Humane Problems

By: David Martosko
Newspaper: The Las Cruces (NM) Sun-News

It's good that the Doña Ana County Humane Society wants to re-establish its public credibility with a full-scale audit ["Animal shelter says probe will disprove allegations," March 29]. But choosing the scandal-plagued Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to carry out the background check may not be the wisest course of action.

Louisiana's Attorney General is currently investigating HSUS to determine what happened to nearly $30 million the group raised in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Less than 20 percent of that money has been spent toward HSUS's stated goal of reuniting pets with their owners. HSUS doesn't actually run any animal shelters, and it's not an umbrella group for local humane societies.

As long as HSUS has an ethical cloud hanging over its head, it's the wrong group to certify anyone else's trustworthiness.