The Voice: Speaking up on Animal Issues
Important Information: How You Can Protect Animals at Shelters

Have you ever gone into a shelter and were disgusted or sadden by the conditions? Have you ever brought an animal to the shelter whether yours or you found an animal and wonder what happen to it? Or are you that person that the shelters love because you erase that thought from your mind because it’s too painful and never asks questions or rechecks on the animal? First of all buckle up, if you think it is painful for you, think about the animal. There are things you can do.

Shelters lie. Their policies are misleading. One way is upper positions use volunteers and lower staff by giving them misinformation, knowing they’re the ones who mainly interact with the public, who then will report this misinformation to you. Example: They don’t kill, when they do, or they kill only when necessary, when the truth is, it’s for inconvenience, cost- effectiveness and/or incompetence. Higher positions do this so if they get caught they can say the volunteers must have misunderstood. Unfortunately, higher positions sometimes do lie; knowing you can’t prove what they said.

Here’s how to make sure they’re telling the truth. If they tell you they are a no-kill, get it into writing. You must have a board member, CEO, or upper staff, such as, a President or Vice-president put it in writing that they will not kill this animal for any reason. If then they start coming up with reasons for killing, you got your answer. If they’re a kill-shelter and they say they try their best {excuses} or it’s better for the animal {animals would disagree} you got your answer. If they lie, with documentations, you may now have legal justification.

If you decide to leave the animal with them, tell them you are going to check on the animal, do so, make sure the animal is in good condition and when the animal is adopted out, you tell them you would like the new owners to contact you. No good shelter would mind this. This will ensure the safety of the animal. Also do not give a donation until you have guaranteed a successful outcome. This is their job. If you are moving out of state you can still have the new owners contact you and have documentations. They will usually not hurt an animal that they know is being watched over.

Why do they lie? There are a few reasons, the average person will donate upon an animal’s drop-off, also to build up numbers of in-takes. If animals are not checked-on, their deaths may not be monitored correctly.

To protect animals in shelters: Shelters are not above the law. We have animal cruelty laws that they have to abide by. If you see an animal in poor conditions; looking bad, no food or water, diseased, or poor housing you need to report this to your District Attorney. They should do a report; you will want a copy of all paperwork, including the date and time, the incident and all documents. Get the name and title of who was present and on-duty. Take pictures, make copies do not give all copies to the DA reserve a copy for your file. If needed, send copies to us and we will follow-up. Additional witnesses are helpful; take someone back to support your complaint. You do not have to inform the shelter, it’s best to wait until you get your evidence. You can gather information more than one time. Remember you want to report cruelty immediately so the ongoing suffering doesn’t continue. If the DA is not taking you serious or sends you to another department, like animal control or another shelter like the Dumb Friends League, do not accept this. Tell them it is a conflict of interest and you want them to do their own investigation.

We have a society watching out for defenseless people, the animals also need a watchdog; you. This will make shelters more accountable for their actions, instead of making excuses for neglect and cruelty. The excuse that animals are kept in poor conditions because they don’t have the funding is not acceptable, it’s criminal.

In the course of history I am unaware of an established multi-billion dollar industry that the public accepts and excuses for failure. It’s disgusting that the more they fail the more money the public gives.

Contact us if you have any concerns and send complaints with documentations at: Creative Acres. P.O. Box 1143, Brighton Colorado 80601. 303-659-4792

Posted on March 25th, by CAadmin in The Voice.

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