Post by RealPitBull on Aug 13, 2010 7:55:17 GMT -5
From: Niki Dawson <NDawson03@aol.com>
Subject: [NJCare] Crisis at Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City
To: NDawson03@aol.com
Date: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 9:47 PM
Please see below. This is an appeal from an Interim Board Member at
the Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City. Permission to cross-post
Three weeks ago, I was sitting in a crowded room listening to the
Liberty Humane Society's then-president John O'Keefe read from a
prepared statement. The rest of the five member board looked grim as
John stood up and began reading. He announced that the entire board
was resigning, citing pending bankruptcy caused by what he described as
a botched attempt at going no-kill, led by the executive director and
the group's largest donor, that had led to overcrowding and was
bleeding the organization's bank accounts.
I knew that without a board, the Liberty Humane Society would be
dissolved, taken over by the Attorney General, and the shelter would
revert to a 7-day/euth impound facility run by the City of Jersey
City's animal control division. Myself, along with two other past
presidents of LHS in attendance that night, volunteered to take over as
the new interim board.
I had no idea what awaited us.
The conditions at the shelter are...what's the right word? abismal,
horrendous, shocking, horrifying, take your pick. It's difficult to
put into words what it's like to see 99 dogs crammed into a facility
built to comfortably house only 50. What it's like to witnesss 274
cats in a building meant for only 80. Perhaps the best description is
a word we in this field know only so well: HOARDER.
The facility is disgusting. The animals are suffering. The smell is
powerful, it knocks you over. Cats come in healthy, get sick and die.
Kittens drop dead in their cages from panleuk every day. There are
only TWO kennel attendants to take care of 99 dogs. Dogs live in
cramped cages, that spend 23 1/2 hours in cages where they can't stand
up or turn around, can't stretch their limbs, where they can't get away
from their own filth. Their noses are rubbed raw and bloody and many
have split pads from getting their feet caught in the wire pop up cages
really meant for cats. And this place calls itself a no-kill shelter.
Our goal on this interim board is to end the suffering. But we can't
do it alone. We have embarked on an aggressive campaign to get dogs
evaluated, vaxed, s/n, and then placed. Placed in foster homes,
adopted, or picked up by rescues or other shelters. That's where you
come in. Please consider opening your doors and your hearts to a dog
that did nothing wrong except end up in a facility where the humans
made lots of mistakes. This situation is not the result of people who
didn't care, it's the result of people who cared too much. But the
animals are paying the price. Won't you help save one of our dogs?
We have so many nice, healthy, adoptable dogs that deserve a chance at
a new life. Please help us, the interim board, make some badly needed
changes. We can fix this; it is within our grasp. But we can't do it
without your help. Won't you -- can't you -- find a place, just one
place, for one of our dogs? Every day that goes by is a day that you
could help end the suffering and give one of our animals a chance at
happiness.
Please contact us at 201-547-4147
www.libertyhumanesociety.org
Contact for rescue is ndawson03@aol.com or aurorapiacentino@gmail.com
Subject: [NJCare] Crisis at Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City
To: NDawson03@aol.com
Date: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 9:47 PM
Please see below. This is an appeal from an Interim Board Member at
the Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City. Permission to cross-post
Three weeks ago, I was sitting in a crowded room listening to the
Liberty Humane Society's then-president John O'Keefe read from a
prepared statement. The rest of the five member board looked grim as
John stood up and began reading. He announced that the entire board
was resigning, citing pending bankruptcy caused by what he described as
a botched attempt at going no-kill, led by the executive director and
the group's largest donor, that had led to overcrowding and was
bleeding the organization's bank accounts.
I knew that without a board, the Liberty Humane Society would be
dissolved, taken over by the Attorney General, and the shelter would
revert to a 7-day/euth impound facility run by the City of Jersey
City's animal control division. Myself, along with two other past
presidents of LHS in attendance that night, volunteered to take over as
the new interim board.
I had no idea what awaited us.
The conditions at the shelter are...what's the right word? abismal,
horrendous, shocking, horrifying, take your pick. It's difficult to
put into words what it's like to see 99 dogs crammed into a facility
built to comfortably house only 50. What it's like to witnesss 274
cats in a building meant for only 80. Perhaps the best description is
a word we in this field know only so well: HOARDER.
The facility is disgusting. The animals are suffering. The smell is
powerful, it knocks you over. Cats come in healthy, get sick and die.
Kittens drop dead in their cages from panleuk every day. There are
only TWO kennel attendants to take care of 99 dogs. Dogs live in
cramped cages, that spend 23 1/2 hours in cages where they can't stand
up or turn around, can't stretch their limbs, where they can't get away
from their own filth. Their noses are rubbed raw and bloody and many
have split pads from getting their feet caught in the wire pop up cages
really meant for cats. And this place calls itself a no-kill shelter.
Our goal on this interim board is to end the suffering. But we can't
do it alone. We have embarked on an aggressive campaign to get dogs
evaluated, vaxed, s/n, and then placed. Placed in foster homes,
adopted, or picked up by rescues or other shelters. That's where you
come in. Please consider opening your doors and your hearts to a dog
that did nothing wrong except end up in a facility where the humans
made lots of mistakes. This situation is not the result of people who
didn't care, it's the result of people who cared too much. But the
animals are paying the price. Won't you help save one of our dogs?
We have so many nice, healthy, adoptable dogs that deserve a chance at
a new life. Please help us, the interim board, make some badly needed
changes. We can fix this; it is within our grasp. But we can't do it
without your help. Won't you -- can't you -- find a place, just one
place, for one of our dogs? Every day that goes by is a day that you
could help end the suffering and give one of our animals a chance at
happiness.
Please contact us at 201-547-4147
www.libertyhumanesociety.org
Contact for rescue is ndawson03@aol.com or aurorapiacentino@gmail.com
I look forward to learning much here