I wanted to read up on animal welfare organizations that exist today and what they each do. I know about some of them, but I have never looked in-depth into any of the. I wanted to start out with one of the largest and most recognizable animal welfare organizations, the ASPCA.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is an animal welfare organization that everyone probably knows in some form or another. ASPCA released an infamous commercial in 2007 that plays Sarah McLachlan’s song “Angels” while shows clips of depressed-looking dogs and cats and asking for donations. Mentioning “the Sarah McLachlan commercial” to anyone who was around during that time would know exactly what that is. It’s interesting watching that commercial now after learning more about animal welfare as the video clips are nowhere near as bad as the things I’ve been seeing on my social media regarding animal testing or animal abuse. There are much more horrific and depressing things that come across my screen each day. It’s interesting how much of a reaction this commercial got when it doesn’t even seem to scratch the surface of horrors that animals face.
The ASPCA’s mission statement is to “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States”. It is also the first animal welfare organization in North America, starting back in 1866. Founded by Henry Bergh, he began ASPCA as a response to seeing cart horses being beaten. He wanted to ensure legal protections for them and was the first to do it on the continent. Today, the ASPCA is the most funded animal welfare organization in the country. In 2024 they had a total income of over $425 million.
According to their site, they work on: helping shelters, investigations, animal recovery, improving animal laws, protecting farm animals, giving out grants, and more. They list their accomplishments in 2025 on their site as well. The first three are “we found or supported finding safe and loving homes for 70,980 animals.”, “the ASPCA granted over $29 million to shelters and rescues, clinics and other agencies supporting vulnerable animals”, and “we, and our partners performed more than 129,000 spay/neuter surgeries…”.
They have not been around for 160 years without controversy, though. As I mentioned previously, one of their accomplishments they self-reported was that they gave shelters $29 million to vulnerable animals. But they have an income of over $400 million. So where is all that money going? In 2021 CBS News looked at their budgets and found that most of their money went to fundraising and management as opposed to directly helping animals. They mention how the CEO made over $800k which was more than what the American Red Cross CEO made and that organization is ten times larger. The ASPCA shows the breakdown of their funds in 2024 on their site which shows a different story, with their program funding accounting for 74.6% of their budget. CBS says this is just them playing around with their words and the math, so it can be frustrating to hear as a donor if you believe your donations are not actually going to where it counts most.
Another issue is that they are constantly thought of as being an umbrella organization for local SPCAs. SPCA organizations help support animals that are close to them, and many people assume the ASPCA helps fund these smaller organizations. However, this is not true. I am unsure if this issue comes from the ASPCA directly or just because the names are so similar, but it is a common misconception that causes friction for people who donate when they find out. As mentioned in the CBS report about their budget, people sometimes believe that the ASPCA gives money to local SCPAs when they in fact do not.
Besides these controversies of money management, the ASPCA still does great work. It’s a good baseline and knowing what already exists helps me know what gaps exist in today’s world. I’ll continue with another organization next time that works a little differently, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Key Takeaways:
- The ASPCA is the oldest animal welfare organization in North America (160 years old)
- They help animals in the United States broadly, not focusing on one aspect in particular
- A history of controversy exists, chiefly with where their money goes and their lack of affiliation with local SPCAs