In 1906, a muckraking journalist named Upton Sinclair published The Jungle. The book needs no introduction to Meatingplace readers. Ultimately, the exposé triggered a slew of follow-on investigations and led to new laws that transformed the U.S. food system into one of the safest, most affordable, and abundant in the world.

Now, 118 years later, the animal rights movement is getting its turn in the spotlight. And this time, the whistle is being blown by a former leader of the movement: Ed Sayres.

Sayres was CEO of the ASPCA between 2003 and 2013. And his credentials in the animal world are impeccable. Along with running the nation’s largest animal charity for a decade, Sayres ran local pet shelters in New Jersey and San Francisco. He was a leader in reducing pet euthanasia rates at shelters, known as the “No Kill” movement.

Sayres’ career has earned him credibility to speak about the animal rights movement. And he doesn’t like what he sees.

Sayres is calling out the ASPCA for how the organization spends money.

Sayres approved the famous Sarah MacLachlan ad for the ASPCA, which opened the floodgates for national animal rights groups. “Today, the national animal groups have morphed into factory fundraisers — gobbling up donors and raking in hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Compared to 2001, the combined budgets of the ASPCA and HSUS [Humane Society of the United States] have ballooned by more than $400 million annually,” Sayres writes.

As CEO, Sayres hoped the ad and direct response television strategy would be a boon for local pet shelters. But that has not materialized, with current ASPCA and HSUS leaders having different priorities (including attacking animal agriculture). According to the latest tax returns, the ASPCA and HSUS spend only 1-2 percent of their annual budgets on financial grants to pet shelters.

In contrast, the ASPCA and HSUS have over $650 million combined in investments.

While the ASPCA and HSUS continue to push policies attacking farmers, they are neglecting many local shelters around the country.

As a recent CBS News headline put it: “Nationwide animal shelters say they're facing a crisis.” Shelters are at capacity across the country, stretched for resources. And the national groups? They’re asleep at the wheel.

Hopefully, the former CEO of the ASPCA speaking out about the organization will bring greater public awareness to issues with the ASPCA (and HSUS), and ultimately reform. Donors deserve to know that neither organization serves as an umbrella group for local shelters. Sayres has joined the Center for the Environment and Welfare, which I founded, as a senior advisor. I invite you to watch a series of interviews with him here.

Blowing the whistle on animal activists

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