Okay, first, before reacting, please read the following articles.
First, the original article in the Arizona Republic:
http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/12/23/20111223phoenix-man-loses-kitten-thats-his-saving-grace.html
"But two weeks ago, on Dec. 8, Dockery lost Scruffy after rushing the kitten to the closest veterinarian to his home: the Arizona Humane Society's Campus for Compassion at 1521 W. Dobbins Road. Scruffy's injuries, from being cut on a barbed-wire fence, were not life-threatening and easily treatable, Dockery said.
But Dockery said he couldn't immediately pay the estimated $400 veterinarian bill. He said instead of working with him, or waiting 24 hours for his mother in Michigan to wire the money, Humane Society staff told him the only way Scruffy would be treated is if Dockery "surrendered" the animal and signed away his ownership rights.
Fearing that Scruffy was in pain, Dockery said he signed. Now, on the day before Christmas, Dockery said he wonders if he ever will see Scruffy again.
...
When he turned over Scruffy to the clinic, Dockery said he asked repeatedly what would happen to her. He said he was told the cat would likely be put up for adoption."
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Now, read the Arizona Humane Society's press release about the situation and why they were not speaking to the media at the time that article was written:
http://www.azhumane.org/artman2/publish/aboutus/message_ahs_director_guy_collison.shtml
"Scruffy was brought to AHS after getting tangled in razor or barbed wire. Her injuries were significant. She was suffering, her muscles were exposed. Her owner could not pay for treatment himself, and allowing a day to pass without treatment was inhumane. AHS is not allowed by law to hold an animal until payment is made. Scruffy was in urgent need; therefore Mr. Dockery made the heart-wrenching decision to surrender his pet on Dec 8th.
AHS transported Scruffy from the vet clinic to its Second Chance Animal Hospital™, with the hope of treating her extensive wounds. Unfortunately on this same day AHS took in 178 animals, many of whom also required urgent medical care.
Each of the animals was medically evaluated. Some were cruelty cases, seized in cooperation with police, and required to be held for 17 days with urgent care required by law. The Arizona Humane Society did its best to treat all of the animals that came to the shelter that day. Again, all were in need and their treatment couldn’t wait. AHS took the most compassionate action with the animals it couldn’t treat that day. Scruffy was euthanized.
On Dec. 13, Daniel Dockery visited the Sunnyslope shelter to check on Scruffy’s whereabouts and staff provided the direct phone number to the Director of Shelter Operations who did not receive a call from Daniel. On Friday, Dec. 16, AHS received a letter from Daniel’s mother. On Monday, Dec. 19, after speaking with his staff and learning the status of Scruffy, AHS Executive Director Guy Collison called Daniel and left a message. Daniel didn’t return his call. On Dec. 21, the media called, and given the sensitive nature of this particular situation, AHS was not comfortable releasing details about Scruffy to the reporter before speaking to Daniel himself. Tuesday, Dec. 27, after repeated attempts, Guy finally reached Daniel and explained that due to Scruffy’s extensive injuries she was euthanized. Although we know Scruffy can not be replaced, we empathized with his loss, offered grief support resources, and encouraged him to visit the shelter when he was ready for another companion. With Daniel’s permission, AHS also resumed dialog with the media. "
(Wow, a 4 paragraph snip actually showed most of the info! Bolding is mine)
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There are two modes of operation a shelter can run under.
The first is the most common with city and state shelters, but some private agencies run under these rules. They accept any animal that is surrendered. They rehome and treat the ones they can afford to rehome and treat. But the ones they cannot afford to treat, or do not have the room to keep safely, are euthanized. A sick animal would be euthanized before a healthy one, because a healthy one has the most likely chance of being rehomed. That is the model that the Arizona Humane Society runs under, which is CLEARLY noted on their website. They note that 50,000 animals are surrendered to that one shelter every year.
The second is to only accept the animals that they can be sure they can treat or rehome or have enough room for. Some of these agencies will occasionally euthanize animals that were abused so badly they cannot be treated, or will tell the surrendering person that they feel the animal is beyond treatment and offer euthanasia instead. The Humane Society of Pulaski County, a organization not affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States, operates under this model, with abused or injured animals taking top priority for space. Most of the time, that shelter is full as they can only house 200 animals at a time. They don't even allow the option of adopting an animal ever again from them once you've surrendered to them.
Even if you disagree with the first model, the Arizona Humane Society's hands were tied. They cannot legally hold an animal without payment or surrender of the animal. They did not lie to this man. He made the incredibly difficult decision to give up his cat so she could have a chance to be treated and rehomed. Unfortunately the gamble did not work in Scruffy's favor.
The only thing they could have done differently was accept the card over the phone, which they've decided to do from now on despite the fact they've had fraud issues in the past.
There are many other things he could have done. He could have called other vets to see if any of them would take payment by phone. He could have referred his mother to Wal-Mart's almost instant money transfer service, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than Western Union. I hope he had done all of these things before signing the papers -- I know I would have.
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But one of my friends read about this and it truly, TRULY offended him... to the point he's refusing to donate to the local Humane Society I mentioned, even though they aren't affiliated at all, because he's so outraged by this. Even though they follow a completely different model of service. Even though this would never have happened there -- tho he wouldn't have ever had a chance to get his cat back again from the HSPC either, the cat would be living.
That does NOT help the problem. It does not "send a message". It just makes the situation worse.
The reason those two models are where we are is that the need for services greatly outstrips the ability to provide them. And withholding money from other groups that happen to use the name "Humane Society" -- most who use that name are NOT affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States -- because of this is so wrong it truly bothers me.
If you feel the same way as my friend -- by all means, don't donate to the Arizona Humane Society. Don't donate to the Humane Society of the United States, even, if you don't want a penny of your money going to shelters like it. But don't stop donating to your local animal welfare agencies just over this, especially the ones that operate under the second model.
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