If you want to know who's trying to get attention in the Washington lobbying world, here's a trick: Check out the subway ads, especially at the Capitol South Metro station. Every day the thousands of staffers passing through on their way to work are subjected to full-station blitzes intended to grab their attention and move levers with regulators or on the Hill. In this regular feature, we'll decode the latest.

WHO’S BEHIND IT: The ads look simple, if surprising: a watchdog group attacking the Humane Society of the United States because it doesn't fund shelters for kittens and puppies. The backstory is more complicated. HumaneWatch is the group whose name is on the posters, but read the fine print and you’ll see that the ads are paid for by the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit that gets funding from the food and beverage industry and that also has campaigned against PETA and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The Center is run by longtime D.C. lobbyist Richard Berman, whose firm and handful of affiliated nonprofits for years have targeted unions, as well as anti-smoking, anti-drunken driving and anti-obesity groups.







M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO | M. Scott Mahaskey | POLITICO | POLITICO

WHY NOW? The ads are part of an anti-HSUS campaign that also includes Internet, radio and TV spots, though Berman says there’s no specific reason he’s pushing this month.

THE ENEMY: Berman calls the Humane Society “perhaps one of the more deceptive groups” his organization tracks. The Center for Consumer Freedom, he says, has found based on HSUS tax returns that only 1 percent of the organization’s funds go to the local pet shelters it promotes—far less than it puts into executive salaries, pension plans and even offshore accounts. Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle calls the whole campaign “swift-boating on steroids,” pointing out that the HSUS doesn’t claim to be a shelter charity, and mainly funds national initiatives like wildlife rehab, sanctuaries, veterinary services, as well as lobbying, trade shows, training and a bimonthly magazine. It’s the Humane Society’s farm animal advocacy—lobbying against confining crates and the sale of horse meat, for instance, or encouraging companies to use ethically sourced meat—that Pacelle says has run afoul of Berman and the food and farming companies that back him.

ANY LUCK? Berman says he’s heard of some animal shelters taking the word “humane” out of their names to avoid the association. And on the state level, the attorney general of Oklahoma last year issued a “consumer alert” against HSUS, conveniently only hours before Humane Watch began an ad campaign in the state. (“If you want a video to go viral, have kids or animals,” Berman said in a secretly recorded speech last fall.) But Pacelle says Berman is wasting his money: Over the past 10 years, HSUS has not only more than doubled its revenues, but also has helped to pass about 30 measures in Congress and more than 1,100 in the states.



Authors: