CBS News Exposes ASPCA

CBS News has a devastating new segment exposing the financial waste at the ASPCA.

The ASPCA—which as CBS points out, is not affiliated with local SPCAs—is well known from its Sarah McLachlan ads, which helped the organization grow to over $100 million a year. Less well known is how that money is actually used.

According to CBS:

• Roughly 40 percent of the ASPCA’s spending is on fundraising.
• ASPCA President Matthew Bershadker’s salary is more than $800,000 per year. He is paid more than the CEO of the American Red Cross, even though the ASPCA is 10 times smaller than the Red Cross.
• The ASPCA ran only seven animal rescue missions in 2019.

The ASPCA declined to respond to CBS’s request for an interview, but some local SPCAs did speak out. Local SPCAs lose out when people mistake the ASPCA for a national “umbrella group.” See our previous reporting on this issue.

That’s not all. Our own research finds that the ASPCA has stuffed over $21 million offshore, mostly in the Caribbean, according to its tax return.

The ASPCA isn’t even the worst animal charity. The Humane Society of the United States is even more wasteful. HSUS, which isn’t affiliated with local humane societies, spends close to half of its budget on fundraising-related expenses. And it has put nearly $50 million offshore, instead of using that money to help animals.

Watch the segment below: