furtech | ???Who to give money to???

Although I give generously to a number of worthwhile charities every year, the Katrina situation has just overwhelmed me. Seeing dead and suffering people is horrible; there are not words to describe my feelings when they show the animals that had to be abandoned in the evacuation. You've probably seen the footage, so I won't recap. Priority is given to humans in disasters like this. I don't argue with that. At least can think and plan and have thumbs; wild animals survive or not (just a part of nature). But pets...whether it's a dog or a cat or bird or snake or even an insect: they depend on us. The situation is so huge that I know many will perish in terrible ways, with owners-- especially those who thought they would be back in just a few days-- suffering terrible guilt and anguish.

I want to make donations, but I want to money to go to the organization that would make the best use of the money (things are tight all over). I looked up the HSUS (Humane Society) and ASPCA and discovered that they're being run by PETA-like loonies. A former mucky-muck of the HSUS (Michael Fox) is the one who said that the life of an ant is equal to the life of a child and that the term pet "owner" was offensive. A former president of the ASPCA (Roger Caras) was another extremist in his views of eating meat and animal rights, as well as pulling in a huge salary.

So who do I give money to? Who would make best use of it? People-wise it's a no-brainer: the Red Cross (they don't always spend efficiently, but damn-- they're right there on the spot!) and the Salvation Army (huge organization, low salaries and color-blind).

But animals? I wish there was a way to give it to local organizations who generally spend the money more efficiently. Maybe, in this case I should ignore the extremist ideologies of the ASPCA or HSUS and just send them money if they're on the job?!?

All suggestions and opinions are welcomed...and I'll make my own decisions. But sooner is better than later!

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Well, I tossed large $$$ at the American Red Cross...but how to aid the critters...*erf*...that's a good puzzler. I know how important Daisy is to me...and how lost I'd be without her. Don't know how to aid someone who's got to be separated from their pet so they can live in rescue accomodations?
Must think about this.

Louisiana State University (through their veterinary school) is doing a lot to house animals. They've taken over their stadium and all the livestock stall to house dogs, cats, etc. for people. Their efforts are inspiring, especially for young veterinarians! What's still depressing is that even the thousands of animals they're helping, it's just a drop in the bucket. Very sad.

well....I know what my vet clinic is doing. Maybe one near you is doing something similar.

Every employee (and there are probably around 40 of us) is donating at least $5 to get a petsmart gift card that will be sent to help out with the shelters there. We are also flying in a bunch of dogs and housing them at our kennels until homes are found for them.

That's a neat idea! I'm still looking for the people who are doing what needs to be done now, though...just seeing the footage of the animals and not being able to do anything is very frustrating.

You've probably seen the footage

I hadn't, so of course I went to go look (because I am a ghoul). I found a couplea links for you.

http://www.katrinafoundpets.com/

http://www.petfinder.com/disaster/

Petfinders is a good group...but I'm leery of all the newly created ones. Just to be safe, I threw half my budget for this at the HSUS and ASPCA (1/4 to each). The other half I'll give to the best org I can find (which may be petfinders, actually).

The footage is heart-rending. Dogs barking from roofs...kittens on flooded porches mewing...animals barely able to keep their heads above water in a flooded yard. And knowing that most evacuees couldn't bring them or those who left their pets for what I'm sure most assumed was just a couple of days in the house...houses they can't get back to or which are flooded to the second floor. Water that is so toxic that the lake they're pumping it into will probably die. You're lucky to not be watching...seriously.

thank you for the links...

Hrm, since you don't seem to like HSUS you can try this:
http://www.uan.org/ears/index.html
(one of my cosplayer friends is a member of that and she's HOT, but that's besides the point.)

But if you change your mind about HSUS then:
https://secure.hsus.org/01/disaster_relief_fund_2005?source=drfhb4

EARS/United Animal Nation sounds interesting: they've been around for a while-- I wonder why I haven't heard of them before? I'll do some digging...

And see above for HSUS/ASPCA: better to action than delay.

Very true. At least they are out there to help. Nevermind ideologies in times of emergency.

And...most of the people working for them are *good* people, people who work to the bone and care too much. Like most organizations, it's those at the top who are corrupt/crazy.

I saw on a relief poster:
http://www.noahswish.org/
and
http://www.peacelovepets.com/ (which at the moment I couldn't get to load)
But I don't know about either of them first hand.

Fraid that's all I know.

http://www.bestfriends.org/

Best Friends is extremely good. They're in Utah, and take in animals no one else will.

And like crocuta said, Noah's Wish is awesome. I donated to Noah's Wish.

I've had a number of people endorse Noah's Wish: thanks for the confirmation!

if you could let us know some examples of the extremism, I could pass that along to my mom, as she gives to aspca and hsus all the time... :/
Perhaps we could find better too, but yeah... considering the intense and dire need this round, it might be good to send a few more dollars their way....

thanks for the links -_- ..*shiver*

It's possible that was just an anomalie: most of the craziness seems to be concentrated in the 90's. And any donations to the local arms of the HSUS or ASPCA are likely well-used. It's the national orgs that seem to waste money (I hate that so much of my donation goes towards...fundraising! Sending out letters begging for more money! Phone solicitations! Blargh!)

Here's some other choices:
PetsMart Charities The charity arm of PetsMart. Mostly they provide supplies to local charities at no cost. They are apparently also providing funding to build new buildings for teh rescue charities that lsot their shelters in the hurricane. According to their FAQ they've dispersed 380,000 worth of food, medicine, and supplies to groups on the ground.

Houstan SPCA They're taking in many of the animals displaced by teh storm. That ones a smaller more efficient one. While they aren't as involved actually pulling animals out of the water, they will be providing much of teh longer term care and adoption services.

Audobon Nature Institute of New Orleans They operate a zoo, aquarium, an insectarium, two places dedicated to endangered species survival, and nature preserves.

Maybe one of those will meet your criteria for not being run by loon.

I really like PetSmart: they seem to be doing everything right and for the right reasons. Even if I don't donate anything to them, they'll still get a lot of my business!

I'm not sure if it's the same aquarium that the ANINO operates, but they had another sad piece on one of the local aquariums who lost virtually all of their fish (power failures); the bit of good news is that the otters, penguins and sea dragons survived!

Thanks for the info-- I know you're up on these things.

You can do a check up on how effective a charity is and how much it spends of various activities through Charity Navigator

It'll show you details on how much of each dollar they spend on actual programming versus overhead expenseses, the CEO's pay, and good stuff like that.

LA/SPCA I don't know much about the Louisiana SPCA, but they're supposedly housing displaced animals and trying to match pets up with their owners.

The local arms of the SPCA and HSUS are usually just fine: these are the people doing all the hard work, so I have nothing but respect for them. Thanks for the link to the local arm-- I'm sure they'll be needing resources for a while...

This is highly unrelated Lance, but I have to say how much your darkstalkers costume had me floored.
http://www.i360.com/events/pmx2005/photos/ja-IMG_3969.jpg
http://www.i360.com/events/pmx2005/photos/ja-IMG_4105.jpg

I didn't know it was you, but I just figured since it seemed like one of your works. I had to get confirmation though.

???Who to give money to???

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just a slight detour

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