There seems to be quite a debate brewing about the news that the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth Devon (http://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/site/1/Donkey_Watch.html) apparently receives about £20m in annual donations from the UK public and around 160,000 visitors per year. It has been pointed out (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/25/gender.charitablegiving) that this means that the UK public apparently feels more willing to support a body largely devoted to the welfare of a domesticated animal species (although they also encourage 'therapeutic riding' for special needs children) than all the charities concerned with dealing with violence to women. The UK obsession with animals is, however, nothing new. We have had for more than 100 years a Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and a National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, that receive rather similar levels of public support. Charity is actually a very competitive business. It is easy to dismiss the British support for the donkey as a national quirk but many of the retired folk with cash (and these are major donors) may have remembered donkeys from their childhood seaside holidays (the first big animal they had actually touched or even ridden?). Perhaps there are religious echos from bible lessons or even rememberings of Nina and Frederick's most famous record. There also seems a prevailing view in some circles in this country that charity should be directed to the genuinely voiceless, with government financing issues concerned with human welfare. It would be instructive to gain a better understanding of the reasons why people make charitable donations.
No comments:
Post a Comment