There are actually two groups:
The Humane Society of the United States (these are the crazy anti harm any animal would rather help a cat over a human type nutzos that don't help any animals other than thru political staging and propaganda)
The Human Society ( these folks actually run animal shelters and neuter cats and dogs but are NOT on the same level as the ASPCA)
If you want to help ALL animals that are neglected, please choose to give to the ASPCA vs any other pro/anti/not sure groups.
Remember that any group has a few nutballs and like the Sierra Club ( taken over by the antis and completely changed into something it was never supposed to be) groups change.
History
United States
The first SPCA in the United States was the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), founded by Henry Bergh in New York in 1866.[10] Two years later, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded in Boston by a group that included George Thorndike Angell, John Quincy Adams II, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Saltonstall, and William Gordon Weld.[1][11] Examples of other national, nonsheltering humane animal societies include: American Humane, which was founded in 1877 as a network of local organizations to prevent cruelty to children and animals. Many local humane societies were founded earlier, and are independent of these similarly named organizations, therefore, local humane groups called SPCA or Humane Society are not related to the national groups such as the Humane Society of the United States (primarily involved in political lobbying and writing legislation to restrict animal ownership) or the ASPCA. As of 2005, the Oregon Humane Society adopts the highest percentage of animals in the U.S. nationally with 96% for dogs and 80% for cats.[12]
In 1994, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, an industry publication, released the results of the largest study of charitable and non-profit organization popularity and credibility conducted by Nye Lavalle & Associates. The study showed that the Humane Society was ranked as the 6th "most popular charity/non-profit in America" of over 100 charities researched with 42% of Americans over the age of 12 choosing "Love" and "Like a lot" for the Humane Society .[13]
Purpose
National organizations primarily work on "big picture" approaches including research, public education, and assisting local shelters and rescue groups. Local groups primarily handle the actual care (housing, adoption, and euthanasia) of animals, but their programs may also include education and outreach to the public, as well as lobbying local government.
No kill policy
Some shelters are referred to as "no kill." This is most commonly defined as a shelter in which animals are only euthanized when they are deemed unadoptable either because they suffer from an untreatable medical condition or have behavior problems that cannot be resolved.
