cat rescue question

[badger]

I contacted a local no-kill cat rescue, and the woman said at the very least she'll get her examined by a vet and also assess to see if she might make a good pet. So here's to hoping she'll find a home, but if not, she'll at least get some veterinary attention.

[bmccasland]

Even if she spends her life as a company cat, she should get her shots. I had to have a semi-feral cat put to sleep in the last year because she contracted feline HIV. Took me months to befriend her, and once I got her in to my vet, they were very sorry to deliver the news. If she has fleas, a vet can get you proper meds for that instead of the OTC stuff.

[badger]

I figure this is related enough that I won't waste the space by creating another thread.

I was talking to a Veterinary Technician at the spca hospital that I volunteer at. She was saying how the place is no longer "no kill" as they advertise; the new manager is very quick to euthanize healthy animals simply to save money and space.

These animals often have very treatable conditions (broken tooth, upper respiratory illness), or just plain older. She expressed her frustration and the desire to whistle blow but was afraid of losing her job.

A one year old pointer cross came in today with an ingested foreign matter. The owner surrendered, not able to afford to treat him. When the hospital staff contacted the new manager, he said without skipping a beat, "euthanize". The staff reasoned with him how he was much too young and there is nothing wrong. He finally relented and they were able to get a specialist vet who uses endoscope to see if he can retrieve it (he's donating his services).

My dilemma is: I'm more than happy to whistle blow him, but while doing that, I may very well be taking down the very thing that's there to help the animals. Last time a corrupt CEO was outed to the general public for making in excess of $225K, their donations plummeted (rightly so).

I believe what the manager's doing is wrong, just to save his hide to keep within budget. I think people should know that while they claim they are no-kill, they certainly are not. But I don't want to hurt them with people losing their trust when their donation rate has started to come back up.

I really need to win myself the jackpot so I can open up my own sanctuary of unwanted animals, much in the same vein as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

thanks for reading.

[Biciclista]

you've got to whistle blow. that's just not right. It's possible that this policy could get the city in a LOT of trouble.

[badger]

well, the City has its own animal control, which only deals with dogs. The SPCA is a different entity, and I guess they can claim whatever they want. A lot of municipalities have done away with spca because they are corrupt, but the one here will stay as they own the land the buildings are on.

I was speaking with someone about this and he said it may be very difficult to prove they aren't euthanizing "unadoptable" animals. I suppose I can contact someone from the media and plant a seed and they can do their due diligence in terms of legality.

[JennK13]

Wow! I don't think they can advertise as "no kill" if they are indeed euthanizing - legally anyhow.
As far as it possibly getting shut down and losing donations because of the corruption, I don't know what to say. We had a "corruption" issue here at the local humane society. So far in debt, mismanaged funds, embezzlement, etc. The people who were running it tried to sell it to some local municipalities to take over, citing all the donations and how big the name was to get those funds, but couldn't show any tracking of the finances. Several cities backed out completely. A couple others continued their talks and I believe ultimately bought the facility, but not the name (which is what they said was the real "money maker").
Fortunately here, there are several other no kill shelters that animals could go to - though, it's incredibly sad that there is 1) more than one, and 2) a need for even more because of the number of animals out there.
I can't even go into shelters - it just breaks my heart. I want to take them all home and love them. I think something has to be done, though. How many perfectly good animals are being put down???

[smilingcat]

Hi Badger,

Though you are not in jepardy of losing a job by whistle blowing, others there who are supporting their family, the paid employees, may suffer. So before whistle blowing to the public, I would highly recommend that you go over the operational manager and have a serious word with the board members. If the manager is part of the board, he must be left out! You will get their time and attention. You may have to threaten to go public about misleading information and that the facility has killed the family pet even though the families were promised that their beloved pet would find a loving home.

We have had our share of problems with municipally run shelters and only with media coverage threat, did they correct the problem. Yours, unfortunately, is not an isolated incident. It is very sad situation. At the least, inform the local cat rescue group that the shelter is a KILL-SHELTER and not a NO-KILL. Get the word out to the rescue group and GET A CONTACT NUMBER FROM THEM SO THAT SOMEONE CAN COME IN ON THE DAY TO "ADOPT" out the cat. Some groups have managed to "adopt" out the back door to save the lives of kittens and have successfully adopted them out.

If the board fails to fire the operational manager or change his behavior, then you will have to whistle blow. False claims made to the public, and killing of beloved pets has to stop!