Former CEO of ASPCA: National Groups Should Do More For Local Pet Shelters

 Ed Sayres joins the Center for the Environment and Welfare as Senior Advisor 

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for the Environment and Welfare (CEW) today announced the appointment of Ed Sayres, the former CEO of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), as its newest Senior Advisor. In concert with this announcement, CEW has also released a new three-part video series in which Sayres shares his first-hand experiences overseeing ASPCA's revenue growth as former CEO. 

Sayres criticizes today's ASPCA and Humane Society of the United States for the shockingly small number of grants provided to local shelters considering their massive resources: 

"What's happened with the ASPCA grants program is that it's now down to about five million dollars a year for pet shelters when you have revenue of $390 million dollars per year. Now that's disappointing…in 2020 and 2021, the ASPCA finished with an operating surplus of fifty million dollars or eighty million dollars, and those resources could really be used to be helping shelters." 

Under Sayres' leadership, the ASPCA rolled out the iconic Sarah McLachlan commercial, which ushered in a new era of televised charity fundraising. Unfortunately, Sayres explains that his successors in the national animal charity space have lost their way:

"What's upsetting as time has gone on is that the original purpose of those funds seems to be forgotten. People will tell me 'Well I donate to the ASPCA and I know my local organization gets those donations' and I would say that no, they actually don't…your local organization doesn't automatically get funding from the Humane Society of the United States or the ASPCA." 

Watch here: Former ASPCA CEO Ed Sayres On His Disappointment with the Current ASPCA's Neglect of Local Shelters

"We are honored to welcome Ed Sayres to our team," said CEW Executive Director Jack Hubbard. "Ed is motivated to help local shelters. There is no one with a better background or credibility to correct donor confusion and demand these national animal groups stop hoarding donations. Donors deserve to know that the ASPCA and HSUS are unaffiliated with local shelters." 

Full video series available here. 

SOURCE Center for the Environment and Welfare