York SPCA story...Some Better News!

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"Lack of funding" is something that always gets me... big shelters always cry out loud about how there is no money.... but how is it that little rescues often manage to FIND the money... they work their butts of hard each and every day and don't just put out their hands and say "give me money please". (And a lot of shelter CEOs make a nice little salary while rescues get paid zero. Yup, pay CEOs a ton of money, let the animal suffer or better let's just kill them all!)

And this is just inexcusable: “We have got people left, right and centre offering to take the (animals). . . . They just seem to be disregarding all of the help.” (from the article Vanessa posted about)

I know you can't put all the shelters in the same category which goes for the same rescues but it's jsut something I see time and time again. It's frustrating.
 
It's things like this that make me glad that I'm quite cynical...it really seems like there is something else going on. Why are they hellbent on the fact that mass euthanasia is the only option? If it really is some sort of super-ringworm, shouldn't they elaborate on that a bit? And if it's a financial matter, why don't they open up fundraising or something? Obviously people are trying to help, but they don't seem to want it. It seems like they've already made up their mind and they're being too pig-headed to change it now...makes me wonder why...They say they're going on the recommendation of 2 vets, but in the article it says that 8 local vets were surprised by the decision. They say they would be willing to help find and execute (<maybe bad choice of words) an alternate solution.

It's quite disheartening that all of these organization that we are repeatedly told to trust end up pulling this kind of BS...
 
I've been talking to a lot of people and getting a lot of information about this.

Apparently the strain they're dealing with is PARTICULARLY hard to control, which sucks.


But, the OSPCA is known to not work with rescue groups and that's shown heavily in this case, where it took major public outcry for them to consider fostering out to groups or private individuals, when lots of groups contacted them the moment they heard the news. On top of that, if funding is such an issue, why didn't they do a huge announcement a week ago, asking for extra donations because of the circumstance.

I might, maybe, be able to overlook some less healthy animals being PTS for not being able to fight the fungus, if they'd asked for donations and contacted rescue groups a week ago. But the OSPCA's need to deal with *everything* internally is a big downfall they suffer from.
 
Here's a link to aditional articles:

http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/ ... ve-animals

What a terrible situation. I think part of the reason for this is because shelters are no longer run by people whose first priority is to save and care for animals. They are professional managers - their motivation is their career and the paycheque. For example, the current manager of the Barrie Shelter is a professional fundraiser who came in with no clue as to animal care and husbandry. The board hired her in hopes of increasing donations/revenue. If they had a contagious breakout there what decisions would she make?

Tragic! :gaah:
 
I heard it has totally stopped. 99 have been put down, 100 are in foster care and 140 will be tested a month from now. I'm heading up there as soon as I get the word. I'm looking for the small critters.
 
The smalls are gone...they are usually the first to be PTS in a shelter envinronment, due to overcrowding or things like this :(

One of the articles

"Of the 140 animals left, there are 99 cats, 33 dogs and 8 turtles," Klees' statement says. "Fifteen dogs have now been isolated for treatment at the shelter in separate facilities and will be monitored over the net few weeks."
 
Please contact MPP Klees and thank him for the efforts that he made in this intervention. He can be reached at [email protected]
The other group that I am sure played a role was 'Friends for Life' who is one of their biggest fundraising groups. They cancelled their walk to raise money this weekend due to the news of what was taking place.
 
Keep your facebooks posted, and keep writing your letters.... we are NOT in the clear here. Euths have been HALTED, but not stopped indefinitely. The only dogs that are in the clear right now are the strays that haven't finished the holding period... and staff members are being threatened with firings if they don't comply and continue to push euths.

That's all I can say right now.
 
This info is cross-posted from another site I participate in:

just back from the OSPCA..a little wet
please note the Chair -Board of Directors stated they were stopping mass euthanasia....
a sheppard was euthanised today at 5pm...
don't mean to be a downer, just needed you all to know... we can't let up on them not being accountable to the community...and that awareness must be a priority until a public audit of all operations is conducted.......and change is implemented accordingly
Abbotsford Animal Clinic in Aurora had an entire area set up and had arranged for the delivery of animals...and OSPCA renegged...that is not heresay that was just on the news from the owner of Abbotsford..a clinic I have used and know...
thanks for letting me vent....
a lawyer has been retained if anyone wants a copy of the letter or any info please PM me..as I don't want to upset people on here...
thank you all for your kind words, the WW and trivia....
you are the best
 
The numbers as of now from the OSPCA website:

These are the facts:

-99 animals have been humanely euthanized to date.

-96 animals have been fostered out to other accredited agencies, clinics, shelters and institutions capable of caring for them in isolation from other animals.

-15 animals have been stolen.

-15 animals who are not affected by the outbreak are in isolation in a portable structure on the site.

-23 dogs and 91 cats need to be tested further. We are seeking temporary shelter for these animals for up to a month.

Sorry but stealing animals isn't the answer to this crisis. If everyone wants to think that they weren't trying, to get this under control, I guess you can think that. This isn't the first time an animal shelter full of animals has been euth'd for medical reasons, but at least this time they said some and have been sort of compliant. I would have rathered they did euth'd all affected animals and had the chance to get the shelter back in motion, but now there are still mny animals who cannot be admitted into the shelter until this situation has been dealt with. How many animals have been dumped or died waiting for this place to reopen??

Poeple get so caught up on the little things, yes 350 sounds like a lot and yes ringworm is treatable but this is a shelter we're talking about. Of course it's all about the money, and if it wasn't most of these places would be able to take in the amount of animals they currently have. They wouldn't be the pillars in their communities they currently are. It's a bad mess but stealing animals from an epidemic source is a STUPID idea. This isn't a normal strain of ringworm they're playing with, keeping it contained is the best thing for everyone.

And if Public Health sticks their foot in, then the poop will hit the fan. I don't know who this MP is but I'm not particularly loving him for causing this big mess, sure it's sad but if a bunch more animals and people get sick because the officials at the shelter weren't allowed to eridicate all the affected animals then I'll be one of the first people to stand up and say: "they told you so".

Sorry I'm a little on edge, because I jsut learned my local shelter is willing to adopt out bunnies at 3weeks of age because they don't have the "luxury" of weaning them later... :sad3:
 
I'm sure most of the members of this forum don't consider the euthanization of 350 animals a "little thing".

The Newmarket shelter made a huge error in judgement when they decided to just start killing instead of appealing to the public, rescues and area vets for assistance. As the news has shown, once this problem was made public there was no shortage of assistance offered. The management made a decision as if these animals were spoiled product instead of living creatures and they bullied the staff with threats. NOT cool, not cool at all! And Mr. Klees, the MP who became involved did not "cause" this mess, he simply threw his support behind the concerned and caring members of the public who can't shrug off a mass killing as if it were nothing.
 
but now there are still mny animals who cannot be admitted into the shelter until this situation has been dealt with. How many animals have been dumped or died waiting for this place to reopen??
Click to expand...

This is a really good point I think. The Newmarket OSPCA takes in a very large number of animals on an ongoing basis. Where are they all going while the shelter has to remain closed to new intakes? That may have been one of the reasons behind the initial decision to euthanize them all - they knew that they'd be full again very soon after with more animals in need.

I work for a very small humane society - we have a long waiting list of animals to be surrendered and are constantly turning away people who have found strays or want to dump their pets on us. The OSPCA generally can't refuse anyone showing up at their door, so what's happening or going to happen to all the animals we know are waiting in the wings??

And I hate to say it, but hundreds of perfectly healthy, perfectly friendly cats get euthanized every month at Hamilton Animal Control alone. At a certain point someone has to look at the bigger picture and make tough decisions. I don't think the decision to euthanize them all was the right one, but there are a lot of factors to consider.
 
Since breaking out several weeks ago, the fungal disease has infected everything from guinea pigs to shelter staff and its walls. On Monday, the OSPCA heeded the advice of its veterinarians and ordered a blanket euthanization of all animals.
Click to expand...

Can anyone enlighten me on how WALLS are infected with a disease?
 
And even worse that the THS is shut down as well. Some are saying that the OSPCA already knew about this back in March, which was prior to the THS shutting down.

This isn't just about 350+ animals. Like the THS it is about gross mismanagement, and non transparency of an organization that is technically public domain. Maybe some of the animals, that they clearly had obligations to, are gone but the donors and the public aren't. They have an obligation to them too. How dare they cover up an epidemic like this, regardless of how long, and then just announce that they are going to take matters into their own hands and perform a mass euthanization.

Their actions were not in the best interest of their donors and supporters any more than they were the animals - and this has just got to stop. They should all be replaced and matters put into the private sector who have stepped up to resolve this.

Going forward they need to choose a more responsible team to run that facility and one who recognizes the importance of the public in their existence.
 
The dogs (one shepherd, one husky) that were euthanized on Thursday were ringworm NEGATIVE and had MULTIPLE foster homes willing to take them, one of which was the trainer I work with who had been working extensively with one of the dogs.

A veterinarian has announced that he offered 30+ places in his practice to QT, house and treat animals all at his own expense, and after they accepted his assistance they turned around and told him no.

I have always been a big supporter of the OSPCA, especially in light of the situation at the THS this past year. I KNOW healthy animals are put to sleep all the time, but with the situations above.... I just don't understand. If the problem is a ringworm outbreak and they're asking for groups with proper containment capabilities to step up to the plate, why euth a dog who tests negative and not use a willing vet clinic as a foster facility??
 

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