Berman’s Smear During the Oscars Backfires

By on February 29, 2016 with 19 Comments By Wayne Pacelle

Rick Berman just helped us raise an additional $1 million for The HSUS’s campaigns against factory farms, puppy mills, and seal killing.

Yes, the lobbyist and public relations operative who has specialized in taking money from animal-abuse industries and tried to smear The HSUS has done exactly the opposite of what his funders intended. They want to dry up our support – not swell it, but it’s not worked out according to their plans.

Last night, Berman ran a television advertisement about The HSUS on behalf of one of his phony front groups in a few markets for what likely cost tens of thousands of dollars, setting up a straw-man argument that The HSUS should be giving all of its money to animal shelters instead of spending it to help all animals.

Well, after hearing from quite a few supporters last night who donated as a result of the ad, this morning I took a call from one of our supporters who said she’s going to give us an additional $1 million to fight this guy and to put more resources into the domains of animal abuse where Berman draws his support.

Touché.  And then some.

We’re going to get right to work and double down on several of our major campaigns against the confinement hog industry and against the puppy mill crowd – two areas where Berman devotes his time to trying to thwart our progress.

I reported last week that despite Berman’s decade-long campaign against The HSUS, we had an increase in revenues of $6 million from 2014 to 2015. Well, with this latest infusion of funds, we’re off to a good start in 2016.

The HSUS has always been about helping all animals – dogs, cats, horses, farm animals, chimpanzees, lions, seals, and every other kind of creature at risk of human exploitation. The HSUS and its affiliates are the number one provider of animal care among animal organizations (171,000 animals helped in 2015), but we are also the nation’s leading advocate for animals – fighting to prevent abuse by changing policies and finding solutions throughout the economy.

Thanks to the generosity and volunteerism of so many of our supporters and partners, we’ve amassed an incredible track record.

To you and others who care about animals, each of those achievements is a triumph.  To animal abusers, it’s a source of fear and frustration.

Whenever we take on enemy fire, we don’t run in the opposite direction. Instead, we run to the front lines.

That’s a message that our adversaries can take to the bank.

Categories
Animal Rescue and Care, Animal Research and Testing, Companion Animals, Farm Animals, Humane Society International, Opposition, Public Policy (Legal/Legislative), Wildlife/Marine Mammals

Subscribe to the Blog

Enter your email address below to receive updates each time we publish new content.

19 Comments

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Athena says:

    Maybe Berman could’ve put the money HE spent on these ads to help shelters…

  2. DIDI MAGNIN says:

    Well done!

  3. Annoula Wylderich says:

    Okay, we need to send Rick a “thank-you” note and a dozen roses to that smart, kind lady!

  4. Patricia Yager Delagrange says:

    This just warms my heart. I support the HSUS monthly and this story is why.
    You go!

  5. Dorothy Rodgers says:

    Kudos to this generous donor. And a round of applause to HSUS and their work trying to make this a more humane world. I hope it helps eliminate all the Rick Bermans of the world.

  6. J. Neverla says:

    What have you done, or tried to do for the mustangs?

  7. Sally Palmer says:

    It is frightening to think of the blind hatefulness and greed that rot out Rick Berman’s mind. I can’t thank the good people of The HSUS and all their supporters enough for fighting for truth and compassion; think of the horror if people like Berman had no one to stand up to them. And thank you, Wayne, for keeping us strong with those wonderful, inspiring words that promise that we will never run from the fight, that we will run towards it.

  8. Sally Palmer says:

    And I have to say a special thank you to the generous donor who gave us all even more reason to put our words of support into action.

  9. Joanne Thibault says:

    So sad that resources that could benefit animals are squandered on self-seeking diatribes. In my review of this HumaneWatch organization two things were loud and clear. They are a hateful group who do not like anyone advocating for the humane treatment of farm animals, and they are gun and violence oriented – lots of this kind of talk and advertising in sites linked to them. So sad.

  10. Charlene Inglis says:

    WOO-HOO!! Way to go!!! This may be the only good news I read today, but it’s certainly worth it.

  11. LindaE. Goldstein says:

    I have been a long time donor to HSUS. I truly saddens me that someone has to besmirch the work of this amazing organization.

  12. Kimberly Medici Heseltine says:

    Thank you for keeping us up to date. Wonderful news on all the progress. Its amazing how much was accomplished last year and no doubt will continue.

  13. Tommy Lee says:

    Cheers to HSUS and waving a finger at Humane Watch supporters.

  14. Amalia Sobalvarro says:

    Hahaha… go get ’em Wayne and HSUS…Dr. Evil is going down!!!!!

  15. Linda Mathews says:

    I live in Southern California and am a HSUS donor. Today, March 5th, I received a card in the mail from an organization called “CORE” with a Washington D.C. address. It states that “The Humane Society of the United States raised over $100 million but gave almost none of that to pet shelters in California!” On the opposite side it makes negative, hateful comments about the HSUs, including that “HSUS regularly contributes more to its own pension plan than it does to pet shelters.” I would be interested in knowing if others in different states received a similar mailing specific to their location. I figured it was from a Berman-fronted group.

  16. Eileen Johnson says:

    I am in Idaho and just received the same mailing that Linda Matthews received. If you google CORE, it takes you to a terrible website that trashes animal and environmental activism. HSUS has got to get ahead of this and inform their members and supporters that these mailings are from an organization that is manipulating facts to injure HSUS, and other animal welfare efforts. Not everyone will see through the disgusting misuse of information, so HSUS please email your supporters and donors to tell them this is happening.

Share a Comment

The HSUS encourages open discussion, and we invite you to share your opinion on our issues. By participating on this page, you are agreeing to our commenting policy.
Please enter your name and email address below before commenting. Your email address will not be published.

Top