HSUS & ASPCA like to criticize animal agriculture. They claim farmers and ranchers are harming the environment, abusing animals, and producing unhealthy products. They have an aggressive lobbying agenda to place a national moratorium on large-scale operations. HSUS is even ambitiously demanding foodservice companies commit to 50% meat-free meals by 2027.

But what happens when you turn the spotlight on these anti-farm extremists?

The ASPCA and HSUS run ads featuring homeless pets that are recognized by millions of Americans. Uncovering where donor money actually goes, however, exposes an inconvenient truth about these groups.

A new report by the Center for the Environment and Welfare, which I founded this spring, finds that both the ASPCA and HSUS give little financial support to pet shelters across the country. An analysis of their 2021 tax returns shows that the ASPCA gives just 2% of its budget to local shelters as cash grants. For HSUS, the figure is a mere 1%.

Shelters in 32 states and Washington, DC did not receive a single financial grant from HSUS. Shelters in 21 states did not receive money from the ASPCA.

Both organizations pay their executives handsomely. ASPCA CEO Matt Bershadker pulls in nearly $1 million a year in compensation, while HSUS CEO Kitty Block makes nearly half a million.

Both organizations spend tens of millions on fundraising. The ASPCA spends $135 million on fundraising, more than 20 times the money it gave to shelters. HSUS spent $56 million on fundraising, an order of magnitude more than the money it gave to local pet shelters.

And last but not least, both groups stick millions of dollars offshore in the Caribbean instead of helping pets. The ASPCA has over $10 million in the Caribbean, while HSUS has almost $60 million.

There is a large gap between public perception and what these groups actually spend money on. Recent polling finds that about 80% of people think the ASPCA and HSUS are umbrella groups that represent local SPCAs and humane societies.

The ASPCA and HSUS show cats and dogs in their ads, while they spend the money on themselves and on radical lobbying agendas. Certainly, I’ve never seen an ASPCA ad raising money for a federal phase-out of large livestock farms–something that’s part of the ASPCA’s Farm Bill agenda.

Meanwhile, some local shelters are barking mad at how they’re being shortchanged by the ASPCA and HSUS. “I don't know how they can put their head on a pillow at night, knowing that there are so many animals out here that that money could be used for, for other things,” the head of the Nassau County SPCA in New York has said.

When donors learn this info they are appalled. And when policymakers realize these groups don't run shelters but have become factory fundraisers, perhaps they will rightfully turn their attention to them.

Sky high salaries, offshore accounts, and neglecting America's shelters? Someone should write a book about it.

How the ASPCA and HSUS shortchange pets

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