Hi Jeff4066,
I regret to say that I am the president of our local animal shelter and the info about the Spay Day USA is misleading. HSUS throws the idea out there but our shelter raises funds through our own effort and then has the animals fixed. The HSUS gives no money to any shelter that I am familiar with and often brands itself with high profile events to gain funding through public sympathy. We have wild horse adoptions here conducted by the BLM and if you read the HSUS material, you would think they conducted the sales. One guy shows up and wears an HSUS cap. It's a government auction and always has been. I read recently that the bonus packages alone to the top individuals in the company was around 2.5 million. That's a lot of money when our little shelter is volunteer except for the shelter manager and kennel cleaners. It frustrates me to no end that the commercials depict sad little dogs and cats in jail and how you can send your money to them and it will save lives. I can't tell you exactly where it does go but I can tell you it isn't going to kibble, medicine, veterinary expense or building maintenance. My advice is to only put your money where you know what you are buying.

With HSUS, regrettable, you have to take a stand. While many of the projects they do are, in my eyes, commendable there are many more that are direct assaults on our hunting community. The choice is tough but I see no way that I can tell where any money that they receive will be directed. I choose not to support Yellow Tail and their distributor in this case and will continue to supply as much pressure as I can for them to reconsider their gift of cash.

Thank you for the info,i'm more of a shine drinker although in small quanities as needed for medicinal puproses only and only on days ending in dark."We Shall Boycott"

I appreciate Biscuit Lady's post! Thank you for setting the record straight.

Haven't drunk alcohol since August of 1980 but I contacted yellow tail none the less. Their email reply has been modified since the two above were posted:

Dear Carney,

I am writing to thank you for your feedback regarding our[tails] for tails program.

The spirit and intention of our donation to the Humane Society of the United States was for the celebration of animals. Being farmers ourselves we support those who care for their land and their environment, just as we do. We are proud of our rural heritage and value a solid relationship with agricultural communities around the world.

[yellow tail] is committed to the plight of animals in need, and we know that animal welfare groups work in different ways to advance their cause. We are interested in the welfare of animals, and in financially supporting animal welfare causes that provide direct care services to help animals, not on taking positions on any animal lobbying issues. We pledge to you that any future support for animal welfare will go to organizations specifically devoted to hands-on care, such as rescue, sterilization, feeding, or disaster assistance.

Like the wines we produce, we are friendly Australians who enjoy
bringing people together, we very much value your opinion and wish to thank-you for your honesty.

Sincerely,

[yellow tail] customer Service Team

Thanks for the info. I'll notify some of my friends and the letters will be on their way.

I sent an email of complaint to Yellow Tail and was surprised to get a prompt reply as follows. Maybe they are listening.

Thank you very much for your email. We recognize that many consumers have commented on our donation to the Humane Society.

We’ve listened to your recent feedback and it was very helpful to us – in fact it prompted us to specifically choose the areas where we’d most like to celebrate animals. Here’s what we’ve decided: We’ll still honor our monetary commitment to the HSUS, but now we are specifically directing our $100,000 donation to HSUS’ Animal Rescue Team, which launch on-the-ground missions to rescue animals in peril. The HSUS Animal Rescue Team is a leading disaster response agency for animals, contributing millions of dollars to rebuild animal shelters destroyed in natural disasters, responding to floods, fires, and other disasters.

We may not always agree with 100 percent of what an organization represents, but rescuing animals displaced from natural disasters is a cause we support.

It is our policy to continually assess the impact of all of our charitable gifts and consumer feedback is extremely important to us. We hope that you will understand that this allocation of money is a direct result of hearing your concerns. We are listening, and we thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

Sincerely,

[yellow tail] wines

Ever notice how these anti-hunting animal rights morons are so quick to try and save dogs and cats and stop people from hunting and stop the daily slaughter of cows pigs and chickens that they will shell out money left and right for animals and never give a starving person on the streets of the USA a passing thought or a single thin dime.....because these fools are more worried about the exponetial breeding of stray dogs and cats......
Dogs and cats have been used as reliable food sources in many countries for many centuries but seems western people deem that immoral....I have personally had both and found the meat to be rather good when its cooked right...maybe the Humane society should look into processing such animals since there is a vast over population of them that could feed alot of people.....

It's not PETA, people!

I've seen and worked with HSUS rescue before. They have some quirks, and their own politics, but they do MUCH good in this land.

Read that article yourself! One of the nationwide things this money goes to is "spay day", a inexpensive (or even free) way to get cats and dogs fixed. You know, that smart thing to do so you don't get millions of dogs and cats killed every year?

So they should burn in hell for that? I'm going to buy a bottle right now!