By Katherine Lacefield, Founder of Just Be Cause Consulting

September 9th, 2024

The Changing Times of Animal Shelter Philanthropy

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in demand for household pets. For a time, this represented a welcomed increase in adoptions in Canada’s animal shelters. Unfortunately, the excitement didn’t last. As the restrictions were lifted, animal shelters began receiving the “pandemic pets” being surrendered across the country. While still in a downward trend overall between 2010 and 2021, pet abandonment remains common, with over 94,000 animals admitted into shelters in 2021 alone. 

A glance at a 2022 survey paints an animal-loving picture of Canadian households, with pets holding a cherished place in 60% of them. This stands in stark contrast to the high abandonment rates. In response, many animal shelters point to the social crises our communities are dealing with today: lack of affordable or pet-friendly housing and the rising cost of living. 

Foundations stand ready to support families through these tumultuous socio-economic times, but what about their furry, feathered, or scaled family members? Are these institutions stepping up to the plate to ensure family unity, thereby alleviating the strain on already bursting-at-the-seams shelters?

 It's high time we had some answers.

The Role of SPCAs and Humane Societies in Animal Welfare

Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCAs) and Humane Societies are well-known across Canada for rehoming unwanted pets and protecting their welfare. But has managing animal shelters always been their priority? 

This begs another question, who should be responsible for funding these animal welfare groups: the state, the public, or private philanthropy? 

This article explores the different funding options available to animal-focused organizations like SPCAs and Humane Societies in Canada, along with the possibilities and limitations of each model. This article just might redefine your understanding of animal welfare financing.

SPCAs in North America: From British Roots to Today

To understand the current state and role of animal shelters in Canada, we must look back at the origins of SPCAs in North America. Inspired by England’s animal protection movements, the first American SPCA (ASPCA) was founded in 1866 by Henry Bergh, a New Yorker from a wealthy shipbuilding family.

Initially, these societies were more advocacy-oriented, focusing on legislative changes to improve the conditions of animals, particularly horses. The focus on pets, such as cats and dogs, emerged with the rise in pet ownership across North America in the early 20th century.

Canada's first SPCA was founded in Montreal in 1869, with a similar focus on improving the living conditions of workhorses. Over time, the Montreal SPCA expanded its efforts to include issues such as cockfighting, wild bird protection, and humane dog control. Today, Canada has over 1000 charities registered under the “animal welfare” category, including 175 Humane Societies and SPCAs, with 93% of these latter taking on the responsibility of operating animal shelters—a role that once fell to municipalities.

SPCAs and Municipal Animal Control: Government Funding Challenges

New York City, frustrated by Henry Bergh’s advocacy efforts, asked the ASPCA to take on its municipal animal control mandate. This way, they could hand off the problem to them and no longer be berated for their unethical animal control methods. But, Bergh refused, arguing that it would conflict with the ASPCA’s mission to protect animals. Bergh was probably aware such an endeavor would take up all, or a large portion, of their limited resources, and not always lead to happy endings for the animals. 

However, in 1895, against the late Bergh’s wishes for the organization, the New York SPCA eventually accepted the municipal contract, likely due to the steady income it provided. This decision marked a shift in the role of SPCAs, leading many to take on municipal animal control duties, despite the conflict with their original mission.

According to Humane Canada, less than 50% of the costs of enforcing provincial or federal animal protection legislation are covered by government funding. This leads to several issues for SPCAs and Humane Societies who “won” animal control mandates, such as the financial burden of enforcing legislation as a nonprofit, and a shift away from long-term actions like education and advocacy as they focus on their contractual animal control obligations.

Philanthropic Funding: Can Grantmaking Fill the Gap?

Would Bergh have been able to refuse the income promised by municipal animal control contracts had he not come from a wealthy family? Given the restrictions and burdens of municipal funding, SPCAs and Humane Societies need to explore other sources of support, which include philanthropic grants.

 According to a 2016 report by Humane Canada, the majority of SPCA and Humane Society revenues come from individual donations, with very little grantmaking support. For instance, less than 2% of the Montreal SPCA, Ottawa Humane Society, and BC SPCA’s revenues came from grants from other registered charities (foundations) in 2023. 

This lack of grantmaking support highlights the challenges animal-focused organizations face in securing funding from philanthropic foundations.

We identify three key factors contributing to this challenge:

1. The Anthropocentric Definition of Charitable Actions: The CRA’s definition of charitable acts often excludes non-human-focused work, leaving little room for animal welfare organizations. While this has expanded in recent years as the environmental and One Health movements gain in popularity, many foundations stay true to more traditional philanthropic causes of education, health, and poverty alleviation.

   
   

2. Advocacy Work: Many animal-focused organizations engage in advocacy, which was largely restricted for charities until the 2018 revision of Canadian charity law. This made it impossible for organizations advocating for anti-cruelty laws to get charitable status, and thus be eligible for philanthropic grants. To this day, foundations remain timid to fund advocacy and stick to more "traditional" charitable actions, be it for humans or animals.

   
   

3. Focus on Measurable Social Impact: The philanthropic sector’s emphasis on quantifiable social impact can overlook the broader, systemic changes that animal welfare organizations aim to achieve through education and advocacy. Further, while the impact is tremendous for the animals being rescued, translating that into measurable community impact is not always a straightforward task. 

Conclusion: Facing Funding Challenges in Animal Shelter Philanthropy

Funding animal charities like SPCAs and Humane Societies is no easy task, with most still relying on individual donations and income from services provided to cover their broader mission of protecting animals.

While municipal funding offers some financial stability, it also imposes responsibilities that may conflict with the organizations' missions. Philanthropic grantmaking could help reduce this dependency on government funding, and allow them to invest in longer-term, sustainable solutions that are not as attractive to individual donation campaigns. 

Still, the current grantmaking landscape comes with its own set of challenges, particularly due to the sector’s anthropocentric focus. However, human society is part of a larger system that includes sentient, non-human animals and the broader environmental ecosystem.

More and more attention is being brought to the human-animal bond, an argument in favor of the social impact of animal-focused charities. 

If the philanthropic sector were to broaden its definition and scope and be more conscious of the interconnection between human and non-human causes, there would be more opportunities for grantmaking to support the changes necessary for a more just and compassionate world for all.

This is an updated version of the original article written as part of PhiLab’s January 2022 Special Edition: Philanthropy for the Animals. Find the original article here.