Los Angeles City Shelter Volunteers Get Raw Deal
If our city shelters were not bad enough, consider that they may be even be worse than you thought. Los Angeles city shelters run by the Department of Animal Services and managed by General Manager Ed Boks is now not only responsible for this city's tragic euthanasia rates, but it is now taking after and making miserable the volunteers who give of themselves freely - meaning zero compensation - to make the efforts of the shelter employees easier and to make the lives of shelter animals more tolerable. To volunteer means that the only rewards they take home with them is the hope that they have saved just one animal among the thousands that need to be saved or that they made one animal feel safe and loved among the thousands that feel abandoned, confused and full of fear. That these people are not treated in accordance with their value to our dismal and disarrayed shelter system is unacceptable to them and, more so, should be unacceptable to everyone of us who live in this city. What are we all going to do about it?
The following are e-mails that I encourage every animal parent and lover to read. It is a concise and well written e-mail to Mayor Villaraigosa's deputy staff member, Jim Bickhart. Mr. Bickhart's response is included. To follow the string, please scroll down to volunteer Mary Preston's first e-mail.
Some e-mail addresses and other contact information have been removed at the discretion of The Tracker. If you wish to get in touch with Mary Preston, contact us at: thetracker@metropettracker.com.
Volunteer Mary Preston's response to Mr. Jim Bickhart's e-mail:
--- Mary Preston wrote:
> Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:37:44 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Mary Preston
> Subject: still no word on this situation
> To: Jim.Bickhart@lacity.org
>
> Dear Mr. Bickhart,
> Still awaiting any word on this subject. Much needed volunteers are STILL shut out without any response to
> the 'review' of their questionable banishment. Increased euthanasia's as a result are haunting all of us in
> the rescue world. What does it take for ANYONE on the taxpayers' payroll to get something done? A few
> phone calls, a meeting, what's the difficulty? I and my friends and associates in the rescue community
> are frustrated, even angered at the lack of movement on this issue. It may not seem like a priority to
> anyone in city government, but if it were YOUR dog being escorted into a euthanasia room because of lack
> of space; due to decreased adoptions; due to lack of volunteers; due to red tape or lack of attention to
> a problem...you would feel differently. You would get it done. Tell me why I have paid property taxes on
> 3 homes and a business for 20 plus years in this town. Tell me it's just for potholes.
>
> My friend and associate, Sherry Brewer, has finally been forced to send a letter from an attorney to fight
> the bogus banishment of her from the east valley shelter as a volunteer. This woman has been responsible
> for the successful adoptions of countless dogs and cats. All she and Nadine Goodreau (and others who were
> locked out due to Torrie Strawn and people like her) wish for is the ability to donate their time to help
> animals in need. VOLUNTEER, mind you.
> There is a culture of apathy and laziness in some of these city workers that is positively disgraceful.
> There is also a good deal of 'power-tripping' that does an actual disservice to animals in need.
> I will not get tired of writing letters and contacting the local news agencies. Unlike the people at the
> animal services commission who are paid by people like me, I will not drop the ball on this till something
> is done. I will not get tired of e-mailing every single animal rescue group I know (large or small,
> celebrity-founded or not) regarding the lack of efficiency of those paid to get something done on this.
> Until I take my last breath I will not go away...EVER!
> Mary Preston
Mr. Jim Bickhart's response to volunteer Mary Preston's e-mail:
> --- Jim Bickhart <Jim.Bickhart@lacity.org> wrote:
>
> > Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:26:06 -0700
> > From: "Jim Bickhart" <Jim.Bickhart@lacity.org>
> > To: "Mary Preston"
> > CC: "Jimmy Blackman" <Jimmy.Blackman@lacity.org>
> > Subject: Re: LA animal shelter volunteers'
> treatment
> >
> > Dear Ms. Preston:
> >
> > Thanks for your communication below. The Animal Services Commission will soon be reviewing the volunteer
> > program and we in the Mayor's office are following the dialogue closely.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Jim Bickhart
> > Office of Mayor Villaraigosa
Volunteer Mary Preston's first e-mail to Mr. Jim Bickhart:
> > From: Mary Preston
> > Date: 9/12/2007
> > Sent: 9:07 AM >>>
> >
> > Dear sirs/madams,
> > My name is Mary Preston and I felt compelled to chime in on the complaints and concerns of Ms. Sherry
> > Brewer. I believe you received an e-mail from her on Sept. 11, 2007.
> > I have been donating my time, efforts, and money to animal rescue and specifically animal adoptions
> > out of the east valley shelter since 1989. I, too, have been treated with apathy at the least and
> > outright disdain at the worst by some of the paid staff of the shelter. I have in the past chosen
> > to take an approach of keeping my mouth shut and my eyes averted from what I see strictly for the
> > 'greater good' of getting unwanted animals into loving homes. When I have deigned to mention to a
> > shelter worker that there was no water for a dog in a particular run, that a certain dog was in need
> > of medical attention, or that there was excessive fighting in a run, I have often been shooed away.
> > I have also often overheard conversations about how 'annoying' and bothersome the volunteers are.
> > There seems to be a culture of malaise and apathy among the paid employees of the shelters. And a
> > downright mean-spiritedness towards volunteers. And at the brand new, multi-million dollar east
> > valley shelter, you simply cannot find a paid employee to help 'show' dogs for adoption, to even
> > ANSWER QUESTIONS about the availability of a certain animal! I became so frustrated at the lack of
> > organization and efficiency at the new shelter, even months after it had been open and running, that
> > I will no longer take potential adoptive families there to do placements.
> > In light of my terrible, recent experiences at the new shelter, it seems painfully obvious that
> > volunteers are desperately needed and should be welcomed with open arms versus being viewed as an
> > annoyance. Let me give you an example: I was told of a dog recently that was in the sick bay area
> > that was completely adoptable if only she could be afforded much-needed surgery on a broken leg. For
> > 3 days I called to get the message relayed to the vet-tech that I would pay for the surgery with a
> > private vet, even offered to bail her out and THEN do the surgery. No one called me back. Staff at
> > the front desk would not transfer me back to the vet. No one relayed the message to the vet on site.
> > And when I finally sent a friend to drive down there and bail out the dog, the dog had been euthanized.
> > The same thing happened after I put a dog 'on hold' on behalf of German Shepherd Rescue. Paperwork
> > misplaced or not put on the run, dog euthanized needlessly.
> > Could some of the budget of the proposed future shelter renovations please go towards staff that have
> > a better work ethic or actually care about what they are doing? Or perhaps just more staff on the
> > payroll period would help. It's hard to tell what the source of the problem is.
> > Also, comments I've heard from some paid staff about volunteers and rescue folk being a 'bunch of
> > retired, single women with nothing better to do' couldn't be further from the truth. Most of us are
> > able to volunteer because we are successful enough in our work lives that we can AFFORD to give back.
> > I have been fortunate enough in the success of my business to be able to donate much of my time and 15%
> > of my earnings to animal rescue and adoptions.
> > It is beyond frustrating to be nearly unable to run my adoption service out of the city shelters due to
> > poor management and foul treatment. We in the world of animal rescue and adoptions are a vast network.
> > I personally have e-mail addresses of 285 people, most of whom I've never met. Please find a way to
> > utilize our services instead of making our 'jobs' more difficult. We are here to make things better for
> > unwanted animals and we cost you nothing! (Highlight inserted by The Tracker.)
> >
> > Thanks for your attention,
> > Mary Preston