I'm not sure where the money goes, and I don't know that the license tag serves any purpose except obeying the law. Both my dogs are chipped. I got them already chipped from their breeders. But, many mixed-breed dogs have no identifying markers on them and if they get lost it can be really difficult to identify them, so I guess the ASPCA tag might help
About 4 years ago I was referred to a doctor in Forest Hills. On my way home, I almost hit a tiny red poodle running across the street. I slammed on my brakes, and got out of the car and called for the dog to come. I saw that it was male, so I tried "where's my little boy?" and G-d bless him, he ran right over to me. I grabbed him and got back in the car, pulled into a fire hydrant, found tags on his collar. There was a rabies tag and an ASPCA tag. The rabies tag has the name of the vet. So I called the vet office and told them I had the dog; they checked their record for the tag number and gave me the owner's name and phone number. I called her, still holding the pup in my arms, and told her that I had him, and where I was parked. This little guy had snuck out the front door—unnoticed—when the lady picked up her mail from the mailbox less than 2 hours previously. At first she didn't believe me. Still holding on to her phone she started calling "Carlos, Carlos, come to Mommy, Carlos", I pushed the speaker phone button so the dog could hear her, and like right on cue, he started barking. She ran down the block in her house dress and slippers, and a wonderful reunion was had. So I understand the need for the rabies shot and the tag.
Last year, while packing my groceries in my trunk at the Best Yet market on 19th Avenue, a little Shitzu literally jumped into my car. I waited in the parking lot for around an hour waiting to see if someone would come looking for her. She had no collar and no tattoo. I drove to the nearest vet office and asked if they had a chip reader. They did, but the bastards wanted to charge me $25.00 to do it, so I left and went to another local vet office. They scanned her for free. I called the owner, a Suffolk County number, and left a message on their answering machine, and came home, unpacked my groceries, and introduced my 'guest' to my dogs and they played with toys and ate together for hours. At around 4:30 they called. They were heartsick and so grateful that she was okay. They had come to visit a relative in Jackson Heights and she had somehow wiggled out of her collar when they were on the way back to their car. She got scared from all the noises that she wasn't used to living in a quiet house on Long Island. They said they had plastered the neighborhood with flyers and had stayed overnight hoping to find her. This little girl had done a whole lot of walking to get to the supermarket parking lot! By 6:15 they were here and we pulled off another wildly happy reunion. So I know that chipping really works.
I guess I just keep getting my dogs ASPCA licenses because it is the right thing to do.
Listen, folks, even mixed-breed dogs should be chipped or tattooed. And be sure, if you use a leather collar, that it isn't getting cracked where you close it so that it can break at some point if the dog is pulling. But, IMHO, the best defense against a lost dog is obedience training. When you say COME or STOP that's exactly what the dog should do without any hesitation. Does your dog do that?