Fwd: FW: Del. Co. SPCA

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Kathy Dlutowski <kdlutowski wrote:

FW: Del. Co. SPCAWed, 17 Nov 2004 13:57:40 -0500

 

 

A group of former volunteers is trying desperately to get the current Board of Directors to step down at Delco. I'm sure some of you have seen/signed the petition, but just in case you haven't, here's another article that's in today's Inquirer.

 

That Board desperately needs to be changed; you are all familiar in one way or another with this shelter, and although changes have been made in tht there is a new director, I think the support of a brand-new Board would be of great help to changing things out there.

 

There's nothing in this article or in the Fox TV bit that tells of anything that most of us were not already aware of. For a fact, we know of much worse conditions (at least for me) that took place in the past. I personally claim no knowledge for the last year, as I rarely go out there and find some of the staff unbearable (Judy, that red-neck skinny guy with the beard?? Chuck?? Offensive, insulting, etc. At least they used to work second shift, so had less public contact.

 

If nothing else, we have to try to help them get their list of acceptable rescue organizations in place, so the uninformed volunteers no longer call Klemko and folks like that to pick up dogs.

 

And if anyone knows Brenda K's proper email address, would you please send this to her, too.

 

Hi! If you are getting this e-mail, you've signed the spca survey web site in the past few weeks (we've literally had hundreds of stories sent in to us). In addition to FOX 29's broadcast, the Phildelphia Inquirer has also been taking a look at the DelCo SPCA. Please pick up your local Inquirer today - the article is in the "Local" section (Section B), on the front page. Please read the article, as it provides additional details FOX 29 was unable to cover due to the limitations of tv news. Also, please keep in mind that, as sad as it is, the facts reported by FOX and the Inquirer are really just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to tell.If you do not get the Inquirer, you can use the link below to go the Inquirer web site, or just read the Inquirer copy that we have attached at the end of this e-mail. Thank you!Note: FOX 29 should be re-running their report

this Friday around 10:30pm. If you missed the initial airing or want to see it again, please watch. Also, please tell a friend to watch the report, read the newspaper and generally just educate themselves about what's going on. The majority of the population has never set foot in a shelter/SPCA, and the best way to promote positive change is to educate the public about what's really going on. Thanks!Joe Boylewith Jen Coccodrilli, Laura Warren, Karen Bates(representing many, many other concerned citizens!)P.S. If you are interested in going door-to-door to inform the general public about the issues at the DelCo SPCA and asking the public to sign a petition to have the current Board step down and be replaced by a more professional, civic-minded Board, please e-mail Jen Coccodrilli back at:jla20 (mac.com)Please send Jen your name and any contact information you wish to provide (phone, cell phone, address, e-mail etc. - as much as you want to provide). We will be announcing a gathering point soon and will start petitioning in the next few days - sooner rather than later. The more people in the general public are educated about the DelCo SPCA, the better chance for positive change. Thank you!!!!!http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/10199848.htmCritics take on Delco SPCA boardThe shelter's "kill" rate and other issues are worrisome, they say. A board member disagreed.By Sandy BauersInquirer Staff WriterThe Delaware County animal shelter has been plagued by a high "kill" rate, unhealthy conditions, and poor management, say two former county SPCA board members, former volunteers, and a nationally known consultant.Joe Boyle, a former board member, wrote to Delaware County veterinarians earlier this month that euthanasia rates last summer were "consistently remaining well over 85% for stray cats and over 60% of adoptable dogs," at an overall rate of 70 percent, he said.Michael Arms, the consultant who inspected the Media operation in

May, said the better shelters had euthanasia rates of 25 percent to 30 percent, "and even by some standards that's high."Only one person of authority at the shelter would comment. Board member Harry L. Gray, a veterinarian, said the criticisms were "off base.""We have done nothing wrong," he said, adding that board members donate their time. "There is nothing to gain," he said, from mismanaging the shelter.He said he did not know the euthanasia rate, although "we don't put any more to sleep than we have to."Boyle and Jennifer Coccodrilli, a former volunteer, also said that with no veterinarian or licensed technician on staff, ketamine, a controlled substance used as an anesthesia during euthanasia, was administered by unlicensed staff. Even now, an independent vet works at the shelter just a few hours a week.Gray said he provided proper oversight. Coccodrilli said that he was rarely at the shelter.

Minutes of monthly board meetings for 2004 show that Gray attended only two meetings from January through September.Erik Hendricks, executive director of the Pennsylvania SPCA in Philadelphia, said that under federal law, controlled substances had to be kept in a safe or a locked cabinet in a locked room. According to Boyle and Coccodrilli, the ketamine is often left out.The aging facility was also criticized. "Basically, the facility is falling apart," said Karen Bates, a veterinary technician from Swarthmore who volunteered at the shelter for about a year before leaving in June.Boyle and Coccodrilli said torn metal fencing and exposed wires could injure the animals.Arms pointed to what he said was outdated ventilation system and poor drainage in the outdoor dog runs. "I can almost guarantee... if one animal has an intestinal virus, they're just spreading it from one run to the other."In January,

the shelter manager left. By May, the situation at the shelter had become so dire, Boyle noted in his letter to veterinarians, that he asked Arms, executive director of the Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego, to inspect it."The whole thing is very sad," Arms said recently. He said the staff was demoralized by the high rate of euthanasia, which is "just wrong. The animals are just going to go in and die. That's all."At the same time, Arms said, "I walked through and saw beautiful, adoptable animals."Boyle and Coccodrilli, whose criticisms were aired on WTXF-TV (Channel 29), said animals that arrived healthy often became ill because of the conditions, and then were euthanized.Former donor and volunteer Laura Warren of Aston, a secretary at Swarthmore College, said that with minimal to no veterinary care, animals weren't being treated properly or at all. "They could go in healthy but come out sick, very

sick."Animals also were put to sleep simply to make space for others, critics said.Last week, a New Jersey animal-welfare task force reported that 40 percent of the animals that entered the state's pounds last year were euthanized. The task force called for additional space and procedural changes, noting that "euthanasia should not be considered a solution" to overcrowding.Chester County SPCA spokesman Chuck McDevitt said that although he was not familiar with Delaware County's shelter - all SPCAs are independent - most are at the mercy of "overwhelming numbers" of animals.A sign at the Delaware County SPCA noted that in the first two weeks of August, for example, 235 cats and 96 dogs were taken in - more than 16 cats and six dogs each day.At the end of Arms' inspection, he met with the board and suggested that they hire an executive director who had shelter-management experience and who could help

raise more money to improve facilities."Easy for him to say," Gray responded, when asked about Arms' suggestions. "He gave us some good ideas, and we're trying to implement them. But it takes money. And time."In early October, the board hired Dennis McMichael, 27, as director of operations. His resume showed that he had done some fund-raising work but had little experience with animal shelters. He had been a volunteer dog walker for the Humane Society of the Harrisburg Area. He referred all questions to board president Marian Riley.Reached earlier this month and again Friday, Riley would not comment; she did not return several other phone calls. Four other board members would not comment; calls to the remaining six were not returned until Gray was reached."It's the most depressing thing you'd ever want to see," Arms said of the shelter. "You don't see that in this day and age, especially if they're sitting

on top of $7 million."Arms was referring to the shelter's endowment. In September, board minutes reported it to be about $8.5 million. Donations go into the endowment, and operating costs come from the interest generated instead of vigorous fund-raising, Boyle and Coccodrilli said. So to keep costs down, they said, the board skimps on upkeep and care for the animals.Financial records for 2002, filed with a national database for nonprofits, showed that the shelter had $7.6 million in assets, with revenue of $565,000 and expenses of $768,000. In 1990, its net worth was reported at $3 million.Hendricks said that some consider a 2-1 ratio of endowment funds to operating expenses to be ideal. "Three- or 4-1 would be OK. Maybe 5-1, even." When the ratio is 10-1, he said, "they have been guilty of being too conservative... . That can happen to an organization. They become more of a bank than a service

provider."Arms told the board that a good, experienced director could make back his or her salary - and cover other expenses, including raises for the staff - with aggressive fund-raising.Minutes from the board meeting in March said the shelter needed two more full-time kennel workers. "Our starting pay is lower than" McDonald's, the minutes said."They think they're doing the right thing by making sure they're financially sound," Arms said of the board. "That's OK as long as the animals are well taken care of because that's what people are giving their money to."Ten of the 11 board members have been there eight years or more, according to Boyle and Coccodrilli, who began amassing stacks of SPCA paperwork earlier this year to document conditions at the shelter. They said the board resists change and ousts newcomers who push for it.Coccodrilli, 33, a pharmaceutical representative from Wallingford,

became a volunteer last year. She said she had adopted two dogs there and wanted to help improve conditions. She, along with more than a dozen other volunteers, were let go in June, at the same time that Riley, the board president, abruptly halted an animal-foster program they were involved with.Boyle, 43, a claims manager from Broomall, began volunteering in 2002 and joined the board in 2003. After becoming frustrated in attempts to help the animals, he detailed his criticisms in an October letter to the board. He included a demand that the entire board resign."I told the board, 'If you really loved animals, you'd step down,' " Boyle said. They responded by removing him from the board, he said.Mary Bender, director of the state Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, said the bureau performed unannounced inspections twice a year.On the most recent, Feb. 27, an inspector marked the facility satisfactory in most

areas, but unsatisfactory for rabies, noting: "Shelter is clean... . Rabies shots need to be given."Boyle and Coccodrilli said no dogs were vaccinated for rabies from that point to at least through August.Except for the dog law, there is no oversight of the SPCA.Retired physics professor Joe Arbuckle of Media joined the board in 2002 but resigned in March "because I just felt the board was not moving in the right direction. As I saw it, they weren't really doing much of anything to modernize the shelter, in terms of the physical plant, the procedures, the newer techniques."I don't think they know what a capital campaign is."Delaware County Animal Shelter ComplaintsCriticisms that Joe Boyle made to fellow Delaware County SPCA board members in an October letter, in which he asked all the members to step down to "do what is best for the homeless animals":Euthanasia rate is "among the highest in the

country."No veterinarian or licensed technician is on the staff.Medications are "ordered, prescribed and administered by unlicensed" workers.Animals are not vaccinated for rabies, a violation of state law.Healthy animals get sick because of poor conditions.Outdated and unsafe shelter conditions.Fiscal mismanagement.Contact staff writer Sandy Bauers at 610-701-7635 or sbauers (phillynews.com)

 

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