by Mark Chesnut - Tuesday, October 24, 2023
We see the commercials on television frequently—mistreated dogs staked to chains in sub-zero weather, along with a plea from Sarah McLachlan and the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) for you to send $18 a month to help those poor pooches live a better life.
But did you know that out of that $18, only about 36 cents is sent to shelters to help animals in need? And some of the rest is used to battle hunting, farming and ranching.
The ASPCA’s Ugly Truth
To America’s hunters—the country’s foremost conservationists—ASPCA is no friend at all. While the group claims to advocate for imperiled animals, it freely admits on its website that it wants to stop all hunting, even for sustenance. “The ASPCA is opposed to hunting animals for sport, even if the animals killed in this way are subsequently consumed,” the group says on its website’s “Hunting” page.
That’s enough to prompt us to warn hunters against supporting the organization, along with the group’s efforts to oppose farmers and ranchers and end meat-eating altogether. But recent revelations by a watchdog group should make even those who don’t care about hunting, farming or ranching reconsider donating to the organization.
According to Foxnews.com, a new “think tank” called the Center for the Environment and Welfare (CEW) reports that ASPCA gives only 2 percent of its enormous, donation-driven budget to pet shelters. On the flip side, the extremist group is sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars—and even has $11 million in offshore Caribbean accounts.
“Most people think the ASPCA is about dogs and cats,” the CEW report states. “But the ASPCA has increasingly become a radical animal liberation organization. Hiding behind its undeserved reputation, the organization has utilized unethical financial schemes to boost its bottom line and pay its executives huge salaries.”
The report also revealed startling things about the ASPCA’s lack of interest in saving animals.
“In 2009, the ASPCA ‘saved’ a one-year-old dog named Oreo, an abused dog who was thrown off the roof of a six-floor Brooklyn apartment building,” the report states. “The ASPCA nursed her back to health and dubbed her the ‘miracle dog.’ The ASPCA proceeded to use the dog’s story as a fundraising campaign, which reportedly raised millions of dollars.
“After the money was counted and deposited into ASPCA bank accounts, the ASPCA made the decision to kill her, despite a no-kill sanctuary offering to save her.”
Additionally, according to the report, the organization’s name, which is very similar to that of many local and state animal shelters, results in groups that are doing good work for pets being underfunded.
“The ASPCA runs one adoption center in New York City and is not affiliated with local SPCAs,” the report noted, referring to animal shelters run by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which are not affiliated with the national organization and rely on community donations. “However, the ASPCA’s misleading name and pervasive advertising have allowed it to vacuum up donations that would otherwise go to local pet shelters across the country.”
Helping pets that are stuck in animal shelters is a laudable thing. These animals deserve the best chance they can get at a good life with an owner who loves them and treats them right.
But funding a vehemently anti-hunting group to get only 2 percent of your money down to the boots-on-the-ground level isn’t the way to help the problem of abandoned dogs and cats. Ditch the ASPCA and give to your local shelter or breed rescue group if helping pets is a priority.
About the Author
Freelance writer and editor Mark Chesnut is the owner/editorial director at Red Setter Communications LLC in Jenks, Okla. An avid hunter, shooter and field-trialer, he has been covering Second Amendment issues and politics on a near-daily basis for nearly 25 years.