Who hasn't seen the television commercials for animal groups? With heart-touching music playing behind a montage of sad-looking dogs and cats, an announcer pleads for contributions to "save" the animals. No organization runs more of these highly effective ads than the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Many contributors agree to donate $18 a month, helping the ASPCA to bring in $111.3 million for the year ending June 2010.
As 2012 came to an end, however, what the ASPCA did not advertise was the fact that, on December 26, $9.3 million in contributions did not go to "save" animals but to Feld Entertainment, the family-controlled company that since 1967 has owned Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which has been in continuous operation since 1919. In settling its lawsuit against "The Greatest Show on Earth," the ASPCA was admonished by the judge hearing the case that it should have never been filed in the first place, primarily because the group used a paid plaintiff.
To be sure, there's big money in animal welfare advocacy. During the same period the ASPCA raked in its haul, the Humane Society of the United States brought in even more: $131.2 million. Smaller groups also raised notable amounts: $5.8 million for the Fund for Animals; $2.8 million for the Animal Welfare Institute, and 1.5 million for the Animal Protection Institute.
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