Talk:American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Life skills

SPCA 41.242.160.45 (talk) 14:12, 24 August 2022 (UTC)

History copyedit + Animal relocation

Hi! I'm Daysi from ASPCA. This is my first time making an edit request. Since I have a conflict of interest, I added the disclosure banner at the top of the page and will suggest changes here instead of changing the article myself. Here are my first suggestions:

• In History, the article says "Also in 2019, the ASPCA also took over responsibility for The Right Horse Initiative as an official program of the ASPCA."

• Having "also" twice is redundant, I suggest replacing "Also in 2019" with "That year" or removing one instance of "also".

• The Animal Relocation section is quite brief. I'd like to suggest expanding it. I prepared the paragraph below on the program.

• Suggested text: ASPCA works with other animal welfare organizations and rescue groups to relocate animals from areas with high rates of euthanasia in animal shelters to locations with higher adoption rates. Often, animals are moved from the southern to northern U.S. states. Animals may be transported using aircraft or vehicles, sometimes being relayed between transporters multiple times along the way. As of March 2022, ASPCA had a fleet of 18 vans used for transport. The organization relocated approximately 200,000 animals between 2017 and 2022.

References

If you have any thoughts or questions about my request please let me know! I am eager to learn about this process and hope I can be helpful. Thanks, ~~~~ Daysiyeates (talk) 19:04, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

 Done JSFarman (talk) 23:16, 19 March 2023 (UTC)

Thanks so much! Daysiyeates (talk) 22:38, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

Addition to Legislation and litigation

Hi again! For my second suggestion, I have some recent history that I propose adding to the Legislation and litigation section. Here it is:

ASPCA was among the animal welfare groups that supported the "puppy mill pipeline" bill in New York, which was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on December 15, 2022. The law goes into effect in 2024, and will make it illegal to sell dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet stores in New York. The organization's senior director of state legislation said the law is needed because many puppies are imported from other states where New York does not have jurisdiction to inspect the conditions in the breeding facility.

References

Let me know what you think. Happy to hear feedback and questions. Since I have a COI, I won't make any changes myself. User:JSFarman, would you be interested in reviewing another request for me?

Thank you in advance for the assistance! Daysiyeates (talk) 22:41, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

 Done - Rich^T|C|E-Mail 15:13, 31 March 2023 (UTC)

@Rich Smith: Thank you very much! Daysiyeates (talk) 20:44, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

Proposed merge of ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Division into American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Large amount of overlap. Remove the outdated legal details and uncited material from ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Division and merge it to American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Apocheir (talk) 23:18, 2 April 2023 (UTC)

• Oppose - the law enforcement division operated for 150 years and I'm seeing plenty of coverage in searches for sources (newspapers.com, etc.). It's an unusual law enforcement division and was even the subject of a reality TV series, Animal Precinct. It could use improvement, but it's notable enough for a stand-alone article. — Rhododendrites ^talk \\ 13:24, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

Closing, with no merge, given the uncontested objection and no support. Klbrain (talk) 11:14, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

Behavior rehabilitation centers

Hi, it's Daysi again. I've got another addition to suggest. Would editors be willing to add a section on our behavior rehabilitation centers? This has been a major project for the organization, and I think is an important part of our recent history. Here's my proposed section:

ASPCA operates centers where dogs that have experienced abuse or trauma receive treatment and behavior rehabilitation before being cleared for adoption. As of 2022, the organization has committed $40 million to building and operating the centers, which are located in Weaverville, North Carolina, Columbus, Ohio, with another being developed in Pawling, New York. The Weaverville center opened in 2020 and, according to Rolling Stone, was the world's first clinic for treating dogs that have been severely traumatized. The concept was conceived in 2010 by two ASPCA behaviorists as a way to reduce the number of dogs that are euthanized in shelters for behavior issues. The organization piloted the program in 2013 at a temporary site in Madison, New Jersey and reported that approximately 90 percent of the dogs treated recovered enough to be adopted. In 2014, ASPCA purchased land in Weaverville where it built the center. As of July 2022, the Weaverville center had 35 full-time staff, and had rehabilitated 500 dogs since opening.

References

I am open to reviewing editors making changes, and appreciate any feedback. Since I have a COI, I will avoid making any direct edits myself. User:Rich Smith, if you have time to take a look here, please feel free! Thanks everyone, Daysiyeates (talk) 20:46, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

@Daysiyeates: Pawling, New York leads to a Disambiguation page. Can you more closely define the correct article it should point to? I also don't think we need the 'according to Rolling Stone, you have already cited it, thats fine - Rich^T|C|E-Mail 23:54, 4 April 2023 (UTC)

@Rich Smith: Thanks for your feedback! I have made those changes in the updated version below. Let me know if there's anything else I can do. Thanks again, Daysiyeates (talk) 20:47, 10 April 2023 (UTC)

ASPCA operates centers where dogs that have experienced abuse or trauma receive treatment and behavior rehabilitation before being cleared for adoption. As of 2022, the organization has committed $40 million to building and operating the centers, which are located in Weaverville, North Carolina, Columbus, Ohio, with another being developed in Pawling, New York. The Weaverville center opened in 2020 and was the world's first clinic for treating dogs that have been severely traumatized. The concept was conceived in 2010 by two ASPCA behaviorists as a way to reduce the number of dogs that are euthanized in shelters for behavior issues. The organization piloted the program in 2013 at a temporary site in Madison, New Jersey and reported that approximately 90 percent of the dogs treated recovered enough to be adopted. In 2014, ASPCA purchased land in Weaverville where it built the center. As of July 2022, the Weaverville center had 35 full-time staff, and had rehabilitated 500 dogs since opening.

References

@Daysiyeates: Done. -- Random person no 362478479 (talk) 10:53, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

Thanks very much! Daysiyeates (talk) 21:32, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

History updates

Hello, Daysi from ASPCA here again. I have a couple of additions to suggest for the article's History section that I hope will provide some up to date information on the organization and its activities:

• As of 2023, ASPCA's New York hospital was treating 9,000–10,000 patients annually.
• In 2023, the ASPCA began releasing an annual report that grades major grocery retailers in the United States on their policies around animal welfare, such as selling cage-free eggs and pork raised without gestation crates.

References

@JSFarman and Rich Smith: Tagging the two of you here because you responded to my previous requests. If either of you are interested in reviewing, I'd be curious to hear what you think. Thanks! Daysiyeates (talk) 17:41, 15 November 2023 (UTC)

Approved  Spintendo  02:21, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

Thank you very much! Daysiyeates (talk) 22:35, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

Controversy neutrality

Hello, Daysi from ASPCA again. Thanks Spintendo for implementing my last request. I'd like to make some suggestions regarding the Controversy section. From reading up on WP:NPOV, I believe sections with names like "controversy" or "criticism" are not preferred because they are not neutral. My overall thinking is to distribute the content to other relevant sections of the article, and I'll go one paragraph at a time to keep any discussions focused.

First, I suggest moving the paragraph on the the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to the Legislation and litigation section.

I think this content is a natural fit here given the heading and that the paragraph deals with litigation.

I am curious what editors think, and if it makes sense I hope someone will make the change on my behalf. Because of my conflict of interest, I do not make any direct changes to the article. Thanks for reviewing! Daysiyeates (talk) 20:43, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Approved  Spintendo  03:06, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

@Spintendo: Thanks very much! Daysiyeates (talk) 22:55, 7 December 2023 (UTC)

Controversy requests continued

Hello, Daysi here again. Since this next request pertains to the Controversy section, I decided to keep it as a continuation of my previous request.

• I suggest moving the first paragraph of Controversy into the History section, since it is about specific events.

• The second paragraph seems to me like it is giving undue weight to a niche source, and is similar enough to the information in the first paragraph, which comes from more reliable sources, that I wonder if this paragraph should be removed?

If editors agree with these changes, that would take care of the Controversy section altogether and improve the article's neutrality. Happy to hear thoughts and discuss further. Thank you! Daysiyeates (talk) 22:55, 7 December 2023 (UTC)

 Declined If the intention is to move salient points regarding the organization into the History section so as to avoid casting a non-neutral spotlight upon it, then there are other sections which ought to be moved as well. Singling out the Controversy section—while a laudable goal, in that no section of text ought to be disproportionately mentioned—seems biased with the understanding that other sections are to be preserved on their own outside of History whilst Controversy is not. Regards,  Spintendo  03:56, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

@Spintendo: I think I understand your concern. I've been reading up on WP:BALANCE, and I still feel that the information in Controversy is creating bias in the article. If you think that section should stay there, would you consider adding in content from this USA Today article? It's from an outlet of similar prominence to CBS and came out at a similar time to the CBS report, and it includes analysis of the organization's budget from Charity Navigator. If you agree, I can suggest specific content if that is helpful.

Although I am not sure it is a reliable source, I also thought I'd share this BBB article, which goes into further detail about the State Humane Association of California's complaint. If this source is acceptable, I'd suggest adding it in, as well, per WP:BALANCE. Happy to hear any thoughts and continue discussing. Thanks! Daysiyeates (talk) 21:52, 21 February 2024 (UTC)

@JSFarman and Rich Smith: tagging the two of you since you responded to my past requests. If you have any thoughts here, I'm interested in discussing how to improve the article's balance. Thanks! Daysiyeates (talk) 01:45, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

Hi @Daysiyeates:.

I agree with Spintendo regarding balance; the controversy does not belong in the history section.

I did a brief edit on the section to limit it to the facts of the CBS report, and changed "discovered" to "reported." However, the section needs to be rewritten -- the controversy was not about the amount of money that the ASPCA spends directly on animals and animal welfare --- it was about the (costly) ads that led donors to believe that their contributions were used to fund and support local SPCAs, as opposed to the ASPCA.

I deleted most of the detail related to the State Humane Association of California's lawsuit. The sources used were far from reliable, and the filing does not appear to have generated any legitimate press. JSFarman (talk) 04:22, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

Cut the length of tv commercials with pitiful animals.

One minute of the neglected animals would be enough. Commercials are too long and upsetting for people who already donate. Just mute it or change the channel. 67.1.239.118 (talk) 16:56, 11 April 2024 (UTC)