WEB SITE TRACKS EXPENSES OF ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS

Anti-hunting groups amass large sums of support funds each year,which result in varying amounts of revenue going to programs.Hunters and animal lovers might be surprised at how much -- and howlittle -- of solicited dollars comes in and goes out each year.

Guidestar, an Internet tracking service, listed the most recentInternal Revenue Service filings for the leading animal rightsgroups. Humane Society of the United States led all entries withtotal revenues of $60.9 million in 2002.

Of that total, $23.4 million went for overhead and just $38.6million got to programs. With total assets of $96.6 million, HSUS isthe most endowed of all anti-hunting organizations.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the mostvocal and visible group, ranked fourth in this listing, behind theMassachusetts Society for Cruelty to Animals and the North ShoreAnimal League.

PETA took in $17 million in 2002 and spent $13.7 million on itsprograms. MSPCA, with total assets of $93.7 million, devoted $36.6million to programs. Percentages of actual program applicationvaried from about 40 percent spent on overhead at HSUS to the lessthan 15 percent the World Society for the Protection of Animals setaside to pay its staff and buy hardware.

For a complete listing of these and all other charitable,nonprofit program reports, see the Web site: www.guidestar.com.

Backyard birding

Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology will conduct its Seventh AnnualGreat Backyard Bird Count Feb. 13 to 16.

An Internet-based survey will provide a better understandingabout movements and populations of dominant and threatened birdspecies across North America.

Bird enthusiasts should visit the GBBC Web site before the countdays to learn how to report birds seen in the backyard and also howto make that yard more bird friendly at: www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

e-mail: wille@pce.net