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FUR COMMISSION USA PRESS RELEASE, DECEMBER 3, 2002
Fido, Fluffy and Flipper Need a Lawyer!
Major Animal Charities Flunk Annual Rating
Charity Navigator has announced new ratings for more than 1,700 tax-exempt corporations. Out of this total, 82 are grouped under "Animal Rights, Welfare, and Services" which include hands-on care centers such as humane societies and hands-off fundraising corporations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA). Additionally, 64 "wildlife conservation" tax-exempt corporations and 79 "environmental protection and conservation" corporations have been rated.
How did our "favorites" score?
The Foundation to Support Animal Protection, set up by PeTA and its sister organization Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, ranked 81 out of 82 animal charities surveyed and didn't even get a star on the Charity Navigator's five-star rating system!
Primarily Primates was bottom of the "wildlife conservation" list at Number 64, a zero-star performance.
Under the category "environmental protection and conservation", HSUS's subsidiary Earthvoice International ranked dead last at number 79 and zero stars.
Greenpeace earned special mention on a "Top Ten" list by coming in among the top "10 Charities in Deep Financial Trouble".(1) Ouch.
Here's a sample of the ratings (organization, placing, stars awarded):
"Animal Rights, Welfare, and Services"
(Out of 82 charities)
Fund for Animals, 61, **
Humane Farming Association, 65, **
International Fund for Animal Welfare, 67, **
Humane Society International, 74, *
Humane Society of the United States, 75, *
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 79, *
Foundation to Support Animal Protection (PeTA/PCRM), 81, starless
"Wildlife Conservation"
(Out of 64 charities)
World Wildlife Fund, 43, ***
World Society for the Protection of Animals, 53, **
HSUS's Wildlife Land Trust, 59, *
Primarily Primates, 64, starless
"Environmental Protection and Conservation"
(Out of 79 charities)
Greenpeace, 63, **
Wilderness Society, 73, **
Greenpeace Fund, Inc., 74, *
HSUS's Earthvoice International, 79, starless (2)
Notes:
(1) www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/topten.detail/lstid/12.htm
(2) HSUS "transferred $5,434,566 to affiliates in 1999, among which were the National Association for Humane & Environmental Education, Humane Society International, Center for Respect For Life & Environment, Earthvoice International, Wildlife Land Trust, Meadowcreek Inc. (an Arkansas-based organic vegetable-growing project), and Worldwide Network, Inc. Most and perhaps all of these affiliates are controlled by the board and senior staff of HSUS. Technically, HSUS did not end 1999 with more than twice its annual budget in cash and securities reserves -- but only because of the payments to affiliates, whose reserves may be used in connection with HSUS projects, yet do not appear on the HSUS filing of IRS Form 990." [Source: Note W, Animal People News at www.animalpeoplenews.org/notes1200.html]
For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.
To take a cyber-tour of a fur farm, visit Fur Commission USA's Fur on Film at http://www.furcommission.com/video/index.htm