The Center for the Environment and Welfare has set the cat among the pigeons by releasing an advertisement featuring Edwin Sayres, former chief executive officer of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and current CEW senior adviser.
In the brief video, released on Wednesday, Sayres explains that national animal charities, such as the ASPCA and The Humane Society of the United States, are not affiliated with local pet shelters and those desirous of helping homeless animals should donate directly to their local animal charities. “They could really use your support,” he said.
Sayres revealed that the national charities gave less than 2% of their annual budgets to local pet shelters in 2022.
The advertisement is running nationally on CNN and in the DC market on MSNBC, and is also being promoted on Facebook and X. You can watch the message here.
In a separate statement, CEW Executive Director Jack Hubbard said, “When animal lovers donate to national animal charities, many believe that their money will go directly to local pet shelters. In reality, these donations are supporting sky-high CEO salaries with only 1-2% being distributed to local shelters. By understanding where their donations are going, people can make more informed decisions and have a direct impact on the lives of homeless animals in their communities.”
While the money involved in animal charity in India is currently small, it is not inconceivable that a situation similar to the one described by Sayres and Hubbard prevails even in that limited space. It certainly does in the much larger and more ‘lucrative’ sphere of human charities, with the bigger, well-funded, better known ‘national’ charities cornering most of the donations, of which a substantial chunk then goes towards staff salaries and further advertisement of the organizations.
CEW said it is committed to educating the public about how best to help rescue cats and dogs. In spring, the organization launched the second phase of a sustained effort to expose what it called the duplicity of the ASPCA and The Humane Society of the United States. CEW encourages donors to support local shelters and rescues.
SOURCE: PR Newswire
Sandy Pawpaw
Sandy Pawpaw is a fierce advocate of unleashing the animal in, and with, you.
