Humane Society of the United States

[powerfulcheese04]

I want to see pweb's answers to these questions, after reading a survey!

Please answer these (without googling!):

Are you very familiar, somewhat familiar or totally unfamiliar with the HSUS?

Are these statements true or false?
1) The Humane Society of the United States is an umbrella group that represents thousands of local humane societies all across America

2) My local humane society or pet shelter is AFFILIATED with the Humane Society of the United States.

3) The Humane Society of the United States contributes most of its money to local organizations that care for dogs and cats.

4) My local humane society or pet shelter receives financial support from the Humane Society of the United States.

[human.]

As long as you promise not to judge me for this... Especially since you know my pet shelter, too...

Completely unfamiliar.

And I'm going to go...
1. False
2. True
3. False
4. False

[Mich]

Weee, me first!

Here are my best guesses:

1)True
2)False
3)False
4)False

[Petra456]

I'm really second guessing myself on all of these.

1. True
2. True
3. False
4. True

[thoughtreader]

ummm... here goes nothing

1) true
2) true
3) false
4) false

[Satya]

You're all wrong. The correct answer is:

Billions of human beings, right this second, are either:

1.) Being murdered
2.) Being raped
3.) Being molested
4.) Being oppressed
5.) Dying in a war
6.) Dying of disease
7.) Dying of thirst
8.) Dying of starvation
9.) Rotting in prison

Or are imminently about to, or mourning someone who is.

I'm so sick of that stupid commercial with that Sarah McClachlan song asking for the same amount of money as the Children's Fund. Hmm... Should I give a dollar a day to save neglected animals, or a dollar a day to save poor, starving human children... Tough call.

Saving animals and preventing harm to them is a priority, but here's how the priority list breaks down:

1) HUMANS
2) ANIMALS

[Petra456]

There's always going to be someone who needs more help then others, that doesn't mean you should cut off help to everyone.

Maybe i'm heartless, but even when I see homeless people I feel about 10 times worse when they have an animal with them.

[powerfulcheese04]

Satya,

While I most definitely think that in a direct animal v. human choice, of course humans are the priority, I don't think that donating money to animal shelters is this kind of direct choice. People give money to plenty of causes that don't in any way directly aid any of the things that you talk about there.

What about the environment? Or people who do things like donate to historical societies? Or their alma maters? These are inanimate!

Additionally, I feel strongly about donating time and money to animal sheltering organizations because there is a huge pet overpopulation and neglect problem that is perpetrated and perpetuated by human stiupidity, negligence or cruelty.

Also, the Sarah McLaughlan commercial that you're thinking about is the ASPCA, which has no affiliation with HSUS. Though, the HSUS did/does have a similar commercial (with a Natalie Merchant song) that runs nationally sometimes. (However, it's being pulled from some channels for a variety of reasons.)

[Satya]

Environment = direct effect on humans. The others fall into the same category as animals - second priority. But nothing else you said has any negating effect on the point.

[Luet]

I am only familiar enough with my local human society to have adopted our two cats there (they charge $100 for cats/kittens under 6 months of age, which seems kind of pricey but they are spayed, have all shots, dewormed, etc. and its a really nice shelter).

My guesses based on no real knowledge:
1)false
2)true
3)false
4)false

[jotabe]

Environment = direct effect on humans. The others fall into the same category as animals - second priority. But nothing else you said has any negating effect on the point.

But what is your point? That noone should ask for money for abandoned pets because plenty of humans suffer?

Because you said "I'm so sick of that stupid commercial with that Sarah McClachlan song asking for the same amount of money as the Children's Fund." So what bothers you is that someone asks for money for a cause instead of the cause you think more worthy.

[Satya]

That I think is more worthy? Are you f****** kidding me?

[jotabe]

So, only because there is a caus that is more worthy, noone should ever ask money for other causes. That's what you're saying.

And yes, it's "what you think is more worthy" (even if i happen to agree with you on it, it's just our oppinion). Because, as we don't live in a perfect world, you can't control what other people think.

[neo-dragon]

So I guess what we can do is just have one charity at a time. Everyone in the world can vote to determine what the most pressing concern on the planet is and it will be the only thing that people are allowed to donate money towards until it's fixed, or at least greatly improved. Then we move on to the next priority.

[Dr. Mobius]

Environment = direct effect on humans. The others fall into the same category as animals - second priority.

So stray, diseased animals roaming the streets would have no direct effect on the quality of human life?

[Mich]

So I guess what we can do is just have one charity at a time. Everyone in the world can vote to determine what the most pressing concern on the planet is and it will be the only thing that people are allowed to donate money towards until it's fixed, or at least greatly improved. Then we move on to the next priority.

When you put it that way, it does sound highly efficient.

[jotabe]

When you put it that way, it does sound highly efficient.

*sighs sadly* Ah... if only every problem in the world could be solved with money

[Satya]

That's just dumb, Doc. It's obvious that I'm of the opinion that things that harm humans are of the highest priority. So yes, animal issues that harm humans belong towards the top.

It's not just that there's "a" more pressing concern. There's thousands. From landmines littering the landscape of Cambodia, Burma and Laos; epic drought in Australia; people getting chopped up in South America's drug warfare; the recent story about a Catholic priest in my fine state of Wisconsin who's said to have molested about 200 deaf children; 500,000 dead in the Rwandan genocide; 1,400 Palestinians dead in early '09 as a result of only 3 weeks of Hamas in relative open war with Israel; skyrocketing suicide and drug abuse rates; choking pollution in eastern China and the oppression of ethnic minorities there and numerous other nations; etc, etc, etc, etc, etc......

[jotabe]

Seriously. You remind me of those guys who slashed the space exploration program, including the moon landings, to "solve problems here on Earth". And where did that money go to?

[Satya]

That's a stupid analogy, Jota.

One of the "problems here on Earth" is that eventually Earth will no longer be a habitable planet for human beings. Hence space exploration.

[jotabe]

I think it's a legit analogy: "let's not spend money on this, because that other thing is more important/urgent".

And if you take that approach: many people likes to live in a world where pets are treated kindly and where abandoned pets can find good families, because it makes them feel better with themselves. So it's a human concern.

And if you think that people won't worry more about the pets in their neighbourhood than about faceless, nameless people that suffer tens of thousands of kilometres away, then i don't know what world you live in.

[Satya]

What makes someone feel better about themselves doesn't necessarily equate to what actually saves human lives and prevents massive suffering.

The world I live in is full of deluded gerbils and f****** up priorities.

[powerfulcheese04]

Satya, while the things you express concern about are certainly problems, they aren't really things that are addressed by charity.

Ok, maybe landmines could be targeted by charity. But, things like drug warfare, molestation, general warfare are governmental/regulatory concerns.

Additionally, animal charity is important because the animals are voiceless. They can't speak for themselves to ask for help (or not, as the case may be. Not all of the issues you present want "our" help.)


Also, in general, I find local charity much more rewarding. Giving to national organizations is often unrewarding because the money does not always go where it should be. There's more accountability on a local level.

[Mich]

Getting back to the topic at hand...

Why did you conduct this survey, oh great Cheesy one?

[powerfulcheese04]

By the way, for those who are curious, the answers to those questions are:

1: False. HSUS is actually a political lobbying organization with an agenda that is remarkably similar to that of PETA (including that we should all be vegan, pet ownership is exploitation of animals, etc.)
2: False. HSUS is not affiliated with a single animal shelter.
3: False. One half of one percent.
4: False. HSUS does not give to local shelters (or operate any shelters of their own.) In fact, right now they're running a program where shelters can pay them a pretty significant amount of money to do an evaluation of their protocols.

[Satya]

Animals are animals. People shouldn't keep pets in the first place. But that's also besides the point.

Local charity is rewarding. Like, a local food pantry or homeless shelter.

[powerfulcheese04]

Getting back to the topic at hand...

Why did you conduct this survey, oh great Cheesy one?

HSUS is one of my soap box issues (as is all the recent hulabaloo about antibiotic use in animals that's in front of Congress right now.) I wanted to see how many smart and relatively informed people (my pwebbers!) knew about HSUS.

[powerfulcheese04]

Animals are animals. People shouldn't keep pets in the first place. But that's also besides the point.

Local charity is rewarding. Like, a local food pantry or homeless shelter.

Really, Satya?! Really?

Despite all the scientifically proven health benefits of owning pets? The lower blood pressure, the higher ratings of overall happiness, the longer life span of pet owners? Despite the anecdotal benefits of companionship, love, hilarity and snuggling?

[Satya]

If the well being of animals is your concern, then the domestication of animals and the keeping of them as pets should be antithesis to you.

[powerfulcheese04]

No, your sentence should be "If the animal rights is your concern, then the domestication of animals and the keeping of them as pets should be antithesis to you."


Animal welfare is an entirely different ball game that involves improving the quality of life of animals. For example, house cats that are kept indoors as pets live, on average, 2-3x as long as their "wild" counterparts. They are also parasite free and experience significantly fewer infectious diseases. Much like the way human medicine and quality of life evolved over the 20's-60's to decrease the early deaths due to human diseases (leading to our current leading causes of death in the developped world being things like cancer and heart disease), animal medicine is evolving to eliminate early deaths from infectious causes like parasites (heartworm disease, etc), bacteria and viruses (the drastic decrease in FIV in feline populations, etc).

[Dobie]

You're all wrong. The correct answer is:

Billions of human beings, right this second, are either:

1.) Being murdered
2.) Being raped
3.) Being molested
4.) Being oppressed
5.) Dying in a war
6.) Dying of disease
7.) Dying of thirst
8.) Dying of starvation
9.) Rotting in prison

Or are imminently about to, or mourning someone who is.

I'm so sick of that stupid commercial with that Sarah McClachlan song asking for the same amount of money as the Children's Fund. Hmm... Should I give a dollar a day to save neglected animals, or a dollar a day to save poor, starving human children... Tough call.

Saving animals and preventing harm to them is a priority, but here's how the priority list breaks down:

1) HUMANS
2) ANIMALS

I think what you meant to say is :

Billions of human beings, right this second, are either:

1.) Murdering someone
2.) Raping someone
3.) Molesting someone
4.) Oppressing someone
5.) Killiing someone in a war
9.) Serving time in prison for a crime they commited

[zeroguy]

1: False. HSUS is actually a political lobbying organization with an agenda that is remarkably similar to that of PETA (including that we should all be vegan, pet ownership is exploitation of animals, etc.)

This actually surprised me. I thought they were one of the "sane" PETA-alternates like the ASPCA (er, they're not PETA-y, right?). That is, one of those organizations that actually is what many people think PETA is (before you find out that PETA is, well, in my opinion, 'crazy').

And at least according to wikipedia, HSUS is against making "exotic" or "wild" animals pets; they apparently support pets bred to be pets. Or something?

[Petra456]

I'm actually really surprised too. Come to think of it, I've always known of the Humane Society, but not really known about them.

[zeroguy]

Come to think of it, I've never seen them in the same room as PETA and the ALF, either... hmmm

[jotabe]

Come to think of it, I've never seen them in the same room as PETA and the ALF, either... hmmm

Shouldn't the ALF be in favour of the use of cats as food?