The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently double-crossed the National Shooting Sports Foundation, as well as voters. Following a Freedom of Information Act public records request to the Fish and Wildlife agency, the shooting sports foundation obtained emails that prove the federal agency withheld pertinent, official data in its annual report on the California Condor’s lead blood levels, until well after the California state legislature passed a law in 2013 to ban all lead ammunition.

The annual update, which had been previously issued annually every June, found little change in the condor’s blood lead levels. TheCalifornia state legislatureacted, despite previous data, at the insistence of animal activists groups, led by the Humane Society, which have long said the California condor is poisoned by lead shot. I’ve been following… Read More

Last week I wrote about the recent revocation of the Humane Society’s charity rating by Charity Navigator. Thursday, Sacramento Humane Society lobbyist Jennifer Fearing responded. However, Fearing did not address the primary issues in my story with the HSUS: $25.7 million of charity money in offshore investments, an IRS lawsuit against the Humane Society for inflating revenue on its tax return by writing off fundraising costs as charity, and the omitted key details from her explanation of the Ringling Bros. lawsuit which led to the charity rating revocation.

Fearing wrote:

The recent piece attacking The Humane Society of the United States (Katy Grimes, July 9) is full of inaccuracies. These invented facts come straight from the playbook of Richard Berman, a Washington-based spin… Read More

The Humane Society’s seemingly undue influence on the legislative process last year made for an interesting story. This national, non-profit, media darling, animal rescue group was able to push through the California lead ammunition ban, as well as successfully getting all of their other sponsored bills signed into law by California Gov. Jerry Brown.

Then again, Jennifer Fearing, the Humane Society California senior state director, apparently lobbied Gov. Brown at the dog park; Fearing admitted to dog-sitting for Sutter Brown, Gov. Jerry Brown’s Pembroke Welsh Corgi — while lobbying the Legislature during the 2013 legislative session. (Note: it is unclear if Fearing is still working for the California HSUS. There were job postings for her state director position recently; her Twitter page says she is with the HSUS, but the … Read More

One of the most controversial bills passed this year by the California Legislature wasAssembly Bill 711, by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-South Gate. Beginning in 2019, it bans lead bullets for hunting, supposedly to save the California Condor population.

Since Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on Oct. 11, a potential conflict of interest has arisen.

Mike Sutton, the commissioner of theCalifornia Fish and Game Commission, will be implementing the legislation. But heis also the paiddirector of Audubon California,… Read More

Internal Revenue Service Czarina of Tax Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner was not only targeting religious and conservative organizations, she was also shielding liberal groups from undergoing the exact same scrutiny. This latest disclosure in the spreading IRS scandal comes from Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, who in May, 2010 brought his constituents’ complaints against Humane Society abuses directly to the attention of Czarina Lerner.

While the conservative organizations targeted by Lerner were seeking 501c4 tax exempt status (which permits political activity), it turns out the overtly political Humane Society was receiving tax-deductible contributions as a 501c3 organization, a classification that includes foundations and which must strictly limit any political action.

As a result of Luetkemeyer’s diligent pursuit of the matter, Fox News jumped on the case, reporting that not only had Lerner stonewalled Congressional calls for an investigation, but that Lerner was an active supporter of the Humane Society. Fox also discovered that, despite the impression left by the Humane Society’s polished television ads depicting adorable pets for… Read More