June 24, 2015

3 Min Read
How an HSUS employee scandal reveals incompetency of animal rights organization

I recently received word from the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) that an employee of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been charged with embezzling $31,175 from donors and, as a result, is facing 20 years in prison. The employee allegedly used the stolen donations to fund an elaborate vacation to Aruba, among other personal purchases.

READ: Have we lost the battle on animal welfare?

What’s more, CCF argues that, worse than the embezzlement scandal, HSUS mismanages most of the donations it receives from well-intentioned animal lovers.

According to a CCF press release, “More shocking, however, is the fact that HSUS itself sent $50 million to the Caribbean over a two-year period instead of using that money to help care for needy pets in America.”

A review of HSUS’ tax returns for 2012 and 2013, which CCF says are the two most recent tax years available, reveals that HSUS moved $50 million of donor money to the Caribbean, apparently all to hedge funds in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

Learn how HSUS dupes donors by clicking here.

“If the employee had sent that money to the Caribbean instead of herself, as alleged, it would have simply been business as usual at HSUS,” says Will Coggin, CCF director of research, in the recent CCF release. “Even more scandalous than the embezzlement of $31,000 is that HSUS has taken over 1,000 times that amount and placed it in the Caribbean hedge funds instead of using that money to help care for currently needy dogs and cats. Donors should be repulsed by both the incompetence of HSUS management and its willingness to turn its back on the animals it claims to speak for.”

A Charity Navigator “Donor Advisory” has been issued against HSUS after the animal rights organization was involved in a $25-million settlement of a racketeering, fraud and bribery lawsuit in 2014.

READ: How Charity Navigator knocked HSUS down a peg or two

While it’s been some time since I’ve last blogged about HSUS, this news is important to share as there are still many folks who donate money to this animal rights organization because they genuinely believe that HSUS is an umbrella group that trickles funds down to local animal shelters.

Fortunately, HSUS is losing credibility amongst donors because at long last, the wolf wearing sheep clothing is finally being revealed. Check out CCF’s article titled, “HSUS’s legal shenanigans” to see what I mean.

Share today’s blog post on social media and let’s keep the momentum going by spreading the word about how HSUS dupes its donors, misuses funds and has little intention of actually helping animals. 
 What do you think about the most recent HSUS scandal? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of beefmagazine.com or Penton Agriculture.

 

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