Charity Focus – Humane Society International (HSI)
Chris Broome – Chartered Financial Planner
In January 2023, we launched our firm’s first ever corporate charitable giving programme, called ‘Project Longhurst’.
Project Longhurst enables us to direct our financial and non-monetary contributions to organisations involved in humanitarian, animal welfare, environmental and financial education causes.
We will be sharing more information about each of our chosen charities over the coming months, highlighting the amazing and courageous work each is doing to help those most in need.
Today’s article introduces our Animal Welfare partner, Humane Society International (or HSI for short), and some of their more recent success stories.
About
Advancing the welfare of animals in more than 50 countries, Humane Society International works around the globe to promote the human-animal bond, rescue and protect dogs and cats, improve farm animal welfare, protect wildlife, promote animal-free testing and research, respond to disasters and confront cruelty to animals in all of its forms.
With the support of donors and advocates, HSI are endeavouring to create a humane and sustainable world for all animals, including people, through education, advocacy and the promotion of respect and caring.
Wins – in HSI’s words
Ending the sale of fur
- With our support, Italian luxury brands Moncler and Dolce & Gabbana and Italian fashion company Ermenegildo Zegna Group, the parent company for brands Zegna and Thom Browne, announced furfree policies, as did Denmark’s Saks Potts, Copenhagen Fashion Week and online retailer Moda Operandi. Following talks with HSI/UK, UK-based Frasers Group – owner of House of Fraser department stores as well as luxury retail chain Flannels and retail brands including Sports Direct – pledged to stop buying fur.
- Latvia, Malta and Ireland banned fur farming, bringing the number of European countries who have taken a stand against fur farming to nearly 20. HSI and more than 70 other organizations launched the “FurFree Europe” European Citizens’ Initiative to demand an EU ban on fur farming and import of fur products.
- HSI’s undercover investigation of fur farms in Romania revealed serious animal welfare concerns and led deputies from the National Liberal Party to submit a bill to ban mink and chinchilla fur farming.
Reducing trophy hunting
- In response to a lawsuit brought by the HSUS and our allies challenging the 2020 delisting of wolves throughout most of the lower 48 states, a federal judge reinstated their Endangered Species Act protections, sparing hundreds of wolves from being slaughtered by trophy hunters.
- As part of HSI/Europe’s campaign against the transport of hunting trophies, Germany-based Condor Airlines implemented a new policy prohibiting the transport of hunting trophies – including legally acquired trophies – in carry-on or checked baggage. Germany-based Condor Airlines is the largest importer of hunting trophies to EU member states.
- HSI won a legal victory in South Africa that temporarily blocked the killing of 10 leopards, 10 black rhinos and 150 elephants by trophy hunters. The High Court of the Western Cape agreed with us that the 2022 hunting and export quotas set by the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment were potentially unlawful and invalid. The suspension of trophy quotas is expected to continue into 2023; our case resumes in August.
Ending the dog meat trade
- HSI/Korea, in collaboration with Korean K9 Rescue, saved 21 dogs left behind on a dog meat farm to die that was closed by authorities in Ansan, Korea. HSI/Korea stepped in to help after the city authorities shut down the facility for operating without a license.
- We welcomed 70 dogs from the South Korean meat trade to our care and rehabilitation center in the United States to start their journey to new forever homes. Most were rescued in 2021 in our operation on Jindo Island, but we were only able to bring them to the US this year.
- In Indonesia, where HSI is a founding member of the Dog Meat Free Indonesia Coalition, bans on dog meat were enacted in Malang (East Java), Semarang (the capital of Central Java), Blora Regency and Brebes Regency. There are now nine dog meat-free jurisdictions in Indonesia. Also in Indonesia, Medan became North Sumatra province’s first city to ban the dog meat trade. This was a huge victory – up to 200 dogs were being slaughtered in Medan every day.
Ending cosmetic tests of animals
- Consumer product giant Johnson & Johnson teamed up with HSI as our latest partner in the Animal-Free Safety Assessment Collaboration, which is driving science and policy change for cosmetics and chemicals worldwide, with the goal of eventually eliminating animal testing for these types of products.
- We released the results of an approximately seven-month undercover investigation at Inotiv, an animal testing laboratory in Indiana where thousands of animals – including dogs, primates, pigs, mice and rats -are killed every year. The investigation revealed the suffering and deaths of these animals for toxicity testing of drugs. The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund submitted an official complaint to the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, documenting potential Animal Welfare Act violations observed during the HSUS investigation at Inotiv.
- With our support, California became the first state in the US to ban toxicity tests on dogs and cats for pesticides and food additives, a move we hope will be emulated by other states. We helped pass legislation in Iowa and Massachusetts that gives dogs and cats used in experiments a chance to be adopted once their time in the laboratory has ended.
Next Steps
For the 2022/23 tax year we have already donated in excess of £10,000 across all our chosen causes.
Each tax year thereafter we plan to commit a minimum of the same amount again, with a hope to double it before the end of 2023/24.
To read more about Project Longhurst, please visit our dedicated website page.
For more information about HART, visit their website.
