Pet Charities: Is your money supporting a good cause? Not in the case of the RSPCA.

This is a heavily loaded question in the US. The most misleading organization in the U.S. is the Humane Society of the United States, HSUS. They are a national group that primarily lobbies in Washington D.C. for various legal reforms. They have absolutely no affiliation with any animal shelter in the country. They play all of those ads on TV with the sick and injured dogs and cats, and make it seem like that is where your donation will go. When in fact, if I remember correctly, the last year there tax statements were analyzed, less than 4/5ths of 1 percent went to any form of shelter, animal care,or rehabilitation. That plus many of the people in high positions at the HSUS are former higher level members of the People for the Ethical TREATMENT of Animals, (PETA). Which openly opposes the use of animals for companions or pets. It appears that they are the "pretty face" for the animal liberation/animal rights front, though that is next to impossible to prove. They have traded a number of employees over the years, and there are numerous subsidiary companies underneath them, so it is hard to even know where the money goes. I don't remember all of the exact numbers, but I think they put more than 10x the amount of money into their pension system than went to shelters, have dozens of people who make more money each than goes to any animals, etc... After the Michael Vick/dog fighting fiasco, there was a bit on their website encouraging donations that would go directly to helping the rescued dogs. But the HSUS had nothing to do with caring for the dogs themselves, ad were actually already on the record with an opinion that the animals should be euthanized.

I really have nothing against different ideas, and open debate, but playing ads on television, clearly aimed at animal lovers and animal owners, that generate hundreds of millions in tax free donations, that are never directly used to help any of the animals shown, in any shelters, with the funds being all but impossible to track, is pretty despicable. And depending where all of this money filters down to, it is possible that animal and pet lovers are actually funding lobbyists that are trying to ban pet ownership altogether. I am actually amazed they can continue on as a "charitable organization", legally speaking.

Do some internet searches on the subject, there is allot of info out there. They claim they are for companion pet ownership, but any time any pet comes under attack, they are all for banning it.

All of this has nothing to do with any of the local humane societies in the US. They have absolutely nothing to do with the HSUS. If you want to help out a shelter, go there, or call, and donate directly. Most will happily give you a tax deductible receipt if that is your purpose, or just leave the money if you wish. At least then you can be fairly certain that the money is going towards funding the shelter.

And, I really think you should research any charity before donating. At last a little bit. I could set up a .org website, claiming to help the elderly with day to day needs, take 1 old lady shopping a week, and take my family to Aruba for a month.