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Speaker 1: And we are back with another edition of the Federalist

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Radio Hour. I'm Matt Kittle, Senior Elections correspondent at the

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Federalist and your experienced Shirpa on today's quest for Knowledge.

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As always, you can email the show at radio at

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the Federalist dot com, follow us on x at FDR LST,

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make sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcast, and

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of course to the premium version of our website as well.

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Our guest today is Jack Hubbard, executive director of the

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Center for the Environment and Welfare CEW. Recently announced the

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launch of a new public education campaign to address an

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urgent and growing christ the mass euthanasia of homeless pets

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across the country. The campaign to debuts with part one

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of a three part mini documentary series, Fat Cats and

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Dead Dogs. It exposes how powerful animal charities like the

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ASPCA and PETA raise hundreds of millions of dollars each

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year while shelter pets are left behind. The series is

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paired with an investigative report that backs up the story

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with hard data. Jack, thank you so much for joining

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us in this edition of the Federalist Radio Hour.

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Speaker 2: Oh thanks for having me, Matt.

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Speaker 1: There's some disturbing numbers here, and I think what is

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disturbing two animal lovers? Animal lovers who you know, for

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years have thought about the ASPCA, even for some PETA,

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although we know PETA in its tactics over the years.

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But you know, you think about the ASPCA and you think, oh, well,

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you know, this is an organization that is absolutely committed,

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full on to saving animals lives, and that may be

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part of what they do. But they have other priorities

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as well, do they not?

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Speaker 3: They do, yeah, And unfortunately some of those priorities are

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somewhat self serving. I mean, we've all seen the ads

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on television. I'm sure many of your listeners have seen

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the ads on Fox News at Night featuring Sarah McLaughlin

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with the sad song.

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Speaker 2: And cam Oh my God differing in cages.

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Speaker 3: Yes, you watch those and they just break your heart

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and you want to reach for your wallet and give.

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And every single year Americans do give. I mean, the

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ASPCA's budget last year was three hundred and fifty six

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million dollars.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it's unbelievable how much money they have raised

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with these you know, this fundraising apparatus. But when you

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dig into the numbers. It becomes very disturbing and frankly

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somewhat depressing and outrageous how they're spending a lot of

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this money. Because when the public sees those ads and

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they hear the name ASPCA, they you know, logically, say, oh,

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this is a group that is an umbrella organization for

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shelters across the country, and that's not the case. They

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run one adoption center in New York City and they

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have nothing to do with local SpCas. I should say,

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they're unaffiliated with local SpCas and humane societies across the country.

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And we dug into their tax returns and uncover the

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fact that only an estimated one percent of that huge

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budget is going to local shelters across the country as

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financial grants.

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Speaker 1: Really one percent out of all of that the hundreds

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of millions of dollars. So that begs the question, I'm

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sure you will, you will tell us where does that

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money go?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that that's a complicated question. But the good news

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is is that when you go through the group's IRS

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nine ninety form, which is something that may be difficult

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or challenging for an average donor, but we have a

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group of researchers here that you know, go through it

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every single year. We uncovered that they're paying their CEO

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one point two million dollars a year. So the CEO

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of the ASPCA, his name is Matt Birdshocker. This is

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a guy who is paid last year one point two

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million dollars.

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Speaker 1: Yes, it's good to be a bird shocker, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.

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Speaker 3: I you know, I sometimes joke with people. You know,

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a three hundred and fifty six million dollar budget and

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a shelter in New York City, it must be the

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mar Lago of pet shelters with gold plated kennels. With

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that much money, I mean, it is unbelievable how much

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money they raise. They have three hundred and eighty five

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staffers who make over one hundred thousand dollars a year.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 3: And what's sad is that the local shelters in communities

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all across the US are underfunded, overwhelmed with tons of

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animals a lot of time, their facilities are crumbling or

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in desperate need of capital investment. And a lot of

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their you know, workers are volunteers or people who make

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you know, little to no money, and they are on

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the front lines of this euthanasia crisis.

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Speaker 2: And then you have this.

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Speaker 3: Ga charity, the ASPCA, that's spending tens of millions of

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dollars a year on advertisements on TV, direct mail letters,

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executive salaries, and the money just isn't making it to

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the local shelters like a lot of donors expect. So

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you know, we're simply out there telling folks, if you

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want to fund this massive apparatus, be my guest, but

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do your homework, and if you're actually interested in helping

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local shelters in your community, do your research and give local.

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Go visit your local shelter. Because six hundred thousand cats

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and dogs are euthanized in this country each year. I

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mean that's I think our team put together the statistic.

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It's almost one animal every minute it is being killed.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's enough to fill old Madison Square garden

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thirty times over. That should put it all in perspective.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, trying to get people understand how many

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animals that is is not an easy thing because sometimes

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when you talk big numbers, it starts to wash over

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your head and it's hard to fathom. But yeah, filling

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Madison Square garden thirty times over is how many animals

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get euthanized in this country every year. And what's even

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worse is that since twenty twenty, shelter euthanasia totals have

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increased by forty three percent since that year. So I'm

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sitting there asking myself. You have groups like the ASPCA,

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we can talk in a little bit about Humane World

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for Animals, IMPEDA, which are their own animals, No pun intended.

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They're not solving the problem. The problem is getting worse.

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And collectively these three groups are raising over six hundred

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million dollars a year, I mean, wow, and half a

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billion dollars, and yet we have a forty three percent

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increase in euthanasias. They likely could have taken all their

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money and cared for all those animals, but they don't.

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I mean, they have hundreds of millions of dollars some

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of these groups sitting in investments earning interest. At the

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Humane World for Animals, they have ninety million dollars in

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offshore Caribbean accounts, you know, earning interest and growing. And

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I simply asked the question, what donor wants their donation

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to be on vacation in the Caribbean.

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Speaker 2: None?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, yeah, Now that raises a very good point.

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I mean, well, first and foremost, six hundred and thirty

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million dollars between these entities, how much would it cost

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just to board a dog for a year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I'm going to get myself in trouble

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here because a lot of people in the shelter and

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rescue community have strong opinions. One group has estimated it's

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nine hundred and fifty dollars for a year to care

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for an animal. Okay, we can have a debate whether

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it's higher or lower. Bottom line, there is no shortage

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of money in this movement to take care of these animals,

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and it's simply not going to the front lines. It's

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not going to the local shelters where animals are being

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euthanized as financial grants.

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Speaker 2: And what's really sad.

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Speaker 3: Is that these groups are sitting on massive rainy day

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funds and it is pouring rain for six hundred thousand

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cats and dogs that are getting killed in this country

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every year, while that money sits in an investment account or,

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sits in assets and isn't deployed. And I think it's

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a national scandal, and donors get very very upset about this,

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But we simply need to educate them so that they

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direct their funds to the right places. Now there's a

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whole other issue going on where not only are these

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groups not supporting shelters in a meaningful level with financial grants,

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you know, a dollar out of every hundred, but the

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other nefarious thing that's going on is these groups seem

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to have been co opted by a group of people

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that have a political.

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Speaker 2: Anti met vegan agenda.

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Speaker 3: And at least the ASPCA and the Humane World for

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Animals raise an awful lot of money with images of

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cats and dogs, but then they spend a lot of

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money attacking farmers on Capitol Hill, attacking a role Erica,

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pressuring companies, you know, the Human World for Animals has

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a campaign where they're trying to pressure restaurant and food

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service companies to make fifty percent of their menu animal

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free with you know, you know, kale beans and tofu

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to save the planet. And so there's some really weird

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nefarious stuff going on in these groups. But at the

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heart of it is a fundraising machine that, in my opinion,

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exploits images of cats and dogs to fund a very

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very radical agenda that many Americans don't support.

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Speaker 1: It is raining cats and dogs in this crisis, and

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I would imagine for those waking up to this, this

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has to feel like a fraud because you have people

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who are giving out of you know, the kind of

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their hearts, real animal lovers out there that do not

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want to see these dogs euthanize. I can tell you.

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I mean my daughter who one day wants to run

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an animal shelter. She's just her heart is all about dogs,

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basically animals in general. And you know, she sobs as

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she's looking at that shelter in Houston that takes in

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so many dogs it has to euthanize, you know, so

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many dogs a day, and they have you know, little

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video showing you know, Fido here has twenty four hours

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or you know, tomorrow's his execution day. And then you

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learn Fido didn't make it. And maybe some you know,

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carring people came through and adopted or fostered a dog

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or something like that. But when you think about the

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amount of money that you just talked about going through

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the ASPCA and and PEDA and you know, a humane

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world for animals these other organizations, it does feel a

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great deal like a fraud. You've brought out the numbers

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in this investigation, Do you conclude that that this is

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this is basically a flawed a fraud perpetrated on giving Americans.

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Speaker 3: Well, I definitely think it's misleading. I think the advertising

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in many cases is deceptive in nature. And what I'll

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tell you is, you know, these groups would respond to

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that accusation by saying, well, hold on a minute, last

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week we did a spe and newter clinic, or hey,

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we center our animal rescue team, uh to you know,

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some sort of animal cruelty situation last week, and we're

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doing good work. And what I tell everyone is even

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a broken clock is right twice a day. And I'm

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not saying that these groups do no good for animals.

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But what I am telling you, and I hear it

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from shelter directors, is that the local shelter community and

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many of its leaders are upset because these groups run

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national ads in the communities of these local shelters, and

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they vacuum up hundreds of millions of dollars from out

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of local communities, and many shelter directors find themselves at

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the end of the year in December calling some of

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their donors saying, hey, we didn't receive your gift this

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year and someone says, no, I did, I made a donation.

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I donated one hundred dollars or one thousand dollars to

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Humane World for Animals or a SPCA, and they said, well,

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that's not us. And I can't tell you how many conversations.

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And this is even a big problem in the will

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in a state world, because there's a lot of folks who,

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especially older folks, who include in their will and a

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state ASPCA.

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Speaker 2: Think oh, sure, yeah, that's.

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Speaker 3: The SPCA of insert whatever county or city, and little

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did they know, the money's actually not going to the

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local group. It's going to a sky, you know, to

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a big building in Manhattan, to a guy that's making

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one point two million dollars running a charity.

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Speaker 4: Talking heads are preaching that you're entitled to your social security,

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but are you the Watch Dout on Wall Street podcast

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with Chris Markowski every day Chris helps unpack the connection

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between politics and the economy and how it affects your wallet.

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Two Supreme Court decisions have said connors can cancel social

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Security tomorrow and you can get nothing. You may want

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to believe the Social Security man, but you're not entitled

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to it. Whether it's happening in DC or down on

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Wall Street, it's affecting you financially.

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Speaker 1: Be informed.

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Speaker 4: Check out the Watchdot on Wall Street podcast with Chris

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Markowski on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, or.

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Speaker 1: It's going, you know, to the Caribbean and having my

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tides's I mean, this is this is this is some

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sad stuff.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: A lot of the problem that we're seeing with so

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many animals euthanized has to do with space. It's just

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not enough space to hold these animals. Sure wouldn't the ASPCA, PETA,

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the other groups, wouldn't they be better served to use

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some of that massive amount of money those very generous

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donations on shelter space. Are we seeing any of that

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out there?

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Speaker 3: I wish that they were directing funds to local shelters

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to help them improve their facilities and expand so that

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less analysts could be euthanized. But it's just not happening

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that the The the wackiest and most outrageous part of

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this report focuses on the group PETA. Your your listeners,

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I'm sure they've heard of PETA, People for the Ethical

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Treatment of Animals. These are the folks that you know,

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throw you know, paint out, you know they do. They

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do all of the theatrics in the street to protest

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eating meat, you know, for you name it, drinking milk.

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That they view everything as abuse.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure they're even opposed to honey because that's

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b exploitation, which is crazy to me. That PETA does

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run a shelter, and their shelter is located in Norfolk, Virginia,

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and they've been running that shelter for years. And we

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got a hold of Virginia state records because in the

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state of Virginia, shelters have to report their euthanasia rate

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and numbers. And for this group that is attacking anyone

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who eats a hamburger, calling it murder or drinks a

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glass of milk.

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Speaker 2: As being exploitation.

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Speaker 3: This is a group that, since nineteen ninety eight at

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A shelter has euthanized eighty percent of the cats and

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dogs that it has received.

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Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, I wouldn't.

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Speaker 3: Call it a shelter. I mean it is a killing operation.

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What's on over there, it's death row. It is one

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of the highest kill shelters in the state of Virginia,

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and the fact that these people then have the nerve

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to protest people or brands or companies or restaurants, you know,

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for serving natural, farm raised animal protein when they're killing

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all of these cats and dogs in the shelter is

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literally one of the most hypocritical things I have ever

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come across in all my years in Washington, DC.

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Speaker 1: You know why I think that is Jack, Why these

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peda people act so insane. It seems to me, I

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believe it's because they're not getting enough protein meat. I

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think that's I think that's what it is. I mean, listen,

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I have gone a day or two without you know,

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a burger or a pork chop or what have you.

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I get a little, I get a little cranky myself.

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So I think that's really what we need to look into.

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But in all seriousness, I mean that is astounding. Eighty

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percent of the animals that come into the Pita shelter

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in Virginia are put down. Is that the merciful treatment

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of animals that they are pitching to two Americans?

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Speaker 3: You know, I wish I could explain uh their behavior,

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It's it's impossible for me to do. So I suspect

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that they have sort of a sick you know, better

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dead than bread.

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Speaker 4: Uh.

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Speaker 2: These are people that don't think.

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Speaker 3: You should ever, you know, by uh a purchase, be

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allowed to purchase a dog. And you know, I have

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a more nuanced position on that. I I always encourage

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everybody to go and uh go to the local shelter

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because you could find a four legged you know, friend

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to who becomes a member or family.

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Speaker 2: And it's just so enriching.

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Speaker 3: I have kids, I've seen that human animal bond and

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how and riching it is for a family and children.

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But there are people that have preferences, allergies, all sorts

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of things. You know, my wife is horrible allergy. So

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we had to find a dog that was right for

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a family that didn't make her miserable. And we couldn't

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find one of a shelter. So we found a humane breeder.

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And there's nothing wrong with that. You know, you do

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have to do your homework and make sure you choose

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a responsible, ethical person. But you know, PETA has this

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worldview that you know, it seems like they view.

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Speaker 2: Pet ownership almost as slavery in some ways.

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Speaker 1: You know, yeah, it's their record is very clear to

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any rational any irrational human being out there. We are

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a dog family. We have two dogs that came from

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a responsible breeder, and we have been fosters for some

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time now at the local animal shelter. In fact, we

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have what we all a failed foster are pup happy.

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She has made us very happy, and she has also

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grayed my hair even more so as my children have

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done over the years. But you know, you're absolutely right

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that kind of bond is priceless. And yet we have

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hundreds of millions of dollars pouring into this system, and

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it seems to me manipulating so many people with who

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have good intentions, and the money is just not going

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to what they believe it is aimed at. Our guest

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today is Jack Hubbard, executive director of the Center for

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Environment and Welfare. CEW. Recently announced the launch of a

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new public education campaign to address an urgent and growing crisis,

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the mass euthanasia of homeless pets across the country. They've

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got a documentary coming out. We're going to talk more

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about that in just a bit. But Jack, you mentioned

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this before. I just did a story at The Federalist

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about the homelessness crisis in America and how these leftist groups,

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I mean hundreds of them and the amount of money

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that pours into them have co opted this issue for

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radical leftist causes well beyond homelessness. You know, these are

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people who are involved in the No Kings marches and

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people who are involved in you know, anti ice demonstrations,

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all of that sort of thing. You mentioned that that

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is going on with these massive organizations that are supposed

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to be devoted to animals, they're actually getting into more

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left wing causes. Can you go into that a little

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bit more.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, So.

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Speaker 3: We were talking a minute ago about PETA, and just

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to showcase how connected a lot of these groups are,

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the Humane World for Animals, which was until last year

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was called the Humane Society the United States. They changed

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their name to the Humane World for Animals. Their CEO,

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her name is Kitty Block, and Kitty you earned six

359
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hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year and she was

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a former lawyer for PTA. So she comes from this

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peda anti meat, vegan advocacy world.

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Speaker 2: And when you actually look at what.

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Speaker 3: The Humane World for Animals is doing on Capitol Hill,

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they're working with some very very far left politicians, people

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like Corey Booker and others you know who buy into this,

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you know, vegan narrative. They believe that, you know, raising

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animals for food is destroying the planet. They're running a

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campaign pressuring restaurants and college campuses to make their menus

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fit fifty percent plant based, eliminating animals on the menu

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any sort of natural, farm raised protein. And you have

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this group that's raised all of this money or much

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of this money with cat and dog imagery, and then

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you've got them running around Capitol Hill and lobbying for

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some of the most draconian, anti anti family farm legislation

375
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and proposals we have ever seen. And they have a

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vision of the future that doesn't involve family farms raising

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animals for food. They view it as cruel and inhumane.

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And you know, if they get their way, what the

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American public is going to see is sky high grocery bills.

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We're already seeing it, as they've passed some legislation in

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Californian Massachusetts that's having a national impact on pork and eggs.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I can tell you that from where I'm broadcasting

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in the De Woine metro area, that is a huge

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issue in the state of Iowa.

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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, because what's happening is they are they're very

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manipulative in the way that they're operating, and that what

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they're doing is they're going state to state to try

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to create a patchwork of state laws that make it

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impossible for farmers in this country to operate. So they

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they and some of their allies spend eighteen million dollars

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to pass a California law, and now farmers in Iowa,

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you know, we're Nebraska, essentially need to gut or bulldoze

393
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their barns and rebuild them to be California compliant. And

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these groups are passing laws in different states that are

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slightly different. And we know that their long term goal

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is that they want to reduce the consumption of meat

397
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in this country, so they're always moving goalposts. But again,

398
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:06,279
they're doing all of this this nefarious sort of left

399
00:27:06,279 --> 00:27:11,519
wing vegan climate change narrative. They're doing it on the

400
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backs of cats and dog imagery that I believe are

401
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being exploited. And what bothers me is that if they

402
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want to go pursue that agenda, they should feel free

403
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to do it. And if someone wants to fund that agenda,

404
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,440
so be it. And I'll have a different point of

405
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view and try to counter it. But raising so much

406
00:27:36,279 --> 00:27:38,799
money with the cat and dog imagery to then.

407
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Speaker 2: Focus on.

408
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Speaker 3: Chicken condos is I think very deceptive, and I think

409
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it's a sleight of hand and I just think it's wrong.

410
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Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned it too. I mean it's not just

411
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the animal related you know, anti meat law be out there.

412
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These are people that are partnering with extreme climate change cultists.

413
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You know, they're partnering with the abortion industry. Interestingly enough,

414
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:19,799
there are people involved in this movement that are partnering

415
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with the euthanage of human beings movement. So how much

416
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of this is political at the end of the.

417
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Speaker 3: Day, Oh, I think a ton of it is political,

418
00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:36,759
and I think it's about especially with the group like

419
00:28:37,559 --> 00:28:41,960
the Humane World for Animals IMPEDA. These are groups that

420
00:28:42,119 --> 00:28:48,000
want to take away consumer choice. They want to in

421
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some ways dictate what Americans can and cannot eat, and

422
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,160
they certainly want to dictate and use the long arm

423
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of both state governments and the federal government to control

424
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:07,599
farmers and essentially tell them what they can and cannot do.

425
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And what I tell folks is that we want family

426
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:19,000
farmers and veterinarians in the driver's seat of making these decisions,

427
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not a group of people that have a very very

428
00:29:23,599 --> 00:29:30,279
extreme political point of view and make no bones about

429
00:29:30,519 --> 00:29:35,200
using government regulation to take away choice for Americans. And

430
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the saddest thing about this out in addition to the

431
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,279
number of cats and dogs that are being left on

432
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the sidelines killed while these guys are pursuing this very

433
00:29:46,559 --> 00:29:51,720
very radical anti med agenda, is that low income Americans

434
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are being hit the hardest. I mean, this is an

435
00:29:54,880 --> 00:30:02,000
e leadist movement of far lef f wing operatives who

436
00:30:02,039 --> 00:30:06,920
have seized on to this cultish meat is evil, farms

437
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,200
are bad, We need to control what people eat. And

438
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:15,160
we're seeing as a result of their legislation that inner

439
00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:20,440
city minorities, low income rural Americans, they're being hit with

440
00:30:20,519 --> 00:30:23,759
the higher prices as a result of all of all

441
00:30:23,799 --> 00:30:27,759
this California compliance and all these humane humane World for

442
00:30:27,839 --> 00:30:32,039
Animal mandates, and they don't seem to care. You know,

443
00:30:32,119 --> 00:30:35,720
their response is, you should eat something else, you know,

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you should.

445
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Speaker 1: You don't need bugs, you should eat bugs. That's what

446
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their response is. Oftentimes.

447
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Speaker 3: Well, yeah, and now some of these groups are even

448
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:48,519
you know, this is a separate topic, but Some of

449
00:30:48,559 --> 00:30:53,799
these groups are even now advocating for something called lab

450
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:59,400
grown meat Yes, which is now legal to sell. Unbelievably

451
00:31:00,319 --> 00:31:04,480
in the United States. PETA has been a cheerleader of

452
00:31:04,519 --> 00:31:05,079
this segment.

453
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Speaker 2: But this is not your This is not your Keenwa

454
00:31:10,359 --> 00:31:12,319
burger or your black bean burger.

455
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Speaker 3: This is taking animal cells, putting it in a bio reactor,

456
00:31:19,039 --> 00:31:22,960
pumping it full of hormones and growth factor, and using

457
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,799
something called immortalized cells that replicate in perpetuity over and

458
00:31:26,839 --> 00:31:31,440
over again, almost behaving like a tumor and growing eat.

459
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And there are five companies in the United States that

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you know, have been approved for sale of this stuff,

461
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:46,279
and the investors and backers of this you know, Bill Gates,

462
00:31:46,359 --> 00:31:51,079
Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and that they see a whole

463
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:56,359
new world of food consumption in this country in the

464
00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:00,079
face of a lack of long term health studies and

465
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:04,680
a lot of farmers going out of business. And you know,

466
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:06,720
when you start to go down the rabbit hole on

467
00:32:06,799 --> 00:32:13,079
this stuff, it's deeply disturbing because this country has you know,

468
00:32:13,359 --> 00:32:16,960
one of the strongest, most affordable and abundant supply chains

469
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,200
when it comes to food and farm raise, animal protein,

470
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in the world, and they want to wreck it, and

471
00:32:24,359 --> 00:32:27,640
they want to wreck it by raising hundreds of millions

472
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:32,279
of dollars featuring cats and dogs, turning you know, a

473
00:32:32,319 --> 00:32:36,279
blind eye to six hundred thousand animals dead cats and

474
00:32:36,359 --> 00:32:42,720
dogs one every minute, and instead are obsessed with attacking

475
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farmers and getting meat off the dinner table.

476
00:32:48,279 --> 00:32:50,920
Speaker 1: Well, Jack, the holidays are coming up and nothing says

477
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:55,720
happy Thanksgiving like lab grown meat. The tumor turkey is.

478
00:32:56,039 --> 00:33:00,319
I know, it's a wonderful tradition in my family. And

479
00:33:00,319 --> 00:33:04,279
that is horrifying. That is discusting on so many different levels.

480
00:33:04,319 --> 00:33:08,759
But as you note, this is the operational basis, and

481
00:33:08,799 --> 00:33:13,799
it's all being done with the emotional drive of these

482
00:33:13,839 --> 00:33:18,000
images of dogs and cats. But it's, as you point out,

483
00:33:18,119 --> 00:33:22,440
so much more than dogs and cats, and that's what

484
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,359
a lot of Americans are buying into unbeknownst to them.

485
00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:31,279
Now you have this documentary, I believe, am I correct

486
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:35,680
that the first the first part is out right now?

487
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, Yes, the first part is out. You can find

488
00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:45,640
it on our website www dot Environment and Welfare dot

489
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,279
com and on our YouTube page. And the first part

490
00:33:49,359 --> 00:33:54,000
of this documentary highlights what's going on in terms of

491
00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,640
these groups turning a blind eye to six hundred thousand

492
00:33:58,559 --> 00:34:01,279
cats and dogs by ethan eye is the sky high

493
00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:07,039
salaries these what I call factory fundraising operations that they've

494
00:34:07,079 --> 00:34:13,079
propped up, and PETA's shocking kill rate six hundred million

495
00:34:13,119 --> 00:34:16,000
dollars more than six hundred million dollars raised by these

496
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:20,599
three groups combined, and yet we have, you know, a

497
00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:24,880
forty three percent increase in shelter youth in Asia since

498
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:25,519
twenty twenty.

499
00:34:25,559 --> 00:34:26,800
Speaker 2: It's totally unacceptable.

500
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:31,519
Speaker 3: Part two will be coming out in the coming weeks,

501
00:34:31,599 --> 00:34:36,000
and that's going to focus on the radical agenda of

502
00:34:36,079 --> 00:34:41,920
these organizations, focused on you know, they're more vegan, anti

503
00:34:42,039 --> 00:34:43,519
meque climate change narrative.

504
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:45,280
Speaker 2: And then Part.

505
00:34:45,119 --> 00:34:49,880
Speaker 3: Three will focus on the dark you know, the the

506
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:55,079
left wing dark money network that is funneling a lot

507
00:34:55,079 --> 00:34:59,519
of money into this movement for a whole variety of reasons.

508
00:34:59,519 --> 00:35:01,599
I mean, some of it is some of these guys

509
00:35:02,599 --> 00:35:05,039
are folks who made a lot of money and technology,

510
00:35:06,039 --> 00:35:13,079
have become totally disconnected from normal regular society and believe,

511
00:35:13,559 --> 00:35:17,639
you know, to their core that we need to eliminate,

512
00:35:18,599 --> 00:35:21,559
you know, animal farming in this country. And there's some

513
00:35:21,599 --> 00:35:23,280
guys that made an awful lot of money in the

514
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:27,679
tech industry that live in this tech San Francisco bubble

515
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:33,000
that that view this as the number one issue in society,

516
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:38,480
And to be honest, it's almost anti human. There's a

517
00:35:38,519 --> 00:35:40,880
lot of other big issues going on in the world

518
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:46,159
that that could use philanthropy and support, And there's certainly

519
00:35:46,199 --> 00:35:49,960
six hundred thousand cats and dogs that could use support

520
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:54,440
in local shelters, and instead you've got a bunch of

521
00:35:54,519 --> 00:36:00,360
left wing financiers who are funding radical anti farming, anti

522
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:01,880
need agendas of these groups.

523
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,079
Speaker 1: Well, the fundraising aspect, I'm curious to know, as you've

524
00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:11,159
dug into this issue, what is the IRS doing? Has

525
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:18,199
the IRS ever truly investigated or audited these organizations that

526
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:23,280
spend so much money on overhead and so little on

527
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,039
the ethical treatment of animals.

528
00:36:26,599 --> 00:36:30,239
Speaker 3: You know, I can't speak to what the IRS has

529
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,000
done or hasn't done. What I can tell you is

530
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,360
they're still in business, and they're still operating the same

531
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:39,679
way they've always operated. And I think many of our

532
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:42,559
critiques are valid, and I think it deserves a fresh look.

533
00:36:42,599 --> 00:36:45,519
I will tell you that Billy Long when he was

534
00:36:45,559 --> 00:36:49,079
a congressman, I believe from Missouri. He signed a letter

535
00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:55,280
alongside about a dozen other congressman asking the irs take

536
00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:58,239
a look at these organizations because he was concerned about

537
00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:03,800
deceptive fundraising, lobbying restrictions and things like that. Now I'm

538
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,599
not sure whatever came of that, nothing publicly that we

539
00:37:06,679 --> 00:37:13,159
can that we're aware of. But what's happening I think

540
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:17,480
is just so so wrong and it's so sad. And

541
00:37:17,599 --> 00:37:24,039
I'll tell you even the former CEO of the ASPCA

542
00:37:24,199 --> 00:37:25,159
is a gentleman by the.

543
00:37:25,199 --> 00:37:27,320
Speaker 2: Name of Ed Sayers.

544
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:31,719
Speaker 3: And Ed was head of a SPCA for I believe

545
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:36,960
about ten years and retired, you know, several years ago,

546
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:41,559
or stepped away from the organization. And Ed was the

547
00:37:41,599 --> 00:37:49,079
guy who first greenlighted the Sarah McLachlin ad that sent

548
00:37:49,199 --> 00:37:54,920
this whole movement into a frenzy. And fast forward to today,

549
00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:58,679
six hundred million dollar annual machine.

550
00:37:59,199 --> 00:38:00,360
Speaker 2: Right, and.

551
00:38:02,079 --> 00:38:05,519
Speaker 3: Is somebody who cares deeply about cats and dogs, and

552
00:38:05,559 --> 00:38:08,199
he is someone who cares deeply about local shelters, and

553
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:13,360
he led the ASPCA for a decade. He is now

554
00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:18,280
working with us as a spokesperson to help blow the

555
00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:21,360
whistle on what's going on because he is so upset

556
00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:26,679
at this minuscule amount of money going to local shelters.

557
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:31,400
I mean, you have the former CEO of the ASPCA

558
00:38:32,159 --> 00:38:37,559
that was essentially the godfather or creator of this fundraising strategy,

559
00:38:37,639 --> 00:38:43,400
which I think he hoped would lead to tens or

560
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:47,119
even maybe hundreds of millions of dollars going to local shelters,

561
00:38:47,639 --> 00:38:51,000
and what we've seen is the exact opposite. We've seen

562
00:38:51,039 --> 00:38:55,719
the percentage of money going to local shelters drop to

563
00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:59,280
just one percent as financial grants from the ASPCA.

564
00:39:00,119 --> 00:39:01,199
Speaker 2: So I don't know what.

565
00:39:01,079 --> 00:39:05,639
Speaker 3: The ASPCA board is doing in the rarefied air of

566
00:39:05,679 --> 00:39:09,079
sitting in that boardroom in New York City. But when

567
00:39:09,119 --> 00:39:13,880
you have the former CEO coming out and blowing the whistle,

568
00:39:14,639 --> 00:39:19,960
when you have expos's in multiple news outlets calling your

569
00:39:20,079 --> 00:39:24,599
organization to account, the board should be embarrassed, and the

570
00:39:24,639 --> 00:39:29,239
board could tomorrow help solve the problem. The board could say,

571
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:34,760
moving forward, twenty percent of our annual budget is going

572
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:38,480
to go directly to local pet shelters. And I don't

573
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:40,480
even think that's enough. I think it should be more,

574
00:39:40,519 --> 00:39:43,199
but that would make a huge impact, going from.

575
00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:44,360
Speaker 2: One percent to twenty percent.

576
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,639
Speaker 3: They could say we're cutting our CEO salary from one

577
00:39:48,639 --> 00:39:52,440
point two million dollars to five hundred thousand dollars, which

578
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,079
is still a heck of a lot of money.

579
00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:54,679
Speaker 1: Right.

580
00:39:55,519 --> 00:39:59,800
Speaker 3: They could also rename themselves because when you hear a

581
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:04,480
you think it's a national umbrella organization for shelters, and

582
00:40:04,519 --> 00:40:08,280
it's not. I've always contended they should be the ASPCA

583
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:13,079
of Manhattan, you know, and let people that are passionate

584
00:40:13,119 --> 00:40:16,559
about helping pets in Manhattan in that shelter give there.

585
00:40:18,199 --> 00:40:21,920
But none of that seems to, you know, when the

586
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:26,360
gravy train is flowing at the ASPCA to the tune

587
00:40:27,119 --> 00:40:29,800
of you know, having an annual budget of three hundred

588
00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:36,400
and fifty six million dollars. Our criticisms to date have

589
00:40:36,519 --> 00:40:37,639
fallen on deaf ears.

590
00:40:39,079 --> 00:40:44,039
Speaker 1: Yes, and they also did something that I believe is unforgivable,

591
00:40:44,199 --> 00:40:46,719
and that is they stuck in the arms of the

592
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:50,559
angels in my head for years the Sarah McLachlan song

593
00:40:50,679 --> 00:40:56,639
of course that plays over the sad images of dogs

594
00:40:56,679 --> 00:41:01,280
with you know, matted for and what have you. But

595
00:41:01,679 --> 00:41:06,960
at the end of the day, this is about consumer

596
00:41:07,039 --> 00:41:09,679
protection as well, isn't it.

597
00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:16,199
Speaker 3: Yeah, And there's every state right now there's a little

598
00:41:16,239 --> 00:41:21,119
bit of a blind spot at the federal level to

599
00:41:21,239 --> 00:41:24,719
deal with consumer deception. I mean, you do have the FTC,

600
00:41:25,679 --> 00:41:29,599
but that tends to be more focused on the exchange

601
00:41:29,639 --> 00:41:33,800
of a good and service, right actually purchasing a product.

602
00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:38,880
And the charity space in many ways is the wild West.

603
00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:44,519
I mean we've seen charity scandals, military groups not directing

604
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:48,639
funds to veterans, misuse of funds. I mean it feels

605
00:41:48,679 --> 00:41:52,079
like every two to three years there's a big charity scandal.

606
00:41:53,760 --> 00:42:00,079
Most of the consumer donor perception deception laws live at

607
00:42:00,079 --> 00:42:03,719
the state level, so it would really be incumbent, and

608
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:05,639
every state is a little different, but it would be

609
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:11,800
incumbent upon a state attorney general to look into some

610
00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:16,880
of their fundraising practices on a state by state basis.

611
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:23,119
And I do remember Gosh who was probably over ten

612
00:42:23,199 --> 00:42:27,840
years ago, when Scott Pruitt, who was Attorney general I

613
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:34,800
believe of Oklahoma, he led an inquiry into then called

614
00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,800
the Humane Society the United States now called the Humane

615
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:44,119
World for Animals, and I think his criticism and concern was,

616
00:42:45,079 --> 00:42:49,519
you're running ads featuring the name Humane Society the United

617
00:42:49,559 --> 00:42:54,119
States in my state and you don't run a single

618
00:42:54,159 --> 00:42:54,719
pet shelter.

619
00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:57,079
Speaker 2: I mean It's.

620
00:42:56,920 --> 00:43:00,760
Speaker 3: Hard to even fathom the nerve and you know, the

621
00:43:01,079 --> 00:43:06,480
hutzpah of someone to run hundreds of millions of dollars

622
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:07,400
of ads.

623
00:43:07,039 --> 00:43:09,960
Speaker 2: Over many years with a name like.

624
00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:12,920
Speaker 3: The Humane Society the United States when that group literally

625
00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:15,239
does not run a single pet shelter.

626
00:43:17,639 --> 00:43:18,960
Speaker 2: That that just blew our mind.

627
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:23,119
Speaker 3: Now, we've been running this campaign for about three years,

628
00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:27,960
educating the public. Obviously, lawmakers have seen our information as

629
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:32,000
we run it Nashally. Several media outlets have covered it,

630
00:43:32,679 --> 00:43:37,159
and the Humane Society, under an enormous amount of pressure,

631
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:38,360
changed their name.

632
00:43:39,639 --> 00:43:43,519
Speaker 2: To the Humane World for Animals. They're still sitting on.

633
00:43:44,159 --> 00:43:47,880
Speaker 3: I mean, gosh, I think four hundred and fifty four

634
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:52,559
million dollars in assets, including ninety one million dollars in

635
00:43:52,639 --> 00:43:57,679
offshore Caribbean accounts. You know those are ill gotten gains

636
00:43:57,679 --> 00:44:01,280
from my perspective, and that much of that money was

637
00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:05,360
raised using that name Humane Society the United States.

638
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:07,800
Speaker 2: And you know when you pulled.

639
00:44:07,599 --> 00:44:11,719
Speaker 3: Donors and the public, you know, they overwhelmingly thought they

640
00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:15,719
ran pet shelters and they simply did not. As I

641
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:21,039
said earlier, they're run by a former lawyer for PETA

642
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:27,199
and a run around pushing a anti farm, anti agriculture,

643
00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:29,119
anti meat agenda.

644
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,960
Speaker 1: With a lot of money and a lot of money

645
00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:38,880
going to campaign coffers, and so it's a very powerful lobby.

646
00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:43,320
I don't think people, you know, most people fully understand

647
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:48,760
or know about and I'm glad that you are getting

648
00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:53,039
the message out there. I mean, this is this is

649
00:44:53,119 --> 00:44:58,519
information that people who care about animals should know. There's

650
00:44:58,599 --> 00:45:06,239
another side to this story. The campaign debuts with part one,

651
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:10,880
a three part mini documentary series. It's called Fat Cats

652
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:18,679
and Dead Dogs. You can download that now at CEW's website.

653
00:45:19,239 --> 00:45:22,239
It might be of interest to you if you are

654
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:25,480
an animal lover. Thanks to my guest today, Jack Hubbard,

655
00:45:25,639 --> 00:45:29,719
Executive director of the Center for Environment and Welfare, you've

656
00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:32,239
been listening to another edition of The Federalist Radio Hour.

657
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:36,519
I'm Matt Kittle's senior elections correspondent at The Federalist. We'll

658
00:45:36,559 --> 00:45:39,800
be back soon with more. Until then, stay, lovers of

659
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:41,800
freedom and anxious for the.

660
00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:51,559
Speaker 2: Frame earn the Fabos Seriason.

661
00:45:54,519 --> 00:45:54,559
Speaker 4: The