Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

About Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals:

Founded in 1873, Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) works to eliminate animal abuse and ensure every animal across Ontario has a home. OSPCA envisions a future where all Ontarians respect and appreciate animals. The charity's main headquarters are in Stouffville, Ontario, with over 50 Ontario SPCA Communities across the province. OSPCA spends 90% of program costs on animal care, shelters, cruelty investigations, and rescue & relief programs; 6% on public awareness and education, and 5% on distributions to animal welfare organizations.

Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is the only charity in Ontario that operates under the Ontario SPCA Act and can conduct animal cruelty investigations to enforce animal cruelty laws. The charity’s cruelty investigations program promotes proper animal care, saves animals suffering from abuse or neglect, and holds people accountable for cases of animal mistreatment across Ontario. OSPCA Community Investigators receive cruelty complaint calls from the public and conduct investigations to shed light on unacceptable practices that harm animals. The charity investigated 15,519 complaints and issued 3,988 orders in 2017.

Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also has an Animal Welfare program that offers adoption, shelter and spay/neuter services. OSPCA Spay and Neuter clinics provide their services to reduce animal over-population in Ontario. In total, the clinics performed 10,861 procedures in 2017, including 1,542 spays and 2,360 neuters on dogs and 3,659 spays and 3,300 neuters on cats.

In 2017, one of OSPCA’s public awareness programs led 5,700 people to pledge to never leave their pets unattended in vehicles. A human education program launched by Georgian Triangle Humane Society in November 2017 teaches students the importance of character, including responsibility, respect, and compassion for all living beings. One aspect of this program targets students between grade 6 and 8, whereby the Society visits classrooms to deliver four 90-minute lectures to students.

Results and Impact: The charity reports its investigations resulted in 1,220 animals removed from harm and 21 criminal charges and 573 provincial charges issued to perpetrators. In 2017, there were 8,392 adoptions at Ontario SPCA Animal Centres, including 5,655 cats, 1,307 small animals, 1,258 dogs, 130 birds, and 42 other animals.

In The News: In October 2018, OSPCA stated that "years of financial losses" (see Financial Statements below) have led to its decision to desist its investigation of livestock and horse cruelty and abuse. OSPCA is paid by Ontario's government to provide these services. Discontinuing these programs could materially affect funding. OSPCA's review may be related to animal advocates protesting OSPCA's failure to protect horses in Waterford, following similar negative publicity about horse deaths in Stouffville Ontario in May 2018.  

Financial Review:

The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a Large charity with donations totalling $12.0m in 2017. Administrative costs are 15% of revenues and fundraising costs are 14% of donations. Per dollar donated to the charity, 71 cents go to the cause, which falls within Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending. Funding reserves of $12.3m (including $629k of donor-endowed funds) can cover 9 months of program costs. 

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 27, 2018 by Joeyanne Cheung.