Annual Report for 2008: http://www.seattlehumane.org/files/images/2008AnnualReport-lr.pdf
At Our Philosophy we find:http://www.seattlehumane.org/explore/about/philosophy
All healthy and adoptable companion animals who come through Seattle Humane Society's doors are given as long as it takes for us to find them a home of their own, regardless of age, beauty or infirmity. In addition, we provide medical care and treatment for our shelter guests who need a little something extra to make them adoptable.
Pets with conditions that we can treat receive the care they need. Treatments can range from repairing broken legs; performing amputations; eye removal; care for sore ears, skin conditions and wounds; and treatment for kennel cough and upper respiratory infections in cats. At many shelters, animals requiring special care are put to death, but through the generosity of our donors, we are able to provide life-saving care to give hundreds of animals a new chance at life.
In the case of animals who have terminal medical conditions or for animals who present a public safety risk, our trained professional staff humanely euthanizes those animals.
The Seattle Humane Society accepts any owner surrendered animals utilizing intake appointments to allow our staff and volunteers to collect as much information as possible about the incoming pet. For dogs it is usually possible to get an appointment immediately. For cats, there may be as much as a two week delay. The appointments are scheduled on a first-call basis and not on the age or desirability of the kitty. In the case of an emergency, animals will be admitted immediately.
"ACCEPTS ANY OWNER SURRENDERED ANIMAL"
This to me, is close to the definition of an open shelter, even if not municipal or having municipal contracts. It is also not a "small" shelter in the sense that it is 2-1/2 times as large as Nathan's Ithaca shelter, and four times as large as Santa Monica's shelter system.
The Seattle Humane Society made long-awaited improvements at our campus during 2007. Prospective adopters can interact with the cats in condos. The cats are housed in new spacious compartments where staff and volunteers can socialize them daily. Sixty dog kennels have been completely remodeled to give a quieter kennel and to prevent barrier frustration. These changes were designed so the animals can thrive in the shelter and in their new home. Training programs have expanded in the remodeled auditorium. The Visiting Pets Program, only one-year-old, takes the healing presence of pets to 300 seniors, people with disabilities, and kids on a monthly basis. Animal Adventure Camp for Kids offers youngsters an opportunity to have fun and learn about pets.
I would note the obvious. Someone who has proven a success at saving lives in Seattle, is likely to be able to overcome some of the obstacles found in LA.
Statistics: http://www.seattlehumane.org/explore/about/statistics
I should note using the Maddies format, animals euthanized on owner request that are too sick or have too severe behavior problems are not figured into the live save stats, which LAAS does. Using the LAAS method, live save would not be 92% but would be about 88%. However, the statistics are there for anyone to analyze any way they want. Also, because they are a quasi-open admission shelter, over 20% of the animals coming in are sick, injured, or have severe behavioral problems; they are not cherry-picked in any sense.
I still repeat, do you want someone who has run the NYC and Maricopa shelters with little change, or someone who has run a quasi-open admission shelter with extraordinary success? Or do you want someone with no shelter experience, like Stuckey?
On top of this she has endorsements from Winograd and Bonnie Brown, two of the top No-Kill experts in the country. AND, she has ADL's backing, which no previous GM had. Just a handful of detractors ask, to my mind, irrelevant questions.
7 comments:
Are you asking us if we want Ed Boks or Stuckey back? I think you know that answer. Does "open door" mean mean that they do not charge to leave an animal? I think we charge $25 (I could be wrong)...it used to be $5.
Regardless. This is not Seattle and this is not a "Humane Society." I welcome her experience in those types of organizations and hope she can make a difference here, but you must admit that Zine, etc. are correct. The obstacles are enormous. There is no money for her to work with and she will have to go private for money which will may be successful or not. I'd be interested to know how much money she needs to get to her 80% promised save rate and how it gets spent.
I can't say that there are better candidates. There is no experience that would prepare one for this job which is why "previous" non-profit experience is nearly irrelevant. While I didn't even know that Heisen was applying, her insider experience (Commissioner, Chair of Spay/Neuter Committee) with the Department and the City and her knowledge of City politics --AND THE CITY ITSELF, as well as her professional experience as an attorney would have qualified her in my book.
Barnette will need to take an extensive tour of the City starting with Perry's district as Perry requested. I think that with all of the homework and shelter hours (necessary) that Barnette will have to do over the first year, what we will have is Barth running the department as she has done (poorly) for 2 years. There was before the Board today a proposal to take $30,000 from the spay/neuter resources to target free pit bull sterilizations. While we need to address this issue right away, this did not come from Barnette. It came from Barth with Davis's signature on it.
An in depth look at what taking $30 from that fund would do is needed. I don't know if the Board passed it. There have been no written minutes from the Board since February (Barth again).
Isn't the pre-appointment campaign over? What's the point of more Seattle comparisons now?
LAAS impounded roughly 73,600 cats & dogs and about 25% of them were owner surrendered during the 12 months ending May 2010.
Brad Jensen
Cypress,CA
How did you get that number? I see about 55,000 for cats and dogs through June.
Are the numbers for neonatal kittens and puppies a breakout f cats and dogs, or additional? Even if additional, I only see about 10,000 neonatals.
Are you talking about all animals including other and rabbits equals 74,000?
Got that number from animal records Ross sent me yesterday but you're right Ed, that number for just cats and dogs is no where near what is being published. I'll take a closer look at what they sent when I can find time and promise I won't post anymore figures until I get it sorted out. Sorry bout that.
Brad Jensen
Cypress,CA
My comment about those numbers did not get posted, Brad, but I'd like to see those numbers if you don't mind sending them. Wouldn't want to task Ross too much.
No need to send Jeff. Chameleon records for LAAS I've received through pra requests are archived here...
http://www.sheltertrak.com/downloads/laas/records/
The most recent records set I got from Ross yesterday is in the folder named 'PR095'.
It's a tab-separated text file so you'll need to import into a database and then query the database to get what you need to look at.
I just ran a query to look for duplicate impound numbers and it appears they sent me duplicate records. I'll have to verify and then try to find out from IS (via Ross) what they did different this time and try to get it corrected so it doesn't happen again.
Brad Jensen
Cypress, CA
I might add that although I requested tag number and tag type for each animal impounded, apparently the decision Barth and Ball (with Systems Group) made about not releasing this information because it could be traced back to a person's address still stands and needs to be challenged, possibly in a court of law.
Brad Jensen
Cypress, CA
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