Wayne Pacelle’s current blog post reads, in part:
Preventing cruelty is The HSUS’s number one charge. But we also rush in to help animals in crisis, typically when local groups don’t have the resources to handle large numbers of animals in dire circumstances.
One of the most rewarding parts of our work is seeing the happy faces of formerly abused animals in their new homes.
[…]
The actual rescue itself can be harrowing and exhausting. But in the end, it’s the support of local rescue groups and foster homes that helps us complete the mission, ensuring that every adoptable animal has a safe place to rest his or her head at night.
In 2010, The HSUS intervened in more than 50 puppy mills, animal fighting operations, animal hoarding situations, and the like. Of the thousands of animals rescued, each has his or her own unique story. Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared the survival stories of Boomer, Powell and Second Chance.
Good for Boomer, Powell and Second Chance (see update at end of post). Sadly, sometimes when HSUS staff “rush in to help animals”, the survivors never get to be happy faces in new homes. Because as Mr. Pacelle points out, small rescue groups and troubled shelters are often hard pressed to handle the products of HSUS “rescues”. They don’t have $100 million budgets or millions of donors to fund them. And HSUS doesn’t stick around to assist with infrastructure building on the local level. They simply dump and run.
So while Mr. Pacelle touts the stories of those animals who got lucky after their HSUS “rescue”, allow me to share a few stories of the ones who didn’t. I’m sure these pets would have loved to have a safe place to sleep at night. Tragically, they’re dead. But they are not forgotten.
HSUS and a group called Second Chance Rescue unlawfully seized approximately 200 dogs from a breeder in SD in September of last year. In February 2010, it was revealed that dozens of the dogs had been healthy at the time of seizure but sickened and died in the care of their “rescuers”:
The new court documents show none of the dogs had the highly contagious parvo virus when they were seized. A letter from Veterinarian Laura Byl says none of the dogs had the disease, but another document shows at least ten of the dogs contracted the virus while they were in the care of Second Chance Rescue and some got so sick, they died.
[…]
A complete list of all the dogs seized shows a total of 28 dogs under Second Chance’s care have died since last September’s raid.
The search warrant used to seize the dogs was later ruled illegal because an ACO had failed to tell the judge “the animals looked okay just days before the raid”.
They looked ok before the raid. But after being “rescued”, 28 dogs died from a deadly disease they contracted at the facility where they were kept. Ironically, HSUS claimed the dogs had been rescued from unsanitary conditions.
Rest in peace, 28 pups from SD “rescued” by HSUS. You are remembered.
***
In early December, HSUS went into Marshall Co, AL without involving the county’s sole ACO, took 44 dogs who appear to have been adequately cared for, labeled the owner a “hoarder”, and then distributed the dogs to groups in other southern states (who already face serious challenges themselves).
Ten of the dogs went to a gassing shelter in Lincoln Co, NC. The shelter killed three of the dogs for being “sick” according to shelter records. We still don’t know where many of the other dogs went and how many are still alive. HSUS refuses to say. They are probably hoping people will move on to other matters and forget. I won’t forget. I remember the 146 Pitbulls in Wilkes Co NC, including 19 puppies still nursing from their dams, that HSUS “rescued” and was so intent on killing, they went to court to do it.
Rest in peace Harry, Murray, and male retriever #38805 “rescued” by HSUS. I don’t know how many of your packmates might be with you, but may you all know love and compassion next time around. You are remembered.
Update, 12-30-10: Humane Watch reports that Second Chance – the horse mentioned in Wayne Pacelle’s post – is deceased.
For HARRY, MURRAY and Dog ID #38805. Little guy with no name — at Lincoln Co Animal Services. Dead. Gassed. Time to bear witness HSUS. Small picture not big picture? Don’t think so.
It would help if your boy Winograd didn’t shut dogs out of his no kill shelters.
Nathan Winograd doesn’t shut dogs out of “his” shelters. He doesn’t have any shelters. However, he has been highly successful in turning high kill shelters into No Kill shelters–even county shelters that must, by law, take in all animals brought to them.
Stop drinking the HSUS kool-aid. You won’t get any sympathy here.
If you haven’t already, click on Mike McGrath’s name. He isn’t just drinking the HSUS Kool-aid, he’s brewing it. LOL.
Your attempt to spread misinformation about Nathan or the definition of No-Kill will not stop this exciting movement. I don’t even know why you would try.
I guess they expect people not to ask what “handle” means. This is really a scandal. What I don’t understand is why their whole operation isn’t shut down as fraudulent. How much money do they raise by misleading the public?
more than $100M a year. that doesn’t include their additional addests of another $60 million or so including tens of millions in property. and let’s not forget they intend to spend a boat load of cash on a planned expansion at their Gaithersburg MD headquarters- adding thousands of squre feet of office space for an even more bloated payroll and 250 multistory multifamily residential housing units.
with DONATIONS.
donations that could have, and should have, saved these animals.
look back on any of their self congratulatory PRESS TO DONATE HERE press releases about their so called ‘rescue’ operations and you’ll see that they indeed “dump and run”. you won’t find a single shelter that says they left a check (or even promised one was in the mail) after the make the drop.
I am very thankful to YesBiscuit! for keeping this matter in the public eye. HSUS has become very efficient at sweeping their epic failure under a rug. time to drag them kicking and screaming into the light.
yup that is very true.. office space larger than a football field .. with LOTS of paved parking.. how did that song go ?? paved paradise.. put up a parking lot.. well that is HSUS’s plan .. not a pet hospital.not a teaching veterinarian clinic . not a modern shelter.. not a model farm.. NOTHING to do with animals at all.but plenty to do with M-O-N-E-Y all using donations from unsuspecting donors..
The word is out.. and keeps getting louder..
Friends Don’t let Friends Donate to the HSUS
Thank you for keeping us up to date on this monumental failure , lack of follow up and lies.. Heads should roll but first they have to spin!
So very sad. HSUS likes to make a big splash in the media about rescues, then ask for donations. Someone once said “follow the money and the truth will become clear.”
Thanks for remembering the lost souls.
I knew the sweetest chow/golden mix once, beautiful dog. Too bad Murray never got a chance …
I don’t know why you would name something only to turn around and kill it.
HSUS should be euthanized.
The GWP puppy pictured at the top of the page haunts me. We received/rescued/purchased 11 GWP’s from the SD seizure, as when they were returned to the breeder, we and other groups had the opportunity. I personally had 4 of them, one remains.
all…I mean ALL of the GWP’s we received were so unsocialized, we have had to spend hours working with them. They exhibited typical mill behaviors….I am outraged thinking of our beloved GWP puppies dying in a disease ridden shelter. It breaks my heart.
When our mill bust in MO took place in the summer of 2009, we were notified by the Animal Health Dept and the Dept of AG. As a licensed (in MO) Animal care Facility that is part of our home and foster care network, all of the 33 puppies and adults were taken to a local vet for testing, exams…the adults I had transferred to the University of MO. Vet School in Columbia. Puppies did break with parvo on the day of the relinquish (the breeder was in non compliance and simply signed them over), and sadly one baby did die. The others we had treated and all survived to become healthy happy adults.
We didn’t need the HSUS, we handled the situation with the help of volunteers, grant funding, and only one casualty. My Baldwin is one of those babies, he is tremendous! All of the babies were socialized with the help of the community of volunteers….We are forever grateful to those that helped the “Little Rescue that Could.”
As for the SD puppies that died, my heart breaks…. and adults I have taken care of so frightened and afraid are slowly learning trust and love. We are AT this time the only 501c3 Public Charity in the Nation for German Wires. I only wish we could have taken some of the mama’s and babies into our homes…we did offer, and sent money to Second Chance….but as evidence this many have not been an option. So Sad…again, my heart breaks for the babies that could have been bounding around our 20 acre fenced field having a ball….
@Baldwin GWP I want to thank you for showing interest in helping the SD pointers. This again became a case of “find the puppy” as many were unaccounted for and were for months on end. I know of a family that received a puppy during the trial (before anything had been released for sale or adoption) under the premise that even if found not guilty, they would be able to keep the puppy. From the sound of it, this “rescue” was desperate for help with these dogs. Most were kept in small pens in a fairground building for months with little human contact. From what I have seen and heard, with no exposure to the outdoors either. It breaks my heart that they did not allow you to assist with the dogs. The last report I heard was that some of the dogs are still not accounted for with lawsuits pending against the shelter and the ACO. The HSUS still brags about the raid. Sad, sad.
Thank you,
We ended up with 11 of the 19 adults (German Wires) reported to us at the time of the raid…some of the mama’s were pregnant. I am assuming these babies died or did some make it? We are talking wires not shorthairs…
In My Opinion
The numbers do not add up, we worked/spoke to many of the other groups involved…we even had reports of some “breeding” going on at the shelter as I was asked to assist in placing GWP/Vizsla puppies when a mama came in pregnant to the purebred rescue.
We still have Bramble…we feel he was one of the babies at the time of the raid as he is very young…he like the rest of them will be a project and require 6 more months of rehab.
I’m so sorry for these losses. All killed for no reason except that they got caught up in a badly botched “seizure.”
I was wondering if any of the AL dogs went to Big Fluffy Dog rescue in Nashville so checked their website and blog. But probably not since they were very busy around that time working on a REAL hoarder situation in TN–doing REAL rescue of far more dogs than HSUS had to “handle” in AL. Please take a look if you want to see genuine rescue in action. This rescue treats puppies with parvo–they don’t just put them down or watch them die. This is how many hoarder cases are dealt with in the South–nothing like HSUS.
http://bigfluffydogrescue.blogspot.com/2010/12/these-dogs-need-rescue-help-asap-in.html
Jeanne, Thanks so much for thinking about the unaccounted for dogs from AL. If you – or anyone – thinks of a group who might have some of the dogs, please shoot them an e-mail or make a quick phone call to inquire if you are able. If you find out they don’t, please let me know about it (either in a comment or e-mail) and I’ll cross that group off my list. And if they do, well of course share that info as well!
Will do. Since they’re in Nashville, I’ll also ask them who else in the area (besides Nashville Humane) might have received dogs from HSUS.
I just came across this blog and wanted to let you know that we adopted one of the three puppies from New Leash on Life in Nashville. She has been with us for about 3 weeks now. She still will not let us pet her, but she now goes in and out of the doggie door on her own, accepts treats from our hands, comes when we call her, responds to “no,” and follows us and our other dog around the house. She has never been aggressive with us. She is just very shy. She is a very sweet puppy and requires a lot of patience but she is 100% housebroken since she had never been in a house before. Any tips on socializing her with people would be most appreciated! She seems like she is starting to connect with us, but she runs away as soon as we try to pet her… Thanks!
Jeanne..this is how we handled our dilemma in MO. All of our babies were treated, and as I said the adults were transported to the vet school for examination, as they had at least 200 ticks on each of them. Dr. Kerl, DVM called in volunteer vet students to help detick each and every one of them. We treated those with tick borne illness, puppies with parvo all survived because of early intervention. We are a small group…with the help of purebred organizations, and networking..there would never be a reason for us to have to involve the HSUS.
Yes. Thank you for helping those dogs–they were so lucky to get out of there and into a real rescue situation. But wouldn’t it have been nice if HSUS had offered SUPPORT and financial help? Oh, wait, that must be a different universe. We’re in the one where you don’t dare call the HSUS if you want the dogs to get out alive.
So I was thinking about this and that horse seizure in Texas where the HSUS Large Animal Rescue trucks played so prominently in the video
(http://tinyurl.com/youtubehorserescue) and I can’t help but wonder what happens to those horses *after* the HSUS leaves the area? Do they dump horses on local rescue groups with no follow up or monetary support at all?
Is their large animal rescue run any differently than the small animal rescue – does anyone know?
I’m currently checking with all of the rescues who have allegedly accepted some of the Lindale horses, to see if the HSUS actually put any money where their PR is.
To the best of my knowledge, large animal rescues aren’t run differently, but they usually cost much more to run due to higher overheads. Horses need more acreage and food than dogs/cats.
I am in tears every time I look at that photo of the wire baby…the wire community is extremely small, we all know each other and when there is one in need…they are “ours”….we step up to the plate, we protect them, I am outraged again at the arrogance of these groups making money off of the general public at the dog’s expense….it is time to make this a mission, to expose those raping the general public of their hard earned dollars.
Dr Patty Khuly over at Fully Vetted is asking for stories of the year.. I think this qualifies .. don’t you?
http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2010/dec/top_ten_animal_news_2010
Is there room among all the Vick-this and Vick-that stories?
There is ALWAYS room for the truth..
@Jeanne
Yes, it would have been nice to have gotten a tax deductible donation from the HSUS. When one of our reps of the organization spoke to the HSUS, we were asked “why” we didn’t ask for their help….
Truth is, we didn’t need them…nor will be ever need them. Making the public aware is now our next mission.
http://gwprescueinc.blogspot.com/
Nothing to add except thank you for your tremendous efforts. Shirley = great loving friend.
You are so sweet Mary!
While this was a dogfighting bust, please don’t forget the Wilkes County massacre orchestrated and lead by Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of The United States.
Going on nothing more than archaic, outdated practices Big Wayne “Kill ‘Em All” Pacelle ordered the murder – not euthanasia – of 150 beautiful animals. Some of those killed were innocent little puppies born after the raid, if you can believe that!
This wild west, in-your-face, bravado has to be brought under control. Rescue is wonderful when done properly. I also realize that the system does not work and that occasionally someone like Tammy from Dogs Deserve Better is “forced” into taking unilateral action to correct the torture of a specific animal. But, this is not what the HSUS does.
Putting on their SWAT uniforms they barge in and “solve” the problem. The difficulty for us, as rescuers and advocates, is that this practice may in some cases help but ALWAYS alienates those who could serve as allies to our cause.
It is this permanent wake of damage that HSUS leaves behind that makes me so livid. As a result of this out-of-control zeal we now have some serious enemies through no fault of our own. Thanks, Wayno. Nice job with the money-making advertising campaign.
Don’t know about Wilkes County Massacre? Here are a couple links:
1) Summit To Improve Raids = http://hubpages.com/hub/Animal-Groups-Summit-to-Improve-Treatment-of-Dogs-Seized-in-Dog-Fighting-Raids
2) No Kill Advocacy Center Archives = http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=775
Then there’s the Hawaii fiasco and resulting lawsuits against the HSUS…
I remember the video of the candlelight vigil in the wake of the Wilkes County Massacre and how people spoke of the puppies they had been fostering and which were taken from them. I quite honestly couldn’t watch the whole thing not only because it was so upsetting to see the anguish of those who tried so hard to help but also because I was so angry at how the whole thing went down.
Perhaps I’m just becoming too intolerant as I become more aware. I can forgive John Q. Public for a degree of ignorance. Most people believe what they’re told by so-called experts so when these experts speak, people defer to them. What I find harder and harder to forgive is when those people who claim to be advocates for animals, saying they’re acting in the animals’ best interests, engage in behavior which belies their words. It’s like saying, “oh yes, I do so love dogs” while in the process of killing one (either directly or indirectly).
http://bluedogstate.blogspot.com/2009/04/hsus-on-pit-bulls-better-off-dead.html
telling like it really is..
I won’t forget. Thanks for continuing to remind everyone about what the HSUS is REALLY all about. So many people still have no idea that this is what their donations are supporting.
Quick update–Big Fluffy Dog Rescue in Nashville, TN has confirmed they DID NOT take any of the AL dogs but say they “feel your pain.” McKamey Animal Care in Chattanooga has confirmed they also DID NOT receive any of the dogs. Continuing to check with other rescues in TN.
Thank you very much Jeanne!
Have you checked with this one yet? Almost Home (operates under New Leash on Life),
website at http://newleashonline.com/almost_home
They regularly take HSUS dogs according to the website. I e-mailed them–will post here if I get a response.
BINGO–4 of the missing dogs found at New Leash on Life. Will forward e-mail message to you. Sadly, one puppy ran away from her foster home and hasn’t been found. Two others sound like “adoption pending” and
the third is on their website for adoption.
So I guess the HSUS line about these dogs all being wild, unsocialized animals is false, then? I don’t see such dogs being so quickly adopted without any kind of rehab.
I’ve heard from several of the rescues who took them that they’re timid and shy but very very sweet. No mention of aggression.
The puppy who ran away wasn’t well-socialized, though. She bolted out the door when the owner opened it for the mailman. They haven’t found her–that was around Dec. 18, I think.
Awesome! Good work Jeanne. I’ve been reading for an update and praying for a miracle for the remaining dogs.
I will not support HSUS as long as they continue to murder their so called rescues and as long as they support murders of dogs…Michael Vick! I’m very sad to hear about the dogs rescued dying. Rest in Peace poor babies.
after all of this why would the HSUS NOT be standing up and saying “Hey we didn’t know you were so interested .. OF COURSE we will tell you where the dogs went.” and then give a list so the perhaps some one MIGHT WANT ONE.. what is the big secret?? Why all of the “cover up” and covert operations?
Though not in 2010, let’s not forget the victims of the HSUS “rescues” after Katrina. Thousands of dogs belonging to Mississippi and Louisiana human victims of the tragedy were shipped out of state to the HSUS kill shelter “partners”…..where they were never heard from again. How many of those dogs do you think ended up in homes? And how many died while HSUS collected millions from good hearted Americans who wanted to help? It’s been over five years….too late now to file mail and wire fraud and money laundering charges against this most evil of all organizations. But not too late to continue investigating and exposing the HSUS for what it really is. Stop the donations to HSUS and give to those organizations who truly save lives. It’s not rescue when the victims die.
And don’t forget about Faye, the fighting dog that was rescued after her lips had been cut off. The HSUS bombarded people with advertisements about wanting to raise millions to help dogs just like Faye (there was a video on You Tube about it too). The thing is, HSUS didn’t have Faye. They never had Faye. Faye’s real foster mom was paying for Faye’s expensive reconstructive surgeries. It was only after thousands of outraged people complained did HSUS give a couple thousand dollars to Faye’s foster mom.
So HSUS raised a million or so dollars off of Faye’s picture/story but Faye’s real caretaker only got a couple thousand. It wasn’t even enough to cover all of her surgeries. Despicable.
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Jolley–They-Shoot-Horse–Owners—Don-t-They/2010-04-05/Article.aspx?oid=1034823&fid=CN-LATEST_NEWS_
——————
Someone asked about horses and HSUS. This is the case that caught my attention. In what appears to be a vendetta against someone, 25 stable secure horses were seized by HSUS (some that needed brushing and maybe have had worms) and placed on a pasture too small for their number, with no shelter in the dead of winter and no one set-up to feed them. Finally the court orders the woman they seized them from to feed them. The whole thing was deemed illegal eventually but HSUS still tried to collect $1900 from the county services involved.