The following information is from the Animal Agricultural Alliance (via @animalag on Twitter) and their Facebook statement regarding the March 9, 2010 incident where Mary Kay Cosmetics was listed as a major sponsor of a Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) event in Dallas, Texas. 

It appears that the sponsorship was personal and based on a local chapter project, and that HSUS wrongly used the Mary Kay logo in its sponsorship information.  The agricultural community, including Kansas Farm Bureau, responded through social media immediately to Mary Kay, as it has recently to Yellow Tail wine and Pilot Travel stores for their recent misguided alliances with HSUS. Since the initial contact, Kansas Farm Bureau has learned that its own members, through social media, web, phone, etc. have also contacted MaryKay Inc. about the issue.  We thank you members for your efforts. 

Within a few hours of the initial concern expressed by the agriculture community to Mary Kay Inc., the Animal Agriculture Alliance 'tweeted' the following message that Mary Kay had responded to the concerns.

Animal Agriculture Facebook posting via Twitter 

Many agriculture supporters were concerned after hearing rumors that well-known cosmetic company Mary Kay, Inc. would be sponsoring a fund raising gala in Dallas, Texas for the Humane Society of the United States. HSUS event fliers listed Mary Kay as a $20,000 "Top Dog" donor.

The Alliance contacted Mary Kay and a representative confirmed that the company is not sponsoring the event and that the company's logo will be removed from HSUS' event materials. The representative noted that a personal contribution had been made by the owner's wife- but not on behalf of the company.

Mary Kay posted the following statement on its Facebook page on March 9:

Humane Society Concerns

Some fans of Mary Kay® products and independent beauty consultants have expressed concerns over a recent sponsorship of a Dallas-area event. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. We have heard you and want to clarify any confusion.

First and foremost, Mary Kay is not a sponsor of this event. Mary Kay’s owner’s wife was approached to make a personal contribution towards a local event here in Dallas sponsored by the Dallas chapter of the Humane Society. This event specifically supports efforts to stop puppy mills and the organization’s stop puppy mills campaign. Out of caring and compassion for addressing puppy mills, our owner’s wife agreed to make a personal contribution. Mary Kay has contacted the Humane Society to clarify that we are not sponsors of this event and the company logo is being removed from the website.

As a company, we sincerely apologize for any confusion or causing any offense to members of the Mary Kay community.

The Alliance would like to thank the agriculture advocates who took the time to share accurate information about HSUS with Mary Kay. The company was able to quickly correct this misunderstanding because of your diligence.