At times, we hear the strangest things regarding our
operations. But recently an email was
sent to our city council and city manager that questioned our practices. They were so far away from our actual procedures
that initially we disregarded them. However, upon reflection I realized that if
one person perceives our organization that way, others in our community may as
well.
Thus the blog.
The new Edythe Elizabeth Stauffer Center for Pets is run by
the Lynchburg Humane Society. Our
adoption center is open to the public; our intake area in the back of the
building houses dogs/cats being held for stray periods, court cases, or those
pets awaiting medical or behavioral evaluation, or necessary medical treatment. This
back section is leased by the city for use and is unavailable to the general
public in order to minimize animal stress, for public safety and for disease control.
In an email to our city council and city manager, a person
wrote the following:
“There is a concern that the city's Animal
Control will become the new "kill" shelter since it is closed to the
public. If the pets in this area are not seen by the public and not on
Petfinder, their chance of being adopted are very low. If the Humane
Society does not pick them to go to the adoption area, then how will they ever
have a chance to find homes. LHS will be interested in
"pulling" the more adoptable pets from the Animal Control Intake area
so that means older and larger dogs including pits, and cats that are ill will
not have a chance. It would be a shame if Lynchburg City Animal Control
became the new "kill shelter”
The Lynchburg Humane Society works very hard to be a transparent
organization, and we want to clarify our stance in case others might be
confused. The Lynchburg Humane Society
is committed to saving 94% or more of the animals in our care. That is our goal. For all
of the animals that come into the entire shelter and for whom we provide
care for -there is no “kill shelter” or “section” in our Center for Pets.
Animals are in the back waiting for room on the adoption
floor, or to become available to be placed for adoption, and once they are
adoptable their photos will appear on our website as available pets. Regardless of location in our building, all of
the animals in the facility are considered our pets. We are interested in pulling all of the
animals up to the adoption center that can be adopted. There is no “more” adoptable or “less”
adoptable designation. They are either
able to be placed or not, based on behavior or medical reasons.
We never discriminate based on the age of our pets either. We love to place the senior dogs and cats
with minor manageable medical problems! And
for those that are ill, we treat, and they do have a chance.
The correspondence from the person mentioned earlier is descriptive
of the operations and relationships you would see with a private shelter or
rescue such as Roanoke SPCA or Amherst Humane Society. With these specific organizations, there is
an animal control side and a humane society side, and they are operated by two separate
organizations. The humane society pulls
from the animal control side and then they place those animals up for
adoption. But please note, we are not
suggesting that these organizations don’t pull old or ill animals that need
treatment. We are sure they try and help
as many as they can as any animal organization would.
The Lynchburg Humane Society is not run by two different
organizations - we are one organization with the same mission and vision, to
save 94% or more of the pets in our care.
If you ever have any concerns or questions about the
operations of the Lynchburg Humane Society, please reach out to those in charge
of the different areas so they can be addressed. Condemning us publicly
or to city management and never allowing us to hear your feelings directly,
seems disingenuous to the motivation to cause harm to an organization that has
done a lot of good for the pets and people of this community.
Everyone
may not always like the choices we make or how we operate, and we are always
looking for ways to improve so we welcome feedback. But I believe that the 94% of the animals who
left last year to homes would say we are doing a pretty good job, which was made possible by this community's support!
Here is a link to the different departments and who can
answer your questions.
http://www.lynchburghumane.org/about-us/board-and-staff.html
It is always a mistake to voice a negative opinion or comment publicly before taking the concern directly to the personal or organization in order to avoid spreading a misconception. Certainly, in this case, it would have been better to ask the staff at the Humane Society and allow them to explain the reason for separate accommodations.
ReplyDeleteSince I decided last August to quit merely writing checks and to give to the Lynchburg Humane Society in other ways as well (photography, supporting the LHS Facebook page, offering encouragement wherever I can, etc.), I have witnessed a totally blind kitten, an old surrendered dog no longer wanted by his owners, and an old dog whose owner had recently died experience not the death sentences one might have expected in many cities, but instead an outpouring of compassion from LHS and its supporters and amazingly quick adoptions into loving homes. Case in point: the accompanying photo in Makena's blog is Cowboy, a 10-year old beagle. He has a little trouble with stairs because he is a senior. Yet he has not given up on someone falling in love with him and giving him what he and all the dogs and cats at the Center desire the most: a HOME. And LHS has not given up on him either. Let us all focus not on the 6% of the animals who are--heartbreakingly--too sick or otherwise to be adoptable, and concentrate instead on heading over to the New Center for Pets to save the lives of their amazing dogs and cats and give them all the Second Chance they so deserve.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all that you do.
ReplyDelete