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Updated: 9:05 AM Mar 10, 2010
Groups in Disagreement Over Animal Care
Dozens of people with the group Citizens for Animal Welfare attended Tuesday night's council meeting. They're concerned about what they consider to be a high number of animals euthanized by the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Posted: 11:40 PM Mar 9, 2010Reporter: Michael Hyland Email Address: mhyland@whsv.com |
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17 Comments 
The Harrisonburg City Council is looking into hiring a mediator to help groups locked in disagreement over local animal care.
Dozens of people with the group Citizens for Animal Welfare attended Tuesday night's council meeting.
They're concerned about the number of animals euthanized by the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The RHSPCA has a death rate of more than 65 percent in 2008, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. That's higher than any other SPCA in the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding areas.
However, that number is down from a death rate of 76 percent in 2004.
According to Citizens for Animal Welfare, the RHSPCA has the highest death rate of "government-contracted, non-profit shelters in Virginia with similar admission policies."
The Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA had a death rate of just over 12 percent in 2008, according to VDACS.
The group at Tuesday's meeting wants to take over spaying and neutering pets and provide other services for the society.
According to City Manager Kurt Hodgen, Harrisonburg allocates about $210,000 annually to the RHSPCA.
In a letter to the editor last week in the Daily News-Record, Darnice Pettigrew, a board member of the RHSPCA defended the organization. She wrote "the real reason animals die at RHSPCA" is because of "the people who are being responsible pet owners."
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Latest Comments
I think the SPCA's adoption standards are pretty, well, standard. Cats that go in and out are often victims of traffic and other animals, not to mention the diseases they can catch from coming in contact with ferals. Dogs left on chains in backyards with no human contact are essentially in solitary confinement. The USDA says that the chain significantly restricts the dog's movement, and the majority of fatal dogs attacks come from dogs driven crazily territorial by lack of socialization and movement. I see no reason why someone who wants to chain a dog day in and day out needs a dog in the first place, let alone one from a shelter who's been through enough. If Citizens for Animal Welfare really wanted to make a difference, they would be knocking on the doors of people who had chained dogs and offering to help housebreak and train, ironically just how the C'ville SPCA volunteers do...
ctlvr60, you appear wounded by some of our concerns & comments from the defensive retort of your post.Your education of us all to protecting the health status of the shelter is very valid. Sharing your need for help & the hard work of volunteers is too. Becoming defensive is a common reaction, but is not improving the situation any more than the others of us just voicing concerns without looking for solutions. That said, alienating those in the public who have the potential to bring you additional help & support is dangerous as well.I apologize if I personally made you feel criticized for the work you do. Fact is, there are good as well as "less good" in any setting. Your high numbers are saying something & I think it is very possible that the public is finally concerned, as well as you too should be. This may be a catalyst for us all to begin finding solutions for improvement & to get more involved in helping the animals. I'll try to donate more, but I still support no-kill the most.
As a volunteer at the R-H SPCA myself, it's pretty apparent from some of these comments that 'former' volunteers didn't listen well in the orientation class. For the person who had the cat taken and euthanized, it's highly likely that the cat was very sick, and having you handle it and then handle another cat could pass the disease from pet to pet and infect the entire cat room?! Just because they look healthy, doesn't mean they are! The staff keeps the cat room very clean, perhaps before you came in, there were signs in the cage that the cat was very sick. You just didn't see it yourself...you should count yourself lucky, as I have seen the evidence and it isn't pretty. As to the comments regarding the pets on petfinder. Only those currently available for adoption can be put on the site. It also takes volunteers to get the pictures and get them on there. If you aren't helping, don't criticize without walking in the shoes of those trying to help!
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