$10 to SPCA

On my blog I'm sharing how I'm giving $10 a day (on Day 20 so far) and Christine Eggers invited me to post here, too. At the moment I'm giving along with two friends also contributing $10 each, a mini giving circle. Today we decided to give to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals:

[cross posted on www.actuallygiving.com]

I like animals. They are nice as pets. And I’m happy paying an extra buck for eggs from chickens that don’t poop on top of each other.

But I don’t really wanna give extra bucks to a charity for animals. I’d rather give it to a charity for humans.

Animals versus humans is something that pops up in philanthropy chatter every so often. Last October, Martin Brookes at New Philanthropy Capital, a London-based philanthropic advising firm, wrote
about the gross imbalance between charities addressing domestic violence and .... He posted this chart:

It prompted much discussion, but unfortunately, I could not get past the incredible notion of a Donkey Sanctuary. A little heaven for stinky beasts with stubby tails ACTUALLY EXISTS!

I want to go to there.

And then, OMG scandal! Mr. Brookes wrote just a few days ago that he himself “adopted” a donkey and gave to the Sanctuary on a trip with his daughter, as an act of dad-love.

No one’s asking for it, but my opinion on this is only that Mr. Brookes was wonderfully honest in writing about this on the interwebs. Of course, other bloggers are picking this up and chatting about it,
was he right, was he wrong? And yet, remarkably, not one has yet
written that Mr. Brookes was concerned about saving his ass.

It appears I have not their self-restraint.

Since my brain cannot stop laughing at any and every and all things Donkey Sanctuary, I’m going to have to take another angle on the animals versus domestic violence debate. Although this event didn’t
happen in philanthropy, most folks are still familiar with it.

Remember Michael Vick?

He tortured and killed dogs and was vilified for it by the public. The Falcons sued and won for $20 million back of Vick’s signing bonus and the NFL indefinitely suspended him, conditionally lifting the
punishment over two years later. Meanwhile, when athletes committed
violence against PEOPLE, the following happened:

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Michael Pittman spent time in jail for intentionally ramming his Hummer into a car carrying his wife, 2-year-old son, and the son’s babysitter. It was the fourth time he’d
  been arrested on domestic violence charges. The NFL gave him a
  three-day suspension. (Thanks Mike Bianchi).
• Former Dolphins player Lamar Thomas put his pregnant fiancee’s head through a window. The NFL let him still play. (Mike Bianchi)
• Philadelphia Phillies’ pitcher Brett Myers assaulted his wife in full view of onlookers, dragging her by her hair and slapping her repeatedly. He was charged with assault and battery. Major League
  Baseball said through a spokesman, “It was an off-field incident and
  it’s the player’s private life.” (Thanks Elizabeth Hines)
• New Jersey Nets player Jason Kidd pled guilty to spousal abuse. The NBA had no punishment. (Thanks Sandra Kobrin).
• Bronco’s wide-receiver Brandon Marshall, former quarterback of the Seahawks and Vikings Warren Moon , Celtics basketball star Robert Parish all have horrible histories of domestic violence. And they are
  also all Hall of Famers (Thanks Mason Lerner and a hat tip for this Sports Illustrated article).

By not addressing these violent acts, the NBA & NFL & Major Leagues were clearly failing in an extraordinary way. But so were we, the public, for not expressing a fraction of the outrage that was felt
with Michael Vick. One more fun fact:

• After O.J. Simpson was charged with the murder of his wife, the Washington Post found that 141 football players (56 pros and 85 college athletes) had been reported to the police for violence against women in
  the previous five years. (Thanks Emily Bazelon)

That worked. I’m not laughing anymore.

When did our outrage about animals dwarf our outrage over the treament of our fellow human beings?

The only way I could convince myself to give toward an animal charity with my friends was to ask that the gift not go toward animal rights advocacy but instead for the neutering of
animals. At least that way I could stretch an argument that the
charity is helping people by keeping down the number of strays in the
human communities.

Yeah, it was a pretty big stretch.

Now, if only the SPCA neutered asses. That would have a impact on domestic violence for sure.

Day 20: $30 to Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals