Is ASPCA any good?

[jaylach]

I have found where my ASPCA donations are going once canceled.

Animal Shelter | Dog & Cat Shelter, Inc. | Wyoming

DogandCatShelter.org showcases a non-profit animal shelter. We are the “Home in Between Homes” for thousands of homeless pets per year and offer several programs that can enhance their chance at adoption.

www.dogandcatshelter.org

One thing that I like is that they are not just dogs and cats. They take in rodents and even chickens. Of course they are a no-kill shelter or I would not deal with them.

A friend in my apartments used to work for them and has assured me that they are a good outfit.

Not to sound selfish but I'd rather donate my $25.00 per month to something local instead of a national outfit that I have found to be lacking.

There are two other shelters in the area but this seems the best. Grant Reid, the CEO of Mars Candy (think M&M's) lives in Wyoming and also supports this shelter.

 

[jaylach]

Sigh, I canceled St Jude's in January yet they hit my account in February anyway. I'm sure that I could cause a ruckus but I'm not going to bother. I'm just going to let it ride which means they will probably hit my account again in March but that will be the last as my card will change in April and their attempt will fail anyway. Same thing with ASPCA. I will only update my account info in April for the local shelter that I decided to help. I MAY end up causing grief for the other two but, right now, I just don't feel like fighting.

 

[Briafishfriend]

Any sizeable non-profit can be searched on Charity Navigator https://www.charitynavigator.org/ or Guide Star https://www.guidestar.org/ They evaluate organizations on how much of their money goes to their programs, transparency, etc. and you can learn a lot quickly.

 

[jaylach]

Any sizeable non-profit can be searched on Charity Navigator https://www.charitynavigator.org/ or Guide Star https://www.guidestar.org/ They evaluate organizations on how much of their money goes to their programs, transparency, etc. and you can learn a lot quickly.

Been there and done that. It is a good reference source.

 

[GaryE]

The SPCA is my old home turf had gone over to PETA, and it was next to impossible to adopt any dog that wasn't a pit bull. They were going to prove their nurture versus nature theory no matter what. There were some financial corruption accusations and the PETA board got replaced with what seemed to be reasonable people more into caring for real animals than into ideology.

Where I am now, they seem very open to all sorts of dogs, and to be very well run. It makes me think that in Canada, they seem more decentralized, though I haven't explored that. I tend to be more of a time donor than a money one, and have never involved myself in animal care at that level. I've always been more inclined to be one of those troublemaking community activists.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

This maybe a little contentious but I have found that the regional and local independent animal shelters and rescue organisations are often better in regard to donations than the larger umbrella charities such as ASPCA, RSPCA etc

The issue with the larger ones is that they are not so transparent as to where your donations go and more often than not, they have a very expensive board and CEO who get extremely healthy wages...again nothing very transparent as to where that wage bill actually comes from.

A case in point was the Pasadena shelter that was destroyed by the recent bad weather that hit the Houston region. Houston's own shelter along with Galveston's shelter and shelters further afield all chipped in to help Pasadena rehome animals and offer support to rebuild. The umbrella ASPCA did their bit but not as much or as efficiently as the local shelters and breed rescue organisations

My own personal experience was with the RSPCA.

When I rehabilitated and evaluated dogs for the police, independent shelters, local/national breed rescues and for court cases, it was a very much "hands on" affair with the organisation(s) involved keeping close contact and they were all very receptive to my evaluations of "dangerous" dogs. The euthanasia option was very much the last resort if everything else had failed.

The RSPCA were duty bound to ask for evaluations when they were involved with court cases but it was, infact, only lip service from them. They were not open to any other choice but euthanisation, which actually was only the best option in around 10% of cases that I dealt with for them.

I find that the majority of the umbrella charities (not just animal orientated but generally) are run like a business with little or no real thought or time for those who they are campaigning for. The flashy media adverts look polished but beneath it are big fat wage bills for the board and management.

And just try to adopt a dog from the RSPCA...no chance.

One occasion I had been called in to evaluate a GSD with food aggression to see if the dog could be retrained. I spent many hours with it over the space of 3 weeks and came to the conclusion that yes, it could be retrained. Whilst dealing with this GSD, another dog was brought in on an abandonment case, a very elderly Husky. She was in a very sorry state, her coat matted, almost blind and riddled with arthritis. She had the most wonderful temperment and I would go sit with her whilst on breaks from the GSD. This Husky did not have long, she was in a bad way. I asked the center manager if I could take her home so that she could spend her last weeks or months in a warm, comfy home and know what it was like to be loved and cuddled before she died. My request was refused on the grounds that "it was against charity policy to allow an outside contractor employed by them to take animals home" and she was euthanised that same day.

Compare that experience to the many times I have taken other elderly dogs home with me from independent shelters and breed rescues where similar situations have arisen and I have given elderly and damaged dogs their last few months in a warm and cosy home without any issues whatsoever.

I am not keen on the big umbrella charities, when I help out by volunteering or by donation I always stick with the smaller independents and rescues. They have always been far more appreciative and open. I find that very sad but when a charity is being run like a business and not there to help their target, then I'm afraid I go with the smaller charities every time.