HSUS is successfully blocking the Atlanta TV report that Critized where it spends its money

From PetPac's website

An ABC-TV affiliate in Atlanta aired an Investigative Report on where the Humane Society of the United States spends its money. Twenty four hours later, the story was pulled from the air. I wasn’t able to locate it in their archives either, even though there were older investigative stories still there. I spoke with Mark Winne of Channel 2 and was told that it is routine to take down this type of news report, however he was less specific when asked why it wasn’t saved in their archives. A copy of the video played on YouTube for one day then mysteriously disappeared from that site as well.

PetPAC posted, on our site, the written transcript you see below, sent to us by several of our supporters.

Friday morning PetPAC received an email from an attorney representing WSB-TV ordering us to remove the written word from public view. I have to conclude, as others have already, that this demand has been triggered by some powerful action to squelch the story.

Since HSUS has not come out publicly to protest the facts contained in this story, nor has WSB-TV issued any form of retraction I think it logical to assume the story has to be substantially true and accurate.

So much for freedom of the press and the First Amendment to the Constitution. Since those of us in PetPAC do not want to upset TV broadcasters, we have not made any further attempts to get copies of the video story. However, the transcript sent to us from others, not taken from the station website, unsubstantiated as it is reprinted below.

Where Humane Society Donations Really Go

Posted: 4:03 pm EDT May 14, 2009Updated: 4:20 pm EDT May 14, 2009

ATLANTA -- A Channel 2 investigation is looking into millions of
dollars in donations given to the Humane Society of the United States.

A national consumer organization says the society solicits
pet-lovers for money, but little to none of that money ever goes to
help local shelters.

Critics tell Channel 2 Action News reporter Amanda Rosseter that
this isn´t just consumers misunderstanding who they are giving in to -
but an organization actively misleading donors to get money.

"They do their marketing very well, that's for sure," said Trey Burley of PAWS Atlanta.

Critics say the national organization takes advantage of people who
think they are giving to local shelters. DeKalb's "PAWS" shelter says
there is no regular funding help from the $100 million HSUS budget.

"I think that some of the folks who donate to the national
organization may be under the false pretense that that money is going
to a local cause," said Burley.

While the HSUS does work to stop puppy mills, it also gets media
coverage and donations doing it; but the puppies then go to local
shelters who have to pay and care for them.

"They may initialize the resources for a rescue, but again the
animals go to a shelter somewhere in the country," said Richard Rice,
VP of the Atlanta Humane Society.

Critics say HSUS also takes advantage of high-profile events. After Hurricane Katrina, HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle promised on national TV to
reunite pets with their owners-and raised $34 million for the cause;
but public disclosures of where that money went add up to less than $7
million. The Louisiana attorney general launched an 18-month-long
investigation, and it then ended it when HSUS offered to build the
state a new shelter.
Then there's $112 million in expenses -- most of which appears to
have gone to legislation for animal rights bills. The list includes
raccoons, mice, wild horses, burros and primates.

The Center for Consumer Freedom says all worthy causes, but HSUS shouldn't mislead to get money.

So where does all the money go?

"It goes to lobbying, it goes to political contributions, it doesn´t
go to pay huge staff salaries and benefits," said David Marposko with
Center for Consumer Freedom.

Channel 2 Action News went to a local HSUS meeting to find out. The
two hour discussion was about activist plans and lobbying. The Georgia
director for the HSUS agrees that´s mostly what she does.
"I think that in all of our literature, it is very explicit as to
what our campaigns are and what we are doing," said Cheryl McAuliffe,
Georgia Director for HSUS. "We help where we can and focus on our
programs, which are national and international."

McAuliffe said there are just too many local shelters to help.

"I always tell people, contribute to your local shelter first," said McAuliffe.

When asked how much her budget is for the state of Georgia,
McAuliffe said she didn´t have a budget and neither did the other
states. McAuliffe said all money is controlled from headquarters in
Washington, D.C.