How Harris abandoned California’s homeless pets

OPINION:

President Biden once called Vice President Kamala Harris a “fearless fighter for the little guy.” But apparently, the little guy doesn’t include homeless pets.

In 2011, months after Ms. Harris was sworn in as California attorney general, her office received a complaint from the State Humane Association of California. The association represented animal control agencies and animal shelters across the state. And its members alleged a major problem: An out-of-state organization was unfairly raising money, sucking it out of local communities and hindering their ability to care for California’s homeless pets.

You’re no doubt aware of this out-of-state group: the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA. Who hasn’t seen those tear-jerking ads with sad-looking dogs and cats and Sarah McLachlan?

The problem with the ads, the California shelters complained, was that the money wasn’t staying in California. Despite its name, the ASPCA — based in New York — did not (and still does not) run local SPCAs in California or the other 49 states. But many California donors didn’t know that.

“The complaint alleges that the ASPCA capitalizes on, and intentionally reinforces, the widely held mistaken belief that it is a parent or umbrella organization to the thousands of humane societies and SPCAs across the country. In reality, the ASPCA operates only one animal shelter, in New York City,” a representative of the California association said.

“For example, according to the ASPCA, it received $116.5 million in revenue in 2009,” the association continued. “However, [California organizations] in 2010 received a total of only $352,100 from the ASPCA. That is only .03% of the ASPCA income.”

The complaint was well founded, and others in the animal shelter community commented on their experiences with confusion between national groups and local shelters.

The head of the Massachusetts SPCA said, “If they [the ASPCA] wish to do national ads, they should say where they do their work.”

The head of another local SPCA wrote that “it is not honest to say to people who live in the San Francisco Bay Area that sending ‘the largest gift you can manage to help the ASPCA’ in Manhattan is the best way for them to help ‘protect an innocent and helpless animal,’ a ‘particular animal,’ an animal ‘not far from’ where that donor lives,” quoting language from an ASPCA fundraising appeal.

Millions of dollars that could help shelter animals were at stake. Yet Ms. Harris’ office took no action.

And little has changed. If anything, things have gotten worse.

The Center for the Environment and Welfare, which I run, recently took a poll about name confusion and the ASPCA. The poll found that 81% of people mistakenly think the ASPCA “is an umbrella group that represents thousands of local SPCAs across America.” And 73% mistakenly think, “My local SPCA or pet shelter is affiliated with the ASPCA.”

Neither is true.

The ASPCA is vacuuming over $300 million in contributions each year from confused donors who think the money is going to their local shelters. Instead, a lot of it is being squandered.

According to the latest tax return, the ASPCA gives less than 2% of its budget as financial grants to local pet shelters. That’s down half from about 4% in 2011.

The ASPCA’s CEO makes more than $1 million a year. The ASPCA has over $300 million in investments and more than $10 million stashed offshore in the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, things aren’t so good for California shelter pets. “California animal shelters are euthanizing more healthy, adoptable dogs and cats than ever,” the Sacramento Bee reported last year. In 2021, 54,000 pets were euthanized in California shelters. In Los Angeles, the dog euthanasia rate at two shelters was nearly double what it was in 2018.

Had Ms. Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee, taken action when she had the chance, more people today might be aware of the difference between the ASPCA and their local pet shelter and support their local shelter. More California pets might be alive today and in a loving home.

• Jack Hubbard is a partner and owner at Berman and Co.