Which life is worth saving? Preferences between animal-based and humanitarian charities

While charity work and philanthropy have existed for millennia, the specific issues society wants to address have changed. Specifically, support for animals has grown substantially. This development has prompted questions regarding the ethics of prioritizing animal-based or humanitarian needs. Despite these conversations, several gaps remain. Most discussions lack evidence to support their claims. The limited data that does exist usually comes from presenting subjects with hypothetical scenarios. We aimed to find whether a preference towards helping humans or animals exists. To explore this topic, we hypothesized that students and staff at Barrington High School would be more inclined to support animal-based charities. Different charity choices were presented to students and staff during a series of bake sales. We saw that students and staff did not show a strong preference for one type of charity over another (p > 0.05). Our data suggests that students and staff at Barrington High School care relatively equal amounts for animal-based and humanitarian issues.