Are dog and cat shelters a good example of low-return giving? Just based on my knowledge of cat rescue organizations in my city, the cost of taking a cat off the streets and getting it neutered, vaccinated, and ready for adoption, is around $300. That's a pretty low price for saving a life.
Are dog and cat shelters a good example of low-return giving? Just based on my knowledge of cat rescue organizations in my city, the cost of taking a cat off the streets and getting it neutered, vaccinated, and ready for adoption, is around $300. That's a pretty low price for saving a life.
It's definitely a much higher return than giving money to your alma mater or to an arts organization. Depending on your relative valuation of cat life-years vs. human life-years, it might even be in the ballpark of the $3000 it takes to save a human life in a very poor country.
Farmed animal welfare interventions (which I take to be the most relevant comparison) are supposed to be orders of magnitude more cost-effective. But I agree that a lot of arts stuff is plausibly even less effective.
Not an expert on the topic, but I would caution about the counterfactual-ness of these types of interventions. Supply exceeds demand, so it's not obvious that rescuing cats/dogs entails a 1-1 cost per life "saved", even assuming the particular individual itself is "saved".
Are dog and cat shelters a good example of low-return giving? Just based on my knowledge of cat rescue organizations in my city, the cost of taking a cat off the streets and getting it neutered, vaccinated, and ready for adoption, is around $300. That's a pretty low price for saving a life.
It's definitely a much higher return than giving money to your alma mater or to an arts organization. Depending on your relative valuation of cat life-years vs. human life-years, it might even be in the ballpark of the $3000 it takes to save a human life in a very poor country.
Farmed animal welfare interventions (which I take to be the most relevant comparison) are supposed to be orders of magnitude more cost-effective. But I agree that a lot of arts stuff is plausibly even less effective.
Not an expert on the topic, but I would caution about the counterfactual-ness of these types of interventions. Supply exceeds demand, so it's not obvious that rescuing cats/dogs entails a 1-1 cost per life "saved", even assuming the particular individual itself is "saved".
Considering that dog/cat rescue always includes neutering the animal, it reduces supply as well.