The holiday season tends to be a time when everything goes up.

Spending, gift-giving, charitable donations, and blood pressure all seem to increase around the wintry celebrations of Christmas and New Year, and even those with very little to spare will often dig a little deeper to support their favorite charities. According to Jack Hubbard, executive director of the Center for the Environment and Welfare (CEW), around 30% of annual charity donations take place in December. When it comes to animal shelters and pet rescue, it can be easy to be swayed by emotional advertising campaigns and donate to the first non-profit organization that pops up on your newsfeed, but according to the CEW, these are the ones who are least likely to be deserving of your hard-earned cash.

In a scathing report, the CEW has pointed an accusatory finger at charity giant Humane World For Animals (HWA), citing the organization’s recent tax records as the reason for their negative review. 

For the past two years, the HWA  (formerly known as the Humane Society of the United States) has recorded total incoming figures of around $29 million (2023) and $35 million (2024), with 17-19% of that money spent on paying Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees, and Highest Compensated Employees. In fact, at close to $680,000, CEO Cristobel Block’s salary accounted for almost 2% of that $35 million, all while clocking in for a comfortable 40-hour week. This sounds even more suspicious when compared to the much larger ASPCA, whose top earners took home around 1.5% of the charity’s takings for 2023, with most reportedly working 50-60 hours a week as standard.

Furthermore, while the ASPCA was putting around 28% of their finances into shelter and veterinary services, rehoming, and spay/neuter clinics, 37% of the HWA’s money was dedicated to “working with companies around the world to adopt cage-free egg procurement policies,” and “promote plant-based eating worldwide.” Of course, working towards sustainable practice and putting an end to battery cages for egg-laying hens are worthy ventures, but $14 million sounds like a lot of money to spend on campaigning, and that doesn’t even include the $3.3 million spent on advertising.

The problem highlighted by the CEW in their consumer report, which also criticizes the practices of charity giants ASPCA and PETA, is that although these organizations raise approximately $630 million annually, the number of animals being euthanized each year is steadily increasing. With bloated salaries and even bigger advertising campaigns to finance, as little as 1% of donated funds actually go towards helping the animals in need, and the more visible the charity, the more likely it is that your money is actually going towards the advertising accounts of Google and Meta.

So what’s the solution?

The CEW urges people to look to their local area for charities in need. Smaller animal shelters and rehoming organisations are often woefully underfunded and have very little in their budget for fancy ad campaigns or sponsored posts on social media. Many smaller non-profit organisations depend greatly on donations and volunteers, often overextending their resources in order to help out just one more dog in need.

Of course, no system is perfect, and deceptive or misleading practices can occur at a smaller scale as well, so it is important to do a bit of research before deciding where to donate this year. Transparency and accessibility are key components when looking into a charity, and if it feels dodgy, it probably is.  If in doubt, get in touch with us, and we can point you in the right direction.

With millions of dogs and cats in need of food, shelter, and love this Christmas, please give generously – and wisely – this holiday season.

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