Charging Forward for Animals
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2006 HSUS Annual Report Celebrating Animals | Confronting Cruelty Charging Forward for Animals R59542.indd C1 5/22/07 14:14:27 Offi cers Directors David O. Wiebers, M.D. Leslie Lee Alexander, Esq. Chair of the Board Patricia Mares Asip Anita W. Coupe, Esq. Peter A. Bender Vice Chair of the Board Barbara S. Brack Walter J. Stewart, Esq. Board Treasurer Anita W. Coupe, Esq. Wayne Pacelle Neil B. Fang, Esq., C.P.A. President & CEO Judi Friedman G. Thomas Waite III David John Jhirad, Ph.D. Treasurer & CFO Jennifer Leaning, M.D., S.M.H. Roger A. Kindler, Esq. General Counsel & CLO Kathleen M. Linehan, Esq. Janet D. Frake William F. Mancuso Secretary Mary I. Max Andrew N. Rowan, Ph.D. Patrick L. McDonnell Executive Vice President Operations Gil Michaels Michael Markarian Judy Ney Executive Vice President Judy J. Peil External Affairs Marian G. Probst The HSUS by the Numbers . 1 Joshua S. Reichert, Ph.D. Ending Abuse and Suffering: An Epic Battle on Many Fronts . 2 Jeffery O. Rose Uncaging the Victims of Factory Farming: Remarkable Progress for Reforms . 4 James D. Ross, Esq. Taking the Fight to the Courts: Aggressive Litigation Gets Fast Results . 6 Marilyn G. Seyler The Next Time Disaster Strikes: Animals Won’t Be Left Behind . .8 Walter J. Stewart, Esq. The Depravity Worsens: Animal Fighting Takes an Ugly Turn . 10 John E. Taft Animals in Media: Genesis Honors the Best . 12 Andrew Weinstein Drawing a Bead on Blood Sports: Shooting Down Hunters and Tax Cheats . 14 Persia White Last Roundup for Equine Butchers: No More U.S. Horsemeat for Foreign Gourmands . 17 David O. Wiebers, M.D. Raccoon Dog Fur Investigation: Top Fashion Designers and Retailers Snared . 18 Join the Growing Seafood Boycott: Canada’s Shameful Seal Hunt . .20 Deer in the Backyard; Squirrels in the Attic: Living in Harmony with Your Wild Neighbors . 21 The Continuing Slaughter of Marine Mammals: Spoiling Japan’s Appetite for Whale Meat . 22 Financial Operations Report . .24 ©2007 THE HSUS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. COVER: ©HERBERT SPICHTINGER/ZEFA/CORBIS Our Goals for 2007 . 25 OPPOSITE PAGE: ©HERBERT SPICHTINGER/ZEFA/CORBIS BACK COVER: ©PHILLIP WILKERSON/BIG STOCK PHOTO R59542.indd C2 5/22/07 14:14:35 The HSUS by the Numbers (2006 year end totals) E-Mails to Members and Constituents Animals Treated and Cared For 47,665,613 24,539 Members and Constituents Print and Video Media Hits 9,980,589 15,925 Visitors to hsus.org Courses and Workshops Attendance 4,228,979 12,719 Advocacy Actions by Web Visitors Courses and Workshops Given 1,656,553 2,076 E-Community Members Staff and Consultants 975,000 569 R59542.indd 1 5/22/07 14:14:37 2 | THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES Ending Abuse and Suffering An Epic Battle on Many Fronts This 2006 Annual Report lays out the facts and numbers of our work at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)—impressive by the standards of any nonprofi t group in America or elsewhere. The greatest achievement, though, is something that statistics can’t really capture. It is the relief of animal suffering, in all the works of mercy, through which we at The HSUS leave our true mark in the world. We never let ourselves forget that this is our mission—more We have no illusions about the challenges we confront. We know important than anything else we do. Where others trade on that great reforms are the work of many people and many years. exploitation and cruelty, our charge is to appeal to human But we don’t use the excuse of time to postpone the work of today. compassion. Where others regard all creatures of the world as so Every day at The HSUS, we move forward. We stay on the offensive much raw material, as mere resources to be taken and used, we against cruelty. This report shows the results, in real victories gained appeal to human responsibility. And in a world where animals are and millions of animals spared from misery. deprived of habitat, confi ned in factory farms, or degraded and killed in blood sports, we appeal to human charity. We speak to No other organization has the strengths of The HSUS. Our scientists, the better qualities in the human heart, to the sense of empathy lobbyists, investigators, attorneys, disaster specialists, veterinarians, and moral concern that most people feel toward animals. and others have the experience, training, and resources to do the work you expect of us. We are now some 10 million members strong, and It is hard work, and thanks to your own great generosity and we are putting that infl uence to good use each day with lawmakers, compassion we have been able in recent years to join the battle on corporate CEOs, and other decision-makers. many fronts. In Canada, where every year the ice fl oes are stained with blood by seal hunters, we’re acting to stop the slaughter Above all, our best asset is your conviction. When animals are permanently with a boycott of Canadian seafood. In Congress, we spared from abuse and suffering through the work of The HSUS, have advocated for legislative reforms to crack down on trophy that happens because you choose to act. When animals are rescued hunting, horse slaughter, animal fi ghting, puppy mills, and many from disaster or given shelter or veterinary care, you are the ones other forms of cruelty. who saved them. In state capitols, we are helping to raise standards for the treatment Our more than 400 staff members are in your debt, too. I hope that of farm animals, with successes you will read about in this report. in the years to come we can continue to count on your kindness and For many years, reforming the livestock industry in America seemed generosity. The goal is to add more victories every year to augment the most hopeless of animal protection causes. That time has passed, those stories of causes won and cruelties overcome that you will read and today we are witnessing a great movement of conscience away about in this report. And that we can only accomplish together. from the worst abuses of factory farming. Wayne Pacelle President & CEO ©HILARY SCHWAB ©HILARY R59542.indd 2 5/22/07 14:14:40 R59542.indd 3 5/22/07 14:14:42 4 | THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES Uncaging the Victims of Factory Farming Remarkable Progress for Reforms Sows in gestation crates. ©FARM SANCTUARY Hens in battery cages. ©THE HSUS onditions in factory farms are improving. Campaigns conducted We moved on two related fronts to reform poultry killing methods Cby The HSUS during 2006 to change the worst abuses began that cause enormous suffering for many of the more than nine billion paying off with signifi cant victories for pigs, calves, and chickens. birds the USDA claims are exempt from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA). After fi ling suit in 2005 against the U.S. In the November elections, The HSUS led the drive for an Arizona Department of Agriculture to enforce the HMSA protections for ballot initiative that resulted in 62 percent of voters approving a ban poultry, we began an intensive lobbying campaign in Congress to on sow gestation crates and veal calf crates. Smithfi eld Foods require this protection. Corporation, the nation’s biggest pig producer, quickly announced it would phase out the use of the crates for its 1.2 million breeding sows. Present poultry slaughter methods are unreliable and cruel. Birds are hung upside down in leg shackles on a fast-moving line, electrocuted Smithfi eld’s decision is perhaps the most monumental advance for into paralysis, sliced in the neck with mechanical knives, and dunked animal welfare in the history of modern American agribusiness. A week in vats of scalding water—some while still alive. later, Maple Leaf Foods, Canada’s largest pig producer, followed Smithfi eld’s lead. Soon after, Strauss Veal and Marcho Farms announced The HSUS is now working to encourage the poultry industry to they would end the practice of confi ning veal calves in tiny crates. adopt a better slaughter method called controlled atmosphere stunning in which the birds suffer far less when killed using inert gasses such as Our campaign to encourage restaurants, food service providers, and nitrogen or argon. grocery chains to stop selling eggs from hens confi ned in battery cages made major strides. More than 150 colleges and universities have eliminated or greatly reduced their use of battery cage eggs, a trend “The animal movement has mirrored by a growing number of large retailers. Whole Foods Market refuses to sell them and Trader Joe’s rejects them for its private line of BODAI ©ALYSON long been right about factory eggs. Other companies that have made good progress on the issue farming. This campaign include Yahoo, Oracle, AOL, Best Buy, Nordstrom, Ben & Jerry’s, and Bon Appétit’s chain of 400 cafes. demonstrates that we’re no longer just on the right side, Revealingly, in response to The HSUS’s No Battery Eggs campaign, the president of the United Egg Producers was quoted in an issue of we’re also on the winning side.” Egg Industry magazine as saying, “I’m afraid we’re losing the battle.” —Paul Shapiro, Director, Factory Farming Campaign R59542.indd 4 5/22/07 14:14:46 2006 ANNUAL REPORT | 5 In Chicago, the city council heeded growing pleas Nearly 300 million laying hens are packed into tiny for compassion and banned foie gras sales in “battery cages,” each bird accorded less space than restaurants and food stores.