But truth be told, the Humane Society of the United States raises nearly $100 million annually from Americans, and in 2008, less than one-half of 1% of HSUS’s budget consisted of grants to actual hands on “humane societies” that deal with sheltering unwanted pets.

That is one of the truths revealed by a new watchdog project at www.HumaneWatch.org launched by the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF). CCF is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies and consumers working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choice.

In a nutshell, CCF wants to better inform consumers with facts about animal welfare – and the veiled agenda of HSUS to end animal agriculture – so individuals can make their own choices.

Here is more about the new www.HumaneWatch.org project:

How is www.HumaneWatch.org reaching consumers?
The website includes a blog with commentaries offering counterpoints to many of HSUS’s messages and activities, as well as a growing document library scrutinizing HSUS financial reports and fundraisers. HumaneWatch.org has also established a Facebook presence.

Of these efforts, Washington, D.C.-based HumaneWatch blogger David Martosko says, “HSUS now has an annual budget around the size of an NFL payroll. It has become too big and too unaccountable. Someone has to pay closer attention…This blog is one researcher’s attempt to make sense of what’s going on inside that sprawling organization.”

What’s Martosko’s goal with his new watchdog blog?
In his bio on the HumaneWatch site he says, “I’m not here to tell anyone how to live, what to believe, or whom to dislike…But I do think someone needs to keep the world’s biggest, richest group of “animal people” [HSUS] honest.”

Martosko says he realizes that “on one end of the spectrum, you have well-meaning garden club ladies who just want to pamper their pooches. And on the other end, you have philosophical and political warriors who think every animal—no matter how small—is actually a person, deserving rights and entitlements of the sort that modern society extends to my kids and your parents.”

He wants people to recognize there is a difference between animal “welfare” and animal “rights.”

He says… “I do love animals, but not obsessively so. And I’m not a big fan of people who put the life of a lab rat above the life of a cancer patient.”

How does Martosko and HumaneWatch.org differentiate between animal welfare and animal rights?
Martosko writes on the site: …animal “welfare” is the position that says we should be concerned about animals’ well-being, and protect them from needless pain and suffering. At the same time, it’s perfectly acceptable to use animals for food, clothing, research, entertainment, recreation, and such. But animals are not people. And when the needs of our species clash with those of another, humans come first.

He goes on to explain that the animal “rights” philosophy, on the other hand, says that it’s wrong—always and forever—to eat meat, feed your child milk, go fishing, wear leather shoes, use lab rats to cure cancer, etc.

“This is basically the fringe stuff of PETA,” Martosko write and further explains, “Animal ‘rights’ philosophy says that even if you gave your dairy cows three meals a day, evening rubdowns, waterbeds to sleep on, iPods, and Nintendo Wii privileges, it would still be wrong to milk them. And they wouldn’t be ‘your’ cows to begin with.”

Martosko says, “No matter which camp you belong to—and I believe the percentage split in the United Stated is about 99 [animal welfare]-to-1[animal rights]—I think it’s a colossal waste of time. Most of HSUS’s donating members are dog lovers, cat lovers, pet owners. They’re not interested in the pursuit of ideological purity, and they couldn’t care less about promoting vegetarianism. You see, there is actual practical animal cruelty that could be addressed in a hands-on way. The entire proposition of animal “rights” is a colossal distraction from how ordinary people live their lives.”

He concludes, “From time to time, HSUS claims to be aligned with this view. But the longer I look at the evidence, the more skeptical I am…This blog is my effort to share that evidence so others can make up their own minds. Nothing more, nothing less.”

What’s the bottomline?
So, is the Humane Society of the United States all good or all bad? Martosko says, “The truth probably lies somewhere in between. And there are many conflicting assessments of its performance.”

The reports that the American Institute of Philanthropy gave HSUS a “C-minus” grade in December 2009, reflecting its high operational costs and inefficient fundraising. But the Charity Navigator service gives HSUS a four-star assessment, and Worth magazine has called HSUS both one of the “worst-managed” U.S. charities, and one of America’s “most fiscally responsible.”

Who are we supposed to believe?
Martosko says charity-rating services are like blunt instruments, evaluating animal rights groups with the same tools used to check up on Planned Parenthood and the Salvation Army, he says, “They really don’t dig very deep into anyone’s programs, and they don’t look at much beyond a tax return.”

Thus, Martosko says he and CCF will keep a watchful eye on HSUS and share their comments and findings at HumaneWatch.org.

And he concludes, “But I hope animal lovers, animal watchers, animal eaters, animal owners, animal professionals, and the animal-obsessed will all feel welcome in this corner of the blogosphere.”

HumaneWatch has a poster available to help show consumers that HSUS is not aligned with animal shelters, how can you get one?
The poster bears a headline that asks “Shouldn’t we expect better from the Humane Society?” Then through a graphic of paw prints, illustrates how less than half of 1% of HSUS’s $100 million budget actually goes to hands-on pet shelters, while $2.5 million went into HSUS pension plans.

The poster is available in a 24”x36” size, suitable for framing, mounting, or just tacking up on a bulletin board. “Perfect for displaying at your next dog club meeting, 4-H activity, fishing tournament, gun show, or PTA convention,” suggests CCF.

The posters available by making a $15 tax deductible donation to the Center for Consumer Freedom. For details contact Martosko at info@HumaneWatch.org or visit www.HumaneWatch.org.