Underprivileged dogs of the world rejoice!
Last year I posted about Leona Helmsley, a billionaire who, when she passed away, left her dog millions of dollars. It turns out that in her will she wasn’t only thinking of her own dog:
Sure, the hotelier and real estate magnate Leona Helmsley left $12 million in her will to her dog, Trouble. But that, it turns out, is nothing much compared with what other dogs may receive from the charitable trust of Mrs. Helmsley, who died last August.
Her instructions, specified in a two-page “mission statement,” are that the entire trust, valued at $5 billion to $8 billion and amounting to virtually all her estate, be used for the care and welfare of dogs, according to two people who have seen the document and who described it on condition of anonymity.
$5 to 8 billion to care for dogs. I’m all for taking care of dogs, I think dog rescue people do great work etc. But couldn’t that money be put to slightly better uses? Like helping, uh, actual people? Or how about maybe giving a cool billion to dogs and the rest to more pressing needs? It seems like Helmsley originally had that idea as well:
The two people who described the statement said Mrs. Helmsley signed it in 2003 to establish goals for the multibillion-dollar trust that would disburse assets after her death.
The first goal was to help indigent people, the second to provide for the care and welfare of dogs. A year later, they said, she deleted the first goal.
Nice of her. So how will all this money effect animal-related nonprofits?
Even if the resulting total is at the low end of the estimate — $5 billion or so — the trust will be worth almost 10 times the combined assets of all 7,381 animal-related nonprofit groups reporting to the Internal Revenue Service in 2005.
I know its her money and all….but this is crazy.
Holla at me