Reflect: Animals have always been near and dear to my heart so I was interested in seeing what charities this website considered to be effective. I was particularly wanting to see what shelters it recommended, but when I searched the website I became disappointed. Only two charities qualified as "effective" according to the website's criteria, however they did list other charities that they had evaluated and the reasons behind why they were not "top charities" or "standout charities". Sadly, the website does not consider rescues and shelters that aim to help companion animals to be effective at all and they do not recommend them as means to save as many animals as possible. Instead, they recommend numerous organizations that help save farm animals because they have saved more animals for less cost.
I, however, disagree with the website's claim because I think that rescue organizations can be quite effective and worthwhile causes. One such organization that I highly recommend giving back to is Austin Pets Alive! I volunteer with APA through a fitness charity called RuffTail Runners and have seen firsthand what an incredible job they do to save animals and give them better lives. APA takes dogs and cats in that are set to be euthanized by the city shelter and they love and care for them until a forever family comes along and adopts them. While there, dogs are trained by the fabulous behavior team and some are even ready to become Canine Good Citizen dogs! Since APA staff, volunteers, and foster families give these sweet, sweet animals a second chance at life I consider these wonderful people to essentially be social workers for animals. Like traditional (for lack of a better term) social workers, they deserve more recognition than they get. I know I said it once, but seriously, check these guys out and give back if you can. They can always use more donations, volunteers, foster homes, and of course forever homes!
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| This handsome fella is my favorite running buddy named Rooster. |
I totally agree with you in saying that these organizations are extremely effective and worth giving to. Places like Austin Pets Alive definitely deserve more recognition than they currently receive.
ReplyDeleteAustin is actually one of the best cities for animal rescue. I used to volunteer in San Antonio and we were given astounding statistics regarding the stray rates and the kill rates (there was one week in San Antonio where over 9,000 animals had to be put down because there was no space for them). I can see where the assumptions made in this TED talk come from and I can also see holes in the explanation. While small donations may not benefit the cause, that doesn't mean the causes is a lost cause. There are many other ways that problems can be fixed. In San Antonio, it was just a matter of so many animals not being neutered or spayed. It didn't matter if we could afford one more truck to go pick up strays because litters upon litters were being made every hour. BUT problems like this could be fixed with community involvement with fixing the strays around their neighborhoods at a lowered or no cost.
ReplyDeleteAlso Austin pets Alive is amazing. They have a rehabilitation rate of 98-99% (the ~1% being animals that have to be put down because of injuries or illnesses and never because there are not enough adoptions or funding). Austin is an example of a really great city that could use funding and even more funding for animal rescues. I don't think that we should give up funding for animal rescues in other cities, but I can understand where this sense of "hopelessness" comes from.
Comment #26
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I took a look at that website also and found myself disagreeing with what does and doesn’t constitute an effective charity organization. I don’t know, I feel that the aim of most charities is a noble one, and some good causes are unfairly left out by simply taking a cold hard look at the statistics.
I am a huge animal love and activist so i absolutely loved your post! thank you for it!
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