Top-paid animal nonprofit CEOs renew scrutiny on sector pay

The Canine Review has published its year-end 2025 list of the 10 highest-paid chief executives at U.S. animal nonprofits, using each organization’s most recent publicly available IRS Form 990. The ranking is led by San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s former CEO Paul A. Baribault, whose fiscal 2024 compensation totaled $2.06 million, followed by National Fish & Wildlife Foundation CEO Jeffrey Trandahl at $1.42 million, WWF-US CEO Carter Roberts at $1.29 million, and ASPCA President and CEO Matthew Bershadker at $1.20 million. The report also notes that San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance disclosed first-class and/or private jet travel for executives in its 2024 filing, and says critics and watchdogs continue to question whether top-end compensation at large animal charities matches donor expectations and nonprofit missions. (thecaninereview.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the list is less about headline salaries than about governance, transparency, and how animal-sector institutions justify resource allocation. Executive compensation at major nonprofits can shape donor trust, referral relationships, partnership decisions, and staff morale across the broader animal health and welfare ecosystem. Charity Navigator, for example, explicitly uses Form 990 disclosures to assess accountability, transparency, and whether compensation practices appear consistent with sector norms, including whether a charity has an independent CEO compensation review process. (charitynavigator.org)

What to watch: Expect closer scrutiny of 2025 and 2026 Form 990 filings, especially around compensation-setting processes, travel disclosures, and whether large animal nonprofits face louder pressure to connect executive pay more clearly to mission outcomes. (990.charitynavigator.org)