I think that most of you have followed the story of Gloria. Gloria was a cat that was abandoned at an ASPCA mobile clinic about a month ago. The ASPCA turned her over to the ACC in NYC. After three weeks the ACC put her on the kill list and Pets Alive pulled her. We discovered the following morning that this cat had a very severely broken leg.
It was a terrible thing to lay in bed at night and think about this cat suffering for so many weeks in so much pain, and no one doing anything for her. I can’t even imagine the pain and I keep hearing over in my head the little whimper she made as I held her when we we first got her here at Pets Alive. At the time we didn’t think too much of it, but by the next day, when we found out what was wrong with her, it was deeply unsettling to us all. With that fueling us, Pets Alive went on the attack. John Sibley, a regular volunteer at Pets Alive and also a web blogger who first told us about Gloria, also had a lot to say about the issue – check out his blogs here.
Normally I would just attack via social media and it might spread viral across the web and a lot of people would know about it, but this time I decided to try something else. I called them and asked them about it. I have a person I would call a friend at the ASPCA and I said “How did this happen. How could this happen.” And you know something? She was aghast. And astonished and just as upset as I was. And she turned it over to her superiors and you know what happened? They looked into it. They did a complete investigation as to what happened and why and how and they came to some conclusions.
Are you ready for this?
They said: We were wrong. We made a mistake in this situation, and we’re putting in place change so something like this can never happen again.
Here is the press statement that is being released by the ASPCA in response to Gloria.
The ASPCA has conducted an internal investigation into why Gloria, a stray cat with a broken leg who was abandoned in front of one of the ASPCA’s mobile spay/neuter vehicles, was transferred to NYC AC&C.
Our staff followed our regular procedure of sending stray animals left with us to NYC AC&C since that is where people who have lost their pets go to look for them. At the time Gloria was admitted to AC&C, we notified its staff that Gloria had a broken leg and needed treatment.
The bottom line is that we failed Gloria, and we are grateful that Pets Alive saved her. Our strict adherence to regular procedure was clearly contrary to our mission in this case, and we deeply regret that we did not alter protocol to treat Gloria immediately instead of relying on AC&C to do so. We are implementing new procedures to prevent this from happening again.
We thank Pets Alive for stepping up to provide Gloria with the surgery and care she needed. The ASPCA is awarding a grant to Pets Alive to fund the cost of Gloria’s surgery, medical care, and convalescence and to continue its work saving more animals.
So let’s take a look at this.The ASPCA brought Gloria the cat to the ACC because that was standard protocol. The cat was a stray and if the owner was looking for her the only place they can find her is at the ACC. So that is where they bring her and they TELL them the cat needs care immediately.
It appears that by this statement, the ASPCA is taking full responsibility for maybe dropping the ball on Gloria, but my mind really goes to the ACC. The ASPCA had the cat, diagnosed the cat, followed protocol and brought the cat to the ACC where she was….what? Neglected for three weeks and then put on a death list. But I digress. This is about the ASPCA. The ASPCA followed their protocols.
Pets Alive has similar ones. When people bring a stray animal to us, we always tell them it has to go first to the local humane society so that if the owner is looking for the pet they have the best chance of finding him or her. Then we do monitor the dog or cat, because once an animal steps foot on this property we wind up all feeling a bit of a sense of responsibility to that animal and if they go on to a death list we will pull and take them here, but at least their owners had the best possible chance of recovering the animal! So we can’t really attack the ASPCA for doing that. I understand the part about bringing a stray to the place the owners can find their pet, should they be looking. And they told the ACC about this and why should they not have expected the ACC to treat Gloria? After all the ACC is responsible for the animals in NYC aren’t they? Darnit, I digress again.
But in this case the ASPCA issues this statement and they CHANGE that policy – my friends this is completely astonishing. This press release says to me, if I were to sum it up: “Wow. We messed up on this one. We should have done things differently. We are upset about this and we’re damn well going to change things and do things differently from now on”.
And then they acknowledge US and ask for people to make donations to us? How gracious is that? But more importantly than that they are changing their protocols. If an animal crosses their path it won’t be standard any more to bring to the ACC. Instead they will take responsibility and care for that animal. Should they have done this in the first place? Yes. No question in my mind. Yes. An animal needs medical care and you have a medical facility well then help the animal. Then again, no one ever really believes what a crummy place the ACC really is. This is just more proof.
When I got the call from the ASPCA to tell me this, they sounded very upset about the whole thing. It wasn’t a snow job. I completely felt that they meant it. They had launched an investigation. They had gotten to the bottom of what had happened. They CHANGED their protocols. I was completely astonished. My contact at the ASPCA said to me “When it is about the animal, and everyone remembers that, the right thing WILL happen”.
This isn’t about the ASPCA. This isn’t about Pets Alive. This isn’t about an “image” for the media. This isn’t even about the ACC (ok, it is but I’m trying to make a point here). This is about Gloria. It was about failing Gloria and then fixing that. I will be the first one out there attacking and reporting when I’m upset with the way things are being handled by other organizations and if I am going to do that then I also have to be the first one to say “I’m impressed. GREAT job” when they do something right. In this case the ASPCA did something right. They admitted fault. They fixed it going forward. And I will tell you that as the director of Pets Alive I have made many mistakes over the years. I like to think I never make them twice. But there is no way you are always going to do everything perfectly and neither will our staff. When we have screwed up, we acknowledge it and we fix it going forward.
I’m impressed with the ASPCA in this situation. And yes I’m grateful that they will help us with the costs for Gloria, which has been financially staggering to us…but that isn’t it. It isn’t about the money. I’m over joyed that they looked into this. Were upset about it. Fixed it. And contacted me about it. I’m super impressed with this press release. It means a great deal. It means a lot. Read between the lines at all the meaning behind this. And be impressed too.
Now, ASPCA if you would just get behind CARA, we would be happy to rename the proposed law to “The ASPCA is FREAKING awesome ACT of 2012“. Whaddya say?
And ACC? Really. The ASPCA, in my opinion, had MUCH MUCH less responsibility in this situation. You examined Gloria THREE times. Yet they stand here and take the blame for this. They had Gloria just a few hours. And THEY are standing here accepting responsibility. You had Gloria in your “care” for more than three weeks. YOU examined her three separate times. You let her suffer like this. YOU need to step up and make changes to make sure this never happens again. Will you? What changes can you make there to make sure cats like Gloria don’t slip through the cracks?
(Damnit. I made it about the ACC again. I can’t seem to help myself.)
But anyway, thank you ASPCA for stepping up. Responding to this. And fixing it going forward. It is what we needed for you and we’re glad that you addressed this.
(I personally love the press release part where you mention Pets Alive!!!!!! – can we throw in a URL there? A donation box? No? Ok, Yeah that would be pushing it.)
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Animal Rescue by kerry on Jan 27, 2012. There are comments.
Everyone should now be aware about some of the internal changes at Pets Alive. Joy and Ken Carson (pictured on the right) will be leaving Pets Alive Westchester. Joy, the Executive Director and Ken, the Shelter & Facilities Manager move on to kick off Pets Alive Puerto Rico. Jenessa Taylor, formerly the Executive Administrator and Shelter Manager here at Pets Alive Middletown is stepping up to take over the reins at PAW (Pets Alive Westchester).
Jenessa is great, and she will do wonderfully. I know she has to be nervous right now. Westchester is a massive facility. Two to three times the size of Pets Alive Middletown in capacity for animals and staff and budget. It’s a lot to take on and I know that Jen has to be nervous about this. I know I would be. :) But at least for Jen a lot of the most difficult work there has been done. Read the rest of this entry »
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Why we do this by kerry on Jan 04, 2012. There are comments.
Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New
After one year as Executive Director of Pets Alive Westchester, I am leaving to take on the role of Executive Director of Pets Alive Puerto Rico. It’s a bittersweet transition for me.
While I look forward to the new challenge in Puerto Rico, I look around and see so much still to be done in Westchester.
Mostly I see the faces of the animals. I have come to love each and every one of them, and leaving them is very difficult. But I know I am leaving them in capable hands. Jenessa Taylor, the new Executive Director, is able to step into this role without missing a beat. She comes to PAW from Pets Alive Middletown, where she was the Executive Administrator working right alongside the President of the Board and Executive Director at Middletown. Jen has extensive knowledge and experience in handling the day to day operation as well as in keeping the long term goals on track. She knows that the top priority is to get these animals into loving homes and to ensure that their lives are enriched while they are still here. The staff at Pets Alive Westchester is a strong group of committed, capable, caring, compassionate people. Led by Jenessa, they will not only accomplish the goals already set forth, but with your support, they will take Pets Alive Westchester to places not yet imagined!
So go ahead – RING OUT THE OLD!
It has been such an honor working with you to lead this organization over the past year, and to be able to play a small part in helping to improve the lives of the animals at Pets Alive Westchester. Thank you all for being a part of PAW, and for all your support and encouragement.
Always remember that none of this can happen without you, so please give generously in 2012 of your time, your money and most of all your love. Thank you for loving the animals. Your love worked miracles in 2011. There are more miracles to come in 2012.
RING IN THE NEW!
Love,
Joy XOXOXO Read the rest of this entry »
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Updates by kerry on Jan 03, 2012. There are comments.
Some of you have asked me in person, or in email how is it we could work with the ASPCA on the Arkansas rescue when we have vilified them in the past, especially over Oreo.
I’m surprised that people don’t understand this.
Surprised that some of YOU don’t understand it, and I felt that writing a blog would help to overcome some of the misconceptions.
Have you ever read Pets Alive mission statement? Oh don’t bother to go and look for it, let me post it here for you:
Our mission is to improve the lives of companion animals everywhere by any means possible, including rescue, adoption, advocacy, collaboration, intervention and education.
That’s our mission statement. Short and sweet. Read the rest of this entry »
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Animal Rescue by kerry on Dec 18, 2011. There are comments.
This week, there was an amazing article in Forbes Magazine.
They published “15 Key Insights From 2011 From 15 Key Thinkers And Writers.”
Here’s insight number 8:
“Most people assume that the ASPCA, one of the largest and most well-funded animal-rights groups in the world, who profess to prevent cruelty to animals, would be all for advocating that homeless cats and dogs not be killed at animal shelters. Not so. A big eye opener: The ASPCA has actively fought to prevent cities from establishing no-kill shelters and aggressively fights bills proposed in local city councils that aim to reduce the number of innocent animals being killed. Another shocker? PETA, does too. The true protectors of animals are not the bureaucracy-rich animal rights organizations, but smaller groups and individuals. Nathan Winograd, author of Redemption, and Stanford-law-educated ex-criminal prosecutor and corporate attorney, is the founder of a growing no-kill-shelter movement—and gets my vote for most important intellectual this year. His no-kill actions challenge the status quo by thinking beyond the box. He’s developed a creative and realistic plan that many cities are successfully using to save most of their homeless animals. New York City’s ACC, who murders hundreds of cats and dogs each week needs to reform and implement his ideas.”
What does this mean to us? To those of us in the trenches of the no-kill movement?
Simple.
It means that OUR views, our passion, and our belief that no kill is not only the right path for all shelters, but that it is the ONLY path, is no longer some small grassroots movement and idyllic philosophy.
The fact that Forbes would publish such a statement means that we have now entered the “mainstream media” (Ryan Clinton’s words). This article means much more than the statement it presented to the public. This article means that the mainstream media is not looking upon our movement as a small bunch of crazy radicals. Instead we are being taken seriously, we are being discussed, talked about, and written about, and that they look at Nathan’s book and his ideas and his statements as true, factual and realistic.
My friends, this is absolutely pivotal. Read the rest of this entry »
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No-kill by kerry on Dec 14, 2011. There are comments.
In this “business” we see it all the time. Really well meaning people that get in over their heads. I’m not speaking of hoarders. Most psychologists feel hoarding is more of a mental disease than a controllable impulse.
I’m talking about well meaning rescuers that have let their hearts lead the way and they put their logic and their finances aside to try to help “just one more”.
I’ve seen so many cases where people were living in absolute squalor, all their resources gone, all their money gone, their homes in foreclosure and still much of the rescue community looks at them like they were heroes.
“They gave their WHOLE lives to the animals”.
I’m not impressed.
These people don’t impress me. I pity them. Not only that but they are HURTING us, our no-kill movement, they make us all look bad and “suspect”, and they are not good for the future of the animals in their care. Read the rest of this entry »
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Animal Rescue by kerry on Dec 11, 2011. There are comments.
This week, Pets Alive will be heading down to Arkansas to help out another rescue. The story is a sad one. This organization has been around for many years. They have done their best, with very little, in a rural area. In this area, for many people, animal lives are not highly valued and dogs are often dumped on the side of the road when they are not wanted. The kill rates in local shelters there top 95%.
So with very little, Jim and Peg tried to help. They ran into trouble a few years ago – the usual that we see so often. Too many animals, not enough resources. Another rescue stepped in then, taking 65 dogs from them with their promise to slow down or stop rescuing, as Peg had become sick with a cancer that would be terminal. Somehow the rescuing didn’t stop. Perhaps they tried, but Jim said every time he went to the mailbox there would be a box of puppies and he couldn’t just leave them there.
So here we are a year later, Peg has very little time left and Jim is desperate for help. It is a small community and the Southwind Animal Hospital (Justin and Dr. Corey Key) that have always cared the the animals there, were worried. They reached out to Pets Alive and asked us to help.
Could we take some animals? Read the rest of this entry »
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Animal Rescue by kerry on Dec 08, 2011. There are comments.
There is a lot of confusion about Pets Alive and Manos Por Patas and what happened and why Chrissy is no longer working with us. We will state for the record that the previous director of Manos Por Patas was the ONLY member of the organization. The sole director and sole board member. When she could no longer run Manos Por Patas she appointed the Pets Alive board as the NEW board of Manos Por Patas and then she resigned, effectively turning over Manos Por Patas to Pets Alive. Once that was done, Pets Alive legally filed a DBA (Manos Por Patas - Doing Business as Pets Alive Puerot Rico), filed our by-laws with the state, and filed all the other legal paperwork to take over the charity. All donations received for Pets Alive Puerto Rico went to the EIN for Manos Por Patas (DBA as Pets Alive Puerto Rico).
Chrissy Beckles was a volunteer with our organization, and with Manos Por Patas. For over a year we had a very amicable relationship, at one point even offering her a paid position which she opted to not accept for various reasons. When we disagreed on some basics philosophies, Chrissy decided to start her own rescue. We were glad to see her continue rescue and glad to continue to support her doing so. Personally we have great admiration and respect for Chrissy. She is a passionate, loving person with a generous spirit. While Chrissy and Pets Alive no longer share a common dream, we do share a common goal, and that is to save the lives of dogs in Puerto Rico who are abandoned and abused. I know I speak for everyone at Pets Alive when I say that we wish her nothing but success in this mission.
However, the problem was that her new rescue was started under the Manos Por Patas name and was raising donations with that EIN#. This is not legal, as Pets Alive is legally responsible for all donations to that EIN. We are responsible for your tax receipts, we are responsible for claiming those donations on our 990’s, and responsible for many other federal regulations. We asked her to stop raising money under that EIN and things didn’t go well from there.
We HAD discussed turning over the name and EIN to Chrissy and allowing her to continue to run as Manos Por Patas, and all of us resigning, and leaving it to her alone, but in the end this was not possible as our organization had to at least complete the year and file our 990’s and handle all donations legalities, and then we found out a bunch of other legal issues that made it very complicated to now separate from that EIN and “DBA” (Doing Business As). Our board voted to continue running Pets Alive Puerto Rico under the current EIN – JUST AS WE RUN PETS ALIVE WESTCHESTER under the EIN# of the Elmsford Animal Sanctuary (Central Westchester Humane Society.) That TOO is a separate EIN from Pets Alive Middletown. We have DBA there as well.
We are very sorry that there has been confusion about this and some people do not understand all these issues and believe that somehow we have done something unscrupulous. I assure you that this is not so. Pets Alive works closely with many other organizations. We always do. As for “stealing ideas”, we don’t even understand that accusation. At Pets Alive we give ALL our ideas to ANYONE that can use them. Recently we came up with the Christmas morning pet delivery idea, and asked YesBiscuit! and other bloggers to blast it out so other shelters could make use of the idea. We share every single one of our legal forms, applications, adoption contracts, waivers and anything else we can think of with other organizations and tell them “Don’t recreate the wheel – take our logo off and slap yours on and use our stuff!”. So I’m unsure what ideas we supposedly stole, but I assure you that if we have an idea you want – TAKE IT!! USE IT! SAVE ANIMAL LIVES! If we stole yours (like our calendar idea we first saw at Boxer Rescue and we loved it and used it) then we apologize if we have somehow overstepped in some way but we use any great idea we see and we encourage others to use ours. TOGETHER we can save more lives, and any idea we have taken, or given, we hope has been to that effort – to save lives.
So I hope that clears up misconceptions.
This blog will now be closed for comments because this is the last comment we will make on this issue. So far in all the years we have operated, have we ever lied to you or steered you wrong?
No. We are upfront and honest with you. At this point our reputation and our history should speak for itself. So we address this, this ONE time and will make no further comment on it.
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Animal Rescue by kerry on Dec 03, 2011. There are comments.
You’re not gonna believe this but Santa Claus called us this week.
We couldn’t believe it.
Santa? Calling US?
HERE?? From the North Pole?????
Oh my goodness.
We immediately started to think about the previous year. Had we been good? Are we on the good list this year? Was he calling because we were on the naughty list for fighting with some big organizations this year?
I admit it.
We were nervous.
We gathered all the staff around and put Santa on the speaker phone.
The first words of of his mouth were: ”HO-HO-HO Pets Alive!!”
We all laughed with glee at his jolly voice!
Santa said that indeed we had been VERY VERY VERY good this year. So good that he had selected us for a very special mission.
He was making us all “honorary elves” and empowering us to help him deliver some Christmas cheer!
We were shocked and delighted.
US???
He went on to say that he had a lot of little boys and girls that were getting dogs and cats for Christmas, but that he didn’t want to leave them in a box under the tree all night! He asked if there was any way that Pets Alive could help him this year.
Well, when Santa calls you, and asks you to help him, you do NOT say no! EVER.
So this year, Santa will visit Pets Alive on Christmas Eve. He will leave with us, all the dogs and cats, and puppies and kittens and rabbits that are going into new homes this season.
If you are a parent and you have already told Santa it is ok for your children to receive a pet this holiday season all you need to do is fill out our application, get approved, come down and select your pet (within a week of the holiday). Pets Alive will tell Santa and we will drive up to your house on Christmas morning, (with the Pets Alive MAGIC BUS) and knock on your door.
DING DONG!
::door opens, little boy looks up. There we stand in Santa hat, with clipboard, big MAGIC BUS behind us::
Us: “Hello, is this the house of Susie and Timmy So-and-So?”
Little Boy: “Yes. This is. I am Timmy So-and-So”.
Us: “Well, Timmy, get your sister, because we have a very special delivery from Santa for the two of you!!”
::We turn, whistle and out of the bus comes Santa’s Elf with Fido!! ::Us: “Timmy and Susie – Santa asked us to take care of your new dog, Fido. He stopped by Pets Alive so that Fido didn’t sit under the tree in a box all night! He asked us to deliver him to you this morning! Merry Christmas Timmy and Susie from Santa and Pets Alive! ….. and Merry Christmas to YOU , Fido, for you my sweet little furry friend, have finally found your forever home!”
See you on Christmas morning!
Click below to see available animals – more added every day, check back frequently:
(Some restrictions apply, must be within a reasonable travel distance from Pets Alive Middletown or Pets Alive Westchester)
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Animal Rescue by kerry on Dec 02, 2011. There are comments.
It all started 2 years ago. A rescue organization called Manos Por Patas asked us to help by taking the dogs they saved from Dead Dog Beach in Puerto Rico. Dead Dog Beach was known to be a dumping ground for unwanted dogs, and considered a place to go for “sport” by some of the locals to abuse and torment the animals. It was definitely a horror show and many organizations were trying to make a difference there and help the dogs. We were tentative at first, not knowing what to expect in these dogs, but could not have been more pleasantly surprised.
The dogs that arrived were some of the nicest dogs we have ever taken in. Happy, excited, friendly and grateful to be here. It was interesting to us because these dogs that had never lived in a home, had some of the best home “manners” of any we had seen. Almost all of them seemed to be house trained when we adopted them to families. We assume it is because they have always gone outside, so eliminating there was natural to them, having lived outside their whole lives. They also didn’t “take off” when the door or gate was opened. Most of them stayed right there at the house or in the yard. They had found a home, and no longer did they seem to want to wander or run. They were happy, and fed, and loved.
They were all also good with other dogs! Having lived their lives on the beach with a pack of dogs, they had adapted well to communal living and sharing space and food. Wonderfully social dogs. They were also almost all small to medium size which is highly adoptable.
We were pulling in dogs that had miserable lives, no vetting, no care, no affection or love – and they turned out to be some of the best and most highly adoptable dogs we had ever encountered. We not only felt we NEEDED to save more – we WANTED to! We worked more and more closely with this organization but ultimately they closed down and asked us to take over their mission. We met about it, and it was 100% unanimous. We had to help. We had to continue saving the dogs that were in such desperate need.
And so we continued to save dogs remotely, but this wasn’t an ideal arrangement. The expense for vetting and boarding was astronomical. Marisol and Rob Thomas are members of our board, and Marisol is a proud Puerto Rican. She has a fire in her heart for the dogs of the island. She and Rob wanted us to do everything possible to help. So Rob and Marisol, through their Sidewalk Angels Foundation, have donated $250,000 to set the wheels in motion, and we embarked on a mission to build a sanctuary in Puerto Rico. Read the rest of this entry »
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Updates by kerry on Dec 01, 2011. There are comments.