August Commentary Available
The Helmsley Multibillion Dollar Trust for Dogs: A Good Time for a Change
Last month a big news story contained two elements the media and public love to talk about: great gobs of money and animals. That Leona Helmsley earmarked her estimated $5-8 billion estate to be used to establish a charitable trust devoted to the care and welfare of dogs had many in a tizzy, some in joy and others in disgust at what they perceived as a gross waste of money.
No doubt those in organizations whose work could in any way be construed as benefiting dogs are already sharpening their grant-writing pencils and brushing up on their schmoozing skills. The problem is that I suspect that the bulk of those proposals will be for more of the same. More money to spay or neuter more dogs. More money to develop more genetic tests for problems in purebred dogs. More money to diagnose and treat more dogs with more chronic problems.
“What the heck,” I thought. “This might be a good time for me to seek some funding for something completely different.”