Hard Look At PA Shelters

A Hard Look At Pennsylvania Animal Shelters And Rescues by JOHN YATES The American Sporting Dog Alliance http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org (This is the third in a series of special reports that will be released in the days prior to the publication of proposed kennel legislation and revised kennel regulations in Pennsylvania. These issues are of vital concern to everyone who has a kennel or owns a dog. The American Sporting Dog Alliance works at the grassroots level to protect the rights of people who own or work with dogs of the sporting breeds. Our focus is on informing people about the issues, providing a way to take direct personal action, tracking votes in the Legislature, taking legal action, and convincing elected officials to do what’s right. Please visit us on the web at http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org. Your participation and membership are very important. We maintain strict independence, and are supported solely by the donations of our members.) HARRISBURG, Pa. – The issue of animal shelters and rescue organizations has been downplayed in debate over Pennsylvania’s proposed new kennel laws and regulations, but it has moved to front and center with recent disclosures about out-of-state programs that bring dogs to this state for adoption. An American Sporting Dog Alliance (ASDA) investigation revealed that the Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement is cracking down on shelters and rescue groups from other states that bring surplus dogs here. By definition, this is a very emotional issue that elicits strong responses on both sides of the fence. For sporting dog owners, breeders and professionals, the shelter and rescue movement has special significance as a hotbed for animal rights activism that targets us. This ASDA analysis will take an objective look at the issue in the context of the current dog law and proposed changes in the law. Pennsylvania truly is fortunate to have thousands of residents who care deeply about the fate of homeless dogs and cats, and are willing to donate their time, hard work, influence and money to help. This says something very nice about our state. Like most states, many animals end up at our shelters for a variety of reasons. Philadelphia alone takes in about 30,000 animals a year at its municipal shelter, and several thousand more at other shelters that serve the metropolitan area. Many of these dogs are killed in the shelters, but many are given the chance to find a new home. Research has identified the leading reasons why people bring dogs to shelters. The top 10 reasons in order are: · Moving · Landlord issues · Cost of pet maintenance · No time for pet · Inadequate facilities · Too many pets in home · Pet illness(es) · Personal problems · Biting · No homes for littermates That research makes it clear that the reasons for dogs entering shelters are not primarily because there is an over-population of unwanted animals. Having too many pets ranks sixth on the list, and no homes for littermates ranks tenth. The major causes could be described as the realities of modern life. Many dogs are euthanized because of disposition problems, illness or injury, old age, or because they are from an “undesirable” breed, such as pit bulls. Some shelters and rescues are advertised as no-kill, in that they euthanize only dogs that are deemed not fit for adoption. But other shelters have very high kill rates for a variety of reasons. Many shelters work hard to find homes for as many dogs as possible, and many rescue groups were formed expressly for this worthy purpose. Current law requires shelters and rescue kennels to be licensed by the state, with categories based on the number of dogs kept over the course of a year. Like all kennels, they are inspected at least twice a year by state dog wardens. Many of these shelters and rescues have passed their annual inspections with flying colors, but others have not. The Philadelphia municipal facility failed an inspection last October, the Susquehanna Stray Animal Shelter closed its doors because it’s facilities couldn’t pass inspection, and numerous rescue groups have been cited and shut down under dog law and animal cruelty violations. The database at Pet-Abuse.com lists 56 cases of rescue shelter neglect over the past 10 years, and most of those allegations occurred in the past five years. ASDA recently reported the details of many of these charges, and we will not repeat them here. Suffice it to say that problems at so-called “puppy mills” were dwarfed by the problems at rescue groups and animal shelters, according to documentation of every animal cruelty charge filed in Pennsylvania over the past three years. A proposed revision of the state kennel law and accompanying regulations is supposed to be published in The Pennsylvania Bulletin in the near future, possibly within days. It is speculation to guess what the new law might say at this point, but preliminary drafts made available to ASDA in late January and late February may give an indication of the final form. In both drafts, a new category of kennel was created called a “commercial kennel.” One might politely call these kennels large commercial breeding facilities, or use the derogatory animal rights group slogan and call them “puppy mills.” Regardless, they are large kennels with a high volume and high turnover of dogs. “Commercial kennels” would face much more stringent regulation than private or boarding kennels under both drafts of the proposed new laws. The draft versions continue to regulate animal shelters and rescues as if they were small private kennels. They are not included in the “commercial” category to require more stringent regulation. However, a reported crackdown on out-of-state shelters and rescues by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement casts this issue in a different light. An ASDA investigation revealed that letters sent to out-of-state groups this past fall, and instructions given to all of the state’s dog wardens in January, show that the Bureau is now requiring out-of-state shelters and rescues to be licensed as commercial dealers if they bring dogs into Pennsylvania. Because of the intense demand in Pennsylvania for “adoptable” dogs, thousands of dogs are brought into Pennsylvania every year from other states and foreign countries, and placed with shelters and rescue groups here for adoption, ASDA has documented. If out-of-state groups are considered dealers, why aren’t the same kinds of groups within Pennsylvania considered to be dealers? After all, they do the same thing, except for being on different sides of the state line. Pennsylvania shelters and rescues are specifically excluded from dealer status in the current dog law. In draft versions of the proposed legislation, dealers are considered to be in the commercial category and required to meet tougher standard, and this would include out-of-state shelters and rescues. But it would not include Pennsylvania shelters and rescues. Why? If the real purpose of a tougher dog law is to make life better for dogs in Pennsylvania kennels, then it would seem that the logical place to start would be with animal shelters and rescue groups. Far more dogs pass through these facilities every year than are raised by the state’s 250 largest private commercial kennels. Many of these shelter and rescue dogs receive excellent care, but a review of public records shows conclusively than many do not. In fact, records show, shelters and rescue kennels are cited much more often under the animal cruelty law than are large commercial kennels. Shelters and rescue groups handle a high volume of dogs and have a high turnover rate of dogs. Because of this, they are at a much higher risk than most large commercial kennels, with relatively stable populations of dogs. The risk of disease is much higher in rescue and shelter kennels because of the large number of dogs coming there from unknown or uncertain sources. State dogs wardens alone deliver close to 18,000 strays a year to these kennels, records show. Data is not available in Pennsylvania to confirm the number of dogs that pass through shelter and rescue doors every year, but it is safe to say that it exceeds 100,000 animals by a wide margin. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh alone account for more than 70,000 dogs and cats entering several different shelters, and almost every county has one or more shelters or rescue groups within its borders. We think the total number would be staggering. It also is fair to assume that most of these dogs would be exposed to a communicable disease, internal parasites, flea-borne diseases and other problems simply because the sources of many of these dogs are unknown, and many come from deplorable conditions. This is not merely speculation. Last year, for example, the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania had an outbreak of canine influenza that resulted in the deaths of five dogs, and the illnesses of at least 23 more, according to an Associated Press report and local newspaper accounts. About 80-percent of dogs exposed to the virus develop symptoms and about 8-percent of those die, said Cynda Crawford, a veterinarian at the University of Florida. In Philadelphia, The Bulletin reported, municipal animal shelter officials conceded that there was no way that they could stop the spread of diseases because of overcrowding and poor facilities. The director was quoted to say that viruses of all kinds spread rapidly through the facility. In the facility’s kennel inspection failure report, several cleanliness issues also were cited. There are other hazards, too. In 2004 in rural Fayette County, a fire at a Humane Society shelter killed about three dozen animals, the Associated Press reported. ASDA firmly believes that most shelters and rescue groups do their best, but sometimes get overwhelmed by crowding, poor facilities and cash flow problems. This is apparent in many of the 56 animal cruelty law cases filed against Pennsylvania shelters and rescues that were referenced on the pet-abuse.com database. Other situations at shelters and rescues, however, showed more troubling patterns that bordered on – or crossed the line into - criminal neglect. ASDA believes that this represents a small minority of the shelters and rescues in Pennsylvania, but it is a reality nonetheless. An especially troubling situation arose in Erie County, in Northwestern Pennsylvania, only a year ago, according to reports in the Erie Times-News and court records. In a series of heated charges and countercharges, three state Humane Society police officers became enmeshed in cruelty allegations against each other. Two of these police officers work with rescue organizations, and one works with the county’s Humane Society shelter. Humane Police Officer Sally Chavez-Casler was found guilty of animal cruelty in 2006 after complaints were made about the conditions of animals she put up for adoption through her rescue work. She was found guilty of keeping a large dog in a tiny cage, and not providing water. Apparently Chavez-Casler continues to work as a Humane police officer, and has been involved in a reported 60 cruelty investigations after her own conviction. This past March, she made allegations of animal cruelty against another enforcement officer, Yvonne Murkins. A reported 31 animals were seized from Murkins’ home, and these animals were placed with Chavez-Casler’s rescue organization. The Murkins case apparently is still in the process of being resolved in the legal system. The plot thickens. It was reported that Chavez-Casler’s case was investigated by Merle Wolfgang, the Humane Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania's chief cruelty investigator. Wolfgang issued five citations to Chavez-Casler after a report from a state dog warden, and the court sustained one of them. Wolfgang alleged that puppies at Chavez-Casler’s rescue were covered with fleas and ***, the newspaper reported. In turn, Chavez-Casler alleged that Wolfgang’s actions were a personal vendetta, and that the euthanasia statistics at the Erie Humane Society are scandalous. Based on many animal cruelty investigation reports involving rescues, it would appear that the issue of no-kill has deeply divided the shelter/rescue community. ASDA does not know exactly what is going on in Erie County, but the expression “snake pit” comes to mind. However, we do not believe that the Erie County problems are an indictment against animal shelters or rescue groups. They are not. They do, however, point out the potential for serious problems in this part of the animal welfare community. Nor does ASDA believe that these problems are a reason to make the dog law and kennel regulations tougher. We are convinced that current regulations (cruelty, state and federal, which will be profiled separately in upcoming reports) are more than adequate to assure the safety of all dogs in Pennsylvania, if they are enforced. However, it also is ASDA’s belief that any new laws or regulations must be fair and uniform, and that animal shelters and rescue groups should be held accountable to the same regulations as dealers, because of their track record of problems and the high volume and high turnover of dogs at those facilities. The fact that these organizations most often are charitable non-profits does not alter our conclusion. Tens of thousands of animals are thrown into those shelters and rescues, and they deserve the best possible treatment. Moreover, people who adopt dogs from those facilities, or people whose dogs accidentally end up in those facilities, deserve to know that the health and safety of the animals are being protected. Many dogs are taken to shelters when they accidentally get lost, if they escape from their home, or if they are lost while hunting or competing in performance events. The owners of these dogs deserve to feel complete confidence in Pennsylvania’s shelter and rescue standards until their pets are returned to their homes. In addition, people who adopt dogs from shelters deserve to know that their new pet is healthy and has been well cared-for. Because of the high volume and rapid turnover at shelters and rescues, the potential risks are great and people who adopt have a good reason to be concerned. This reporter has personally known of several people who faced the death or serious illness of a pet within days of adoption from a shelter or rescue. We must ask why shelter and rescue dogs are not always vaccinated or dewormed before adoption. We must ask about the heartworm risk for flea-infested dogs. We must ask if it is safe to adopt a dog that has not been observed for the incubation period for contagious diseases. And we also must ask why two laws that are enforced against private breeders and dog owners are not being enforced against shelters and rescue groups. Those are the rabies law and the puppy lemon law. All licensed kennels must comply with the lemon law, except for nonprofit shelters, which are specifically exempted. This law gives recourse to people who buy a puppy that gets sick or dies when it is purchased from a private kennel, but this same protection is not given to people who obtain a dog from a shelter r rescue group. Shelter and rescue groups say that they are different from private kennels. They say they offer dogs for adoption, not for sale. It is ASDA’s position that an adoption is a sale, because an amount of money determined by the shelter or rescue changes hands. It is not a donation, as donations are purely voluntary. Money and ownership of the dog change hands. We believe that this is important because people who adopt a dog will invest money in it for the adoption fee, medical care, vaccinations, food, general care, housing, and spaying or neutering. Their investment deserves the same protection as people who buy privately, as the purchase price is the smallest cost of dog ownership. The most important consideration is that people who adopt shelter or rescue dogs feel the a sense of deep loss and heartbreak if their pet gets sick or dies. Shelters and rescues should not be exempt in this respect from protecting people who adopt dogs. The Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement is stringent in its enforcement of rabies laws with private dog owners and kennel license holders, and draft legislation indicates that the Bureau probably will make rabies compliance even tougher at large commercial kennels. While there has not been a case of dog-to-dog rabies transmission in Pennsylvania for 11 years, ASDA believes that the greatest potential for this to happen lies in shelters and rescue shelters, because of the high volume and turnover of dogs of uncertain origin. Yet shelters are not being mandated to vaccinate against rabies, even though the risk is much higher than at private kennels and with privately owned pets. Even though people who adopt are required to obtain rabies vaccinations, this does not prevent a period of unprotected potential exposure while the dog is at the shelter. Exempting shelters and rescues from intense regulation has been traditional in Pennsylvania, because of the charitable and beneficial nature of their work. This tradition has perhaps been amplified with the new leadership of the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement. The top two Bureau officials come from strong animal shelter backgrounds. Bureau Director Sue West was formerly president of the Lancaster Humane League, and Deputy Director Jessie Smith is the past president of the Harrisburg Humane Society. While those are strong qualifications for leadership of the Bureau, it also is probable that West and Smith maintain many loyalties and allegiances to those private organizations. Nonetheless, ASDA urges West and Smith to do what’s right and include animals at shelters and rescues under the full protection of both existing state laws, and the new laws that they are drafting now. Our last issue about shelters and rescues may be the most controversial. ASDA sees them as being in direct competition with private breeders. We also see them to be in government-subsidized competition with private breeders, and this has been found to be illegal in some court cases about similar kinds of issues. A mantra of the animal rights movement is that there is no such thing as an ethical breeder, because every dog purchased from a private breeder means the death of another dog in a shelter. That mantra could easily be turned around. Every dog adopted from a shelter or rescue means that another dog from a private breeder doesn’t get the chance to find a loving home. ASDA firmly believes that the vast majority of private breeders love their dogs as much as anyone in the rescue movement, and care for them at least as well. Jessie Smith was quoted extensively in a recent interview on the Best Friends website. Best Friends is a rescue-oriented group. In that interview, Smith affirmed the competitive nature of the situation. She argued that out-of-state rescue dogs brought to Pennsylvania compete against dogs in rescue groups and shelters in this state, especially by providing more “adoptable” dogs than are available here. This means that many less than desirable dogs in Pennsylvania don’t find homes, she said. Smith also took the analogy further into the private sector. She was quoted as saying: “The puppies and the ‘softer’ dogs from out-of-state may be competing, to some degree, with the available dogs in our shelters, but they are also competing with the puppies and ‘softer’ breeds sold in our pet stores. Competing with dogs bred in our state's puppy mills. Puppies transported into Pennsylvania by rescues are cutting into the pet store puppy market. Which is a good thing. And no one has mentioned the hundreds of thousands of dogs bred in puppy mills in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and other puppy mill states, and brought into Pennsylvania to be sold in our pet stores, competing for homes with the dogs in our shelters. Truth be known, they pose a bigger threat to the future of the homeless dogs of Pennsylvania and the resources of our shelters.” ASDA believes that both high quality private breeders and high quality shelters and rescues are required to protect and improve the lives of dogs in Pennsylvania. Breeders constantly strive to improve temperament, genetic health, beauty and utility. Rescue groups and shelters try to find good homes for homeless animals. Both are important. Both should be protected. Both should be cherished. Please visit us on the web at http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org. Your participation and membership are vital to our work to protect the rights of dog owners. We maintain strict independence and are supported only by the voluntary donations of our members. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CROSS-POST OR FORWARD THIS REPORT