[angiefox10]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

First let's all agree the world is not a perfect place, and probably will never be, but we do our best make forward progress.

Although I applaud you deep passion for saving the animals; your posts sound almost contradictory. You say you want to save the animals from being put down at Animal Services; but then in the next breath you state not to support the Humane Society who is saving lives of the animals? Any life saved is a win, no matter how it is obtained.

The Humane Society is saving the lives of animals who are dropped off there and those who Animal Services would be putting down. By not supporting the SPCA they can't save the lives of those animals.

So you in essence have put the death sentence upon those animals that would have been saved by the Humane Society. One life could have been saved by a person who would have donated to the Humane Society, which now might not because of your comments. My wife and I donate to the SPCA and will continue to do anything we can to help. In addition we thank them for their work...

We all want no kill shelters; but let's not make it worse by posting negative comments to those who are trying to save lives. IMO the focus should be on the Sumter County Animal Services policies and what can be done to save even more animals ...

Actually it's the opposite . It's the Humane Society that came out against our efforts to go No Kill. You have to ask why. So I will explain. I won't reinvent the wheel so I will post what I have said to the commissioners.

"
Below is my presentation tonight to the County Commissioners. I was trying to point out that when the Humane Society boasts they are a No Kill Shelter.. they are absolutely right. However, make no mistake that since they have Animal Services to do all the killing before the animals are transferred to their facility, they can say in 100% honesty they are No Kill.

Since the have aligned themselves with Animal Services and Animal Services has aligned themselves with the Humane Society, I am suggesting they get to share the numbers. If they are "partnered" they are both responsible for the over 40% kill rate of our pets! They just get to keep their hands clean.

The presentation was as follows:

"I’m here this evening requesting that you take another look at the “partnership” with the Humane Society and Animal Services.

I would first like to point out there is no signed document with the Humane Society…. meaning this is not an official “partnership.

While the Humane Society is a No Kill Shelter, our county Shelter is High Kill. So…. What happens is that the Humane Society doesn’t have to deal with old or ill animals since they are, what you refer to as “culled” and I simply call killed, at Animal Services before they get there.

What we know is that if someone adopts an animal from the Humane Society and it comes back, and we know they do, the animal goes to Animals Services to be killed.

Quoting from your own Processes and Procedures…

“If the animal is surrendered that was previously transferred to the HS/SPCA, the animal will be deemed unadoptable by AS/S and will be humanely euthanized.”

And we know this is true because we have your report on it. The report on the animals that come back to you from the Humane Society. I was told these are not the true numbers, but regardless, this still reflects what I’m saying to be true.

Most of us know that there is an adjustment period when a pet is adopted. That pet was in YOUR facility AND the Humane Society facility and there were no issues , or it would have been killed before it made it to the adoption floor… according to your Policies and Procedures. But because an owner had a problem, it was returned and was killed

I’m not going to read the report, I will post it on our site.
See figures below.

• Unadoptable/Behavioral Issues = 10 returned from HS/SPCA
• Confiscate Bite = 2 returned by the new owner (adopted)
• Cats = 29
• Unadoptable/Behavioral Issues = 11 returned from HS/SPCA
• Confiscate/Bite = 3 returned by the new owner (adopted)
• Ill/Severe = 15 w/various health issues (URI, Feline Leukemia, FIV) returned by HS/SPCA
• Total = 41 Animals

The Humane Society of the United States has an owner Surrender policy.
“Surrendering a pet. Animals are accepted only by appointment. ... Animal Humane Society helps thousands of dogs, cats, and critters in need find loving homes each year — and no animal is ever turned away. We take in every animal surrendered to us regardless of its health, age, breed, or behavior.”
The Humane Society of Sumter County has a different policy posted on their web page.
“If you choose to surrender your pet, contact Animal Services of Sumter County”
Quoting again from your Policies and Procedures.

Dated 01/22/15, regarding owner surrender, “If the animal is determined to be unadoptable by the ASM due to age, infirmity, or behavior, the animal will be humanely euthanized after the 24 hour holding period.”
So, our aged society of The Villages has no place to bring their pets when they can no longer care for them. They can’t bring them to the Humane Society because the Humane Society has this so-called partnership with our High Kill Shelter.

Animal Services hides behind the Humane Society because it’s a No Kill Shelter and The Humane Society uses Animal Services to kill the animals they don’t want.

That.. is according to your own documents.

Because of this “partnership”, no other rescues can pull pets out of the Animal Services. They have to do it through the Humane Society. That appears to be a problem, as several of our local rescues tell me they no longer pull from Sumter County.

A whole neighborhood worked the past few days to save a couple of dogs hanging in their neighborhood. After several days of gaining their trust, they finally got them to come in. We have them and are working to get a foster for them while we try to find the owner.

They would most likely have been put down if they were picked up by Animal Services as they acted "aggressive" when anyone tried to get near them.

We have no safe place to take them as the Humane Society doesn't take pets and our county shelter kills them.

We are in desperate need of a safe place to take our pets. or…. Our pets die.
This “partnership” has had over 2 years to work.

Gentlemen, it's NOT working. PLEASE… Stop turning your back on our pets and let's work together to go No Kill.

My name is Angie Fox and I'm with Lost Pets of The Villages."