HSUS's 990s Online:
HSUS's Membership? -- Not What You'd Think – And More!

The Humane Society of the United States has posted their 2007 tax
return online at
http://www.hsus.org/about_us/annual_reports_financial/annual_reports_financial_statements.html

You'll want to take a good look.

HSUS's gross receipts were $152 million. But, out of that $152
million, $50 million went missing when HSUS declared $101 million in
revenue. And out of that $101 million, only $85 million of that was
came from the public. And out of that $85 million from the public,
almost $10 million, or over 11%, came from just four donors (page 18).
Who those four were, only the IRS knows for sure.

While virtually everyone was losing money in the stock market in 2007,
HSUS managed to rack up a $6 million profits on their trades on about
$55 million in securities. And they paid no fees and had no expenses
on those transactions. Zilch. (Stmt 2, page 20)

HSUS, which constantly promotes oil-based synthetic clothing over
natural fibers, earned $676,499 on an oil and gas lease (page 1).

They closed the year with over $200 million in net assets, even after
a downward adjustment of $31 million to their assets (line 20, page
1).

Hands On Animal Care and Better Documentation

The good news is that some of HSUS's money is actually going to help
animals, which is a nice shift. After HSUS declared they'd raised over
$30 million for relief for homeless animals in the Hurricane Katrina
disaster, the Louisiana Attorney General took note. HSUS was forced to
actually spend some of that money on hands-on animal care in Lousiaina
and Mississippi. You can see it in some of the outgoing grants. The
bad news? It's still a fraction of what HSUS declares was raised.

Another step forward, after at least a decade of HSUS using Share
Group, Inc. as their telemarketing firm, HSUS is finally listing them
among their top 5 contractors receiving over $50,000, see page 10.
Share, HSUS reports, received $1.7 million in fees.

But we're not so sure. The Los Angeles Times, among others, has
commented on the fact that each time HSUS uses this telemarketer,
Share does not share, keeping 97% of the funds.
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/3675

Members Go Poof!

What is also interesting is that, while HSUS regularly claims it has
10 million members and constituents, which many in the media assume
means members, or 1 out of about every 30 Americans, Statement 9, page
62, disputes this, reporting that:

"Membership services handles tens of thousands of public and
member/donor communications annually."

This is a number far too low for any group with 10 million members and
reflect something more in the order of a few hundred thousand members.

Page 62 continues:

"Publications produces hundreds of items each year, including a
quarterly magazine sent every other month to 420,000 members."

Well, there you have it. HSUS has 420,000 members, just 4.2% of what
is commonly reported. At $25 each, that would generate $10.5 million
in membership fees.

That's only one of every 714 Americans or, roughly, 8,400 in each state.

A large percentage of members represent those who mistakenly believe
they're giving money to their local humane shelter when they mail a
check. And easily half of these HSUS members are people engaged in
animal ag and wildlife pursuits who reluctantly join HSUS simply to
monitor what the loyal opposition is up to.

It's hardly a mandate to impose a vegan lifestyle on all those omnivores.

Also, if any of those members have ever received an invite to a
membership meeting, as requited by HSUS own bylaws and state and
federal law, we'd like to hear from you.