HSUSHSUS ~ Humane Society of the United States is "the nation's largest animal protection organization. A voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research, and farm animals. Our mission is to celebrate animals and confront cruelty. To protect all animals through legislation, litigation, investigation, education, science, advocacy and field work" Humane Society of the United States is not affiliated with your local animal shelter. It does not run spay/neuter programs or takes in stray, neglected, and abused pets.
This organization helps animals in an indirect way by giving our animals a voice NATIONALLY.
Historyof the HSUSThe history of the HSUS was founded on the same values and beliefs that originated from the 1800's. The 1860's started a whirlwind of debate over the rights of animals and how they should be treated. Humane Societies were forming all over the state because the world wanted a more humane society..... The American Humane Association was one such group that was formed. The AHA worked hard for more than 65 years to help animals throughout the United States. But in 1954, an issue arose among its members. There was great debate about animals that were abandoned at animal shelters and had little to no hope of being adopted. Some members of the AHA wanted those animals turned over to laboratories for research. Others felt that was cruel and went against what they were fighting for -- those members broke off from the AHA and started their own organization, thus the formation of:
THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES Founder and The Early YearsThe HSUS was co-founded in 1954 by a man named Fred Myers and three other visionaries who left the AHA hoped to form a strong humane organization that would recognize and work to eliminate all forms of cruelty and injustice to animals.Fred Myers was a strong unionist who helped to organize workers in the newspaper industry during the 1930s. He joined the American Humane Association in 1952 and was editor of AHA's National Humane Review. Myers loved working and writing for the "Humane Review", but when a dispute over an article that needed to be written on the issue of shelter animals being used for research, Myers held his ground. Ultimately, he left the AHA in a dispute over censorship of his writings on the topic. 
Myers and his staff investigated conditions at a variety of institutions, such as visiting horse shows, public pounds, rodeos, slaughterhouses and specifically use of animals in labs. They did this to document neglect and mistreatment in the care and use of animals.In early 1960 he and staff member Philip Colwell helped Mississippi law enforcement authorities to infiltrate a gang of dog-fighters. On another occasion, he swore out a complaint against the dog warden of Rock ville, Maryland, for firing four pistol shots into a dog and allowing the animal to suffer for 30 minutes until county police officers came and ended the dog's agony with a single bullet. In 1961, A five-year investigation in the dog trading business paid off. In February 1966 Life Magazine published photos of a raid conducted on a Maryland dog dealer’s premises.
The "Life" spread sparked outrage, and tens of thousands of Americans wrote to their congressional representatives, demanding action to protect animals and prevent pet theft. LIFE's February 4, 1966 issue landed on newsstands and in mailboxes across the United States, with the cover's warning "YOUR DOG IS IN CRUEL DANGER"
That summer the U.S. Congress approved the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act, only the second major federal humane law passed since World War II.
Mission and Goals
Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty "The mission of the HSUS is to create a humane and sustainable world for all animals—a world that will also benefit people. They seek to forge a lasting and comprehensive change in human consciousness of and behavior toward all animals in order to prevent animal cruelty, exploitation, and neglect and to protect wild habitats and the entire community of life. They seek to achieve their goals through education, advocacy, public policy reform, and the empowerment of our supporters and partners. They do not engage in or support actions that are illegal or violent or that run counter to the basic principles of compassion and respect for others"
~ HumaneSociety.Org ~
Work ContinuesA work in progress, the HSUS never sleeps. Campaigns and strategies are always in the works, new issues, topics, new laws to be passed. Here are some examples:
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