09/20/2026
Know who you are really helping when you donate
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ $๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
โBefore you give to the ASPCA, you should know,โ the warning began on Fox โ and what came next was a gut check for anyone whoโs ever mailed a check to save a shelter dog. โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด $460 ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ $1.2 ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ.โ
Read that twice. One adoption center. A single facility, in one city, is the entire on-the-ground operation behind an organization whose ads run coast to coast begging Americans to โsave a life today.โ Meanwhile the money donors send keeps piling up in a portfolio instead of a kennel.
๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ โ CharityWatch has flagged the ASPCAโs overhead and fundraising costs, and separate reporting has found only a sliver of its budget actually reaches local shelters doing the real work of feeding, housing and adopting out animals. The donor pitch and the balance sheet tell two very different stories.
And then thereโs the man at the top. President and CEO Matt Bershadker has collected north of $1.2 million a year while the group he runs sits on nearly half a billion dollars in reserves. ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ญ โ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ.
Every dollar mailed in on the promise of a rescued puppy is a dollar that couldโve gone straight to a shelter instead of an investment account. ๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ โ and right now, for the ASPCA, the honest answer is: mostly, it doesnโt.
๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ฆ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ค ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ. ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ โ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ก ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฌ.
