The Humane Society of the United States didn’t mislead Colorado donors in advertisements that featured cats and dogs prominently, said the Secretary of State’s Office in a letter to the attorney who filed a complaint earlier this year saying the national charity had violated the Colorado Charitable Solicitation Act.

The letter was sent Nov. 18 and closes an investigation into the national non-profit giant’s advertisements soliciting funds in Colorado.

The Center for Consumer Freedom, a non-profit run by a powerful lobbyist with ties to the agricultural industry, argued that HSUS’s ads deceptively featured images of cats and dogs being rescued despite the fact that less than 1 percent of the groups multimillion dollar budget supported local animal shelters.

“Most people think that when they give money to the Humane Society of the United States it’s going to go back to the local humane society and it’s just not the case,” said Will Coggin, director of research with the Center for Consumer Freedom, in an earlier interview with The Gazette. “They’re not upfront with the public about what their real agenda is.”

Abbas Montoya, investigator with the charitable fraud and gaming division, found that’s not the case.

“All of the materials we reviewed presented the HSUS as an organization with multiple purposes and programs, including direct operation of a limited number of shelters, placement of animals in other shelters, lobbying for legislation to prevent cruelty to animals and support and training for independent pet shelters,” Montoya wrote.

He also found that the charity’s ratio for what it spends on program services compared to what it spends on other expenses was “well within industry norms.”

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Contact Megan Schrader

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Twitter: @CapitolSchrader