From Humane Options to Prevent Euthanasia (H.O.P.E.) in Harford County:
H.O.P.E. (Humane Options to Prevent Euthanasia) in Harford County was formed in the spring of 2011. A group of former shelter volunteers and animal advocates saw the need to improve the lot of shelter animals at the Humane Society of Harford County (HSHC) and their approximate fifty percent chance of getting out alive. Not only did H.O.P.E. see the need for improvement at HSHC but proposed a much different set of circumstances for the animals. With this end in mind, H.O.P.E. sought and still seeks to collaborate with HSHC to implement these much needed changes on behalf of the animals.
Our Mission Statement: Humane Options to Prevent “Euthanasia” in Harford County (H.O.P.E. in Harford County) is a collaborative community effort with the mission of developing and maintaining cooperative alliances with the Humane Society of Harford County (“HSHC”) Board of Directors, management, staff, and volunteers to find humane alternatives to control pet “over-population” in Harford County other than euthanasia of healthy and treatable adoptable companion animals. As pet “over-population” is a community and state-wide issue, we resolve to work in cooperation with the HSHC and to partner with the community and other Maryland coalitions to end the practice of euthanasia of healthy and treatable adoptable companion animals at the HSHC. See H.O.P.E.’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hopeinharfordcounty
To date, many attempts have been made by H.O.P.E. and its members, via letter and e-mail, to contact the Harford County Executive, the County Council President, the County Council Members, the HSHC Executive Board Members, President and Director. Only one request for shelter documents sent to the shelter director received a response. With plans to break ground for a new multi-million dollar Harford County shelter in July 2012, H.O.P.E. seeks immediate implementation and effective use of programs to save animal lives.
H.O.P.E. in Harford County’s Petition:
“Demand Change at the Humane Society of Harford County”
Overview: The Humane Society of Harford County Animal Shelter kills most of the 4500 or more animals they take in each year (about 56% or more using their 2011 newsletter data). The HSHC claims they are a successful business or nonprofit but maintain about a 56% kill rate. We want them to stop killing healthy, treatable and adoptable animals and implement a No Kill shelter with modern, cost effective strategies.
With plans to spend 3.2 million taxpayer dollars for construction of a new shelter, it is time for a bigger, more efficient animal shelter to serve our community. Also this petition demands transparency in the shelter’s operations, revamping the programs and program utilization, reconfiguration of the executive board and improvement of customer service and treatment of animals, volunteers and fosters.
1. As a 501(c)(3) corporation, HSHC is accountable to the public. HSHC needs to make its 990-T forms, financial statements and all annual reports available to the public.
2. HSHC must stop killing animals due to lack of space, age, breed, color or when the arbitrary number of 50 allowable dogs and the corresponding number of cats is exceeded. With the proper use of TNR, foster care and educational programs, rescue groups and volunteers, successful shelters like Tompkins County SPCA in New York, the SPCA in Reno, Nevada, Alleghany Animal Shelter in Maryland and many more have made a commitment to No Kill practices.
3. The HSHC has an undisclosed policy for testing behavior and temperament of each animal to help determine if an animal is adoptable, treatable, or unadoptable. The public has the right to know how these evaluations are conducted and the current Euthanasia Policy and the criteria used for both.
4. HSHC prohibits dogs from going outside for days due to weather conditions and may result in poor dog behavior that can tilt a re-evaluation to a death sentence. HSHC needs to provide daily outdoor time for dogs to maintain optimum health.
5. Harford County population increased more than 25,000 in the last decade and is still growing. The new shelter should accommodate a larger number of animals appropriate to the current and anticipated future increase in the population of the community.
6. The HSHC Executive Board is accountable to this community. Of the current 15 board members, only three have direct experience in physical animal health care. Board members should be people with a passion for animal advocacy and have experience with rescue groups, fosters, No Kill shelters, animal behavior or relevant experience. Volunteers should have an active voice on the board. Information on becoming a board member should be available online and term limits should be imposed.
7. The HSHC must consider input from their adopters, volunteers and supporters to evaluate service/program effectiveness. Concerns from volunteers and complaints from customers are ignored and not dealt with. Volunteers have been advised to volunteer elsewhere if not in agreement with how programs are operated.
To date, over 800 signatures have been collected. Please view our petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-change-at-the-humane-society-of-harford-county
See H.O.P.E. in Harford County’s YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o0URRV3rRE&feature=share
It is so wonderful to see people who are concern about the treatment of our animals and doing everything they can to help save them. It is about time the animals had a voice. Thank you to The Dagger for publishing this story and caring.
Cheryl, I totally agree and also wish to thank Dagger for publishing HOPE’s mission and its’ cause. So sorely needed.
Dulcinea’s questions are legitimate and guess she/he hasn’t seen the statistics on HOPE. Perhaps you could point D. in the right direction for proper answers.
Looking forward to positive changes at HSHC in near future, thanks to HOPE, its’ followers and other advocates.
Carolyn
If my tax dollars are going toward 3.2 mil new shelter construction I demand to understand why 56% of animals are euthanized. While the primary culprit is clearly irresponsible ownership, I need to be educated to this unacceptable statistic.
Some questions I need answered: How long is an animal held at the shelter to be viewed by the public? Are rescues contacted as a matter of course to accept animals into their adoption programs? Who and how is the decision made to euthanize?
I and over 2500 deceased creatures from the past calendar year demand answers.
@DULCINEA
Unwanted animal management through euthanasia is an ethical and humane practice. There are too many feral and previously domestic animals and managing their population is critical. There is tremendous damage done by feral cats on bird populations, not to mention feral pigs and dogs.
You are welcome to adopt as many cats and dogs as you like.
Patrick
Patrick, thank you for that kind offer, but you have offered no answers to my specific questions and I doubt you can, unless you work at HSHC.
I do not question that euthanasia is ethical and humane, I question the frequency with which it is used here in Harford County. Thanks for mentioning the pigs though, they frequently get lost in the debate.
Patrick you obviously don’t know what euthanasia is. It is the practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals or domestic animals in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy. Unwanted animals are homeless (though not through their own fault). That doesn’t make them candidates for euthanasia becaause being homeless is not a terminal disease. When you take the life of a healthy adoptable animal it is called KILLING.
@MARIA Yes euthanasia is killing. If you have a surplus of unwanted animals it is acceptable to manage the population through humane euthanasia. Of course finding homes for these animals is a first choice, but what do you do with the over-population?
@Patrick – you miss the point. Reread the definition. Nothing is humane about killing HEALTHY pets. There are many ways to deal with what you call”over-population”. A shelter that is open only when people are at work and closed when people are available and ready to adopt cannot fit the bill of finding all the adoptable animals homes. For a start shelters could be open when people are free to visit more like the hours of a pet store. Many other steps could and should be taken to find homes.
@Patrick How do you know these animals are unwanted? Somebody might want them. If you call yourself a shelter you should look into that instead of claiming it is just easier and more convenient to kill and not even try to change things.
@URSULA If there was a too much demand for dogs, cats, etc…in shelters there would be a shortage to adopt.
Many people do not understand that there are options to killing ,or “humane euthanasia”…there is not an pet overpopulation. That is myth. There are homes, rescue’s sanctuaries and homes that the healthy adoptables can go to. It is the JOB of the shelter to work to find them homes, instead of waiting to kill these animals. Do your job HSHC!!!!THe harford county humane society has been running for too many decades with antiquated programs and philosophies. Step it up and do what’s right. ~kelly
Exactly. Many people don’t even know how high the ‘euthanasia’ rate is. They donate money thinking it goes toward saving animals’ lives or they drop of an animal thinking the shelter will find a good home for it. It’s time to educate the community and to ask for transparency and accountability at the Humane Society of Harford County. It’s time to change!
It’s been proven right in Maryland — in Prince George’s County — recently, that BUILDINGS DON’T SAVE ANIMALS. PROGRAMS SAVE ANIMALS. Citizens are rightly upset that funding for new facilities is not made contingent on real changes in policies and programs that are responsive to needs in the County. Rescue organizations are well-aware of the need to be relevant. They are regularly required to report on the impact their work makes in order to continue to receive funding from grantmakers and from private supporters. The County should do at least this, as an indication of how much it values the taxpayers’s interests.
In this time of belt tightening I was surprised to learn of a 3.2 million dollar facility in the planning stages. While I am strongly in support of anything that will facilitate more animals being rehomed I am eager to hear more of the plan to make this happen. Is there a citizens advisory board we can expect to hear from on this?
That’s a really good question and, if a committee has not been established, than we should be asking the County Executive to do so before any additional funding is released. This is taxpayers money for the benefit of an organization that supports the public, so I would agree that a citizen advisory committee is absolutely warranted.
regarding the comment from Patrick about feral cats and the bird populations–don’t believe everything you read, research and get the facts first. There have been numerous studies about this topic, and have found that there is not an issue with feral cats destroying or causing bird populations to plummet.
A big problem with many issues regarding “pet overpopulation”, feral cats,etc is that the public is not well read, uninformed and tend to follow the “hype” and mainstream media.
Check and dig a little deeper and you can uncover the truth.
Why is would anyone be ok with killing a healthy adoptable animal? Why wouldn’t anyone want an organization (humane society of harford county) to do everything in their power to give each animal a chance at living a life? What’s the harm in that?
Humane Society of Harford County has been around over 30years and they have yet to have a low cost spay/neuter clinic, they aren’t open on holidays or have late hours to amp up the potential adopters visiting,etc..
Ask questions, do research,and go to HSHC for yourself and see what kind of killing shelter dwells in your backyard.
~kelly
@Kelly The American Bird Conservancy and University of Nebraska Extension disagree with you and say cats kill birds.
@Patrick, I thought you might find this interesting. Wild animals such as raccoons, skunks, foxes, and opossums take a greater toll on bird life. These predatory animals thrive in rural and semi-urban areas. Birds and their eggs are among their favorite foods. However, humans are without a doubt the birds’ worst enemies. Habitat destruction, pesticide use, air pollution, even plate-glass windows in skyscrapers, kill vast numbers of birds every year. (According to recent estimates, the yearly toll for window-deaths is 975 million birds.)(This is from the Cats International Website)
In regards to the University of Nebraska study, I have provided a link to Alley Cat Allies which discusses their findings, http://www.alleycat.org/Page.aspx?pid=911.
I hope this gives you another perspective to consider.