From the other thread it’s obvious that there’s an enormous amount of misinformation that exists about the SPCA and rescue groups in general.  I thought I’d give y’all a little information about some of the less familiar projects that exist and explain some issues that may be confusing.  This will help educate those of you who are interested in such a way that you might help others who don’t know how the Mobile SPCA can benefit pets and the humans who care for them.

I’ll start off with:

MADDIE’S PET RESCUE PROJECT OF MOBILE COUNTY

This project is a coalition of humane organizations whose goal is to end euthanasia of adoptable dogs and cats in Mobile County shelters. This project is supported by “Maddie’s Fund”, a seven-year grant.  The three humane organizations I mentioned before - the Mobile SPCA, Animal Rescue Foundation, and Friends of the Shelter - are all eligible for this grant money and adoption subsidies - but only if we meet our individual adoption goals.

This is why we have to work so hard to place dogs and cats.  If we don’t meet our goals, we don’t receive our subsidies, and would then be in jeopardy of losing our grant.  Our goal for 2007 is 2,367 adoptions, and in 2008 we must place 2,767 animals!  That’s a whole lot of dogs and cats.

We are presently trying to raise money for our new adoption center.  Once it’s open it will allow us to take more animals out of the Mobile County Animal Shelter before they are euthanized.  And this is so important because even though Mobile County as a whole has seen healthy euthanasias decline while adoptions rise, the Mobile County Animal Control has unfortunately reported just the opposite…rising euthanasia figures and a decline in adoptions.  We have to turn this around somehow…not only to keep our Maddie’s Fund grant but for the welfare of all the homeless dogs and cats in Mobile County.

-nab

WHY DOES THE SPCA CHARGE TO ADOPT A PET?

Some people wonder why they should have to pay money to “buy” a mixed breed dog when you could just get a free one from someone in the newspaper.

Let’s say you fall in love with an adorable puppy someone has in a box outside WalMart.  That litter may have come from from a momma dog that the owners have never had spayed and she spends her whole life birthin’ babies…but that’s another post for another time.

So you get this free pup and life is good.  Unless…the puppy has worms.  Or worse - parvo or distemper.  Can you imagine anything more sad than bringing a beautiful puppy home to your children who immediately fall in love, only to have the pup die from a disease that could have been prevented?

But maybe the puppy is healthy after all.  To keep the pup healthy will require a series of vaccinations and a physical examination.  He’ll need to be treated for fleas and checked for heartworms.  He should be microchipped in case he’s ever lost.  (Ask anyone who’s lost a beloved pet and they’ll tell you it’s the worst feeling in the world…not knowing where they are or what happened.) And certainly, he should be neutered (or if she’s a lady-pup, spayed) because we have to be responsible.

And before you know it, that free puppy has cost you two or three hundred bucks.  And that’s IF he’s healthy!

If you adopt a dog from the Mobile SPCA, there will be a fee.  This is not a purchase price because we don’t sell dogs.  The fee helps us recover a fraction of the costs we’ve spent on the dog to assure that when he goes to his forever home he is healthy and immunized and microchipped and most importantly, unable to breed.  This fee varies but generally runs between $85 and $150.  Quite a bargain!

So the next time someone tells you the SPCA (or ARF or Friends) sells their dogs, you can set them straight.

-nab

NAB,

Hello again. I just discovered your new thread and am wondering why you chose not to continue under the animal cruelty forum. I never said SPCA was selling animals-I was curious as to why people were charged so much to “adopt .” I do realize that if animals leave your facility, you don’t know where they are going, and perhaps that is where the story regarding the person at the flea market selling animals they supposedly adopted through you has come from. I have no proof of that. The only proof I do have is what has been posted under the animal cruelty forum, as well as on posts from the various animal cruelty stories that have gained recent media attention. I think the only one who needs to be “set straight” about the current system is those people who refuse to acknowledge that there is a PROBLEM. If there is not a problem, then why would so many concerned citizens take time to post their stories and want to address this issue? Why would so many people be willing to come together to start their own humane organizations, just so that something will be done here?

As for Maddie’s Fund, yes it is grant money, and yes you may have a quota to meet-but how that quota is met has also come under recent question. It is so easy to go and take animals from the shelter to meet your quota, yet the average person cannot depend on you to take the orphans or neglected animals they find. I know, you are not a shelter, yet you continue to refer to yourself as a “no-kill” shelter. I do not understand.

Have you been able to find out any information yet about SPCA’s funding other than Maddie’s Fund. I am especially interested in the collection jars that are placed around town, ie at Winn-Dixie and why no one there really seems to know what the money is being used for. I am also interested in how the money that was donated by the county was used-I believe it was about $5,000. Who is over the finances and makes sure that they are used appropriately? Who is the Board of Directors? Who runs the day-to-day operations? What does it take to be a cruelty investigator? Are there any certifications required, or continuing education
provided? Why spend money, I understand around a million for a new facility, when so much more could be done with that money that could better benefit the animals, since you are not a shelter.

NAB,

I cut and pasted these for you since you are obviously no longer interested in posting on the animal cruelty forum. You may have valid information to share, but you need to be respectful of the information that others are sharing also. I do not think anyone is posting lies as imply. What would be the point of making all this stuff up? Perhaps some of the information we have is misinformed, but you need to be willing to accept that perhaps some of what we say is true. It is easy to bury your head and think that everything is just grand, but obviously if you will start at the beginning of the animal cruelty thread and read the comments that were posted on the stories covered by the media, you will see that it is not. Or perhaps not since you are so devout in defending the SPCA. Doesn’t that stand for Society for Prevention to Cruelty to Animals? Then why do they not address these issues?

Clementine

26 October 2007 03:49 PM [ Report ] [ Ignore ] [ # 80 ]
Total Posts:  8
Joined 2007-08-30

I was just reading another thread about pets and the people that love them.  I am curious.  If the SPCA predominantly handles pet adoptions, why the big news broadcast about dog fighting and cruelty?  Whenever I have attempted to report cruelty or dog fighting to the SPCA, I was told that the SPCA doesn’t handle those claims.  What does the SPCA do besides pet adoptions?  This community needs more aggressive investigation policies.  Perhaps a privately funded organization should be formed to address the deficiencies in our system.  I would be more than willing to support and work for such an organization.

Quote

rmseek1234

26 October 2007 03:55 PM [ # 81 ]
Total Posts:  40
Joined 2007-08-30

Me too. There are deficiencies in they system and while one organization may not be bad in and of itself, if there are any “bad fish” the whole place will smell. And I believe from the majority of people who have posted on this forum with their experiences as well as on other forum topics regarding the animal cruelty cases that have gained media attention, this is exactly what has happened here in Mobile.

mmseek, I started another thread not because I’m no longer interested in posting under “Animal Abuse” but because the information that I’ve posted here is not about animal abuse.  It’s about another topic.  Did you even read what I wrote or are you just trying to be argumentative?

I’ll be happy to leave the forum since it appears that you want to run the show here, and that’s fine.  I can share the information I have somewhere else where people are willing to listen and interested in respectful discourse instead of rehashing long-held, antagonistic complaints that may or may not be valid.

Goodbye.

-nab

mmseek, I started another thread not because I’m no longer interested in posting under “Animal Abuse” but because the information that I’ve posted here is not about animal abuse.  It’s about another topic.  Did you even read what I wrote or are you just trying to be argumentative?

I’ll be happy to leave the forum since it appears that you want to run the show here, and that’s fine.  I can share the information I have somewhere else where people are willing to listen and interested in respectful discourse instead of rehashing long-held, antagonistic complaints that may or may not be valid.

Goodbye.

-nab

And as a P.S>-You have yet to answer any of the previous questions that have been asked.

Arguements aside, what can individuals like rmseek, myself and others do to assist the SPCA with strengthening their abilities to rescue animals, prevent cruelty, investigate reports of abuse etc.?  And no, I’m not referring to simply writing the SPCA a check for a donation.  No one genuinely concerned about animal cruelty and protection rights is doing so merely to find a soap box forum nor do we have unlimited financial resources.  No one wants to “run a show”.  Some of us are simply very concerned about Mobile’s lack of stronger policies and more efficient reporting and investigative techniques.  I come back to my original question.  Why did the director of the Mobile county SPCA do a news broadcast about pit bull fighting when they are not equipped to address such an issue?  I personally reported what I still believe is an organized, long-standing dog figthing ring the day after the broadcast.  I quote - “We don’t handle that here.” The person gave me a number to a county animal shelter that was disconnected.  Ultimately, after hours of making calls I ended up contacting a dispatcher on the City of Prichard’s crime hotline.  That was the only organization that did anything.  So no, this isn’t an attack on the local SPCA and it’s employees and volunteers.  It’s an attack against a system that is weak and filled with hot air, red tape and an enormous amount of tail-chasing (no pun intended).  Many counties in Alabama as well as other states have certified cruelty investigators employed by the county that address these issues.  Why doesn’t Mobile have such a person on staff?  Even the City of Prichard has a designated animal cruelty employee.  And what about livestock?  The local SPCA repeatedly ignored the pleas of local citizens to rescue 12 abused and starved horses in Irvington.  Finally, I contacted a Baldwin county veterinarian who is extremely active with rescue and animal protection and he involved the state of Alabama’s cruelty investigator.  Only then was something done.  And don’t tell me the horses weren’t starving.  I have 12 glossy 8 x 10 photographs of the animals in my briefcase.  The vet that I took the pictures to was absolutely apalled.  Up until that point, Mobile’s SPCA had done nothing but slap the owner on the wrist.  Any organization, whether it is a major corporation, a non-profit group, a church Sunday school class, a public middle school or a family owned business, is only as strong as its leadership.  Perhaps the local SPCA needs stronger leadership.

Very well said Clementine.

I will just say the hostility is completely unnecessary. Especially to the ones like us who do try to make a difference. I hope you do make important changes in the law. I also think this is an education thing too. Here in the deep south people are still very ignorant about animals (more than that actually) this state is behind in sooooo many things- racism, public education, etc......

When the fight begins within himself,
A man’s worth something.- Robert Browning

I am sorry you feel this discussion is hostile. I know I personally did not mean to sound that way, but perhaps it comes across because of the deep frustration with the system as a whole. I think it is sad that when a person turns for help, agencies give them the run-around and refer to other agencies and so on and so on. There needs to be some sort of centralized system for reporting abuse and cruelty and it needs to be a law enforcement issue as well. Perhaps these issues have never been addressed. Perhaps it won’t work. But there are enough concerned citizens out here to want to see change, that we are willing to try. That’s all anyone can do really, is to try their best to make the world a better place.