We've put up the website. We've created a blog for discussion. We've sent letters to the board members. We've been out there in the real world leafleting. What do you think might be the next step to show the Capital Area Humane Society that we're serious about change this time? That they have to answer the animals cries for help this time? That they can no longer kill indiscriminately while at the same time calling themselves "humane"?
There was an interesting lawsuit stemming from a complaint against the Los Angeles County Animal Control in December of 2007. It was settled in October of 2008. The main points of the lawsuit are as follows:
"Under the settlement, the county cannot kill impounded animals before holding them for four days unless they are terminally ill and must notify animal rescuers which cats and dogs are slated to be put down."
How many stories are out there of Capital killing animals the same day as they are taken in? How many of these are actually scanned for a microchip before deemed a "unadoptable" and stuck in their tummies with Fatal Plus?
"The settlement resolved a year-old suite alleging that to eliminate overcrowding at the shelters the county used a legal loophole to rapidly dispose of adoptable pets by deeming them 'irremediably suffering.' The action alleged that shelters 'routinely kill healthy and adoptable animals'... The suite accused the county of using minor illnesses, such as colds, as a criteria to kill and thus avoid paying for veterinary care and shelter space."
Who does this remind us all of? 85% of animals that come through your doors are unadoptable? Or are you just "rapidly disposing" of them?
"The settlement sharply defines the kill criteria now as 'an animal with a medical condition who has a poor or grave prognosis for being able to live without severe, unremitting pain despite necessary veterinary care.' These conditions include kidney failure, distemper, blood loss, head trauma, and unmanageable pain"
Notice "stress" was not one of the fatal conditions on the list. And they also threw in "despite necessary veterinary care" for good measure. So for example you can't leave an animal without food for a few days so it develops one of those fatal conditions thus making your job twice as easy. (Not wasting time feeding it, not wasting time adopting it!)
The article about the settlement goes on to describe a letter sent to the director of the agency, Marcia Mayeda, sent in November of 2007 expressing concerns that the agency was killing animals without engaging in reasonable efforts to identify the animal's owners and killing tame cats wrongly classified as feral. Gee, substitute Jodi Lytle Buckman's name in there and you could be talking about Central Ohio instead of Los Angeles!
As part of the settlement, Los Angeles County will be required to turn over all the records of the animals it euthanizes. One of the greatest things about the resolution to this lawsuit is that area shelters and rescues stepped in to help alleviate the burden on Los Angeles County so that they could meet the euthanasia guidelines. Sadly, many organizations have offered numerous times to work with Jodi and the Capital Area Humane Society to help reduce their kill rate only to be told "no thanks".
By the way, we all heard Jodi on the radio the other day asking for donation money for the shelter. It reminded us of the big 3 automakers flying to Washington D.C. to ask for bailout money to save their companies after their horrible mismanagement ran them into the ground. Did you take your corporate jet to the radio station?
View the press release from the No Kill Advocacy Center on the victory.
View the court order that outlines the regulations with which the Los Angeles Department of Animal Control must comply.
View the article by Noah Barron in the Daily Journal regarding this case.
They have even set up an online complaint form for whistleblowers. Look for that to come soon on our main website... see how great it can be when we all share ideas?
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As a volunteer for several area rescues I too had to laugh at the Rachel Finney comment about contacting rescues for help. I am a past very active volunteer at CAHS.
A group of about 20 active volunteers sat through meeting after meeting with the previous president of the board Wolfe Lant. We gave suggestions,ideas,plans and offered to do all of the manual labor to help the situation at the shelter. Nothing changed. When I was no longer able to stomach the killing at CAHS I left as a volunteer but continued to pull animals to rescue. One large dog pulled was deemed unadoptable per CAHS "standards". She was adopted by the best friend of a CAHS board member shortly after. Several past volunteers (who also left after tears and begging to save animals did not work) spoke publicly about the conditions of CAHS to the news. The shelter manager then informed me that they would "NO longer be contacting me to pull animals to safety per the director. In an email from Jodi she stated "it is painful for the staff and volunteers to see you and "understandably so." Let the animals die---our feelings are hurt.
I have been contacted by a current volunteer with the word that flyers were placed on cars about this website at the big $125 per person fund raiser. It was also said that the blame was on the volunteers that "went to the media last year" including myself. How ironic that at the time this was being done I was trying to save a dying cat who had been trampled by a cow.(Fieldmouse as he has been named is happily thriving this morning)
Thank you thank you for this website. My hope is that the killing will stop. The statistics will not just be hidden out of sight of the public and people who willingly give their time and money to the animals unlucky enough to be brought there.
Rachel Finney is a SELL OUT!
Thank God for your organization. Hopefully soon CAHS will be shut down for good and all of your tiny organizations and networks of "foster homes" can take care of - including, but not limited to regular veterinary care, any additional medication, housing while waiting for adoption, food, toys, litter, socializing, correcting unsavory behavior, and the like - the hundreds of sick,diseased,flea infested,starved, dehydrated,shot in the eye with a BB gun, left out in the cold half frozen,collar embeded, beaten, burned, and completely neglected animals that come through their doors every day. Yes, once CAHS is forced to be shut down Franklin County - nay - all of Ohio will be a much better place. I applaud your efforts!
In mid October I found a kitty - actually a kitty found me - and I have been trying to place her in a home ever since. I have taken her to a few non-profit agencies and have called a dozen others and no one will help me ... they are all over-crowded or they do not have any foster homes available. Hell, a few of them didn't even have the decency to call me back to tell me they couldn't help me. So I decided to try to find her a home on my own. Turns out no one wants a cat. I've had her to the vet ... got her checked out, got her the appropriate shots to make sure that whoever was kind enough to take her would be getting a healthy kitty ... but still, no one wants a cat. Not even a healthy one. Not even a FREE healthy one. I can't keep her because I have a cat aggressive dog. So now what the heck do I do with her? They might euthanize her, but at least they'd take her which is more than I can say for the other 12 so called shelters I have contacted.
Let's say you found a cat that was literally almost frozen to death. Where would you take it? Or maybe one that had been, say, shot with a BB gun in the eyeball. Because I'm thinking your average "no-kill" shelter would probably turn you away. Just a guess, though.
"No-Kill Shelter" ... where's the fine print that says that they're only no kill because they turn away all the sick ones?
I must comment to the anonymous person stating "theyre no kill because they turn away all sick ones."
As a foster parent for a No Kill rescue I have not only taken in sick ones but have taken many from CAHS. I had a call from a temp vet last year asking me to take a little burned kitten. Management had instructed them to put all of "the kittens in intake" down as the shelter was closing for the evening. I took not just the little burned guy but also a litter marked to die as they were not eating. They had not been offered food for the five hours in the crate in intake so how could they eat? They sure ate in the car on the way to my house. After months of care the little burned guy(who never quit purring) as well as the litter of kittens were adopted to wonderful families.
I have also been called(under the table)to pick up a burned adult,a cat with a broken leg,many marked to die for URI (which none had but the reason had to be something),several marked to die as they needed a tooth pulled,a BB shot in the back of a kitten and a kitten with an injured eye(which needed to be removed down the road). This is not our entire rescue but only in my home.
I have answered many people on craigslist with cats/kittens looking for homes(recently took an adult cat that needed extensive vet care including IV medications and fluids because the roommate had allergies),an adult with a broken jaw, a senior cat that the woman had to "get rid of" because she got married (all of the care in the world didnt save the little girl as she died a month later of stress related illnesses due to her family abandoning her. But she died in my arms knowing that someone loved her)and have offered to do listings on our website free of charge to help place animals if the people will keep them until a home is found.
I have taken food,picked up animals for vet care and transported animals from state to state to new homes or other rescues.
And to the person who never got a call back. Try to remember we as rescue people are all Volunteer. None of us gets a salary or have a secretary to return phone calls. We dont have ten office people working on fund raisers or grants. We dont have special extensions with the phone going to the department you wish to speak with. We are working at paying jobs to buy the cat litter and food to care for the animals in our care as well as the constant vet bills. We dont have a "staff vet" to ask for help but must cover the cost ourselves. And did I mention the time it takes to run them across town to the vet that will cost the least to do the best care? (or even just to find one that is open and accepts walk ins)
I challenge you to find a management staff member at CAHS sitting in traffic with an ill animal,attending adoption events each weekend to get the animals exposure,brainstorming on how to get the next fund raiser going (not just paying someone else to handle it) or getting up every two hours to feed or medicate a sick kitten knowing that you will be at the paying job for 8 hours the next day.
It is so difficult for me to understand how with all of the funding,staff,empty space,free publicity and donations CAHS receives they are still killing animals in such high numbers.
I love what I am doing. I only wish that I too had the means and finances CAHS has or even a fraction of it. Oh what we could do with seven million dollars a year.
I am also a rescue worker for a no kill group. I currently am fostering 6 kittens that came from Licking County HS. Yes the group went to Licking because we had vacancies and CAHS will not work with us. Licking actually welcomed us in to take whatever animals we could. And yes now after $300, the kittens are finally starting to play and act like kittens. What, a no kill group that has spent money on sick kittens. So is this another lie told by CAHS? I truly can't believe that "rescuers" believe that it is ok to kill! And if the no kill rescue groups had the amount of money that CAHS gets, the rescue groups would be able to help out alot more animals. How does anyone justify a grant for $40,000 for creating a coloring book? For those of you that believe it is ok to take animals in and kill them, perhaps you should read the "Guidelines for a Humane Socity" put out by yes the Humane Socity of the US. In these guidelines, it tells the Executive Directors exactly what to say against no kill rescues so that volunteers have a reason to believe a "KILL shelter" is necessary. Some suggested reading would be anything from Nathan Winograd (this gentleman walked into a kill shelter in NYC and changed it in 3 days to a no-kill), Michael Mountain - The Best Friends Story, anything from Mike Arms - San Francisco HS. Perhaps those of you that think CAHS's way is the only way, you might want to volunteer with a group that values the animals, volunteers and the donor's money!
Thank you for continuing to expose the gross conditions of CAHS! Whose got the flyers? I'm on my way out the door with a stack!
Just so that we are clear . . . to whomever wrote that they (a foster organization) not only took in sick kittens but actually spent money on them and then stated, "another lie told by CAHS" ... I am NOT affiliated with Capital Area, I am just in defense of their efforts. But nice try on spinning it toward your favor.
Perhaps what I should have said was that in my personal experiences, I have not been able to get "no-kill" rescue organizations to help me ... whether it's with a sick cat, an old cat, a kitty cat, or a feral cat. And, unfortunately I am not the only person who has experienced this issue.
This is in response to the one NOT affiliated with Capital Area. I just want to make sure that I'm clear -- you are in defense of them killing healthy animals or animals that just need a bottle of amoxi to get better? You are in defense of the freezing kittens? You are in defense of $40,000 for a coloring book? You are in defense of empty cages? You are in defense of inflatted salaries for going shopping? Well I'm certainly glad you are not in defense of the organization I work with!!!
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