Do you give to animal charities?

[IBM]

If so, what the hell?

Seriously? When you've got a spare £10 and you think, 'hey, that bedraggled kitten needs it more than that kid with only one functioning limb after stepping on a landmine in some god forsaken hell hole'....

Who does? Come on, step up....

I know there are people out there who favour animals over people, but there's got to be a better reason than that. There's an article on the BBC http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6295518.stm which says

Charities that help children and young people and that conduct medical research, especially into cancer, are favoured by the billionaire and the pensioner alike.

Arts and cultural organisations fundraise almost exclusively from the rich, while animal welfare charities regularly feature in the top 10 of "ordinary givers" but receive hardly a penny from major philanthropists.

I can totally see why.

[malfunction]

Not regularly no but I do pop a bit of change in the charity pot for the local animal rescue place when I'm at the pub...

[GoNz0]

i donated to the RNLI, there always pulling dum animals out the sea..

[badass]

Fundamentally, rich donors are not so different to the rest of us. They give because, like everyone, they want to be loved, admired, respected and remembered favourably.

Beth Breeze (author of the article) can go herself .
Perhaps some of us give because we think its the right thing to do and like to try to make a difference, no matter how small.

[Dreaming]

I reckon they get enough money tbh, lots of cases of the RSCPA etc. sticking their noses in and abducting and putting down healthy animals.

[Uncle Psychosis]

I have absolutely no problem giving money to animal charities. I quite regularly give money to both Animal causes and "human" ones.

If people think there's something wrong with that then they're the ones with the problem, frankly.

Sam

[Sinizter]

I would give to animals because people are ungrateful ******* in general. And in addition giving to an animal charity means you can see where your money is going more transparently than giving to a people based one. I am not interested in some paper pusher scrounging off money which I gave to charity. I would want atleast 85% of it to go straight to the cause I gave it for.

How many million did Oxfam lose during the tsunami thingy ? And why would I want to give money to some organisation that doesnt even have a handle on money they already have ?

And if I turned out to be a "major philanthropist" Ill go against the article and give to animal charities too.

[kickstart 1]

Yeah i give to animal charities , because i prefer animals to people. Most of the time they need it because of something man has done to them!

[tiggerai]

Animal charities anyday.

All of our pets have been rescued from RSPCA or suchlike and people can't do this work without funding.

We are now raising for PAT (www.petsastherapy.org) as Jess and Benji (both rescues) are now registered as PAT animals. We will be visiting people who can't have pets in Hospices etc.

[IBM]

Really?

All the 'transparancy' and 'I hate people' issues aside, you would seriously chose an animal's life over a human's?

IMO, there's something seriously wrong with that.

[kidzer]

I see them as equal, they're a life after all.

Anyways, I dont give to charity justnow, but when I do in the future, I shall give to both in equal amounts I expect.

[Mossy]

Really?

All the 'transparancy' and 'I hate people' issues aside, you would seriously chose an animal's life over a human's?

IMO, there's something seriously wrong with that.

that is quite a silly statement really, donating money to either charity is not actually like giving mouth to mouth to a dog.

I dont think giving money whether it be for a animal or human charity directly effects them in this way

[tiggerai]

Really?

All the 'transparancy' and 'I hate people' issues aside, you would seriously chose an animal's life over a human's?

IMO, there's something seriously wrong with that.

Well, not exclusively... Animals are humans to me... My Pets come as a first priority when it comes to feeding and vets bills as they can't do that for themselves. I would hate to ever have to choose between an animal and a human.

So in answer to the thread title, YES, I donate to Animal charities, by buying an extra can of food when I'm in the petstore, or making a donation when I rehome an animal. I will NEVER EVER "buy" an animal (i.e a pedigree)... thats a different view though that I'm going to keep to myself in this instance.

I also donate to Oxfam by using their shops and Cancer charities as they have helped a few members of my family. As i can't afford to really donate money, I'll seek out other ways of doing it.

The british heart foundation gets all of my old clothes to sell (as well as GOSH) - SCOPE got 4 bags worth when I moved from Manchester. and I have been donating and buying furniture from Age Concern for about 6 years now. It's my first port of call for furniture in MK.

Have I redeemed myself?

(seriously though, I'm a lovely person, i'm surprised you took my hastily posted reply as seriously as that!)

[IBM]

that is quite a silly statement really, donating money to either charity is not actually like giving mouth to mouth to a dog.

I dont think giving money whether it be for a animal or human charity directly effects them in this way

How ironic. I feel that what you have just said is quite a silly statement too.

I have no idea what you're saying. Mouth to mouth to a dog? Giving money to charity doesn't affect the subject for whom the charity was created?

What?

here's the scenario. On the one hand you have a charity which looks after abandoned cats, on the other you have a charity which looks after abused and mutilated children from war torn countries who without medical treatment will die a painful and horrible death, crying out for their parents who they witnessed getting shot in the head, or carved up with a machette the last time the militia visited their neck of the woods.

And people would choose the cats?

And before anyone says that's not a fair comparrison, it bloody well is, as both of those types of charities exist, and every penny that could go to look after a cat, could be better spent looking after children. What does it cost to look after a cat in the UK? I bet you could look after a kid for the same price in Darfur.

[tiggerai]

In my last post you'll see that I donate to a lot of different causes... they are all equally as important to me.

I don't JUST donate to animal charities, it is a wide range of things. I'll usually choose a wider ranging one though that will help a wider cross section, rather than a specific cause.

[Dareos]

cold calculating ruthless and evil, but yes quite lovely indeed

I'm afraid my charity work mainly consists of donations when someone waves a jar at me, i tend to give mainly to cancer related causes (lost my father to it 4 years ago, MacMillain and Marie Curie nurses were fantastic). I have in the past helped in soup kitchens and the Frederick Osnam centre in Glasgow, but that was many years ago now, and i have actually been homeless since that, so I kinda have a soft spot for that kind of thing too. Thankfully i had enough friends to see me ok during what was a very bad (and self inflicted really in hindsight) year.

As for animal charities, well my sister in law has a habit of rescuing animals, 3 cats and 2 dogs so far, and Mercy was taken from the side of a freeway in Houston, and is my nieces favourite pet, very very good natured and playful, especially after the treatment she received as a pup. That little dog has provided much joy for that family, which is a chance a lot of pets and a lot of families don't get to have.

So yes, i'm in favour of both, but to prioritise them? Thats very much down to the individual. If every person was charity minded, and only charity minded towards other human beings then there would be a lot of dead animals littering our streets, maltreated and malnourished pets wandering the roads. Children would be attacked by rabid dogs and we would be taxed for animal catchers to retreive and destroy such animals.

give money to the charities you believe in, just try and make sure the money actually goes to the place its meant to