Special Interest Groups

• WHAT IS ITS MISSION?
• HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?
• PRIMARY FUNCTIONS
• PROGRAMS
• FAST FACTS
• BUDGET INFORMATION
• HISTORY
• CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES
• FUTURE DIRECTIONS
• GROUP RESOURCES
• GROUP PUBLICATIONS
• BIBLIOGRAPHY

ESTABLISHED: April 10, 1866
EMPLOYEES: 200
MEMBERS: 425,000
PAC: None

Contact Information:
ADDRESS: 424 East 92nd St. New York, NY 10128-6804
PHONE: (212) 876-7700
FAX: (212) 860-3435
E-MAIL: press@aspca.org
URL: http://www.aspca.org
PRESIDENT: Dr. Larry Hawk

WHAT IS ITS MISSION?

As its name clearly states, the mission of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States." The ASPCA, in carrying out its mission, deals with numerous animal-related issues, including pet overpopulation and locating homes for abandoned animals; law enforcement; animal experimentation; animal abuse; and standards of animal care. To combat cruelty toward animals, the ASPCA employs such methods as education, advocacy, legal counsel, and outreach.

HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?

The ASPCA's headquarters are located in New York City. An additional office in Washington, D.C., houses the organization's Legislative Affairs Department, which is staffed by three people and works with the federal legislature and administrative agencies having regulatory power over animal-related issues. An additional Legislative Affairs office based in Albany, New York, deals with animal-related issues at the state level. The ASPCA has a regional office in Los Angeles that houses the organization's programming and fund-raising departments, and one in Urbana, Illinois, that houses the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center. The organization also maintains a Humane Law Enforcement office in Long Island, New York, that administers law enforcement activities within that state as they pertain to animal cruelty.

The ASPCA is governed by a 21-member board that sets the broad organizational direction. The ASPCA has no other regional offices—other state and local SPCAs are independent organizations. ASPCA members who have decided to contribute efforts to advocacy are known as the ASPCA Legislative Action Team. Members join the ASPCA at annual rates from $20 to $500 and above, and receive publications, voting privileges at annual meetings (if over age 18), and discounts on veterinary services or training.

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS

The ASPCA advocates for the safety of animals. It has a direct impact on animals by providing homes, improving animal health, and protecting animals from mistreatment. The organization also educates people and offers resources that will make pet-owners better providers for their pets. Finally, the ASPCA works to influence legislation relating to animal welfare and monitors its enforcement.

The ASCPA offers a placement service for animals that need homes. Animals are received from other humane organizations or from owners who can no longer care for them. The ASPCA gives these animal any needed vaccinations and spays or neuters them prior to adoption. When an animal is offered for adoption the ASCPA takes potential owners through a screening process to make sure the adoption will be a good match. It also provides a free medical exam for the animal once it has been adopted. In 1997 alone the ASCPA provided homes for over 1,300 animals through its placement program, charging a $50.00 fee for each animal adoption. The organization's Web site displays a daily roster (with pictures) of cats and dogs available for adoption.

The ASPCA provides community outreach so that the public understands the mission of the organization. It holds public events like street fairs and bazaars in order to place animals under its temporary care and educate people about the humane treatment of animals. The ASPCA also carries out Humane Education programs in schools and to other targeted audiences.

Adoption and education efforts rely greatly on the support of volunteers who go through a screening and training process. ASPCA volunteers serve in a number of capacities, including: assisting with adoption placement, walking and socializing animals, providing foster care, assisting with legislative initiatives, preparing publications, assisting with community outreach efforts, and providing education programs that teach people how to treat animals humanely. Volunteers receive an ASPCA Volunteer Newsletter that addresses upcoming volunteer needs and events.

The ASPCA's Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital in New York City provides services for animals, including spaying and neutering, dental care, biopsies, surgery, and vaccinations. Members get a 10-percent discount on hospital services. A help line is available for medical-related questions.

In addition to its other missions, the ASPCA also functions as a law enforcement body employing licensed peace officers to enforce animal welfare laws. Officers investigate cruelty to animals (such as animal abuse or cockfighting); inspect pet shops, circuses, and movie sets for animal welfare violations; and issue arrests and court summonses when necessary. More than 5,000 animal welfare-related cases are investigated each year and over 300 people are arrested annually for violations. The ASPCA's legal department provides counsel to the organization regarding enforcement of animal welfare laws.

Crucial to carrying out its mission are ASPCA lobbying efforts. The organization lobbies for and tracks legislation at the federal and state level, produces position papers, solicits letters of support, runs political advocacy ads and campaigns, and works with related federal agencies that have regulatory power in animal cruelty issues. Members who join the ASPCA Legislative Action Team are called upon (via action alerts) to contact congressmen on the phone or through letters regarding pending legislation.

PROGRAMS

Many of the ASPCA's programs benefit pets, animals in foster care, and animals chosen for adoption. Other programs are designed to teach individuals of all ages to respect animals and treat them well.

The ASCPA Foster Care Program provides a temporary home for animals that are too sick or aggressive to be offered for adoption. Volunteers give the animals a place to live; the ASCPA provides pet food and other supplies. The ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center (ASPCA/NAPCC) is a fee-based phone-in resource for animal poison incidents. The center, established in 1978 as the first and only national poison control center for animals in the United States, became part of the ASCPA in 1996. The ASCPA's Animal Population Control Program (APCP) provides low-cost spay/neutering and inoculations for animals adopted in New York State. New York residents have the option of supporting the program by purchasing special license plates.

ASPCA Humane Education programs are extensive and aimed at a variety of issues and audiences. For example, the organization's "Web of Life" and "Extend the Web" materials are kits for use in schools that help provide insight into human and animal interrelationships. The "Adopt a School" program allows individuals to sponsor the introduction of humane education materials into a particular school. Publications are available for teachers that are informational and useful as teaching aids. Humane education programs also include videos, seminars, class pet programs—which place a pet in a classroom and teach children proper behavior and care—and a number of books.

BUDGET INFORMATION

The ASPCA is a nonprofit organization. By the end of 1996 the ASPCA's animal protection budget had increased 67 percent over previous levels. Fortunately, 1996 also saw a huge increase in donors and membership: membership climbed 30 percent that year and donors—those who contribute more than $500—climbed from 220 in 1995 to 750 in 1996.

In 1997 the organization posted total revenues of $24,299,90–$18,209,855 in contributions, $3,609,488 in program service revenue, $721,507 in interest on investments, $43,720 in rental income, $752,459 on sale of assets, $16,389 in special event income, and $946,483 in other revenue—against expenses totaling $21,385,845. The greatest expenses came in the areas of salaries and wages and direct mail costs; in addition the organization donated $34,000 worth of humane education materials to schools and made cash grants to organizations like the Greyhound Project, the Jane Goodall Institute, and local SPCAs.

HISTORY

The ASPCA was founded in 1866 by Henry Bergh who, three years prior, had witnessed a man beating a horse and felt moved to stop the beating. Concerned with the humane treatment of animals, he visited the London Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which served as the model when he founded the ASPCA. Bergh's organization was the first humane organization of its sort in North America.

Shortly after Bergh founded the ASPCA, he was able to persuade the New York State legislature to pass the nation's first anti-cruelty law and authorize his society to enforce it. By 1867 the society had provided an ambulance—the first of its kind—for injured horses. By 1873, 25 other states and territories had established independent SPCAs modeled after the ASPCA. By the late

1990s, 8,000 local and independent SPCAs operated around the United States working to decrease animal cruelty. While not affiliated with these groups, the ASCPA provides outreach services and coordinates information among shelters.

One of the prevailing attitudes the ASCPA had to contend with as early as 1916 was the public's view of animals as property rather than companions. The ASPCA began Humane Education programs in 1916 and geared these programs toward children in the hope that early learning would help children develop, and keep, an empathetic attitude toward animals. Humane Education has remained a large part of the organization's mission into the 1990s, and includes teachers, parents, and people of all ages.

World Wars I (1914–18) and II (1939–45) drew on the use of animals, and the ASPCA stepped forward to offer expertise. In 1916 the organization raised money to provide care for 934,000 horses serving U.S. forces during World War I. During World War II the organization provided education programs on the care of animals during air raids. In 1944 the ASCPA held its first dog and owner obedience classes.

The society also took an increasing role in inspecting situations for the safe, ethical, and humane treatment of animals. In 1939 the organization inspected all 2,000 animals at the New York World Fair. In 1952 the ASPCA began the first program to conduct voluntary inspections of animal research laboratories. The organization opened the Animalport at Kennedy International Airport to inspect animals entering or leaving the United States. That function was later taken over by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The ASPCA made important inroads into improved veterinary care. The organization performed its first canine open heart surgery in 1961. In 1973 the ASPCA began requiring spay and neutering procedures for all animals adopted out. The organization made its presence more politically visible by opening its Washington, D.C. office in 1985. In 1990 the ASPCA opened an office in Los Angeles to monitor humane issues in western U.S. states. Strategically, the ASPCA increased its focus on education and advocacy in 1995 by declining to renew its 100-year-old animal control contract with the city of New York. A year later the organization acquired the National Animal Poison Control Center, a 24-hour resource for poison information and emergencies.

CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES

The ASPCA is involved with a variety of political issues at the federal and state level that relate to animal cruelty. According to the organization, cruelty to animals exists in many forms: cockfighting, the sale of animals that can no longer walk, the sale of animals to research labs, trapping, starvation, homelessness, and certain types of hunting are only a few. The organization lobbies for the protection of particular species that may be subject to acts of cruelty. Endangered species such as the rhino or tiger are killed to make products for humans. Bear gallbladders are extremely valuable and used for Asian medicinal purposes, resulting in the killing of bears specifically for that purpose. Reacting to the absence of any consistent federal law protecting bears, the ASPCA lobbied for the passage of 1998's Bear Protection Act (H.R. 619) and sent action alerts to members, requesting them to contact their congressman to urge them to support the bill.

According to the ASPCA, domestic pet population control is a serious issue in the United States, resulting in many homeless pets that die, live with disease, or must be either adopted out or euthanized by the ASPCA and other SPCAs around the country. The ASPCA endorses spay and neutering programs and educates the public about the serious implications of pet overpopulation. The organization in early 1998 opposed the USDA stance on puppy mills—operations that breed animals intensively for pet store sales. Conditions at puppy mills are often substandard, with emphasis on producing quantities of animals rather than professional breeding procedures or sanitary conditions. The USDA's unwillingness to regulate conditions at puppy mills prompted an ASPCA pushed for regulation of these operations beginning in 1998.

Similarly, the ASPCA opposed a program instigated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that allows people to adopt wild horses rounded up by that government agency. Many of these horses are slaughtered to provide meat for overseas markets. The ASPCA alerted members and asked them to contact their representatives and demand a hearing on the issue. The organization also requested members to contact the head of the USDA and urge an end to the killing of these horses.

Trapping methods also concern the ASPCA. Many animals are killed for their fur using a steel-jawed leg-hold trap. The ASPCA considers the trap unreasonably cruel and dangerous to others who may be hurt by it, such as children or other animals. As late as 1998 no consistent federal law existed to ban the trap. The ASPCA lobbied for passage of the Steel Jaw Leg Hold Trap Ban (H.R. 1176), which would prohibit the buying or selling of animals for fur that had been killed using the trap. The organization monitored the legislation, produced position papers, and requested members to contact their congressman, providing a list of points members could include in letters to Congress.

ASPCA legislative initiatives are not limited to the federal level. By early 1998 only 21 states had laws that made animal cruelty a felony rather than a misdemeanor. During the 1998 New York state legislative session, the ASPCA pushed for legislation that would make animal cruelty a felony in New York state.

Case Study: Animal Cruelty Bill Stalled

In New York state, according to the ASPCA, all acts of animal cruelty are punished equally, regardless of the level or type of pain inflicted. All offenses are prosecuted as misdemeanors, or, as the ASPCA put it, by less than the penalty for stealing a car.

During the 1997–98 state legislative session, the ASPCA lobbied for the Felony Cruelty Act (A.2268-C), which if passed would make all acts of cruelty to animals a felony in New York state. The ASPCA monitored the legislation, ensured media coverage, produced position papers, ran advocacy ads, and urged New York resident members to contact their state representatives, while ASPCA staff traveled daily between Albany and New York City. The hunting, farm, and gun lobbies—normally on the opposite side of issues from the ASPCA—also supported the passage of the bill.

Although the Senate passed the bill and moved it to the general assembly, the bill was stalled when the Speaker attached his own bill to the Felony Cruelty Act. With three days to go in the session, the new bill was required to age three days before it could be acted upon. The stalling tactic caused time to run out during the legislative session and the Felony Cruelty Act did not pass during the 1997–98 New York legislative session.

Had the Felony Cruelty Act passed, offenders would have faced greatly increased punishment for acts of cruelty to animals, including fines up to $2,500 and prison terms up to two years. The act would also have given a court the power to require psychiatric evaluation of offenders and recommend treatment. A felony punishment for animal cruelty, an issue central to the ASPCA, is expected to be advocated for in future state and federal legislative sessions.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Due to the large growth in support that ASPCA experienced in 1996, the organization planned to install an ASPCA fellowship at John Hopkins University for the purpose of studying alternatives to animal testing. The society also made plans to improve facilities at the Duke University Primate Center. While the ASPCA continues to try to capitalize on its growth in membership experienced during the late 1990s, it also remains focused on advocacy and education about preventing cruelty to animals.

GROUP RESOURCES

The ASCPA's behavior help line provides answers to callers about animal problems, such as biting, training, spraying, or animal care tips. Calls are taken at (212) 876-7700, ext. 4357, weekday afternoons. Through its Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital, the ASPCA offers a medical help line at (212) 876-7700, extension 4203. The organization's National Animal Poison Control Center, a hot line for poison issues and emergencies, can be reached at 1-800-548-2423, 1-888-426-4435, or 1-900-680-0000. The fee is $30 per call.

GROUP PUBLICATIONS

"Extend the Web" Humane Education resources can be ordered directly from the ASPCA Web site at http://www.ascpa.org.educate/eduform2.htm or by calling the organization directly. Some of the books available include: I Can Save the Earth by Anita Holmes and Julian Messner (1993) and the Newbery Award-winning Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1991). The ASPCA also publishes the Volunteer Newsletter for its volunteers and the ASPCA Animal Watch for members, both which include updates on animal-related news and issues.