Tuesday, April 13, 2010

HSUS Affiliates

Howdy. Spidey thought he'd take you on a quick spin through yet another section of the HSUS web. This is HSUS Affiliates 101. We are sure to run across these people and organizations again.

HSUS Affiliates
Donations from HSUS 2002 - 2008



Earth Voice International is part of the Earth Council Alliance.

While travelleing the web, I discovered that Paul Irwin is on the BOD of an organization called The Earth Treasure Vase Global Healing Project (*formerly Alliance for the Earth) based in Santa Fe, New Mexico  Along with his many HSUS hats, he is also President and CEO of Elephants In Crisis. He has served as president of the World Society for the Protection of Animals and taught for six years at the Boston University School of Theology.

* (Alliance for the Earth was founded in 1989, by Dr William Hugh Wheir DVM. , graduate of Texas A&M. According to the website, "Our work was greatly furthered in 1990 when a 106-year-old Tibetan lama, living in a Himalayan cave in Nepal, gave us a Buddhist practice to bring healing and protection to the Earth by ceremonially filling sacred earth treasure vases with prayers and offerings and burying them all around the world in places of need.") Oh, so that is how they came up with that name.

Earthvoice gives thousands of dollars to Earthvoice Russia, the National Council for Science and Environment , the Earth Council Foundation, Campaign to Preserve Global Leadership (now the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition) , Humane Farm Animal Care , Compassion in World Farming and the International Wildlife Coalition.

Further, Earthvoice gave $140,000 to Counterpart International in D.C. for consultant work. Randy Belcher-Torres, consultant (actually the Senior Advisor for Earthvoice/Monitor International) received about $80,000 and the Earth Council Foundation received $52,500 for their consultant work.

The Center for Respect of Life and Environment (CRLE) has made donations of thousands of dollars over the past eight years to The University of New Hampshire, the Earth Council Foundation (morphed into the Earth Council Coalition), Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the University for Peace, Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers , and one $5,000 grant to the Center for Environmental Education in Nehra India.

Check out the sample legislation on the Doris Day Animal League website. Sound familiar?

Anti Cruelty Statute Legislation (pdf)
Includes definitions, sentencing provisions, and two addenda on empowering humane societies to prosecute violators and the civil right to action. Courtesy of the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Spay/Neuter Legislation (pdf)
One of the most important tools for ending the cat and dog overpopulation crisis is enacting a spay/neuter ordinance in your city or county.

The DDAL has made multi-thousand dollar donations over the last eight years.  Included in the list are Grey2K, GeesePeace, Return to Freedom and Horses in Need. HSUS received $278,230 from this source and the HSUS Humane Legislation Fund received around $200,000. Let's not forget the Doris Day Animal Foundation (95-3197011) while we are here.

This foundation also gives thousands and thousands of dollars to organizations and foundations. Among them are the Assistance Dog Institute in CA, Central Ohio Greyhound Rescue, Circle Tail, Inc., Pet Orphans of Southern California, Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines and the U.C. Davis Foundation in CA. In 2007 they gave $5,000 to the Motion Picture & Television Fund in Woodland Hills to pilot a program to enable pet guardianship for seniors.

Fund for Animals Much of their money went to support the Black Beauty Ranch in Texas. In 2004, they gave over $2.5 million twoards "humane education" while nearly $450,00 went to legislative lobbying. HSUS and their affiliates have paid several million dollars - maybe more - to the National Outdoor Sports Advertising, Inc. in Washington DC. They provide direct mail advertising. The company was established in 1990 and incorporated in Virginia. Their approximate annual revenue is $10 to $20 million a year.

Humane Society International  This site links to CWAPC (Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition) and to the Species Survival Network. The AsociaciĆ³n Humanitaria Para la Proteccion Animal de Costa Rica (AHPPA)  receives the largest donations: $50,000 - 2002; $50,000 in 2003; $50,000 in 2004 and similar amounts each year. The Indonesian Swarga-Yayasan Yudisthira has also received a few multi-thousand dollar contributions from HSI.

HSI gives generation donations and grants to the organization listed on their website. Other large donations on the 2002 - 2008 990's include SPCA Hong Kong - $5,000; SPCA Nepal - $5,000; thousands of dollars to HSI Australia, the Bahamas Humane Society, Elephant Care International and the WSPA. The 2008 990 broke down donations a bit differently. Rather than list organizations, they listed grants by country and areas. Europe received $657,684, in part, to advocate against Canada's commercial seal hunt. Another $36,374 was for the same cause and for wildlife law enforcement training and support. $42,000 was given to South America sterilization projects along with another $19,000 for spay/neuter programs. The East Asia and the Pacific received a $90,000 wire transfer for conservation and animal protection programs. The Middle East and North Africa received a wire transfer of $17,304 for "support and care of Canadian Puppy Mill/Seizure dogs)???

The money, among other things, flies at HSUS, et al.

Meadowcreek, Inc lost HSUS funding in 2006 when HSUS officials resigned from their BOD. Meadowcreek owns two "model" farms ( around 850 acres) that use sustainable production methods. The current management is still awaiting a possible grant from the U.N. Commission for sustainable development. The farms have conservation easements that protect timber (203 acres) and pasture land (175 acres) for wildlife. Buildings on the property include a bar, mechanic shop, two farm houses, a guest house, three meeting buildings, a garden house, a farm worker house, and abandoned guest house and the Arts and Crafts building.

Thomas Waite - Vienna, VA; Gary Valen of Poolesville, MD and Paul Irwin - Darnestown, MD were the HSUS officials who resigned.

NAHEE ( National Associatio for Humane and Environmental Education ) is based in Connecticut.  They provide information for KIND (Kids In Nature's Defense) News, a classroom newspaper for children that links them with humane education resources. NAHEE makes money by conducting workshops, selling literature and subscriptions and they have a grassroots network of individuals found throughout the USA. In 2003, HSUS was even a member of CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) committee where they pointed out the impact that international trade policy has on animals and the environment. What don't they do?? (see for further information

The Wildlife Land Trust gave grants to the American Wildlands (Missoula, MT), The Vital Ground Foundation (Missoula, MT) , the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (Bozeman, MT) the Ya'axche Conservation Trust , The Grand Canyon Trust , Fauna and Flora International and the National Wildlife Federation.

As you can see, each of these non-profits has a web of their own and we are sure to cover them in more depth.  This is just a quick reference guide and starting point. You can be sure that many of these same people cross paths over and over again.  My what a tangled web they weave....


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