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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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SEPTEMBER 2005
Confusion of names befuddles bequests
Hunter Vernon D. Lybolt Jr., 57, of Forest, Virginia, born and raised in New York, unmarried with no children, siblings, or living parents, died in July 2004, leaving his $600,000 estate to the “Bedford County ASPCA Animal Shelter.” The estate is now claimed by the Bedford Humane Society, the county-managed Bedford Animal Shelter, the New York City-based American SPCA, and a coalition of 13 relatives.
As result of a similar case, in which the Royal SPCA of Great Britain received £250,000 from a Scots estate, the Scottish SPCA recently surveyed 10,000 donors and found that 87% had mistakenly donated to the RSPCA. Founded in 1839, one year before the former London Humane Society became the RSPCA, the SSPCA endured a cash flow crisis in 2002 that had the trustees threatening to lay off staff and close seven of 13 regional rescue centers.
Hoping to clear up the confusion, the SSPCA on August 1, 2005 introduced new colors and a new logo.
Similar actions have had mixed results for other animal charities. Called the National Canine Defence League from 1891 until October 2003, Dogs Trust seems to have changed names with no adverse consequences. American Humane, on the other hand, is still mostly mentioned in print as the American Humane Association, as it was known for 127 years, and is still often confused with both the American SPCA, 10 years older, and the Humane Society of the U.S., begun by former AHA staff in 1954.