Channel 10: News Story about CAHS No Longer Accepting Feral Cats

Many of us watched the news on Channel 10 about CAHS and their policy change about feral cats. Here are some highlights:

The intake policy has changed at CAHS:
- They are no longer accepting feral cats
- They are no longer accepting cats from outside Franklin County.

The reporter said that CAHS told them because feral cats are not adoptable, they can no longer afford to take them in. Jodi Buckman told Channel 10 that they have limited resources, but they know that the community can provide care. They will be referring these cats to other agencies. She says that this is part of their strategy to get more adoptions and get the public more involved. She also talked about the situation where people bring in a mother cat with kittens and how they will expect people to foster them until the kittens are old enough to be adopted.

Mona McKinnis of Colony Cats was also interviewed. She pointed out that limiting intake is going to result in more cats on the streets. She reminded people that if the agencies and rescuers could work together everyone could do their part and the animals would benefit from that.

We're a little confused about CAHS saying they can't "take in" feral cats anymore. They never took in ferals. They simply spayed or neutered them to be released back to their colonies..it's called TNR (trap, neuter, release)...so the ferals wouldn't be taking up cage space because they should be released back to their colonies.

Who are they kidding when they talked about the mother cats with kittens and how they want it handled? Their past behavior with this combo has been anything BUT humane. Many of us have seen ourselves how they pull the mom away from her babies and kill her in the back room, while the kittens are crying for her. Then they pick the "pretty kittens" only and kill the rest.

There were many good comments on the Channel 10 website, but due to copyright we can't re-publish them here.

Please share your thoughts with us on this very sad development.

Get Focused, Capital!

So let's say Jodi was shown the door. Bye Bye.


What would be the first item of business when the new director takes over? Just by looking at their annual report, it is obvious what the first priority would be to completely revamp their "programs".

Here's a list of their programs and services according to their annual report:

Cruelty investigations (which is partially funded by the county, even though their 2007 report says that only 4% of funding came from taxpayer dollars. It will be interesting to see if the county budget says the same thing)
Re-homing pets
Safe Haven
Feral Fix
AdvoCAT Spay/Neuter Voucher program
OSU Surgical Rotation
Partners for Pets (the inmates from Pickaway County Correctional Institute that care for the animals)
Pet Therapy (shelter animals visit hospitals and retirement homes)
Obedience Classes (for the public, even though dogs with the slightest obedience problems in their care are killed...oh the irony)
Food Bank (The kind of bank that you deposit into but never are able to withdraw)
Humane Education in schools
Advocacy (their words... "educating elected officials and community leaders about the status of animals in our community and advocating for legislative changes"
Community Outreach (again, their words..." Attending events and programs to showcase the work of the Humane Society and educate the community about the issues impacting animals)

65% of revenue in 2007 went to programs.

Advocacy. Let's address Capital Area's claim that they spend money on Advocacy. At 85% kill rates, why are they spending money on "educating elected officials" and "advocating for legislative changes"? The primary reason is most likely because CAHS plucked Jodi Buckman from a national lobbying group AND it looks good on a website/newsletter. So where did the money go? There is not one scrap of information on any successes or even attempts at changing laws to be more animal friendly in Central Ohio. Nothing on their newsletter and nothing on their website. Laws haven't changed for the better in the 5 years Jodi's been "educating elected officials" and "advocating for legislative changes"- we can't even pass a puppy-mill bill that provides BASIC regulation for commercial breeding mills! (Capital Area Humane Society has NOTHING to do with lobbying for the puppy mill bill, by the way. Hmmmm maybe they could give the 'advocacy' money to the group that IS involved...)




Pet Therapy- Ok, there's nothing in your report about what this program accomplished. On your website, there is no Pet Therapy program, but there is a similar sounding Pet Visitation under the "programs" option. The Pet Visitation program states that it is a VOLUNTEER RUN program... I'm sorry, but the last time I checked, volunteers work for free. How are you spending money on a program that is run for free? The other program that is on your website but nowhere in your report is "Capital Canine Connection". This involves volunteers with their own personal dogs conducting visits to hosptials and retirement homes. WHY ARE YOU SPENDING MONEY ON THIS? How does this benefit the cats that are being killed every day?
All this really amounts too is another empty PR program.


Food Bank- Again, nothing in your report on who received food. Nothing on your website about how a group can get food from you. But alas, pictures of all the stockpiled food in your basement. Also, how do you spend money on this program?



Obedience Classes- very important for pet dog retention, to be sure- but, um, you're open admission for cats. How about some help for cat owners? Obedience classes for dogs are all over the place, but we'd sure like to see some cat-owner interactive activities. Maybe not really obedience, but how about Home Depot DIY- style "build a scratching post" classes, or litterbox issues 101 (where you could talk about new technology in litter like crystals, yesterdays news, ect...and reasons why litterbox issues develop and how to avoid/solve problems) Understanding cat behavior, proper cat diets, or other cat craft classes. Maybe if you started treated cats like the special, unique animals that they are, the public will too.

Community Outreach and Humane Education- Note to Jodi: these are the same things, especially to Capital Area, for whom both of these things are a "non-profity" sounding shroud for Public Relations. (If you can't give love, give money- right gals?) Unless Capital really starts doing something that the public can learn from, stop spending money on this PR baloney.

AdvoCAT- If this is not at the top of the list of the ways Capital Area wastes resources, it is definitely near the top. It is a mystery why Capital has a staff of veterinarians and a fully functioning veterinary facility and yet continue to use a voucher system to pay veterinarians $65.00 and $40.00 for each cat spay and cat neuter, respectively. If you kept the surgeries in-house do you really think it would cost you $40.00 for each cat neuter?? It is no secret that some veterinarians charge the public LESS than $65.00 for a cat spay, yet you continue to pay 65.00 for the vouchers in order to make life EASIER for you. The AdvoCAT money could provide TWICE as many spay and neuter surgeries if you actually CARED ENOUGH to execute the program properly.

Safe Haven- We never hear about the safe haven program, but respect the privacy of those who utilize it. We just hope that it actually does exist and is used by victims who need it. Sadly, somehow we just don't believe the fact that we never hear about the safe haven program is because you are handling the cases with respect and privacy.


Partners for Pets- O.K., caring for shelter animals are not the place for inmates to be rehabilitated. Have them paint the facility, mow the lawn, shovel snow, whatever...but maybe the reason that your cats are always sick is because you are having untrained, uncaring inmates "care" for them. Perhaps if you didn't chase away all the volunteers who did care you wouldn't have been forced into this embarrassing position. This would be one of the first programs the new director should reorganize.

So how does Capital Area spend 65% of it's budget on these 'programs', either completely staffed with volunteers, unpaid rehabilitating inmates, or stocked with donated product? Each of them has a paid "manager", "director", or "coordinator". No wonder there's no money left to actually benefit the animals!

Capital, you have a crisis in your shelter and you cannont bother with this ridiculous fluff any longer. KILLING 85% OF CATS IS ABSURD when you have all of these "programs".

For God's sake Jodi, GET FOCUSED.

This is what the board should be telling you, but since they don't, we will.

The Big Picture

Here's a summary of a comment left on the previous blog:

"Trashing another animal welfare organization doesn't save lives...this blog is nothing but negative energy.... Saving lives is important...Please continue to focus on saving lives. I commend that. I only wish you would try to work for the cause, instead of against it."

(read the entire comment on the post below)

Ok, first of all, how can this person VIEW THE PHOTOS of stockpiles of supplies collecting dust in the basement of Capital and then dare to accuse us of working against the cause?? How many hungry dogs and cats does that person think can be fed with the food that they hoard? Here is how things happen with the supplies in their basement:

1. A company or store donates loads of food to Capital who readily and happily accepts it to maintain a good relationship with the company.

2. Because Capital has a contract with Science Diet, the food gets stored in the basement.

3. Capital, at some point, made a concious decision NOT to give groups in Columbus access to their resources, which include this free and unused food. This decision was made LONG before this website and blog were active.

4. The food sits in the basement for months, forgotten, until it expires.

5. Someone eventually cleans the basement, at which point the expired food is thrown away.

How is this senario working "for the cause"? Hoarding pet food is the SINGLE MOST SELFISH THING that the humane society can do! They have a contract with Hills where they get FREE FOOD for the animals in their shelter- when the other food comes in why is it not IMMEDIATELY delegated to a group to FEED HUNGRY, HOMELESS animals??

Secondly, it's time for a lesson on the big picture. Why does everyone think we still have such a HUGE number of homeless animals in this area? Why do people think that the instant a new rescue group forms, their foster homes or sheltering facilities are immediately full? Most importantly, why is it that nobody from Capital can answer why humane organizations around the country with BIGGER PROBLEMS to overcome and FEWER RESOURCES than Capital are already SAVING MORE LIVES than they are taking? People think that this blog is maintained by naive idealists who don't understand harsh realities... this could not be farther from the truth. Harsh realities in 21st century sheltering DO NOT include 85% euthanasia rates for cats while your executive staff makes 75,000, 90,000, 125,000 dollars a year. 85% euthanasia rates apply to municipal county facilities who have NO resources, NO support, and MINIMAL housing facilities, and then even barely.

As we have said many times before... if Capital Area cannot do the job that they are supposed to do as a "humane" organization then STOP taking money and STOP sucking up resources.


Calling out Capital Area Humane Society is the most productive thing that this community can do to save the lives of animals in Central Ohio. What people don't understand is that while CAHS continues to suck up all the resources for "rescue" while behaving like bloated, wasteful, top-heavy spoiled brats, all the other rescues can do in this community is spin their wheels. This makes it IMPOSSIBLE to make any progress. It doesn't matter how many animals are rescued, spayed or neutered, purchased at Petland, obtained on Freecycle.... ect. As long as CAHS continues to make excuses for their kill rate and tell themselves that their behavior is acceptable, no real progress will ever be made for the animals in Central Ohio. If we want to start really saving lives as a community, Capital Area Humane Society HAS to be a leader in the progressive shelter movement or else they have to GO AWAY. That's why Capital still kills 85% of cats that come through their doors while all the other cat shelters and rescue groups are always full.

How plainly can we say this... IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY.

It WILL continue as people like this commenter continue to to defend the way that Capital does business as usual. This person must be chalked up to ignorance, as most supporters of CAHS, because they just don't know any better. At this point, we don't think Jodi herself knows how to do any better... she just doesn't know how run a progressive organization. Period. Honestly, we can not believe that she or anyone else in the organization dedicate their careers to saving lives and yet willfully kill healthy, adoptable, innocent cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies at a rate that would make the most commercial slaughterhouse blush.

Ignorance does not excuse their behavior. We wonder what it's going to take to reduce the orgy of slaughter behind their doors? Jodi doesn't even bother give us her goals for reducing euthanasia... yet she's always asking for more cash.

The Lost and Found Program that Scares the Crap out of Everyone

Someone e-mailed us a summary of a recent exchange about Capital Area that took place on the Columbus Craigslist Pet Board:

The original post: PLEASE HELP!!! KITTEN LOST LAST NIGHT - SHE IS SNOW WHITE WITH BLUE EYES AND DEAF!!!! SHE IS VERY SWEET AND LOVES PEOPLE BUT HAS NEVER BEEN OUTDOORS. SHE IS MICROCHIPPED AND ABOUT 5 POUNDS. LOST ON 4TH STREET BETWEEN CHESTNUT AND SPRING STREET. PLEASE PASS ON!!!

Response: Hello! I believe we have found your white cat. On Monday my boyfriend found a white cat was just crying by his condo at 225 North 4th Street... We contacted the Capitol Area Humane Society and they took her in that evening.

Subsequent post: I sure hope that her owners are able to get her back before CAHS kills her!!! I know you were only trying to do the best you could, but that would be the LAST place I would take an animal. She'd probably have been safer on the streets.

Subsequent post: I too hope that the poor cat is still alive. I realize that you were trying to do a good thing. If you see a cat one time chances are very good that it is owned. Good to put out food and water but leave it alone if you cant take it inside to locate the home. Few cats make it out of CAHS alive. They are in rooms in small dirty cages until it is determined if they are "adoptable" by their perfect standard. Few are perfect in a strange place with stangers and barking dogs. CAHS does NOT check the lost and found or petfbi. They dont even check for microchips until they are ready to kill the animal. Hoping this little one is safe back with its owner.

Subsequent post: If this cat was taken to Capital Area Humane Society, print out the Craiglsit posting and take it with you to their facility to prove that the cat is there. The staff WILL NOT be helpful in getting your cat out if they have it- you have to prove that it was taken there recently!! You need to go there today because chances are the cat will be killed shortly if it hasn't been killed already. Please, if anyone finds animals that they think might be a pet, do NOT take them to the humane society in Hilliard on Scioto Darby Executive Road. They routinely kill animals that have collars, microchips, are declawed, spayed/neutered, and otherwise show obvious signs that they have an owner. Very few animals make it out of there alive.

Subsequent post: The little white kitten is safe at home. She escaped her home through the patio. She is deaf and probably very frightened. Thanks to the people finding her (but taking her to cahs might have cost her her life). She was only outside a few hours. The owner did all of the right things. Posted signs,placed an ad on petfbi and the kitten was microchipped. How do I know these things??? I am the original foster mom of the kitten. We microchip everyone prior to adoption. This we felt would get them safely home if lost. My question is why was she not checked for a microchip when arriving at the shelter? Because no one wanted to take the time to check her. When asked at the shelter why she wasnt scanned the response was "it was late." I would lose my job if my answer to not doing it was that it was late. (or we were busy or whatever. It is their job-do it) This was well over 24 hours ago. The owner spent a sleepless night,the kitten was stressed and subjected to other non vaccinated animals. Why? Yes she escaped the house-she is a cat. The staff at CAHS did not do anything to help this little girl find her way home. Our rescue has been banned from saving lives of animals at CAHS as we do not believe that they do wonderful work as they brag. We pulled over 60 cats from there last year not to mention the dogs lives that we saved and placed in homes. I dont believe they are doing wonderful work because they are not. This is only one of many examples. I was told by a board member "No we are not perfect". Little Cottonballs life counted on them not to be perfect but to do their job. No one is perfect but we will admit when we are wrong. They dont but continue to lie to the public.


Thanks for sending us the posts! Their lost and found program apparently scares the crap out of everyone.

What was that about alienating supporters?

We couldn't have set it up any better...

So to illustrate how Capital Area Humane Society chases all of it's volunteers away who voice concerns- A Capital supporter on the blog post just before this one identified someone named "Gail" who apparently said something about all the new office furniture the executives got for themselves while animals continue to die by the dozens. We quote exactly...

"Gail, why don't you just quit and stop criticizing the donated office furniture?"

We wondered, "Who is Gail?" Well we found out that she is a Capital Area volunteer who was featured in the Columbus Dipatch as "giving a [Capital Area Humane Society] dog some loving...".

Yes Gail, please quit. Even though you are a loyal volunteer and give dogs love, we don't need anyone criticizing office furniture.

Invisible cats and dogs

I am convinced that Capital Area is marketing some kind of "invisible cat" or "invisible dog". Ha ha like those funny amusement park things that you can get.

Levity, in a moment that is so seriously sad.

Alright Jodi and Rachel, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS UP WITH THOSE EMPTY CAGES? Pictures taken just LAST SATURDAY show that 75% of the adoption floor cages are empty. And what is up with the e-mail to the volunteers about the dog walkers? I quote exactly an e-mail from the volunteer coordinator of Capital...

" I wanted to bring up the subject of too many Walkers and not enough dogs, which has been happening on weekends lately."

OK how about sending one of your 7 vans over to Franklin County and getting some of the 1,300 dogs before they were killed? Systematic euthanasia has been their policy since your buddy Barbara Carmen stomped their efforts into the ground. Check out the numbers at http://www.franklincountydogtruths.com/.

Can you explain to the public why you have empty dog runs and too many walkers yet the dogs in your own county are dying by the hundreds??

Empty cages on the adoption floor have always been the most obvious indicator that Capital Area Humane Society is a collective failure. They have always tried to tell us "they're empty for cleaning" or "it's disease control". The thing is that these cages are ALWAYS EMPTY, every day, during open hours, or in the middle of a busy Saturday afternoon. The back is stacked with animals waiting to die while you continue to make excuses for your inadequacy as a humane organization.

What else is there to say? People who know the truth and walk through your adoption floor just shake their heads at the incompetence.

Teeny tiny percentages

Oh those teeny tiny percentages.

What person hasn't heard those from Capital- they sleep better at nights because they've saved 5% more cats last year. Like, five- as in single digit five.

This brings their total adoption rate apparently to a nice, round 20%. A number which, by the way, we have a tough time believing since it is so nice and round. You mean to tell us that you have the number of cats that you took in to be a precise 10,342 and yet your adoption rates are published at twenty percent? Not 18 percent or 22 percent but 20? But whatever, who cares if you made it up. Start making up better numbers.

We also wonder 5 percent of what. Of total cat intakes? Of your definition of adoptable cats?

Five percent. When you look out onto the faces of your board members- doctors, lawyers, business people, and you tell them that on your watch you improved the adoption rate by five percent, do they clap? Don't they think that five percent would have happened if they had a tree stump in the executive office? How in the world is it that they don't wonder why they're paying you six figures for FIVE PERCENT?

The problem with the board is that they don't care- we can't believe that they actually think about these numbers. Basically, you're telling them that you did nothing in the past year and they're publishing it proudly in a full color report- what a laughingstock! All style and no substance- quintessential Capital.

From Nathan Winograd's No Kill Blog:

In Reno, Nevada, the Nevada Humane Society led an incredible renaissance in 2007 that saw adoptions increase as much as 80 percent and deaths decline by 51 percent, despite taking in a combined 16,000 dogs and cats a year with Washoe County Animal Services. Reno's success occurred immediately after the hiring of a new shelter director committed to No Kill and passionate about about saving lives. They did it overnight.

Five percent- Petfinder, HSUS, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, and local groups like Columbus Dog Connection, Franklin County Dog Shelter and Animal Outreach are doing everything they can to get the word out and push people away from puppy mills and Petland and drive them into shelters, yet you take credit for the five percent bump in adoptions.

The most irritating thing about reporting your adoptions bump as 5% is that ADOPTIONS are the one challenge that you have complete control over as an organization. You really have no control over intake, and since you don't try to save anything, ultimately the amount of euthanasias you are doing. But adoptions? You have complete control over how many animals you adopt out! Do you ever consider that if you put more of your kittens on the floor instead of in the dumpter that your adoption percentage would increase dramatically?? Or how about filling up some of those sponsored puppy play pens that are always empty? We know you try to control disease by not housing puppies and kittens on the adoption floor- why don't you bring in some of your puppies and kittens in foster care to fill up the cages during adoption hours? Then after adoption hours they can just go back into their foster home!

Maybe you can mix it up a bit in the first few lines of your dog adoption page- one look at it and you'd think Capital Area was American Staffordhshire rescue! You scroll and scroll and scroll and get pits and pits and pits... how 'bout a homeless, down and out lab or shepherd or MUTT in the top five? We know that pits draw attention for fake compassion on your part, but there are dogs out there who deserve homes even if they don't have the razzle-dazzle media attention surrounding them all the time.

The teeny tiny 5% is a load of baloney. If you tried at all you would double it overnight. How have you been getting away with that crap for so long??

By the way also give us your euthanasia rates and some goals for 2008 in those reports, you cowards!