Humane Society Legislative Fund

“OFFICERS MARKARIAN, PACELLE, WAITE, RODGERS, KARL, BARSNESS, REESE, MOCHI, ENGLAND, MAY, AMUNDSON AND UNTI WERE EMPLOYED BY ANOTHER ORGANIZATION ON WHOSE BOARD DIRECTORS CESAK, COUPE, GREENSPUN GALE, LAUE, PROBST, AND WIEBERS SERVED. THEREFORE, THESE INDIVIDUALS HAD "BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS" WITH EACH OTHER. - Business relationship”

“The members of the corporation shall consist of persons who support the corporation's purposes and who affirmatively respond to the corporation's invitation to join. Members shall pay annual dues in such amount as shall be determined by the board of directors. Any person who responds affirmatively to an invitation to become a member of the humane society legislative fund (hslf) and either 1) makes a single contribution of ten dollars ($10) or more to hslf as membership dues, or 2) makes a series of contributions that total ten dollars ($10) or more in the aggregate within four (4) months after the date of the first contribution shall be considered a member of hslf for the twelve-month period ending on the anniversary date on which hslf has determined that an aggregate of ten dollars has been reached in the case of contributors described in section 2, above.”

“After internal accounting staff drafts the 990, the draft is submitted to hslf's independent tax preparers for their review and revision, as may be appropriate. The revised draft is then given to hslf's treasurer for further review. Once all staff and professional reviews/revisions are done, the treasurer sends the proposed final of the form 990 to the hslf board for its consideration. Once the board has had an opportunity to review and comment, the finalized version is filed with the irs.”

“The implementation of the conflict of interest policy emphasizes avoiding conflicts to begin with. The general counsel's office fields and usually resolves conflicts of interest and questions raised by staff or board members. This organization was of such a size, in terms of board and staff, that monitoring and compliance was accomplished through legal and executive diligence on an ongoing basis.”

“Hslf makes its articles of incorporation and bylaws available to donors free of charge upon request. Formal audited financial statements are filed with state charitable solicitation registrations and are made available to major donors and, where required by state law, to the general public by mail upon request. Hslf makes copies of its form 1024 application for recognition of tax-exempt status available to the public upon request both by mail and in person at hslf's headquarters in washington, dc. Hslf makes copies of the three most recently-filed forms 990 available to the public upon request both by mail and in person at hslf's headquarters in washington, dc, as well as on hslf's website, as set forth in irs code section 6104(d). The conflict of interest policy has not been made available to the general public.”

“Humane society legislative fund's (hslf) mission is to undertake and support programs designed to enhance and protect the status of animals through education of the public and mobilization of public opinion and through the reform of laws, enactment of remedial legislation and changes in public policy. The goal of hslf is to advance social welfare by helping to pass state and federal laws that protect animals from cruelty, suffering, and unnecessary killing and use.”

“Continued from part iii, line 4a (1 of 3) further, this bill directs bureau of land management (blm) to create a plan to maintain long-term sustainable populations of wild horses and burros on the range in a humane manner. This bill sustained funding for enforcement of key laws such as the horse protection act (hpa), animal welfare act (awa), and humane methods of slaughter act. Additionally, this bill provided $400,000 more to oversee animal welfare standards at usda facilities conducting research on farm animals, $1.5 million more for veterinary student loan repayment, and $2.5 million more for the office of inspector general that helps enforce animal fighting prohibitions; and renewed the prohibition of licensing/relicensing "class b" random source dealers of animals. Federal affairs secured language in the fy17 interior appropriations bill to maintain endangered species act (esa) protections for gray wolves in the wyoming and great lakes region, and oppose harmful language proposed to undermine esa protections for various species. This bill provided an additional $7.5 million for the u.s. Fish and wildlife service's office of law enforcement and $1.9 million for fws' international affairs division to fight wildlife trafficking. It also provided increased funding alternatives to animal tests. Federal affairs played a critical role in garnering bipartisan support from 184 representatives and 38 senators to call for ample fy18 funding and strong language to enforce important animal welfare laws and restore purged usda inspection reports and other records regarding animal welfare act and horse protection act enforcement. Several appropriations bills, in both the house and senate, that have passed through committee contain animal protection provisions for wildlife, companion animals, animals used in research and testing, and farm animals. Senate appropriations committee voted in favor of the udall amendment prohibiting horse slaughter facilities from opening in the u.s.; the house passed a bipartisan floor amendment to the defense appropriations bill that will halt federal funding of painful experiments on dogs at veterans affairs facilities. The committee report accompanying house labor-health and human services appropriations bill contained strong language encouraging national institutes of health (nih) to expedite retirement of nih-owned chimpanzees and consider a possible expansion of the national sanctuary system. The house agriculture appropriations bill provides strong support for the u.s. Food and drug administration's (fda) program to replace animals for drug and other testing. The committee report accompanying the house agriculture appropriations bill contained strong language urging usda to promptly restore and resume posting online searchable records related to awa and hpa enforcement, and includes prohibition on licensing/relicensing of class b dealers who sell "random source" dogs and cats for use in research. Additionally, the house agriculture appropriations report language encourages wildlife services to evaluate alternatives to m-44 cyanide bombs for predator control. The house interior appropriations bill includes strong funding and committee report language for epa's computational toxicology program, which develops alternatives to animal testing. Finally, senate armed services committee report language accompanying the fy18 national defense authorization act (p.l. 115-91) called for a national academies study on modeling and simulation techniques for medical training. These methods could replace the defense department's use of live animals for medical training. Federal affairs worked in support of bills including the pet and women safety (paws) act (h.r. 909/s. 322); the prevent animal cruelty and torture (pact) act (h.r. 1494/s. 654); the prevent all soring tactics (past) act (h.r. 1847); the humane cosmetics act (h.r. 2790); the shark fin sales elimination act (h.r. 1456) and shark fin trade elimination ac”

“CONTINUED FROM PART III, LINE 4A (2 OF 3) FEDERAL AFFAIRS SUPPORTED THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR'S NATIONWIDE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION ON ILLEGAL TRADE IN RHINOCEROS HORN AND ELEPHANT IVORY IN RESPONSE TO INTERNATIONAL POACHING AND SMUGGLING SYNDICATES (OPERATION CRASH). FEDERAL AFFAIRS OPPOSED THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE (USFWS) DECISION TO ALLOW THE IMPORT OF ELEPHANT AND LION TROPHIES FROM ZIMBABWE AND ZAMBIA AND URGED THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO WITHDRAW THE USFWS POSITIVE ENHANCEMENT FINDINGS. ADDITIONALLY, FEDERAL AFFAIRS SUPPORTED THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR'S REGULATORY ACTION APPROVING THE USE OF CORROSION-INHIBITED COPPER AMMUNITION FOR HUNTING MIGRATORY WATERFOWL AND COOTS AND PROVIDING AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE USE OF TOXIC LEAD AMMUNITION. FEDERAL AFFAIRS SUBMITTED TO THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT A PROPOSAL ON USING NON-LETHAL METHODS TO MANAGE WILD HORSES AND BURROS ON FEDERAL LAND. FEDERAL AFFAIRS SUPPORTED THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S APPROVAL OF PZP (REGISTERED UNDER THE BRAND NAME ZONASTAT-H) TO MANAGE DEER POPULATIONS. THE IMMUNOCONTRACEPTIVE PZP HAS PROVEN TO BE A HUMANE AND EFFECTIVE FERTILITY CONTROL METHOD FOR HORSES AND BURROS. FEDERAL AFFAIRS SUPPORTED THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY'S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE U.S. COAST GUARD WILL SUSPEND "LIVE TISSUE TRAINING" TO EXAMINE NON-ANIMAL ALTERNATIVES, WITH THE GOAL OF NOT CONTINUING TO USE LIVE ANIMALS. FEDERAL AFFAIRS SUPPORTED THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WITH THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES TO SUPPORT VETERANS' WELL-BEING AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION THROUGH INTERACTIONS WITH AND ADOPTION OF RESCUED ANIMALS FOR PETS. FEDERAL AFFAIRS SUPPORTED THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND THE U.S. OFFICE OF THE TRADE REPRESENTATIVE DEFENSE OF THE DOLPHIN-SAFE LABEL. THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION UPHELD THE DOLPHIN-SAFE LABEL REQUIRING THAT ALL TUNA SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES WILL COME FROM FISHING FLEETS THAT DO NOT CHASE DOWN AND SET NETS ON DOLPHINS AS A WAY OF CATCHING THE SCHOOLS OF TUNA THAT SWIM BENEATH THE DOLPHINS. FEDERAL AFFAIRS SUPPORTED THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PROMULGATION OF THE ORGANIC LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY PRACTICES RULE, AND SUBSEQUENTLY OPPOSED THE DEPARTMENT'S DELAY AND ATTEMPT TO WITHDRAW THE RULE. FEDERAL AFFAIRS CONTINUED TO ENCOURAGE USDA TO PUBLISH A RULE STRENGTHENING HORSE PROTECTION ACT REGULATIONS. FEDERAL AFFAIRS OPPOSED THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE'S REMOVAL OF ANIMAL WELFARE ACT AND HORSE PROTECTION ACT ENFORCEMENT DATA FROM ITS ONLINE REPOSITORY OF PUBLIC INFORMATION. FEDERAL AFFAIRS SUPPORTED THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE'S CONSIDERATION OF WAYS TO IMPROVE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT LICENSING REGULATIONS. Ballot Initiatives: ARIZONA: HSLF SUPPORTED A MEASURE TO PROHIBIT THE TROPHY HUNTING AND TRAPPING OF MOUNTAIN LIONS, BOBCATS, OCELOTS, JAGUARS AND LYNX. OHIO: HSLF SUPPORTED A MEASURE TO IMPROVE THE STANDARDS OF CARE IN COMMERCIAL BREEDING FACILITIES; AND PROHIBITS COMMERCIAL BREEDERS AND OTHER SELLERS, REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED, FROM SELLING DOGS TO OHIO CONSUMERS UNLESS THEY MEET THESE HUMANE STANDARDS OF CARE. CALIFORNIA: HSLF SUPPORTED A MEASURE THAT WOULD END EXTREME CONFINEMENT OF CERTAIN ANIMALS ON FACTORY FARMS AND SET A NEW RETAIL STANDARD SUPPORTING ANIMAL WELFARE.”

“Continued from part iii, line 4a (3 of 3) coalitions: international coalition for animal protection in the oecd (icapo): with partners in europe, japan, canada and the united states, hslf served for ddal on the steering committee for the icapo, which actively lobbies for changes in test guidelines to harmonize international standards for alternatives and animal tests. Hslf supported expert comments on test guideline reviews and proposed policy changes, lobbied the u.s. And canadian representatives to oecd and provided guidance for the direction of the working groups. Coalition for consumer information on cosmetics (ccic): hslf provided doris day animal league (ddal) representation on the steering committee for ddal, which manages the u.s. Standard for "cruelty-free" cosmetics and household products. We work in conjunction with our european partners for a north american and european standard.”

“The Humane Society of the United States pays wages to the employees of HSLF and files all required federal employment tax returns, including Form W-3. HSLF does not report employees on Form W-3.”

“The process for overseeing the audit of the financial statements and selection of an independent accountant that audited the financial statements has been consistent with prior years. The audited financial statements are reviewed by the board which acts as its own committee.”