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Local Humane Society Staff Arrested

post #1 of 16
11/26/09 at 7:45pm
Thread Starter 
The President, vet and staff of Toronto Humane have been arrested following a raid on the humane society

http://www.torontosun.com/news/toron.../11944061.html

For those outside the GTA, Toronto like most big cities has a huge stray cat problem and takes in many dogs too. They are not animal control but until June were in charge of cruelty investigations for Toronto.

They have a 7% euthanasia rate, taking in 7000+ animals a year (more if you include small animals and wildlife)

They also have huge run ins with the head of the OSPCA (the people charging them) who used to run another local SPCA who they have a long standing argument with over fundraising.

Part of me wonders why the OSPCA officers (some may have heard of Tre Smith who handcuffed a guy to his car) did nothing about the conditions at Toronto Humane while they worked there, and why the former employees who supplied evidence (photos) did not do anything while there and should they be charged too
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post #2 of 16
11/27/09 at 12:42am
WARNING: LINKS TO GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING PHOTOS
There's a series of articles in The Globe and Mail that make it sound like the THS may very well have carried its "no-kill" policy too far.
Killing them with kindness
A leader with a passion for animals, loyal supporters - and an iron grip
In photos: A shelter in crisis
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post #3 of 16
11/27/09 at 2:01pm
is all I can say after looking at the photos. I hope this mess is all sorted out.
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post #4 of 16
11/27/09 at 3:12pm
I've only been following this story superficially as I can't bear to look at those photos. It all sounds so strange to me. I know there's a lot of BS politics involved, and it sounds like all that came before the welfare of the poor animals caught up in the middle.
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post #5 of 16
11/27/09 at 3:23pm
This shelter was reported a number of times and nothing was done. Finally, something is being done. The people working and volunteering there were doing the best they could under the circumstances. I do not for a moment believe there is any vendetta against them - just simply the OSPCA is trying to correct a very wrong.

I truly believe the Directors left the animals to die because they wanted to keep their euthanesia stats low for publicity purposes. What miserable excuses for human beings they are. The vets were not allowed to euthanize or make decisions on treatment without permission from the Board - that is ridiculous because the members of the Board did not have the education or knowledge to make those decisions. I hope those people get the maximum sentence allowed under the law and are forbidden to ever be in an environment with animals ever again.

Today they found a mummified cat in a live trap in the ceiling!

They are hoping to re-open the shelter on Tuesday so that adoptions can take place trying to find homes for some of the over 1000 animals there.
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post #6 of 16
11/27/09 at 4:01pm
Thank you for posting, I've been trying to keep up-to-date on this. I'm still so shocked! Last time I was at THS was maybe 6 years ago now? There were no dirty cages, all the animals were healthy & well cared for. I wonder how long this has been going on.

Incidentally I was there because I was dropping off a squirrel my dog had parallelized for them to euthanise .

I'm caught between wondering if animals should be adopted from THS or not. It obviously not the animals fault and they deserve good homes - at the same time I would not want to give money to an organization proven of doing the things THS. (I'd rather wait until the OSCPA does something about the shelter).

This is particularly weighing on me as my mother is looking into adopting a second goldi-poo. He's adorable, 2 months old, and has several litter-mates at the shelter.
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post #7 of 16
11/27/09 at 4:01pm
We all know those numbers are big for fund-raisers. The Colorado Humane Society was shut down for fraud. The people running it were messing with the funds and they were accused of misrepresenting the euthanasia rate at the shelter by claiming it was less than 8% of the total number of animals. The attorney general's office believes Colorado Humane Society's actual euthanisia rate reached as high as 29 percent in the past five years. The shelter was placed into receivership a year ago and is now being shut down. They are struggling to place the animals they have.

It is sad that the animals get caught in this nasty trap by the very people we entrust to take care of them.
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post #8 of 16
11/27/09 at 4:02pm
Thread Starter 
Vets at most shelters can not euthanise without Board approval, the same is true of most of the local shelters here - although with us it is very rare that we go against the vets recommendation, usually those are behaviour issues (mostly ferals) that we relocate.
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post #9 of 16
11/28/09 at 3:09pm
I wish I hadn't looked at those photos! I hope they throw the book at the people responsible for this cruelty!!!
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post #10 of 16
11/28/09 at 3:23pm
Well it justs gets better and better!

The paper reported today that donation money is going to be used for the legal fees for these horrible people. I think we all need to pray that the animals that are there get homes because the donors are going to stop giving to this institution if that happens and that will be the end of the THS.

I cannot believe those people.
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post #11 of 16
11/28/09 at 3:41pm
Thread Starter 
They have always had a huge legal fund, they have several ongoing court cases

However, they have directors insurance to cover a law suit against them so I am not sure how much actual donation money will be used
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post #12 of 16
11/28/09 at 3:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by icklemiss21 View Post
They have always had a huge legal fund, they have several ongoing court cases

However, they have directors insurance to cover a law suit against them so I am not sure how much actual donation money will be used
I don't care if they only use one lone dollar of donation money - that's one dollar too much. They should be made to pay out of their own mean-spirited pockets.

Many people will stop donating because of that so the animals again are the ones to suffer.

We used to donate to MADD until I learned that most of each dollar went to the administration of the organization and little of it to the actual charity. I now thoroughly check out how much of my money actually goes where I want it to before I give anything.
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post #13 of 16
11/28/09 at 4:45pm
All of this makes me want to cry.
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post #14 of 16
12/4/09 at 9:11am
What a "No Kill" Shelter means to me: A shelter that does not kill HEATHY ADOPTABLE pets because they have not found a home.

To make an animal suffer through an illness just to keep the kill rate down is disgusting and inhumane. The THS does not keep its kill rate down out of compassion but out of greed.
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post #15 of 16
12/5/09 at 4:51pm
Thread Starter 
The OSPCA's review board found that only one of the animals removed on the last raid of THS in June was in any distress and was treated with sub q fluids for URI and ordered that the OSPCA repay the fines they charges the THS - makes me think twice about this raid
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post #16 of 16
12/5/09 at 5:35pm
The mummified cat found in the ceiling was enough for me.
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