to undo it; five months later,
Gov. Jay Nixon signed a repeal bill and enacted what
he termed “compromise” legislation that dramatically
weakened the original provisions of Prop B. But The HSUS
isn’t going away without a fight; we plan to strengthen
the surviving Prop B protections, hold officials
accountable for their stated support of strong enforcement, and launch a 2012 ballot initiative to preserve
citizen-approved laws.
Tessa in a puppy mill, 2009
36
“When the people vote on an issue, the majority
rules, and the elected officials should respect that,” says
Michael Markarian, chief operating officer for The HSUS.
Major milestones in the campaign against puppy
mills were reached outside Missouri. Legislatures passed
similar laws in Oklahoma and Iowa, the states with
the second and third largest numbers of mass breeding
facilities. Hawaii and Louisiana also strengthened
regulation, bringing the number of states passing
such laws to 16 since 2008.
Meanwhile, The HSUS’s Puppy Mill Task Force,
supported by Maddie’s Fund, drove truckloads of rescued
Missouri dogs to Illinois, Colorado, and the East Coast
for adoption. Relinquished by high-volume breeders who
were closing down their operations, they included breeds
ranging from shih tzus to Labrador retrievers.
When first rescued, the dogs had matted fur, fearful
demeanors, and sad eyes. One very skinny animal died
almost as soon as she arrived at the emergency shelter.
Inside her stomach was string and a ball of foil, trash
that bore witness to slow starvation, says task force
manager Justin Scally. “The dog was obviously foraging
on whatever she could find.”
Tessa was luckier, surviving six years of hellish confinement before being rescued by the Humane Society of
Missouri. Now the “spoiled rotten” Yorkshire terrier leaps
onto the bed for a kiss every night, says owner Marva
Bulva. “They’re not taking care of these dogs,” Bulva
says of puppy mill operators. “I don’t care whether it’s
a German shepherd or a Mexican Chihuahua; you just
don’t do animals that way.”
No More Business As Usual: Pam
Sordyl of Clarkston, Mich., has
made a name for herself by hitting
puppy millers where it hurts most:
in the wallet. Sordyl’s “Adopt,
Don’t Shop” pet store protests
have been instrumental in the
closure of three Michigan Petland
stores. The number of the chain’s
stores nationwide has dropped
from 140 to 95 since the 2008
release of an HSUS investigation
into its dealings with puppy mills.
Sordyl also singlehandedly
recruited 90 pet stores to take
The HSUS’s Puppy Friendly Pet
Stores Pledge to never sell
puppies—a feat that helped
The HSUS sign up 1,000 before
the end of the year. For Puppy
Mills Campaign outreach
coordinator John Moyer, the
milestone had become a personal
mission requiring nonstop emails
and phone calls. On Dec. 24,
Moyer received a message
from a chain saying that all
38 of its stores would take
the pledge. He’d beaten the
deadline. On to the next 1,000.
Who Rescued Whom?: The
treatment of dogs at the hands
of puppy millers “hurt my heart and
my feelings,” says 12-year-old Micah
Staub, who has made it his mission
to help care for those rescued from
cruel mass breeding operations.
Micah’s learning disabilities
have often led to teasing from other
kids, but he found acceptance and
fulfillment working with 30 of the
122 dogs removed from nightmare
conditions by the HSUS Maddie’s
Fund Puppy Mill Task Force in
December. In recognition of his
hard work, Micah was made an
honorary task force member.
His pride was a boon for a boy
who “gets so few things that he
can be proud of,” says his mother.
In addition to the Bloomfield,
Ind., raid—described by one
participant as “three days
of … animal welfare shock and
awe”—the task force took part
in four other puppy mill raids in
2010, saving 677 dogs from misery.
Newfound Friends: Finn is a
little brown dog who carries a
big stick: His best friend happens
to be Amanda Hearst of the Hearst
publishing family. She purchased
Finn from a Manhattan pet store,
unaware that he was born to
a puppy mill mother who had
probably never left her filthy cage
or felt a loving touch.
Shaken when she learned this,
Hearst visited HSUS-rescued puppy
mill dogs and saw for herself the
results of chronic neglect and
abuse. “It’s shocking that anyone
can rationalize that,” she says.
Hearst founded Friends of
Finn, asking her other best friends,
including Georgina Bloomberg,
Dylan Lauren, Kick Kennedy,
and Annie Churchill Albert, to
join her in putting puppy mills
out of business. Selling tables
and soliciting auction items for
The HSUS’s Make History Gala
in New York City, Friends of
Finn helped raise $1 million to
support our campaign to shut
down puppy mills.
Tessa in a loving home, 2010
37
[ Animal Care Centers ]
Providing
Sanctuary
& Healing
Orphaned fox kits. A mule
on the edge of starvation.
A pygmy hippo scarred by
neglect. A chimpanzee retired
from a research laboratory.
A swan suffering from lead
poisoning. A horse rescued from
slaughter. Different species with
different stories, but all with
the same happy outcome: cared
for by skilled, loving hands at
one of The HSUS’s five animal
care centers.
Each year, they arrive by the
thousands. Some are rescued
from abusive or neglectful
circumstances, while others have
fallen victim to urban dangers—
hit by cars, wounded by flying
into windows—or have been
suddenly orphaned. At the
centers, they receive the highest
level of treatment from expert
staff and volunteers. Once
nurtured back to health, they
embark on the next leg of their
journey, whether that’s a release
back into nature, or a lifelong
home at the sanctuary or with
an adoptive family.
Staff at our care centers
give these animals the life and
dignity they deserve, while our
campaign staff work toward
ending the intentional cruelty
and accidental suffering that
brought them to us in the
first place. There are so many
successes, and we celebrate
each one.
38
The Fund for Animals
Wildlife Center
Creature Comforts: Samson the
lion tackled his toy, pinning it
between his great front paws and
uttering satisfied roars. It was fall
in Southern California and staff
at The HSUS’s Fund for Animals
Wildlife Center in Ramona had
rolled out pumpkins for the big
cats—an ongoing strategy of
letting them chase, pounce, and
chew unexpected treats.
Last year, center staff cared for
nearly 400 injured and orphaned
wild animals, in addition to permanent residents like Samson, a victim
of the exotic pet trade. Among the
long-term guests are 44 feral cats
from San Nicolas—animals who
would have been killed if The HSUS
hadn’t relocated them from the
federally owned island. As staff try
to train and adopt them out, the
animals roam a 4,000-square-foot
enclosure with trees, rocks, logs,
and plank walkways: not the wild,
but close.
Cape Wildlife Center
Love at First Flight: Staff at
The HSUS’s Cape Wildlife Center
put on their matchmaking hats
when treating a mute swan who’d
been found on the side of a road,
flapping his wings to protect his
gravely injured mate. His partner
couldn’t be saved, but antibiotics
helped the male swan recover
from a joint infection. Staff introduced him to another female
mending at the Barnstable, Mass.,
facility, and the pair bonded,
even calling to each other when
separated. On a cold, clear day in
January 2010, they were released
together, swimming a lap around
Barnstable Harbor before lifting
into the sky.
Birds account for more than
half of the animals treated at
the center, located along a major
migratory route. In 2010, more
than 1,400 orphaned and injured
creatures from all over Cape
Cod were cared for by our dedicated staff.
South Florida
Wildlife Center
Cleveland Amory
Black Beauty Ranch
Piecing Them Back Together:
Veterinary student Alycia Monopoli
went to Home Depot to buy screws
for a remodeling project—repairing
a turtle’s broken shell.
Hit by a car, the turtle would
have suffered a slow, painful death
if she hadn’t been brought to
The HSUS’s South Florida Wildlife
Center. Wildlife veterinarian Stefan
Harsch used screws and plastic
cable ties to hold the pieces of her
shell together until new tissue grew
in. Swimming was prohibited in the
meantime to prevent infection, but
finally the day came when she could
be released to the center’s enclosed
pond to continue her recovery.
Species from squirrels to opossums to herons to ducks recuperate
at the facility. Last year, more
than 12,500 animals enjoyed the
center’s hospitality on their way
to a second chance.
Saved from Starvation: Deputy
Eric Ward had never before seen
an animal cruelty case involving
deer—until last January.
A 19-year-old man had been
keeping five deer on a Henderson
County, Texas, farm as part of a
school agricultural project. But after
he began neglecting the animals,
police were contacted. “They looked
like they were starving to death,”
Ward says, “and they were.”
The deer were removed from
the property and eventually sent to
the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty
Ranch, a 1,250-acre HSUS sanctuary
in nearby Murchison. The doe was
so malnourished that she died
before the transfer, but the buck
and three fawns now live together
on a 35-acre plot at the ranch—four
of the more than 1,200 animals, from
chimpanzees to an ostrich, to receive
care at the facility in 2010.
Duchess Sanctuary
Tranquil Refuge: At 5 feet
6 inches, she’s one of the tallest
“girls” living at The HSUS’s
1,120-acre Duchess Sanctuary,
a friendly draft horse who,
despite growing up untrained,
is easy to handle. Like many of
the 185 other formerly abused
or abandoned horses on the
Oregon property, 9-yearold Allie came very close to
becoming meat. She once lived
on a Canadian farm, kept so
her urine could be collected for
a hormone used in a drug called
Premarin. When demand for the
drug dropped, Allie was nearly
sold for slaughter. Rescued
in 2005, she was one of the
original horses sent to Duchess
at its opening in 2008.
On hilly pastures, mares
from the Premarin farms graze
with their equine companions.
In 2010, the young sanctuary
built its second winter shelter.
39
[ Advancing Humane Science ]
Securing Their Retirement
For chimpanzees in research labs, life is a cage lacking
natural light, with loud sounds amplified by concrete
walls, the smell of chemical cleaners, and brief episodes
of terror when researchers do experiments. No amount
of “enrichment”—toys or treats—can make up for the
boredom, loneliness, and fear of existing in the equivalent
of a prison cell.
“The lab environment is an insult,” says Rachel
Weiss, who used to work at the Yerkes National Primate
Research Center in Atlanta. “It’s not OK, and there’s
no way to make it OK.”
In 2010, The HSUS continued pushing to have the
nearly 1,000 chimps in U.S. labs moved to sanctuaries,
where they can live in conditions simulating their wild
forest homes. In a significant victory for animal protection groups, the National Institutes of Health reversed
a plan to bring approximately 190 chimpanzees at New
Mexico’s Alamogordo Primate Facility out of semi-retirement. Following the delivery of 25,000 letters from HSUS
supporters, plus HSUS president and CEO Wayne Pacelle’s
appearance at a press conference with New Mexico Gov.
Bill Richardson, agency officials announced the animals
would not be used for invasive tests until a review of
chimpanzee research is completed.
At the same time, The HSUS released additional findings about the New Iberia Research Center in Louisiana,
where a 2009 undercover investigation revealed more
than 300 alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
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In 2010, after discovering the center appeared to be
violating an NIH ban on breeding federally owned
chimpanzees—with 14 of the infant chimps born there
mauled to death—The HSUS petitioned the federal
government to stop this taxpayer-supported breeding.
“I was sick,” says Jan McDaniel of her reaction to the
undercover video taken at New Iberia. And when the
Athens, Texas, woman gets angry, she doesn’t just stew
about it; she acts. So she called The HSUS and ended
up pledging $100,000 to the Chimps Deserve Sanctuary
Fund—half to be used for policy work and half to help
pay for chimp retirement. “This will be well-spent if it will
free those apes so they won’t have to suffer at the hands
of humans,” she says. “If it will free those innocents.”
A federal bill originally introduced in 2009 would
require their freedom by retiring the 500 federally owned
chimps to sanctuaries. After receiving the support
of 167 cosponsors in Congress, the proposed law was
introduced again in 2011 as the Great Ape Protection
and Cost Savings Act.
“We have a lot of public support,” says Kathleen
Conlee, HSUS senior director for animal research issues.
“It’s not a matter of whether it’s going to pass; it’s when.”
The HSUS also worked to get companies that have
tested on chimpanzees to pay for their care when
they are moved to sanctuaries. Using its weight as a
shareholder, The HSUS gained a pledge of retirement
funds from Abbott Laboratories.
Say No to Suffering: They’re not
the kind of incidents that universities publicize: the mice found alive
in freezers after botched euthanasia attempts. The animals who’ve
overheated and died when antiquated temperature regulation
systems failed. The monkeys who’ve
languished in extreme pain for
weeks during virus studies.
Poring over government records
and published studies, The HSUS
is prying open the closed doors
of university research labs—and
uncovering countless examples
of animals who suffer and die
needlessly. By the end of 2010,
more than 60 universities and
colleges had responded to our
campaign urging them to adopt
policies that prohibit severe animal
suffering. For the holdouts, we’re
mobilizing students, faculty, alumni,
and other stakeholders to press for
change. “They don’t need to have
an animal suffering severely to learn
what they are seeking to learn,”
says The HSUS’s Kathleen Conlee.
“This is a commonsense thing
we’re asking institutions to do.”
A Revolution in Chemical Testing:
People are exposed to as many as
100,000 chemicals in the modern
environment. Maybe 4 percent have
been adequately tested for safety.
That’s primarily because conventional
methods—using animals—are slow
and expensive.
They’re also inhumane, likely
causing the suffering and deaths of
millions of animals each year in the
U.S. alone. In November 2010, The
HSUS and partners gathered government, academic, and industry experts
in Washington, D.C., to build support
for a proposed 15-year, $2 to $3 billion
Human Toxicology Project. Modeled
on the Human Genome Project and
based on recommendations from a
National Academy of Sciences’ report,
the massive animal-free undertaking
would focus on high-speed automated
tests on human cells and tissues.
These techniques would provide
quicker, more accurate results.
Thomas Hartung, director of the
Center for Alternatives to Animal
Testing at Johns Hopkins University,
says the project would be a watershed
for science. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.”
EU Reforms Accelerated: Animal
testing alternatives jumped on
the fast-track with the 2010 launch
of a groundbreaking collaboration between Humane Society
International and leading
scientists. The AXLR8 initiative is
helping to spur a worldwide transition to animal-free safety testing
using state-of-the-art human cell
systems, robotics, and computer
modeling, says HSI’s Troy Seidle.
HSI also helped secure EU
approval of animal-free tests for
detecting contaminants in shellfish, which will spare hundreds of
thousands of animals from lethal
poisoning tests. And years of work
paid off in September when the
EU passed new lab animal legislation that extends protections to
more species, promotes alternatives, and requires a higher level
of ethical review. As 2010 came
to a close, HSI enlisted celebrity
support for its Cruelty-Free 2013
campaign: Sporting an “End Animal
Testing” temporary tattoo, singer
Leona Lewis urged EU politicians to
keep their promise to ban the sale
of animal-tested cosmetics in 2013.
41
[ State by State ]
[ 2010 Outreach ]
12,101,729
members and constituents support The HSUS’s work
7,634,509
people visit The HSUS’s website, 466,134 are our Facebook fans,
and nearly 1.5 million online advocacy actions are taken
HSUS videos receive more
2,341
than 4 million viewings
advocates attend our Animal Care Expo and Taking Action for Animals conferences
The HSUS’s state directors
stand up for animals at
their state capitols, network
with grassroots campaigners,
assist local shelters, and
help with The HSUS’s field
rescues. For more information,
visit humanesociety.org/
statecontacts.
Alabama, Mindy Gilbert
Arizona, Kari Nienstedt
California, Jennifer Fearing
Colorado, Holly Tarry
HSUS Faith Outreach Campaign
director Christine Gutleben (left)
The Cove’s
Louie Psihoyos
Connecticut, Annie Hornish
Florida, Jen Hobgood
Georgia, Jessica DuBois
Hawaii, Inga Gibson
Idaho, Lisa Kauffman
Illinois, Kristen Strawbridge
Indiana, Anne Sterling
Iowa, Carol Griglione
Kentucky, Pam Rogers
Louisiana, Julia Breaux
Maine, Katie Lisnik
Maryland, Tami Santelli
Massachusetts, Alexis Fox
Michigan, Jill Fritz
Minnesota, Howard Goldman
Mississippi, Lydia Sattler
A Higher Calling: Megachurch pastors, best-selling
authors, seminary professors—even CEOs like Michael
Flaherty of Walden Media, which produced the Narnia
movies—came together for a 2010 summit in Washington,
D.C. After the meeting to introduce Christian leaders
to The HSUS’s Faith Outreach Campaign, Flaherty was
inspired to teach his children about animal protection,
using the story in Charlotte’s Web.
“They loved Charlotte’s bravery and sacrifice and
pledged they would have done the same,” Flaherty says.
“I told them that The Humane Society was full of twolegged Charlottes, people who understood the blessing
of protecting animals.”
The campaign also produced a guide to animal protection ministries, such as attracting wildlife to church
grounds and running low-cost pet care clinics. The guide’s
writer, Lois Wye, is an attorney by day and a theological
student by night. “We are called to be compassionate and
merciful to our fellow humans,” she says. “We are likewise
called to be compassionate and merciful to animals.”
Starring Roles: Winning an HSUS Genesis Award
was “more valuable to me than winning an Oscar,”
says Louie Psihoyos. His documentary The Cove
exposed Japan’s dolphin slaughter and “catapulted this issue onto the world stage,” says Beverly
Kaskey, senior director of the HSUS Hollywood
Office. Family Guy and The Ellen DeGeneres
Show were also among the winners in the annual
ceremony.
Comedian and actor Hal Sparks stole the limelight at The HSUS’s 2010 Taking Action For Animals
conference. Peppered with cutting jokes about
factory farming, his monologue was cheered by
hundreds of activists who’d come to learn the
latest campaign strategies and recharge their
batteries. It may have been an odd topic for a
funnyman, but the committed advocate takes
the subject very seriously. “I can’t find an angle
on it, and I dare anyone else to, that actually
supports it in any way,” he says.
Missouri, Barb Schmitz
Montana, Wendy Hergenraeder
Nebraska, Jocelyn Nickerson
Nevada, Holly Haley
Every gift you give, no matter how large or small, helps The HSUS protect
more animals. Simply choose the method of support:
ake a Kindred Spirits memorial donation, or a gift donation to celebrate
M
a special occasion.
D onate monthly through your credit card or bank account.
Participate in your office’s workplace giving, matching gift, or United Way campaigns.
New Jersey, Kathy Schatzmann
ake a non-cash gift of vehicles, stocks, bonds, or timeshares; dedicate eBay
M
proceeds to The HSUS; or create an I Do Foundation wedding registry benefiting us.
New York, Patrick Kwan
L eave a legacy through charitable gift annuities, bequests, or insurance policies.
New Hampshire, Joanne Bourbeau
North Carolina, Kim Alboum
Ohio, Karen Minton
Oklahoma, Cynthia Armstrong
To find out more—or to reach a regional Philanthropy officer about making
a larger gift or supporting a specific program—call 1-800-808-7858, email
gifts@humanesociety.org, or go to humanesociety.org/gifts.
Oregon, Scott Beckstead
Pennsylvania, Sarah Speed
South Dakota, Darci Adams
Tennessee, Leighann McCollum
Texas, Nicole Paquette
Vermont, Joanne Bourbeau
Virginia, Laura Donahue
Washington, Dan Paul
West Virginia, Summer Wyatt
Wisconsin, Alyson Bodai
Wyoming, Heidi Hopkins
42
[ How You Can Help ]
“He was just skin and bones. I think he would
have died that night or the next day if we
hadn’t been there,” says The HSUS’s Adam
Parascandola of the tiny black kitten removed
with more than 150 other cats from an
overcrowded Wyoming home in August.
Powell was nursed back to health (above)
at the Billings Animal Rescue Kare shelter.
Your continued support will help many
more animals like Powell in the coming year.
[ Officers ]
Anita W. Coupe, Esq.
Chair of the Board
[ Financial Operations Report ]
Jennifer Leaning, M.D., S.M.H.
Vice Chair of the Board
Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
Eric L. Bernthal, Esq.
Second Vice Chair of the Board
Assets
Walter J. Stewart, Esq.
Board Treasurer
Wayne Pacelle
President & CEO
Michael Markarian
Chief Operating Officer
Liabilities$26,161,712
Cash and cash equivalents
23,757,952
Receivables
17,335,335
Prepaid expenses, deferred charges, and deposits
Redeemed Securities
Investments, at market value
Property and equipment, net of depreciation
Total Assets
For the Year Ending December 31, 2010
696,638
12,829,601
156,352,256
20,296,130
$231,267,912
Net Assets
Unrestricted
134,979,635
Temporarily restricted
36,365,535
Permanently restricted
33,761,030
Total Net Assets
$205,106,200
Total Liabilities and Net Assets
$231,267,912
G. Thomas Waite III
Treasurer & CFO
Andrew N. Rowan, Ph.D.
Chief International Officer
Roger A. Kindler, Esq.
General Counsel & CLO
Janet D. Frake
Secretary
[ Board of Directors ]
Jeffrey J. Arciniaco, Boca Raton, Fla.
Eric L. Bernthal, Esq., Washington, D.C.
Barbara S. Brack, Greenwich, Conn.
Jerry Cesak, La Jolla, Calif.
Anita W. Coupe, Esq., Biddeford Poole, Maine
Consolidated Statement of Activities and Changes in Net Assets
Contributions and grants
Bequests
Investment income
Other income, net
Total Revenue
Transfers (net assets released from restrictions)
Revenue and Other Additions
John Mackey, Austin, Texas
William F. Mancuso, Brookfield, Conn.
Total Expenses and Other Deductions
Jane Greenspun Gale, Las Vegas, Nev.
Jonathan D. Kaufelt, Esq., Santa Monica, Calif.
Paula A. Kislak, D.V.M., Santa Barbara, Calif.
Jennifer Leaning, M.D., S.M.H., Lincoln, Mass.
Kathleen M. Linehan, Esq., Washington, D.C.
Mary I. Max, New York, N.Y.
Temporarily Restricted
Permanently Restricted
Year Ending Dec. 31, 2010
106,991,568
22,342,970
1,778,573
1,055,766
21,475,287
4,478,107
1,815,575
(391,450)
2,116
53,226
454,472
-
128,468,971
26,874,303
4,048,620
664,316
$132,168,877
$27,377,519 $509,814
$160,056,210
37,496,782
(37,496,782)
-
-
$169,665,659
$(10,119,263)
$509,814
$160,056,210
21,760,202 22,594,000 27,221,847
52,743,174 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
21,760,202
22,594,000
27,221,847
52,743,174
6,366,563
26,263,566
-
-
-6,366,563
-
26,263,566
$156,949,352
-
-
Expenses and Other Deductions
Animal protection programs
Research and education
Cruelty prevention programs
Direct care and service
Advocacy and public policy
Supporting services
Management and general Fundraising Neil B. Fang, Esq., CPA, Hewlett Neck, N.Y.
Unrestricted
Revenue
$156,949,352
Patrick L. McDonnell, Edison, N.J.
Change in net assets from operations
12,716,307
(10,119,263)
509,814
3,106,858
Judy Ney, New York, N.Y.
Realized and unrealized gain on investments
10,043,690 51,430
-
10,095,120
Sharon Lee Patrick, New York, N.Y.
Change in Net Assets Before Postretirement Benefits
$22,759,997
$(10,067,833)
$509,814
$13,201,978
Judy J. Peil, St. Louis, Mo.
Marian G. Probst, New York, N.Y.
Postretirement benefits adjustment
Jonathan M. Ratner, Shaker Heights, Ohio
Change in Net Assets 523,496
-
$23,283,493
$(10,067,833)
-
$509,814 523,496
$13,725,474
Joshua S. Reichert, Ph.D., Washington, D.C.
Walter J. Stewart, Washington, D.C.
Net assets at January 1, 2010
Andrew Weinstein, Washington, D.C.
Net Assets, End of Year
111,696,142
46,433,368 33,251,216 191,380,726
$134,979,635
$36,365,535 $33,761,030
$205,106,200
Jason Weiss, Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Persia White, Burbank, Calif.
The audited version of this report had not yet been released at press time. The figures will be updated, if necessary, at humanesociety.org.
David O. Wiebers, M.D., Overland Park, Kan.
Lona Williams, Los Angeles, Calif.
[ National Council ]
Roberta Ashkin, New York, N.Y.
Susan Atherton, San Francisco, Calif.
Howard Berk, Scarsdale, N.Y.
James Costa, Los Angeles, Calif.
Jennifer Faga, Montauk, N.Y.
Linda Goddard, Essex, Conn.
Frances Hayward, East Hampton, N.Y.
Cathy Kangas, New Canaan, Conn.
Peggy Kaplan, Columbus, Ohio
Jessica Moment, San Francisco, Calif.
Ardath Rosengarden, Boca Raton, Fla.
Cheri Shankar, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Cover: Kathy Milani/The HSUS. Inside Cover, Clockwise from left: Paul Vernon; Michelle Riley/The HSUS; Anne Marley; The HSUS; Michelle Riley/The HSUS.
Page 1, from Top: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images; Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images; Kristian Dowling/Picture Group.
Page 2: Paul Markow Photography. Page 3, all images: sally ryan. Page 4: Kathy Milani/The HSUS. Page 5: Bradly J. Boner. Page 6, from left: Kathy Milani/
The HSUS; Michelle Riley/The HSUS. Page 7, clockwise from top: Michelle Riley/The HSUS; Kathy Milani/The HSUS; Alex Gallardo; Kathy Milani/The HSUS.
Page 8-9: Paul Vernon. Page 10-11: The HSUS. Page 12, from left: Stephan Zabel; Sarah Rice. Page 13, From Left: Babur Saglam/istock; Kathy Milani/The HSUS.
Page 14: Michelle Riley/The HSUS. Page 15-17: Kathy Milani/The HSUS. Page 18, from left: Costanza/The Times-Picayune; Katie CampBell; M.J. Masotti Jr./
Corbis. Page 19, from left: Michelle Riley/The HSUS; Tim Mueller; Wendy Meyer/Sacramento SPCA. Page 20: Kathy Milani/The HSUS. Page 21: Melissa Farlow/
National Geographic Stock. Page 22: Michael Bernard/HSI. Page 23: franzfoto.com/alamy. Page 24: Thomas Lazar/naturepl.com. Page 25, from left:
M. Watson/Ardea.com; Humane wildlife services. Page 26, from left: James Hager/Robert Harding World Imagery/Getty Images; Anne Marley;
Natphotos/Photodisc/Getty Images. Page 27, from left: Kathy Milani/The HSUS; Alex J. HassoN. Page 28, From left: Gray Mitchell/HSI; Brandon Cole.
Page 29, from left: Brandon cole; Snorkel Bob; norbert wu/minden pictures. Page 30: Kathy Milani/The HSUS. Page 31: Michelle Riley/The HSUS. Page 32:
Kathy Milani/The HSUS. Page 33, from left: Kathy Milani/The HSUS; Michelle Riley/The HSUS. Page 34-35: Michelle Riley/The HSUS. Page 36, from left: Mike Bizelli;
Humane Society of Missouri. Page 37, from left: Pat Portell; Whitney Curtis; JONATHAN BECKER. Page 38, from left: Ray Eubanks; Vince DeWitt.
Page 39, from left: Stefan Harsch/The HSUS; Holly Shaw/The HSUS; Jennifer Kunz/The HSUS. Page 40: Michelle Riley/The HSUS. Page 41, from left: Anni Betts;
lculig/shutterstock; Christopher Ameruoso. Page 42, From left: Andrea J. WRight; Tim Long/Long Photography. Page 43, from top: Paul Ruhter;
bradly j. boner. page 44: Yanick VallÉe/fotolia.

Annual Report 2010 - The Humane Society of the United States

Transcription

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