The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
Phone: 301-264-3147
Email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 651
Mount Savage, MD 21545
Turnaround: County animal shelter nears 94 percent save mark
By Kevin Spradlin
The Potomac Highlands Dispatch
March 2 -- Figures over the last three months from the Allegany County Animal Shelter show that only 19 of the 311 animals taken in have been euthanized.
The 93.9 percent save rate since Nov. 29 is in stark contrast to the reported 85 percent kill rate when the shelter was operated under the direction of former manager Camille Carrico.
"This is one of those shining examples of what we can do as a community when we come together and work for a common goal," said Queen City Animal Rescue president Jodi Sweitzer and shelter volunteer.
Sweitzer acknowledged in a PhDispatch.com interview that the turnaround has been anything but easy. And other animal advocates continue to question the feasibility of a local no-kill shelter.
"The idea of no-kill at a county-owned open admission facility is almost physically (and) monetarily ... Impossible," said John McDaniel, vice presidnet of the Animal Welfare Society of Allegany County, in a February interview with PhDispatch.com. "Just because you don't have the space. You're going to come to the point where all of your rescues can't take any in, all of your (foster families) are going to be full. Then you're going to have tow loads of kittens and puppies come in. What are you going to do then?"
Sweitzer said the idea starts with a league of volunteers that is growing by the day. Before the concept of no-kill came to Allegany County - and, officially, it is not adopted policy - Sweitzer some potential volunteers were literally turned away.
Others, she said, were turned off the by idea of helping the status quo.
Until late November, volunteers were "afraid that they're all going to be killed," Sweitzer said.
"We know that there's a transition going on in the shelter right now," Sweitzer said, but "there's no confirmation that's going to be no-kill."
Candidates for the still vacant shelter manager position were asked if they believed in the no-kill philosophy and why or why not, Sweitzer said.
Sweitzer said public outreach and education was key to informing potential donors, volunteers and the general public alike about the new direction of the shelter.
In addition, Sweitzer said no-kill advocate Nathan Winograd has reached out to county officials and offered his perspective.
DeVore to volunteers: Let's stand united
An email a week ago from Dick DeVore, current director of daily operations at the shelter, to a key corps of volunteers:
The most difficult task of changing the shelter has not been the battle with those that oppose us. That was the easy part as there is plenty of evidence to support the successes that we have made. This is not the same old shelter, but one that can now boast of a 95% save rate over 90 days.
This success if completely your victory as the volunteers have made this happen. The most difficult part of this whole process has been staying unified toward our mission. We have spent so much time fighting amongst ourselves that it is distracting from our animals who need all our efforts and energies to find them homes and keep them safe and healthy until we do.
I understand fully that there is friction on how we do our business. I understand that there are personality clashes within our shelter. I understand that when it comes right down to it, some of you may just plain out despise each other. To be honest, those are things that we will probably never change. I will ask you this, don’t our animals deserve all of our efforts focused on them? This may require us to swallow our pride. This may require that we look the other way. This may require us to turn the proverbial cheek. Stare into the face of one of our animals and tell me you don’t think that is the least we can do for them.
Lets stand united and focus on moving us forward. We can plant our flag of victory together. We don’t have to love each other or even like each other, but we can certainly coexist in this environment more peacefully.
I will be the first to say that in hind sight I have made mistakes in this process. There are certainly things I should have done differently. Some of you may thing that other leadership may have produced a better result and I won’t’ deny that, but don’t ever question my commitment to these animals as I will never question yours. It’s been a learning curve like no other and we have probably forged ground in areas that other shelters only dream of.
Now I ask you to stop this discord, whether you are right or wrong, please put it aside. We need the special skills that each and every one of you have to offer. Whether it be caring for the animals, working the rescues, fundraising, transporting the animals, each and every one of these tasks is essential to the process.
Clearly, I believe the public is supporting our efforts, so let’s collect the energy we have spent on our differences and us them to solidify our efforts. I know that I ask a lot. I know that for some of you, you have felt beaten down or taken advantage of so this is an especially hard step for you to take, but let’s keep our focus and move forward. We have taken in 15 puppies and kittens will be on the way. We have our hardest battles in front of us.
Thank you for what you have done. Thank you for your incredible accomplishments. Thank you for your dedication and sacrifice. Thank you for giving more than you ever thought possible. It makes it especially hard for me to ask you for more, but more importantly, the animals are asking for more…….