The Humane Society of the US (HSUS) recently announced its merger with the Doris Day Animal League.
The HSUS now touts a membership roster of 9.5 million people with a 2006 annual budget of $103 million, more than double its 1996 budget. The group collected revenue in excess of $145 million in 2005 alone.
Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society, is quoted as saying, "I think our goal is to accumulate greater strength so we can be more effective. We want to show policy leaders and lawmakers we’re a formidable entity." He went on to emphasize that the animal rights group plans to put more resources into its legislative activities and plans to get involved in the November election process.
In a speech at the second annual "Taking Action for Animals" conference in Washington, DC, Pacelle committed to redoubling the group’s efforts against modern animal agriculture and indicated his belief that there is little difference between animals and humans. He went so far as to half-heartedly suggest that the word "dog" be replaced with "Canine Americans".
[Ed. HSUS is increasingly targeting animal agriculture by all avenues possible. They have been very active in the proposed ballot initiative to ban gestation stalls in Arizona as well as supporting federal legislation to ban horse slaughter. And, they have been successful. They obtained enough signatures to get the ballot initiative placed on the November ballot in Arizona and the U.S. House passed the horse slaughter ban by a wide margin. This is a group that no longer just bears watching. This is now a powerful, well-funded organization that can affect significant policy changes that have the potential to alter the way farmers manage their animals and the message heard by American consumers.]