Life sentence rendered after case was before the courts for five years CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas––David Keith Wills, 68, former Michigan Humane Society executive director and vice president for investigations at the Humane Society of the U.S., was on September 22, 2020 formally sentenced to serve life in federal; prison. Wills was convicted on October 8, […]
Ancestors of the Tiger King: Peter Batten & Living Trophies
Living Trophies: A Shocking Look at the Conditions in America’s Zoos by Peter Batten Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1976. 246 pages, hardcover. Available from major online booksellers at prices ranging from $7.50 to $25.00. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton First aired on March 20, 2020, the six-part Netflix documentary series Tiger King, produced by Eric […]
Former HSUS vp David Wills’ co-defendant gets 15 years for sex trafficking minor
Wills, facing multiple life terms, is yet to be sentenced CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas––The likelihood that former Michigan Humane Society president and Humane Society of the U.S. vice president David Keith Wills, 67, will spend the rest of his life in a federal penitentiary appeared to increase on December 18, 2019, when U.S. District Judge […]
One set of child sex charges vs. ex-HSUS vp David Wills is dropped
Wills still faces charges including trafficking a minor CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas––Contrary to rumor, former Michigan Humane Society president and Humane Society of the U.S. vice president for investigations David K. Wills, 63, is still facing felony charges in Texas of continuous sexual abuse of a child and continuous trafficking of a child. But Wills is now […]
Holy cow! Humane Society of Canada loses last bid to keep tax-exempt status
Canadian Revenue Agency finds speculating in comic books “inappropriate” TORONTO, Ontario––Losing a last appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Humane Society of Canada appears to be on the verge of losing tax-exempt status, nine years after flunking a Canadian Revenue Agency audit over alleged misuse of donated funds by Michael O’Sullivan, the […]
David Wills: archived exposés, 1995-1999
by Merritt Clifton David K. Wills, 62, charged in multiple Texas counties in 2015 for alleged felonious continuous sexual abuse of a child and continuous trafficking of a child, first came to my notice as an investigative subject in September 1989, through conduct which, unknown to him, I personally witnessed. As news editor at the time […]
Humane Society of Canada stripped of charitable status
President allegedly bought comic books with society money OTTAWA––The Canadian Federal Court of Appeal on August 19, 2015 upheld a November 17, 2014 decision to revoke the charitable registration of the Humane Society of Canada, formally called the Humane Society of Canada for the Protection of Animals and the Environment. An advocacy organization, the […]
Jean Marx, 85, set out to reform the Michigan Humane Society and ended up reshaping the Humane Society of the U.S.
Ousted David Wills Jean Marx, 85, died after a prolonged illness on March 26, 2015 in Waterford, Michigan. Posted her longtime friend and Michigan Humane Society colleague Eileen Liska-Stronczer in a personal tribute, “Her devoted surrogate daughter and estate executor, Bev Steffens-Claudio,” also long involved in humane work, “was holding her hand as she peacefully […]
Wills bankrupt; Horse thief too?; Ex-HSUS vp Wills cops a plea
by Merritt Clifton Wills bankrupt Former Humane Society of the U.S. vice president David Wills on August 22 filed for personal bankruptcy. Among his 17 listed creditors were HSUS, which in October 1995 fired Wills and later sued him for allegedly misappropriating $93,000; John Hoyt, president of HSUS and Humane Society International from 1970 until […]
HSUS isn’t talking
by Merritt Clifton November 1995 WASHINGTON D.C. ––At deadline the Humane Society of the U.S. had neither confirmed nor denied a report from an HSUS source that the board of directors, responding to a petition signed by 41 staffers, agreed over the Columbus Day weekend, October 7-9, to prosecute David Wills, 48, for allegedly embezzling […]