Methinks if knuckleheads have rights then we should extend the same to animals.

I don’t work at the HSUS, but if I were in their shoes, I would pick a mix of your tactics 1 and 3. Why the HSUS hasn’t sued Berman over the logo trademark infringement, I do not understand. They seem to think that after the failure of so many of his campaigns, Berman will pack up and go home. Unfortunately, as long as industry pays him to run these defamatory front groups, he will continue running them regardless of their effectiveness. And sooner or later, they will start to make some headway regardless of their truthfulness. Just ask John Kerry what happened when he ignored the swiftboat ads in the 2004 presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, the HSUS has been following your tactic 1, which is a good call. They have made their relationship to local shelters as clear as they can. My belief is that while the general public may be confused, donors are not. When you donate, you get daily emails, alerts, blogs, etc. telling you exactly how the HSUS is spending your donations. The HSUS has multiple social media feeds on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, FourSquare, etc. If a donor is confused, then he or she is paying no attention to any of these messages.

One piece of good news — Berman’s latest tactic, the Humane Society for Shelter Pets — a front group for a front group — has gone nowhere. Bloggers everywhere have seen through it, made the connection to Berman, and called it what it is. Unfortunately, many of them have also received threatening cease-and-desist legal letters from Berman. You might be on the lookout for yours, because it may well be going into the mail today.

The Center for Consumer Freedom — that’s the shell group that Berman uses to divert “nonprofit” donations into Berman and Company’s bank accounts — has seen an increasingly steep plunge in donations. Meanwhile, support for HSUS is at a record high, despite Berman’s misinformation and outright lies.

CCF’s efforts to derail important legislation like California’s Prop 2 have failed miserably. Their efforts to dissuade HSUS sponsors from joining the fight against cruelty have failed. Their efforts to disrupt negotiations between the United Egg Producers and HSUS failed. And most recently, their transparent warm-and-fuzzy facade of the million dollar “Humane Society for Shelter Pets” has exploded in their face, leading to ethics investigations of its chief figurehead/founder.

All of this comes on the heels of the loss of their “Director of Research”, who was shown the door after a series of public arrests and revelations that he had been stalking activists, bloggers, filmmakers and politicians opposed to CCF’s activities.

This is the same predator who has been attacking animal lovers since at least 1994. And no matter what mask he wears — the Center for Consumer Freedom, ActivistCash, PETAKillsAnimals.com, HumaneWatch, Guest Choice Network, Center for Union Facts, Employment Policies Institute, SweetScam.com, American Beverage Institute, or Berman and Company — it’s still amoral profiteer Richard Berman at the helm.

People see through that disguise pretty quickly, which may explain why he changes names and shifts focus so frequently. (To date, Berman has taken on the guise of more than 100 deceptive front groups, websites, and profitable “nonprofits” to promote his corporate backers.)

The HSUS has been a fixture in the animal welfare arena for more than 50 years. People know what HSUS stands for, they know its outstanding record on animal welfare issues. I doubt very much that a name change is in the works for HSUS, just because a venomous corporate mouthpiece with no interesis heckling them from the sidelines.