Paul Irwin, the president of the Humane Society of the U.S., called me back
today after I let his secretary know that I had spoken to Rachel Lamb (HSUS's
companion animal spokesperson) and was unhappy with her conduct, and as Mr.
Irwin had not been returning calls on the subject of Ms. Lamb's anti-ferret
public statements, this time I did not intend to take no for an answer.
 
He got on the phone dripping with attitude, i.e., he was condescending,
nasty, impatient, and obviously not about to discuss the subject of Ms. Lamb
and ferrets with an open mind.  It was an obligatory call merely to say that
he retuned my call, which he shamelessly stated up front.
 
In my first sentence he began to interrupt and I asked for just five minutes
to state my case before he replied.  In the height of his arrogance, he said
he'd give me two minutes!
 
After complaining that Rachel Lamb had cited bite reports on national tv
which she promised to send me and never did; after reporting that she
admitted there were at least two factual inaccuracies on the HSUS' public
policy statement on ferrets which she did not promise to correct; and after
complaining that Ms. Lamb approached our conversation with less than an open
mind, Mr. Irwin asked me with a surley tone what I wanted him to do.  I
replied that he should order Ms. Lamb to make some corrections and stop
disseminating misleading data.
 
He flatly refused and went on to state that he had and will have nothing to
do with the issue of ferrets or Ms. Lamb's conduct.  She was in charge of
this issue and that was that.  He practically hung up on me after he said he
owed "you people" nothing.  I guess not even politeness, not to mention
factual accuracy.
 
In short, I believe Paul Irwin is an overpaid hypocrite who has no interest
in protecting animals -- his own agenda seems merely to build the donor base
to this questionable "humane" organization which is supposedly a non-profit
corporation, while Mr. Irwin's reported $150,000+ annual salary seems quite
extravagant.  (PETA was decertified as a charity a few years ago because
after auditing them it was found that its director, Alex Pacchio, took too
high a percentage of donations for "administrative" costs, i.e., executive
salaries.)
 
I would urge all ferret owners -- and their frIEnds -- to boycott all HSUS
events, spread the word that HSUS' political agenda includes policies that
actually hurt animals (such as supporting California's confiscate and kill
ferret policy) and that hsus should be investigated.
 
Questions to raise include HSUS inflated executive salaries, HSUS fundraising
methods and representations (are they truly a national humane society?  Like
the ASPCA, which holds itself out as a national organization, but is not
affiliateed with other local spca's, to my knowledge HSUS is not affiliated
with other local humane societies), and what are their actual humane
activities.  CONTACT THE HSUS BOARD MEMBERS AND COMPLAIN ABOUT PAUL IRWIN AND
RACHEL LAMB, as they damage the credibility of HSUS.
 
Bottom line is HSUS cannot to be taken seriously.  I believe Irwin and Lamb
are arrogant radicals with their own agendas and a wholesale disregard for
empiracal truth.  They should be exposed for what they are and shunned by the
public as a sham organization.
[Posted in FML issue 1261]