Humane society puts the animals first

I am writing this letter in regards to the article(s) recently

printed about the Orange County Humane Society in Huntington Beach. I

am not an employee there, however, I have been employed at the animal

hospital, which operates next door to the shelter and has treated

their animals, for more than five years. I am writing this letter

with the intent of addressing some inconsistencies I have noticed in

several articles, and to express my opinion over the controversy

surrounding the Orange County Humane Society.

To begin with, I would like to say that for the past five years, I

have witnessed many heroic efforts, both by the doctors, staff and

volunteers at the Orange County Humane Society. I have been part of

their foster program for orphaned kittens during this time, and it

has been both a rewarding and heartbreaking experience for me. The

current owner has been more than helpful toward me, providing medical

care for many foster kittens, all at his cost. At one point, he even

performed a very expensive surgery (out of his own pocket, might I

add, not from the Orange County Humane Society funds) on a foster

kitten that in any other shelter would have probably been euthanized.

This is not the first and only incident in which he has done this.

I would also like to clarify that not all the volunteers were

terminated, and that the protesters are a limited few out of many

volunteers who have come and gone over the years. Orange County

Humane Society still has volunteers working at its facility, and

these volunteers are kind-hearted and dedicated individuals who have

been working very hard to help the lives of these animals, as well as

defend the Orange County Humane Society against the recent claims

made by the protesters. Some previous volunteers have also written

letters to the Orange County Humane Society showing their support for

the shelter, and lamenting over the current controversy.

The Orange County Humane Society receives a very limited monthly

allowance from the cities it has contracts with. This allowance does

not cover the cost of food, shelter, utilities, medicine and employee

wages, nor do private donations cover these costs. To the best of my

knowledge, the owner pays for the majority of these expenses.

Although animals are adopted out at a fee to the new owner, Orange

County Humane Society makes little to no profit off of these

adoptions. For example, a dog may be adopted out for $100 (this is a

close estimate, as I do not know the exact charges); however, this

charge includes a free vet exam, the first set of shots, and a free

spay or neuter, and in many cases these exceed the cost of the

adoption fee. I recently read an article in which an individual wrote

a letter complaining that she had fostered puppies for the Orange

County Humane Society, yet they sold them for $90 and collected the

profit in spite of the fact that she did all the work. These puppies

were not “sold,” and the Orange County Humane Society did not profit

from these adoptions.

I would also like to clarify that the new owner is in fact trying

to build a new facility and has been pursuing this venture for some

time, however, he has been unable to obtain approval from the city of

Huntington Beach, much to his (and our) frustration. In a recent

article, an individual was quoted as saying that the owner had been

claiming he was going to build a new facility for five years, yet

nothing ever seemed to come of it.

The current owner has not even owned the facility for five years.

Likewise, he has done everything he can to build a better

establishment for the animals and the employees. He cannot build

without approval from the city, which he has been ardently pursuing

for over a year.

I do not know all of the demands or complaints of the protesters,

but some of those that I have heard are unreasonable, especially

considering the shelter’s limited funding. Not every animal can be

saved. This is not only unfeasible, but in many cases cruel when it

only extends that animal’s suffering. Likewise, I have not seen any

cases of neglect or abuse. Contrary to what the protesters say, I

have witnessed the animals’ being fed daily -- in fact, obesity is a

problem among a few of them.

These protesters are not veterinarians, nor do they have medical

training. They want to improve the comfort level for the animals,

which is admirable, but not always in the animals’ best interest.

Their health must be the primary consideration, such as in the case

of feeding. Likewise, blankets and towels cannot be put in the

kennels since many dogs eat them (another common request), which can

actually be life threatening, not to mention that they can clog the

drainage system. The shelter has its reasons for the policies it

enforces.

The protesters claim that they never witnessed any sick animals

receiving medication. This is not a surprise, since most medications

are dispensed before the shelter opens and after it closes, when its

employees do not have clients to tend to. I myself see the employees

preparing medication for the shelter animals every morning that I

work.

Because the shelter receives stray animals from incorporated

cities, a high percentage of these animals are sick, injured or

diseased. They are treated if it is medically, financially and

ethically feasible, and even with treatment, some animals do not

improve. The existence of disease is a sad factor in all shelters,

and like most, the Orange County Humane Society treats these animals

to the best of its ability. No animal is happy living in a shelter,

and no shelter can provide the individual medical and emotional care

that these animals require. They will not fare any better if they are

transported to another facility, which will suffer from the same

problems caused by lack of funding and overcrowding. What they need

is to be adopted out, and it pains me to think that these protesters

may cause potential homes for these animals to dissipate. More than

2,000 pets were adopted out last year alone, and I hope the current

animals at the shelter will have the same happy outcome.

My experience with the shelter employees has revealed them to be

hard-working, caring individuals. They foster kittens and puppies,

just as the volunteers do, and sometimes pay for these expenses out

of their own pocket. Fostering is exhausting and expensive, yet

almost every employee I have worked with, both at Orange County

Humane Society and at the animal hospital, is familiar with it. From

my own personal experience, I can say that it is very disheartening

to come to work in the morning, tired and worn out from being up

since 4 a.m. with a litter of kittens, to find picketers with signs,

angrily yelling and calling you inhumane.

Like most shelters, the Orange County Humane Society of Huntington

Beach is overcrowded and underfunded. I do not know the motivation of

the protesters, but I feel that they are naive in expecting other

organizations to take over if the shelter closes down. I am afraid as

to what will happen to the animals currently there, as well as future

animals, if the shelter program is terminated. The main county

shelter in Orange is already overloaded, and it is not a no-kill

shelter. An animals’ chance of survival at that facility is extremely

limited, not due to any fault of the shelter or its employees, but

due to the severe overpopulation problem that plagues our cities. The

solution to this problem is complicated, not nearly as simple as

these protesters believe. There are more animals than homes, more

diseases and injuries than the money to treat it, and not nearly

enough resources available to every animal that is unfortunate enough

to enter a shelter.

There are solutions to this problem, but they are involved and

will take both time, effort and funding. Pet owners need to take

responsibility and spay or neuter their pets, and more low-cost

clinics need to be available to provide them with this option. Nobody

should adopt an animal unless they plan on keeping it for life.

People need to realize that rabbits breed like, well, rabbits, and

that cute, energetic little puppies can grow into big, 100-pound

energetic puppies. Instead of criticizing animal shelters,

individuals could help raise funds, or donate their time to improve

the quality of life for the animals involved.

I think it is unfortunate that the Orange County Humane Society is

being boycotted by these protesters. The shelter employees are

hardworking individuals who genuinely care for these animals, and I

sincerely hope that whatever solution is obtained, it will be in the

animals’ best interest.

* JEAN LEWIS is a Santa Ana resident. To contribute to “Sounding

Off” e-mail us at [email protected] or fax us at (714) 965-7174.