We heard about this situation the first week of March. That is when the complaint was made and the police moved in to assess the situation. After going on the property, they must have seen that they had to pursue much more serious legal action against Sylvia Pinneta and at that time they were authorized to remove only dogs that were in absolute CRITICAL states of needing medical attention, after giving Sylvia the opportunity to do so. From what I understand she was asked to seek medical attention for the dogs that the police department felt needed it most and I believe that perhaps she refused, and as a result they were able to then confiscate those dogs. (again, all of this is between her and the police and I can not speak to what happened, so please understand that I have no knowledge of the legalities involved in this situation).

Those dogs, who we named Josh and Kelli were brought to Pets Alive. Josh had such a badly mangled leg that had been untreated for so long that he was in agony every time he moved, severely malnourished, and very tiny, (most likely a result of having so little care and being in so much pain for so long). We rushed him to Dr. Furman who immediately had to amputate his leg. Josh had a very difficult recovery, but he is now well on his way to moving about comfortably.

Kelli had what appeared to be two broken toes. Again, they appeared to be old injuries where no medical attention had been sought and they had healed facing UPWARD. She limped very badly on them and was also clearly uncomfortable. There was nothing to do for her but to amputate half her foot to remove those toes. Kelli is doing well and is able to run around now. She is now being fostered with a wonderful family who will formally adopt her once this process is over.

The town gathered all their information and got all their ducks into a row and then this week they were finally able to arrest Sylvia on animal cruelty and other charges. Pets Alive has offered to take every single dog from the home, ONCE THE TOWN HAS OWNERSHIP OF THEM.

We can not get into a situation where we take the dogs and board them here and care for them (there are almost 80 of them) while the town goes through Sylvia’s due process, which could take months, or unfortunately even YEARS. Once they do have ownership though, we have stepped up to offer our services and we will work closely with other organizations to make sure all the rotties are properly vetted, cared for and adopted.

So the rotties are NOT here yet. We have a few of them that were in severe medical crisis – Josh and Kelli – and now we took in Eileen – another severely injured (or malformed) dog that needs some serious surgery or additional help. All the puppies were taken out of there (to Middletown Humane) and all the late term, very pregnant females were taken and put into foster by Mountain Rottie Rescue.

NONE OF THE DOGS ARE AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION YET!

Please do not come here or to Middletown Humane and ask to see them or adopt them. Unfortunately the dogs still “technically” all belong to Sylvia. So until a judge orders their seizure, none of them can be shown or adopted.

However if you ARE interested in adoption, then we would love for you to PRE fill out an adoption application. This way once the dogs do come here, and get vetted, we can immediately have you come down and get first pick of a dog that you might be interested in possibly adopting or fostering!

So I hope that clears up our role. We don’t really HAVE any official role in this. We can’t really ACT or do anything until the police have actual custody of the dogs. We HAVE gone up a few times to assess the situation and help in a minor way but we do plan (and expect) that eventually ALL the dogs will be here where they can be taken care of properly and moved into other rescues and into homes!

We thank ALL of you that are stepping up to help and to volunteer time and services but at this time we only have three of the dogs, and they are not available for adoption yet. There is also nothing else that can be done to help the dogs, until the town has seized full custody.

We will keep you all updated!

And hey…while these pictures are sad…you can also be happy that the police thought enough to come to us and trusted us enough to care for these guys, because -

LOOK AT KELLI NOW!

You can tell by that grin that she knows she is going to be ok now!

We also get all of the CACC mailings with the pictures of the dogs and cats that are scheduled to die the next morning and we look at those and help pull those animals whenever we can.

That is how I came across one of the saddest looking dogs I had ever seen. His name was Jojo.

Jojo was supposedly 10 years old. His owner had gotten arrested, and JoJo was brought to the CACC, where JoJo just…..well….gave up.

He wouldn’t even sit for his picture and volunteers said he would not respond in any way to them, or come for a walk.
He lay in his run, not looking at any one.
Not eating.
Not participating in life.

And so he went on the kill list to be euthanized the next day.

All night I watched his thread, hoping I would see that he was “safe” but with an old dog, there are not many people who would take this on, never mind an old dog with possible issues or in need of specialized care or worse – very special adopters that would ignore his age, his special needs and his depression. No rescue wants a dog that will stay for a long period of time. We want to be able to move our dogs out into homes, so we can help save the next one!

But they start killing the animals early in the morning, and at 6 am, I checked again, and he was still there.
Not safe.

Awaiting his death.
He looked so miserable, so sad. So broken.

And so we reached for the phone and pulled him.

Over the next few days we hit a few obstacles in getting him to us from the city, and finally his transport was arranged, and we eagerly awaited the day of his arrival. Volunteers had followed his story and they were all set to shower him with love and to show him a new life.

Then I got an email from the CACC. Someone had come in looking to adopt JoJo. The woman said they had been looking all over the place for him, at every shelter in NY and was he here? They responded that he was, but that he had already been adopted.

WHAT??? I’m sorry – but WHAT? The woman was a family member. Sister to the person who had been arrested. She said she loved JoJo and had been searching everywhere for him. She also added that JoJo was on medication – he was an epileptic and he needed medication for that and also for his joints and she told them how much of a dosage he got and how often. Clearly this woman KNEW the dog, cared about him, and wanted to take him home. But they stuck to their guns. Jojo was “adopted” .

Again…WHAT?

No he wasn’t. He had been pulled by rescue. Us. But a rescue. To go to live a life in a shelter. NOT a home. And here was a HOME – someone that KNEW the dog, wanted him and was standing in front of them crying?
…and they turn their back on her and on Jojo and continue the process to transfer him to us??????

Oh my. Sigh.

Thankfully someone at the CACC went after her and wrote all of this down and passed it on to us, including the woman’s contact information.

But again, here is such a disconnect. Jojo had family. He had someone that was looking for him. WHY WOULD ANY ORGANIZATION NOT IMMEDIATELY CALL US AND TELL US THE GREAT NEWS!??

Why in the world would you send this woman away, from a dog that she loved and from one that loved her, to send that dog to an unknown life in a shelter, when he could go to a home?

The minute I read the email about the need for Jojo to be on the medication, and the woman’s number to contact if we needed more information about it, I was stunned.

Why, why, why, why, why?

We immediately contacted her. We told her we would be thrilled for her to take Jojo. She broke down and wept. She wept loudly, and long, and with great happiness, great despair, and great relief. She must have thanked us 1,000 times.

We arranged for her to go BACK to the CACC as a Pets Alive representative to pick up the dog “for us”.

And of course we didn’t take the dog – we instantly approved her adoption and sent Jojo directly home with her.

Jojo never came here, he never needed to.

His home was with the people that loved him. With the people that went to every single shelter in NYC to try to find him, after calling netted them no results.

This woman called the police, the shelters, she hunted for days for this beloved dog of her sister’s and was bereft when she was told that the dog had been adopted out.

Why would any organization prevent her from taking that dog home with them? This is another disconnect, another problem at the bleagured CACC in NYC. The lack of common sense. The lack of the ability to make a judgement call, to do the right thing, to do everything in their power to reunite a lost dog with an owner, or to give a confiscated dog to a family member that clearly loves and wants that dog.

I know the pictures on this page are not great. The people have only an older cell phone and are not computer savvy so it was hard to get us some good pictures, but the pictures you see here are the day that they picked Jojo up and took him home. Home. Home after taking him for a long walk at the beach, after getting his epilepsy medication into him, after getting him a good meal and settling him down in a warm and cozy bed in their living room.

Why would anyone deprive them of taking this dog home with them, and why would anyone deprive a dog that had given up all hope and just waited to die, a chance to go home with someone he clearly loved?

You’re home Jojo. We are so glad to be the instruments of that for you and so glad that your eyes have light in them once again.

Enjoy the rest of your days in the arms of people that didn’t give up on you. Who hunted the mean streets of NYC to bring you home.

Home.

Stepping into the vacancy created by Homer’s departure will be one of our favorites, Plato! [And no, I did not pick him because Homer's slot is reserved for only short legged dogs]

Plato’s was recently returned because his family found that he was doing some resource guarding and they did not feel they could address this in their home. Of course now that he is back, we can help him with this.

Come to our class this Saturday, ay 10am and learn how “Trading Up” can make giving up items in his possession his favorite game!

It’s been one week today that Robert came home from the hospital.  And what a hectic week it’s been!  For anyone who doesn’t know Robert’s story, he was found in NYC with some abrasions on his body and no control of his hind end.  He was brought to the city shelter where he sat for three days until his sweet, pathetic face was seen by our staff and he came to Pets Alive.  Upon examination by our vet, he suggested we rush Robert directly to Oradell Animal Hospital (a 24-hour specialty practice) since the extent of his medical needs were beyond the realm of typical vet hospitals.

Oradell Animal Hospital admitted him later that evening and during his week long stay he underwent many tests and procedures (from ultrasounds, MRI, and finally spinal surgery).  His neurologist diagnosed him with several conditions:

• T3-L3 myelopathy- non ambulatory paraplegia
• Traumatic disc rupture T13-L1, left sided hemilaminectomy on 3/1
• Upper motor neuron bladder and suspect chronic bladder muscle injury
• Suspect HBC (hit by car)—multiple abrasions (head, R elbow, R hock)
• Traumatic hepatopathy-resolving

Although no one could guarantee success, Robert’s neurologist was hopeful that surgical intervention and ‘cleaning’ up the region surrounding his ruptured disc could help restore Roberts previous functions.  Our biggest setback was that no one could conclude how long Robert sat with this injury before receiving medical care.  The longer he had lingered, the less of a chance that he would be able to regain the ability to walk or have control over his bladder.

His spinal surgery went well and was basically uneventful.  But it took Robert several days before he had an appetite which limited what medications his doctors could get into him.  Finally, with the help of a gastromotility agent, he regained his appetite and thus was released back to our care.  Currently, Robert can not urinate on his own and needs to have his bladder expressed 2-3 times daily.   He is suspected to have some damage to his bladder muscle from having an over-full bladder for a period of time, and thus is on several meds to help regain tone to his bladder muscle.  The doctors are hopeful that by keeping his bladder empty, it can start to heal, however they did stress that he may always have trouble urinating.  For the past week, we have been catheterizing him daily to make sure his bladder stays as empty as possible.  Only time will tell whether he will gain better control on his own.

In addition to his bladder medications, Robert was discharged with six other medications, ranging from pain medications, to antibiotics.  He takes approximately 10 pills three times daily (thank goodness for liverwurst!).  His doctors stressed the fact that Robert needs to stay strictly confined for 4-6 weeks.  He may be carried or sling-walked to go to the bathroom several times a day, but this should be his ONLY exercise.  Dogs are at risk of rupturing more disc material from the site where surgery was performed if they over-exercise during the first month after surgery, so keeping him still is a priority.  We are also keeping him on well padded surfaces and making sure he is not laying in the same position too long as he will develop pressure sores.  Robert also has gentle range of motion exercises performed throughout the day as well as massage of his muscles.

Fortunately for us, Robert has been a sweet boy throughout our handling of him.  It is indeed heartbreaking to see him get frustrated with his immobility, but even if Robert is to use a cart in the near future his spine needs to heal for several weeks first, or MORE damage may result.

Robert now has a small run built outside where he can lay on warm sunny days to help keep his spirits high.  His switch to a high fiber diet has helped firm up his stool and keep it easier to keep clean.  Robert also has a splint on his hind right foot, due to instability from his probable car accident.  We are changing in regularly as needed to keep it clean and dry.  At this point, only time, patience and healing will tell what is in store for Robert.  He is scheduled for a recheck with his neurologist in one week.   And although we are all praying that he regains the ability to walk and urinate on his own, our most important focus is keeping Robert comfortable and happy.  And hopefully, with lots of love, everything else will fall into place!

Today was a busy rescue day for Pets Alive. Today is a day that I will always remember as the day we rescued Robert.

It all started when I was going through the kill lists for the CACC last night and I saw a cat that my heart just went out to.  She was an 8 year old cat named Princess and she had been dumped at the very high kill CACC for reason stated “new husband and baby allergic”.  The CACC tested her and gave her one of their highest temperament ratings meaning that this was one VERY sweet cat.  I read her “thread” on Facebook and no one had stepped up to take her in.  Older cats are more difficult to place and many of us are filled with older cats. I will tell you that Pets Alive has a population of about 90% of our cats that are considered senior and so adoptions can be slow…taking in another one wasn’t really in the cards.  At this point we need to try to take in some “highly adoptables” to help fund all the seniors we care for that may NOT get adopted.  That’s just the way it is.

So looking at this cat had me shake my head with sadness and move on to the next.  But something about her, and the fact that her owner had her for eight years and dumped her in a place where she was almost sure to die because of her new husband’s allergies really had me pissed off.  I mean didn’t she date this man before they got married?  Couldn’t he have gone for allergy shots?  Didn’t they have anyone that could care for the cat or take it in, or could they keep it in the guest room or SOMETHING other than just abandoning it to die amongst strangers?  Ah, but I digress.  Anyway, I decided to call and pull Princess.  ”Pull” means put a commitment on her that our sanctuary would accept her in, so that she would not be killed the next morning. The CACC then notes that and holds her for us.  So while I was there I saw Jose and pulled him too.  What the heck.  What’s one more?  I have faith in our cat staff to place our cats (our cat manager Becky does a great job with this) and so I was happy.  Two cats lives would be spared in the morning.

But then I started wondering, oh heck, what about the dogs – wonder if there are any there that might find a place with us.  There was one real cutie.  His name was Lincoln and he was adorable, but then, sigh, oh then I saw Tunechi.  A little BLIND shitzu.  Oh no.  She was dying tomorrow?  Ugh.  No.  Ok, let me pull the both of them.

Whew.
Went to bed feeling good.  John Sibley was going to go and pick them up in the morning for us.  John is an amazing animal activist, animal lover, blogger and friend.  He lives in the city, but it was still a lot to ask him to go first to the Manhattan shelter to get the cats and then to the Brooklyn shelter to get the dogs, but he didn’t even bat an eye – he was on it and out there early in the morning.

In the morning I checked online for confirmation that the cats and dogs were coming and I found out that Jose was pulled by another rescue.  Yay!  That’s great.  But on the dog page I saw a dog that was dying that morning that was NOT THERE at 10:00 the night before!  A dog named Robert.  My eyes were immediately drawn to him.  It was a terribly poignant picture.  He was crippled and holding himself up by his front legs.  His face had the most amazing expression on it that I had ever seen.  I can’t really describe it.  I put the picture here for your to see and determine what that expression is for yourself.

For ME it was an expression that I couldn’t turn my back on, but my staff is terribly over worked.  Every single one of them works more hours than they are paid for, they are dedicated, they work HARD, I never see them hanging around or lounging – they are so committed to the animals here and taking this dog in would put a lot of extra burden on us all.  I asked for Janet, our medical staff person, and Sue our adoption and intake coordinator, to come to my office.

When they got there they said “What’s wrong, your voice was terrible”.  I said “Look” and turned the screen to then.  Instantly their faces changed and they said “awww” and then “Are we taking him“?  At that point I wanted to cry.  I really did.  This staff is just astonishing.  We all know what taking in a serious medically difficult dog means to us all, and we all know how expensive it may be too, and we all know how much time it will take to help and handle a crippled dog. But thy didn’t hesitate.  They thought we should reach out to help him.

And with that, I called and pulled Robert and sent follow up emails to the CACC staff asking for him.  I worried it might be too late.  Why would he have NOT been on the CACC death list the night before and yet put on it that morning?  It was 9:45am and they usually kill earlier than that.  Was it already too late?  I called John and asked him to rush to the Brooklyn center and try to save him before it was too late.  He was already on his way.  A few moments later though I received a confirmation email that Robert was “held” for us.  He was safe.  He was coming.

I looked over the thread in his Facebook post and there were so many comments from so many people that cared and were pleading and begging someone to help Robert.  There was even an offer of a wheelchair from Eddie’s Wheels – a great organization that makes and fits crippled dogs with a wheelchair to get around! Here is a sampling of some of the Facebook posts.

Of course while he was there, John texts me and says that there was only one cat on the death list the night before that was not pulled by rescue.  His name was Sam and he had a fractured front leg.  Did I want him too?

Sheesh.  At this point I have a senior cat, a senior dog, a blind dog, a crippled dog – what the heck, throw in a broken legged cat!

And so Sam was saved too.

John gently put Robert in the back of his car, along with our two other dogs and two cats and headed up to Pets Alive.  Over an hour and a half drive in a snowstorm.  I told you he was dedicated, didn’t I?  GREAT guy (hey girls, he is single too – just sayin!)

After speaking to him, and to Janet we decided that the best thing to do would be for John to go directly to our vets office.  Dr. Furman is a great guy and his staff is fabulous and they made room for us to come right in with the broken legged cat and our crippled dog.

I took this little video of Robert at the vet office: http://twitvid.com/GJTU8
and another of our vet with him: http://twitvid.com/KCADF

I met John there and after examination Dr. Furman said that Robert needed immediate care.  His bladder was full and he was unable to express it himself. (Dr. Furman did that for Robert to make him more comfortable) and he also felt he was in considerable pain.  It was undetermined from the X-rays and medical reports from the CACC if Robert was hit by a car, or if this was an old injury of some sort, but Robert also had lacerations on his face and legs.  Dr. Furman felt that he might have had a very serious condition to begin with and then being hit by the car exacerbated it and made him a complete paraplegic.  He did note that Robert DID have some feeling in his back paws so if we were to have ANY chance of operating on him, he could not lose that feeling entirely.  So he wanted him to go immediately for an MRI, and surgery, as it would be Robert’s best chance of survival and recovery. He also said that his bladder was very full and if we did not have someone round the clock to help him express it then there was a chance of it bursting or causing him a lot of discomfort and pain.  He needed critical care and he needed it asap!

Ouch.  A snowstorm.  Hazardous road conditions and it was 4:30 pm now.  How were we going to get him over an hour away to Oradell?

I called Janet to try to figure out what we should do.  Many people think Pets Alive is this huge organization, with this immense budget, but the truth is that we are about 10-12 people strong (and some of those are part time) and our budgets is such that we run in a deficit every month until our annual Furball fundraiser and our smaller fundraisers all year that help to fill in the holes.

So looking at $8,000 to $10,000 worth of costs for Robert, a dog we didn’t even KNOW and the care he would need did stop my heart for a moment.  How the heck were we going to manage this?  Then I looked into his face, and I smiled at him, and he thumped his tail at me.  Thump.  Thump. Thump.

My heart melted and I called Janet – “What are we going to do?”.  She said that she was going to call her fiancé and that she and he were going to leave right then, come and pick up Robert and head to Oradell with him.  Right then.  At night.  In a snowstorm.  For a dog she hadn’t even met yet.

She is one of the more astonishing and amazing people I know.  Janet is everything you would hope for in a person that works for you, but more than that she is so amazingly caring and giving and loving to the animals of Pets Alive. She is irreplaceable.  I admire her so much, and more than that I respect her, her work and the person that she is.  I was so touched.

I left Robert in Dr. Furman’s care, while I took Sam back to Pets Alive.  Oh, and Sam the cat with the broken leg?  Yeah.  No.  Nothing wrong with the leg.  Dr. Furman did an X-ray and it was completely clean.  Sam has a little bite wound in his leg, and it is sore..that’s all. And his temperament is not hissy and aggressive as his sheet says.  He is a total sweetie.  A very nice cat.  I handed him over to Becky for intake and came home to write this blog.

Robert is on his way with Janet to go to Oradell.  I don’t know what his future holds.  In the end if we can’t manage his pain and we can’t help him we may be forced to let him go, which would kill us all after all of this.

We have a connection to Robert, and a commitment now.  We looked into his eyes and we made him a promise.  I wish he had not lain at the CACC for days when immediate surgery could have maybe saved him, but that is the state of our city run shelter.  We will do the best that we can by him because this dog after being treated horribly, after being not cared about, after being hit by a car, after laying in his own filth, after not being able to release his own bladder, after living in pain for days…this dog looked at us …. and thumped his tail.

Pets Alive asks you to please help us with costs for Robert.  He is worth saving.  He is worth having a life and having someone to love him and having a chance at walking again.

We’re all pulling for you Robert.  Please keep fighting.  We are all fighting for you.

Robert lay immobilized in his cage at the NYC Animal Care and Control facility, just moments away from being killed when Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary stepped in to save him. Robert had originally been surrendered into the Brooklyn CACC as a stray on February 26th, and then was scheduled for death on the 29th.

Robert is extremely intuitive and bright, yet shy. His injury and handicap have not broken his spirit, and he wags his tail at the slightest affection from anyone.

Robert can only walk using his front legs, and with his toes curled under, drags his hind legs behind him. He has large lacerations on his forehead and legs, and needs round the clock assistance to expel his bladder. Doctors believe that he may have been hit by a car, and received absolutely no treatment for his condition.

Pets Alive, an internationally recognized no kill organization, made the commitment to give Robert the fighting chance that he was not given before. Pets Alive routinely rescues last chance animals, and finds them forever homes in record time. Pets Alive knows that all animals are adoptable, and believes in an animal’s birthright – the right to live. The surgeries and aftercare are estimated to be in excess of $10,000.00, a difficult number for the organization that is supported entirely by individual donations. Donations for Robert will go directly towards his care, with any leftover funds going toward the critical care medical fund at the sanctuary.

Robert is currently going through diagnostics, and is getting relief for his pain. A Pets Alive team member will remain by his side continuously during treatment, and once complete, he will begin rehabilitation therapy.

How To Help:

Donations are urgently needed to help with the expense of Roberts diagnostics, surgeries and rehabilitation. Donations can be made securely online at www.petsalive.org. Robert will need a foster or permanent home of his very own after his procedures. You can learn more about providing foster care or adopting Robert at www.PetsAlive.org.

About Pets Alive:

Pets Alive is one of the oldest and largest no kill organizations in the United States saving more than 2,000 animals each year. Pets Alive is internationally recognized as a leader in developing alliances to end the killing of and promote the humane treatment of companion animals. The mission of Pets Alive is to improve the lives of companion animals everywhere by any means possible, including rescue, adoption, advocacy, collaboration, intervention and education.

Pets Alive operates three locations: Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary in Middletown, New York; Pets Alive Westchester in Elmsford, New York; and Pets Alive Puerto Rico, in Utuado, Puerto Rico. Pets Alive is a 501(c) (3) non-profit charity operating solely on individual donations, receiving no funding from city or state. For more information, please visit www.petsalive.org. To become a fan of Pets Alive on Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/petsalive. To follow Pets Alive on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/petsalive.

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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.)

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.

One of the key words? COLLABORATION. Meaning?

1. the act of working with another or others on a joint project
2. something created by working jointly with another or others

So when we are approached by ANYONE to help them save the lives of animals, we need only consider our mission statement before saying YES.

I don’t disagree with everything the ASPCA has done.  They have done a lot of good.  They have a kick-ass spay/neuter program in NYC that spays, neuters and vaccinates pit bulls for FREE,  all the time, not just “on special”.  They do humane education. They offer low cost spay and neuter for other breeds via their mobile clinics.

I’m not going to be a commercial for the ASPCA.  I can’t sing.  (OK, *I* think I can, but other people tell me I can’t).

You all are well aware of the MAJOR issue that we have with them, but to not help 100 little furry lives in Arkansas because we have issues between us is completely disgusting, reprehensible and absurd.

Our mission is to help animals. We would never ever turn away help to do that in any way.  Why should we?  Why would we?

Look at all the faces in this blog. Without the ASPCA’s help this time around, there would be NO WAY our rescue could afford to get them here.  It is costing between $5,000 and $10,000 to do so.  Our budget has absolutely no where near that sort of excess in it.  We struggle each month to pay all our bills and have a little left to buy needed operational items.  Our tractor just died.  Our gator barely works. Without a tractor the boys do everything manually.  When the gator goes, I can’t even imagine the extra work, especially with the farm animals.  Right now the axle of the gator is held together with a wrench that is permanently attached and can’t be moved. It’s a matter of time….

So when another organization steps up to the plate and says yes they will help and they have the money and the power to do so, then I say jump on board and let’s take this ride, because there are a lot of little lives counting on us.

Last year we had some major disagreements with Best Friends.  Yet when they needed help with saving all those beagles from the laboratories we said YES, bring them here, we will help. And we did.  And together many lives were saved and we adopted out over 100 beagles in less than two weeks. What was the answer for those dogs if we had not stepped up?  If they had not stepped up?

We don’t have a lot of money but we ARE an adoption machine. The organizations that DO have a lot of money can work with us to save more lives, more animals AND more quickly and more efficiently.  So it behooves us all to work together to do that.

In this case we are working with the ASPCA, and Southwind Veterinary Hospital and another animal organization in Arkansas called AARF and I’ve also reached out to another organization in Arkansas (thank you Joy McMannus!) to help us go forward and be backup support for the rescue we are taking the 100 dogs from.  As they close their doors they will need support if any more animals get dumped on their doorstep.

It is all of us working together that will save these lives.

We could not afford to do it on our own.  The other organizations also couldn’t do it alone – they need someone to step up and take the animals in.  I’m forever grateful that we have our Westchester Facility with so much space, that we ARE able to do this.

Alone we can save a number of lives.  Working TOGETHER we can save vastly more.  The numbers are actually limitless.

So what do you choose?
Save a few here and there?  Or save them all?

You have also asked if it is difficult to work with groups we have argued with and so vehemently disagreed with in the past.  That’s a good question.  I will admit it can be awkward and uncomfortable at times, but in this case and in the case with Best Friends, while we disagreed with decisions their upper management were making, the people on the ground, shoulder to shoulder with us, working in the trenches, scooping the animals up and working on solutions – were exactly like us.  No different.  They all loved animals.  They all wanted to see them safe.  They all hoped for the best and hoped for the future of the animals that were suddenly put into their arena and that they suddenly took responsibility for.

We are all the same.  We are all different.

But putting aside differences to work on saving lives CAN be done, and done well.

I genuinely like the people I have been working with at the ASPCA on this mission.  Very much.  And I genuinely like the people I worked with on all the Best Friends joint ventures we have done.

We won’t ever forget our differences and it is likely our organizations will never agree with each other, but I find it inspiring and commendable to see us all come together when the lives of animals are at stake.  To put aside our differences and in front of us see ONLY that set of eyes that has no where else to turn. I’m not going to let those little eyes down.  None of us are.

So in this case all I can say is:
“Hey ASPCA – you ROCKED IT!  Thank you!”

So in conclusion what does this mean? Well to the dogs in Arkansas? “We got yer back little furry ones. We’re all here to be a soft landing for you.  I can’t wait for you to get here on Tuesday and to start to send you on your way to some warm and loving homes.”

And because of us, and because of the ASPCA and because of Southwind Animal Hospital,  100 dogs will find a safe place to land for Christmas.

Look at the pictures on this page.

They are worth anything.

They are worth everything.