President's Note

hen The HSUS recently rescued nearly 100 suffering dogs from an Arkansas puppy mill and set up an emergency shelter, we underscored again one of the distinct roles we play within the humane movement.Local law enforcement and humane organizations are often not equipped to deal with the logistical challenges of handling, sheltering, and transporting so many animals at once, and in those cases, The HSUS steps in.In the past 10 months alone, the result has been 16 puppy mill raids delivering more than 3,000 dogs from lives of misery and deprivation.Year round, we also raid animal fighting operations and address other cruelty cases from coast to coast.Our responses to natural disasters, such as hurricanes or floods, assist local communities and help animals in desperate need.All of this activity falls under our hands-on programs.And when you add in the work by our veterinary teams, especially in rural communities, and our five permanent animal care centers, these programs collectively amount to the largest animal care operation in the nation.That work goes on in so many places, without respite for our staff members and volunteers.But The HSUS does so much more.We strive, in the broadest sense, to strike at the root causes of problems, so that animals are not placed in dire straits to begin with.We take on the fights that local organizations cannot, and work to protect all animals.It was The HSUS that recently negotiated a deal with Michigan agriculture leaders to phase out the use of veal crates, gestation crates, and battery cages in this major production-agriculture state-a measure similar in content and scope to Proposition 2, an HSUS-led ballot initiative in California last year.We also spurred California to build on the success of Prop 2 by becoming the first state to ban the tail-docking of dairy cows.In the northern Great Lakes, it was our litigators who worked to stop sport hunts of timber wolves.Earlier this year, our Protect Seals team helped secure a ban on imports of seal fur pelts and other seal products into the 27 member nations of the European Union; the move brings us one giant step closer to ending Canada's massacre of animals in this majestic wildlife nursery.When the trustees of the Leona Helmsley estate chose to ignore Mrs. Helmsley's explicit wishes to leave a large portion of her $5 to $8 billion estate for "the care and welfare of dogs," it was The HSUS that decided to fight their hijacking efforts: We enlisted Maddie's Fund and the ASPCA in the battle to honor the donor's intent and to try to see that the money goes to dog protection organizations.And it was The HSUS at the forefront of the debate as the U.S. Supreme Court considered a challenge to a federal law-a measure we helped to enact a decade ago-that bans the interstate sale of videos showing illegal acts of cruelty.Now, in another initiative with Maddie's Fund, we've worked with the Ad Council to launch the Shelter Pet Project-the biggest national advertising campaign in the history of the humane movement, specifically designed to encourage adoption of homeless animals.We expect that the campaign will generate tens of millions of dollars in pro bono advertising within the next year alone and that it will help get us closer to ending the euthanasia of 3 million healthy dogs and cats each year in this country.There is no group in the world as effective and wide-ranging in its work as The HSUS.We take on the big fights and advocate for better outcomes for billions of animals in the U.S. and abroad.We cannot do it without you, and we are so grateful for your support.

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