Is there anything I can do about this rescue?

Question

Okay I live in a rural city. We have animal control and another rescue here in town besides the one I volunteer for. The other rescue (lets just call them Life) has been here for roughly a year. They only take in owner surrenders and strays and since they started they have: Neglected animals, have had aspca called on them twice, let there dogs get loose and breed with the other dogs on the property, used public donations for personal use, fired all of their “board of directors,” let go all of their volunteers, went bankrupt, said they were going to go out of business….
Here are a few examples of the kind of people they are:
Last year they took money for rabies shots and never gave the shots, they left small and large dogs in the mud during icy weather with no food or water, they take dog food donations from wlmart and still ask for public dog food donations (which if it were not for them it would have been donated to the city shelter or us—we are paying for food out of pocket!)

The aspca does not come out here and look at the situation. They send a sheriff out to look and call them back if it’s too bad. But the sheriff could care less. The whole city could care less. So what are we to do?
They have the support of police force and of the newspapers. The newspaper will not even run out adoptable pets because of Life. They just tell us, they have seniority.
We don’t know what we could do. Should we call the aspca and tell them? Is there something else we could do?
Or am I overreacting?
We are such a small town that people think that we are part of Life. And if they know the difference they don’t want to donate or get involved with us because Life has pretty much burned ALL their bridges. They owe everyone money and they rip everyone of. But no one will open their mouths and say anything about it!
could we take pictures and send them to the newspaper signed anon? lol/

Answer 1

Boy, if you could manage to obtain photographic and/or video evidence of what is going on over there, I certainly would be sending that in to the proper authorities. I think g g has some really good ideas there. If you find that with photographic type evidence, that the ASPCA won't step in, then going to the national level of the Humane Society would probably be the next best thing.

The other thing here is that if they are declared a non-profit organization, I believe that misuse of funds can, at the very least, cause them to lose that status, and quite possibly could cause them to have to answer for that on a legal level. There are laws in place to address properly running a non-profit organization and you might want to research to see what might be involved in running an animal rescue.

I have heard of rescues that don't really live up to "par" of what a rescue really should be, like adopting out animals and NOT requiring spay/neuter of these animals. I'm sorry, what kind of rescue adopts out in tact animals? Isn't that something rescues want to avoid in the hopes of reducing the numbers of rescues in the area? Hmm, unless they are some how profiting from running that rescue by "skimming" the donations account.

Answer 2

This is the type of story that one hates to hear - especially when so many good shelters are starving for donations.
I would go at it a couple of ways:
Better Business Bureau or something of this nature. If they are taking money for services, such as shots, but then not providing the service, they are breaking the law and could lose their business license.
ASPCA - send them all the information you have, and request that they personally get involved, that the local law enforcement has not been helpful. Pictures will help, if you are able to get them.
If you county has a local animal welfare department, contact them with any information. Some counties have this, some do not.
Public awareness - letters to the editor or other feature stories. See if you can also contact a reporter from the paper directly, and give them the story.
also, flyers or other public notice that you are not associated with this shelter in any way, and encourage the locals to also take a stand against this type of animal cruelty.

Answer 3

Take pictures, and document things you see. Send these to the ASPCA. Notify media too.

There was a shelter near me a few years back that was pretty bad. They were funded mainly by the city and county they were in. It was a no kill, unfortunately they had no space. On several occassions dogs were stacked in crates sometimes two or three high. Dogs were even kept gated in the bathroom for awhile. People didn't want to go there. Those that did, didn't go back. Adoption applications were never answered. Very few dogs or cats ever found homes through the place. One dog lingered in a crate for a year. She was still there when the city denied renewal funds and they were shut down.

I could go on and about the irresponsibility of this place, all I can do is wish you luck with yours.

Unfortunately for our area, while it was a crappy place, now there is nothing. Most dogs that people can't give away are either shot or turned loose on a gravel road.

Answer 4

Perhaps you could take photos and send those to the ASPCA so that they have some kind of other input besides the Sheriff's. To let others in the community know that your organization is separate from the offending one, use every outlet available other than the newspaper who will not support you. Maybe fliers, church/school newspapers and newsletters, posters placed in business' that will allow it, etc. If the other group has ripped everybody off and the whole town hates them, it should be fairly easy to get the assistance of others in getting the word out that there is another - better organization in town. I would also notify Walmart personally and let them know that they are supporting an offensive organization that is also contributing to the problem. Send them pictures! Maybe you can turn them around to support your group. Good luck with everything.

Answer 5

Hi There
Wow I live in a real small village also and it sounds like small town politics
I would recommend you taking it into your own hands keeping it quite but what you have to do it get all your proof as what you have written and then go out of your town and present it to someone who can help you like a large city who has jurisdiction and can do something about the situation like the county Police or maybe State they can direct you to who you need to contact
See #1 it is real obvious they should not be having puppies when they are a shelter seems like they would have someone coming in to do Spay/Neuter Clinics when they have so many pets
#2 Walmart should catch on that they just donated so many pounds of food and why are they crying for more
Someone needs to open the public eyes But I cannot stress enough remain anonymous
Good Luck to you

Answer 6

I think you should take pictures and video of the shelter if you can. Then send them to the ASPCA with a letter. You should also call the ASPCA and explain to them the situation. Tell them nothing has been done because the Sheriff doesn't know what he is looking for, and you REALLY need an ASPCA agent to come and look at the facility. Good Luck, I hope you get the help you need.

Answer 7

if the ASPCA wont do anything, call the humane society or America. try getting a news cast to come out and do a story. put an anonymous letter in the opinions page of your new paper telling people they are misusing donations. call your state government and ask what the laws are about using donation monies for personal use. there has to be a way to get this place closed down. take pictures of anything you feel is abuse or neglect and mail them to the ASPCA/ Humane Society. Run an ad in the paper about your shelter/rescue and make sure that it is put in there that the two places are not affiliated

Answer 8

Get proof and take it to the media. However, don't get your group name involved. You don't want to make yourselves look bad.Find out if they are a 501c3 non-profit group. Do they have the proper paperwork to take public donations? This information should be provided to you within a reasonable amount of time by the group. Unfortunately, there are a lot of groups that start out with good intentions only to end up this way.

Also, for the rabies shots, was a veterinarian involved? You may be able to contact your local health department on that issue.

You could also look to other groups and leaders to help you in this pursuit. Think about creating a coalition and working together to promote the "good" shelters and groups. It worked in my area.

As much as I hate to say this, you could get PETA involved. They really helped open the eyes of people in my area. I don't like their tactics, but our of all of the national organizations, they were the only ones that helped us in a particular situation.

Answer 9

This hurts me to the core. It is so hard to feel helpless and feel like you are pounding your head against a brick wall....
But, there are quite a few powerful animal rights groups(research them a bit first) out there and most likely, some near where you live. Remember, one small voice shouting for help can be heard around the world. You have already started the ball rolling here. Go to some of the well known dog blogs, keep making your voice heard as much as possible---BE that one annoying flea that will not stop biting and soon you'll have a tremendous pack taking up the fight right alongside you. Bless you for caring! ..............Woof.

Answer 10

I would just call the newspaper let them come out that would be a good story for them,to let ppl know that they are donation goes to private use and not to the animals well beeing.
another thing is there are lwas out there to protect the animals if tthe sheriff don`t enforce it go to the chief of police then the major then and so on.