Are you an animal lover who makes monetary donations to a humane group? Many people donate to groups that get a lot of press because their name is familiar, and they assume that their donation dollars are being well spent. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.
Think about the humane group(s) you normally donate to. Do you know if they are animal rights activists, or animal welfare activists? Most people don’t know the difference.
Animal Rights activists subscribe to the belief that animals have the same rights as humans. Proponents believe that animals and humans should not really interact. That animals shouldn’t even be kept as pets, because that’s a form of slavery. Proponents of the philosophy would ban the raising of livestock, petting zoos, marine parks, breeding of purebred pets and any use of animals for entertainment. (Imagine! No Lassie! No Benjy! No National Velvet!)
Animal Welfare advocates subscribe to the belief that animals should be well cared for. The philosophy encompasses all aspects of animal well-being, including proper housing, management, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling, and, when necessary, humane euthanasia.
With the knowledge of this distinction, you can make a better decision as to which camp you prefer to support. But before you decide on a humane charity, please consider the following:
PETA is one of the most well-known names in animal rights. Do you support them? They just released their kill statistics for 2010. [source] . PETA took in 4569 animals, of which 838 were adopted out, 3,630 were killed, and 63 were transferred out of the shelter. PETA's kill rate in 2010 was 80%. Most people don’t know what a high kill rate they have. PETA believes that an animal is better off dead than a pet.
Another group that is widely known is the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The HSUS is a forerunner in supporting animal welfare legislation. When it comes to rescue, while they have the clout to perform large scale animal rescues like puppy mills and horse farms, they do not have a shelter. Animals rescued go to whatever local shelters have room to house them, and not all of them are no-kills. While HSUS is doing great work getting animals out of bad situations, they do not subsidize the shelters that take in the animals they’ve rescued. HSUS uses the largest percentage of the monetary donations they receive to buy advertising and marketing that asks for more donations.
It’s a little disconcerting, isn’t it? You love animals and you want to donate to a reputable organization that helps them, yet two of the most well- known organizations in the country may not be using your dollars the way you had hoped.
I suggest that if you want to donate to a humane group, that you donate your dollars to small local 501(c)3 organizations, that are staffed by volunteers and rely on donations to operate. Here are some of my recommendations. There are a number of very reputable groups in the Greater Cleveland area.
VALLEY SAVE-A-PET: Animal Welfare and Rescue. No Kill. Volunteer organization. Rescuing, fostering, rehoming. Low cost spay and neuter. (new website under construction)
SANCTUARY FOR SENIOR DOGS: Animal Welfare. No Kill. Rescuing, fostering, rehoming senior dogs that have been abandoned in shelters.
SECONDHAND MUTTS: Animal Rescue. No Kill. Rescuing, fostering and rehoming dogs that have been pulled from high kill shelters.
THE CLEVELAND ANIMAL PROTECTIVE LEAGUE (APL): Animal Welfare. Providing shelter to homeless animals relinquished by their guardians, animals that are rescued from abuse or neglect, and stray or abandoned cats. Humane investigations. Low cost spay and neuter.
DOGS DESERVE BETTER: Animal Welfare. No Kill. Volunteer organization. Rescuing, fostering, rehabbing and rehoming formerly chained dogs. This group is based in Pennsylvania, but they have a chapter in Akron.
LOVE A STRAY: Animal Welfare and Rescue. No-Kill. Rescuing, fostering and rehoming stray and abandoned animals. Low-cost spay and neuter.
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