ASPCA pushes anti-meat agenda while sending 2% of budget to animal shelters: Watchdog
Breccan F. Thies
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals pushes “animal liberation” and an anti-meat agenda while only giving 2% of its budget to animal shelters, according to a new report.
Not to be confused with the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which operates locally and supports animal welfare worldwide, the ASPCA runs only one adoption center in the country and lobbies the government to pass anti-meat legislation.
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While the ASPCA bills itself as an organization that “works to save animals from dogfighting, puppy mills, hoarding and other cruelty situations,” as well as help place animals in homes and provide medical and rehabilitation care, the group spends relatively little of its money on funding animal shelters.
According to a Center for the Environment and Welfare report citing the organization’s most recent tax filings, the ASPCA held $390 million in revenue and $575 million in assets, including $310 million in investments and $105 million in savings in 2021. It also stashes $11 million in offshore Caribbean bank accounts. Of that money, less than $6 million went to pet shelters.
This has been the long-standing reality of ASPCA, according to CBS News, which reported that since 2008, the organization raised $2 billion but spent only 7% of the money on grants to local animal welfare groups.
“A charity like the ASPCA that runs only one pet shelter while paying its CEO nearly $1 million per year and sitting on $300 million in investments doesn’t need or deserve donations,” CEW Executive Director Jack Hubbard told the Washington Examiner.
The money ASPCA raises often goes toward governmental lobbying efforts.
This year, the ASPCA released its lobbying agenda on the 2023 Farm Bill, where it advocates disallowing new or expanded large-scale livestock farms and a complete moratorium on the farms by 2040.
The group also advocates Americans start phasing out meat from their diet for the express purpose of reducing demand for meat and, therefore, the need for livestock farms.
“The ASPCA should focus on helping the one million shelter pets euthanized each year instead of lobbying for radical policies, like the ASPCA’s elitist, anti-agriculture Farm Bill platform,” Hubbard said.
The ASPCA acronym and prolific commercials featuring singer Sarah McLachlan have cut into local SPCAs’ abilities to function since potential donors think they are part of the same organization, according to SPCAs.
ASPCA has been accused in the past of fundraising at the expense of SPCAs, and according to a 2021 CBS News report, the ASPCA did not allow SPCAs to use its donor lists if the local groups noted they were not associated with the ASPCA.
The CEW report highlights New Jersey SPCA spokesman Matt Stanton who, describing it as a “David-Goliath situation,” said that the ASPCA makes “it very difficult because a lot of people have given money to the ASPCA thinking they’re operating in New Jersey. A lot of people believe they are the umbrella organization.”
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“We’ve been hearing from ASPCA donors all week who are furious to learn how little of the ASPCA’s budget actually goes to pet shelters,” Hubbard said. “They’re shocked to hear that the ASPCA isn’t affiliated with their local SPCAs. Ultimately, these donors tell us they feel disappointed and misled by the ASPCA.”
The ASPCA did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.