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.