{"id":150505,"date":"2026-03-03T02:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T02:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/150505\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T02:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T02:33:07","slug":"op-ed-amid-nyc-budget-challenges-the-aspca-should-pay-its-fair-share","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/150505\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed | Amid NYC budget challenges, the ASPCA should pay its fair share"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zohran Mamdani is attempting to\u00a0perform<\/a>\u00a0accounting gymnastics to balance the Big Apple\u2019s budget. One piece of the puzzle is an initiative that is being\u00a0compared<\/a>\u00a0to Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Specifically, the New York City mayor\u00a0issued<\/a>\u00a0an executive order directing every city agency to appoint a \u201cchief savings officer\u201d tasked with establishing plans to spend taxpayer dollars more efficiently. The homework is due\u00a0later this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The exercise is prompting an uneasy sense of deja vu for some. DOGE \u2014 and its chaotic rollout in Washington last year \u2014 left a bitter taste among Democrats and gave pragmatic conservatives pause. Even its biggest cheerleader, Musk, has acknowledged<\/a>\u00a0the exercise was only \u201csomewhat successful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Democrats with big ideas should not discount how a DOGE-ish strategy, when executed smartly, can help implement their own priorities. Identifying opportunities to better spend government money\u2014and clarifying where others should contribute \u2014 can unlock financing for bold, new programs. New York City is suffering<\/a>\u00a0from a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall and every dollar counts.<\/p>\n

From that perspective, all of the city\u2019s 100-plus government agencies and the projects they fund have a role to play \u2014 even those that deal with the city\u2019s nonhuman residents. The Animal Care Centers of NYC, which shelters and facilitates the adoption of homeless pets with funding from the city\u2019s health department, is one example. Taxpayers spend<\/a>\u00a0north of $20 million a year to keep its operations afloat\u2014but just barely, given its poor record.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 1,500 dogs and cats were\u00a0euthanized<\/a> in its shelters during 2025 \u2014\u00a0hundreds<\/a>\u00a0more compared to the year before. Why is the situation deteriorating? Because City Hall is strapped for cash and large animal charities are failing to step up to the plate. To better serve the city\u2019s homeless pets and get more bang per taxpayer buck, wealthy animal nonprofits need to start paying their fair share.<\/p>\n

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), which is headquartered in Manhattan, would fit the bill. The group\u00a0collects<\/a>\u00a0more than $400 million a year but currently only gives a tiny fraction of their budget to pet shelters as financial grants. The\u00a0ASPCA\u00a0also has $466 million stashed away in an investment portfolio and the charity\u2019s CEO makes $1.2 million, according to the latest available tax return.<\/p>\n

Yes, the\u00a0ASPCA\u00a0currently gives\u00a0some<\/a> money to the Animal Care Centers of NYC, but average support has dropped compared to pre-pandemic levels. The fundraising juggernaut clearly has ample resources to do more \u2014 easily doubling or tripling the current taxpayer-funded portion.<\/p>\n

Sheltering an animal costs an\u00a0estimated<\/a>\u00a0$950 a year. Imagine what the\u00a0ASPCA\u00a0could do if its reserves were to be spent wisely. More homeless cats and dogs in the\u00a0ASPCA\u2019s own backyard could get a second leash on life \u2014 simultaneously freeing up millions of taxpayer dollars to be reinvested.<\/p>\n

Sure, no law exists that demands the\u00a0ASPCA\u00a0take more responsibility for Big Apple pets. But doesn\u2019t the group have a moral obligation? The organization has called New York City home since 1866 and avoids paying most taxes because of its nonprofit status. The least it can do is give more back to the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mamdani \u2014 and his allies \u2014 don\u2019t have a shortage of big ideas but they do lack the government resources at present to make those proposals a reality. New York-based institutions like the ASPCA\u00a0need to do their part to fill budget holes in City Hall\u2019s ambitious agenda. Even old bureaucracies can learn new tricks, and help animals in the process.<\/p>\n

Edwin\u00a0Sayres\u00a0was president and CEO of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals from 2003 to 2013. He is a senior adviser to the Center for the Environment and Welfare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zohran Mamdani is attempting to\u00a0perform\u00a0accounting gymnastics to balance the Big Apple\u2019s budget. One piece of the puzzle is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-150505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-ny","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-nyc-headlines","12":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}