u/FunManHooper

I was recently looking to make a donation to an HD organization and many recommended HDSA. Before I make donations, I like to look through non-profit's public 990 tax documents and was amazed at huge financial commitments that wasted millions of dollars in donations.

Did you know that HDSA spent 1.8 MILLION dollars in 2023 and 2024 to create an online patient data collection platform that was deemed a complete failure. The platform was through a company called RARE-X, and it wasn't even mentioned in their 2024 year in review. How do you invest so much money in something and not mention it?

To put this in context, during the same two years (23’-24’), HDSA only spent $240,000 on lobbying efforts. Given the lack of major policy progress for HD families over the past years, it raises real questions about organizational priorities and where donor dollars are having the greatest impact.

Here are some other interesting stats that I found:
-In 2023, the HDSA CEO was paid a bonus of $49,000 on top of her $320,000 salary, despite the organization reportedly operating at a loss of around $1.3 million that year.

-In 2024, HDSA signed a 10-year lease on their NYC office making them liable for $3 million dollars over that time. Based on their website, it looks like only a few staff live near NYC.

-The HDSA National Convention this year is at a JW Marriott Resort in Phoenix where rooms rates are $300/night. Plus, registration fee $250/person. I know there are scholarships offered but that only accounts for a small number of attendees.This is unaffordable for people who need to fly in. The HD community doesn't need FANCY; they need their HD FAMILY!

Is anyone on the board of directors paying attention to this financial mismanagement? Who is accountable for this mistake?  It pains me to think how many volunteer hours went into raising $1.8 million dollars that got this community nowhere.

I also found that HDSA has a lot of impactful programs and many employees who really care, but the community should always be making sure that donations are properly managed, and people are held accountable for poor decisions (past, present and future).

Hi everyone! could really use some advice or guidance. A little background: Winston turns 7 in a few weeks, is about 70 lbs, super chill, and his favorite things are eating and sleeping.

Each year, his environmental allergies seem to get worse. The main symptoms are licking his paws and shaking his ears, which eventually turn into yeast infections. I’ve done allergy testing and confirmed it’s environmental allergies. After every walk, I wipe down his paws, and I also use antiseptic wipes or foam a few times a week. If I use them too often, though, his paws get very dry and that seems to make the licking worse.

Apoquel and Cytopoint haven’t been effective, and we also tried immunotherapy shots, but those caused GI side effects.

More recently, I started giving him a pre/probiotic with breakfast along with an allergy chew a friend recommended, although I’m not sure it’s making much of a difference.

Unfortunately, the different vets I’ve tried haven’t been very helpful long term, and it often feels like we’re just putting a bandaid on the issue, especially with repeated antibiotics.

I have seen a pet dermatologist but they just shared maintenance work based on the above which obviously doesn’t help.

I’d really appreciate any advice, suggestions, routines, diet changes, or products that have helped your dogs with environmental allergies and recurring yeast issues. Thank you so much!