In the latest post on the Hermitage's blog, they try to make the case on how they can still be defined as a "no-kill".

The points they list to define "no-kill" are as follows

"A no-kill doesn’t euthanize animals for treatable illnesses"

"A no-kill doesn’t euthanize animals for space"

"A no-kill doesn’t euthanize special needs animals who have the potential for a good quality of life"

They claim that the record number of cats put down were because of stomatitis. Stomatitis is a gum infection that is very treatable in the majority of cases. Even severe cases often can be completely reversed by a course of antibiotics and possibly extracting teeth.

Former staff who have left over the past few months have relayed tales of some cats being put down for minor health issues. Meanwhile, those cats favored by management have been spared no expense – sometimes even when vets have recommended against treatment.

In a newspaper article, the Executive Director says the feral cats were to be relocated. "The decision was made because the feral cats were taking up space at the shelter." Is it coincidence that most of cats who have been put down have come from the 'feral' area of the building?

In the first wave of euthanasias, a number of the cats were special needs, requiring special care and daily medications. If given proper care and their medication, they were living perfectly happy lives.

The Hermitage still claims to be a "no-kill" shelter. Board of Directors President, Tom Tulowitzki, is quoted in a newspaper article as saying, "I believe the cats are receiving better care than they ever did."

There are about 70 cats from the past three months that might disagree with both points... or at least they would if they were still alive.

If the idea of No More Homeless Animals in Tucson appeals to you, you won't want to miss this event:

As announced by http://www.tucsonaz.gov/hottopics/nmhad.html,
Tucson marks the 3rd annual No More Homeless Animals Day with a free benefit concert to honor Tucson's companion animals. The event is family-oriented, for all ages, and very pet-friendly.

Saturday, August 30
5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Udall Park Amphitheater
7290 E. Tanque Verde Rd.

The benefit will feature excellent music, information booths, and even a vegetarian hot dog cart! For more information, go to http://www.tucsonanimalconcert.info/

AWASA is the Animal Welfare Alliance of Southern Arizona, an umbrella group that includes 36 different animal rescue organizations of all sizes, and individual people, which work together. The Hermitage has long belonged to AWASA, and is listed as being a voting member. Pima Animal Care Center (PACC), for whom the Hermitage is now adopting out cats, and the Humane Society, who now provides veterinary care for the Hermitage, also belong. There is a lot of diversity in the overall group, and all the individual goals and missions don't necessarily match. So there is a certain element of agreeing to disagree about some items, and working together on issues that all agree are for the common good. Rather mature, I think. I've heard informally from two sources that Mary Jo Spring, the Hermitage Executive Director, has resigned from the group. Emails to the Hermitage from a former volunteer asking for a confirmation or denial were met with the unsigned response that they had heard nothing about it. As a tax-exempt organization, the Hermitage's membership in other groups is a matter of public record, and should simple enough to confirm or deny. It would be both informative, if they have withdrawn, to read an explantion why, on their blog.

Gyspy was recently the Hermitage's Cat of the Week. Gypsy is extremely photogenic, a declaw, and hugely loves being petted. She's on a lot of the Hermitage promotional material, and a favorite with volunteers, and has multiple sponsors. So it was not too surprising that she was the cat that the Executive Director chose to be photographed with during her most recent publicity show. Unfortunately, Gypsy also refuses to use a litterbox, probably as a result of her being declawed (some cat's feet are so sensitive following surgery that they cannot bear to use the litterbox, and they start relieving themselves on soft materials, and it becomes a habit they cannot break). Prior to the "new vision", Gypsy had been adopted out twice, and returned twice, for spraying. The adopters really, truly, liked her, and tried a great variety of methods over several months to try to stop the behavior, but to no avail. I have recently received communications from Hermitage sponsors, not involved in the coalition, who were appalled to overhear the new staff assuring potential adopters that Gypsy's previous refusal to use a litterbox was not a concern. There is a difference between encouraging adopters to be open to cats with potential problems, trying new programs and expressing a willingness to work adopters, versus denying there's a problem at all.

The latest item on the Hermitage blog is a piece on what a no-kill shelter is. I have two questions I think are highly pertinent that the article did not attempt to address:

First, if the Hermitage really believes in being a no-kill shelter, why did the Hermitage file papers with the Arizona Corporation Commission to remove "No-Kill" from its legal name in 2004, and then publish the change in 2005, and not bother to mention that in the article? The papers for the name change are on file with the Arizona Corporation Commission, and whenever you change the name of an organization, it involves a lot of time and work, so there must be a strong reason. What is it?

Second, there is a great deal of controversy in the animal rescue community about what no-kill does and does not mean, and pretty much anyone can pick someone's definition and claim to be no-kill. This is because the definition of what is considered treatable, and what defines quality of life are subjective. When determining whether the time has come to euthanize a pet, my vet has 7 very specific questions for pet owners to ask themselves in making that determination. I have found that list to be very thoughtful and helpful. Since the Executive Director makes those decisions for the Hermitage, I think it is important that the public know what her criteria are, especially since she does not have veterinary training.

A copy of the published name change is below. The Ajo Copper News is a small newspaper commonly used by many organizations and individuals to inexpensively and quietly fulfill publication requirements for legal filings.

I received the following letter Monday from Scott Cerreta and Katherine Glaser. I have edited nothing.

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I can’t help feeling sad and depressed of late. With all the recent turmoil surrounding the Hermitage, my wife and I decided to visit. This was in response to a letter we received from the Hermitage explaining their position against the false claims made by the “Save the Hermitage” group.

When arriving at the Hermitage, we were greeted at a locked security door. We stated that we came to visit Ritmo. No one seemed to know who Ritmo was. Then a call came from a person in the back saying, “Ritmo is dead.” The harsh phrase still rings in my ears.

Ritmo was a precious feral kitten living under the house of my father-in-law in Strawberry, Arizona. When my wife and I made our way up to visit, the clan of five kittens had been dwindled down to two, likely falling prey to coyotes in the area. On that trip, after an hour of befriending the kittens and scratches that ran up and down both my arms, we only managed to capture one kitten, Ritmo. A one-week follow-up report revealed that the mother and remaining kitten were no longer to be found alive.

We were fortunate to save this beautiful silver, tan and white Manx (tailless) kitten from the fate of her littermates. However, our first pet turned out to be more than we bargained for. She made great progress in becoming friendly, but she would not take to the litter box. After a weeks time, I affectionately named her “shitty-kitty.” Her favorite activity of the day was smearing poop all over the house walls and my leg, as she rubbed affection with a present all over me.


We sought help from two vets. The second vet recognized that Ritmo had the Manx syndrome. Manx cats do not have tails. Sometimes, as a result they are born without nerves that control the bladder or rectum. Ritmo suffered from both fecal and urinary incontinence. As one can imagine, Ritmo was too much for us to handle as a first pet.

We explored our options. The Humane Society would certainly dispose of Ritmo, and this was not an option for us. We happened upon the Hermitage at a time when the cat population was around 400. Obviously they were not accepting new residents. However, because of Ritmo’s condition they made an exception. Ritmo became a resident of the Shysters. As we understood it, Shysters is a special place for unadoptable cats, a sanctuary for adorable cats with medical conditions. Ritmo was placed on a special diet and had to be manually expressed of feces and urine several times per day.

During our visits, we also met Panda, another Manx cat that suffered the same condition as Ritmo. We felt relieved that Ritmo found a proper home. In return, we sponsored Ritmo with contributions given to the Hermitage. We also adopted two healthy young cats during that visit, Hobbs and Maynard. We changed their names to Proximo (Spanish for Next) and Neko (Japanese for Cat). A year later we returned to the hermitage during another visit with Ritmo and adopted two young brothers, Paws and Spot. We also changed those names to Mir and Voyna (Russian for Peace and War).

The Hermitage is a unique cat shelter that offers the residents of Tucson an alternative to the Humane Society. We chose the Hermitage over the Humane Society for its mission and vision as seen by its creator, a Russian Nun, Sister Seraphim, in 1965. It is a sanctuary for difficult cats, like Ritmo. We loved her, but could not offer her the care she required. We enjoyed visiting and sponsoring Ritmo. We were grateful to have the Hermitage here in Tucson.

Now, Ritmo is dead. When we asked about the circumstances surrounding her death, we were told only that she had serious health problems. There was no elaboration. However, when we had asked about a month earlier about renewing our sponsorship of Ritmo, we were told that she was doing great. Though we would like to believe that the current management provides the best care possible for its wards, the contradiction between a cat which is thriving and then too ill to live one month later drives us to question that care. We could only conclude that either the first response reflected that the cat was not known and was ill or that the cat was generally in the same condition, but too feral or too poorly cared for in the turmoil, therefore more ill than she had previously been. Either explanation saddens us greatly, and we feel disappointed and troubled that we did not intervene sooner.

It is clear that the Hermitage is not the sanctuary that it once was.

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Several people who have gone to the Hermitage in the past two weeks have told me about some rather jaw-dropping conversations. One visitor related that a male staffer said "The reason you aren't seeing more cats around the shelter is because we adopted out 100 cats just in June and July." That's double even the Executive Director's grossly inaccurate claim. A second visitor was informed by the Administrative Assistant that the previous staff were professional hoarders. I can't wait to see the new brochures.

They aren't on the Adoption Board; adoptions are immediately posted, with great celebration, so you know if that were the case, they would be up there.
They aren't on a Euthanasia Board; cats put down since May 31 are not publicly discussed, noted or mentioned.
They aren't on a Barn Cat Board; despite having widely touted this program, the Hermitage is not making public the numbers or identities of cats sent out this way.
Where are they? On May 31, these cats were all living at the Hermitage. Were they "taking up space"?

Al
Alice
Annette
Avalanche
Beatrice
Bebe
Bella
Beta
Blinky
Blossom
Blue
Brutus
Buffy
Cannoli
Christine
Crum
Dante
Dasher
Digger
Donner
Dusty
Fatso Catso
GK
Gromet
Harvey
Hitchcock
Hoover
Jasper
Jessie 1
Jessie 2
Joelly
Kes
Kino
Leila
Little Boy
Lolita
Maguire
Malachi
Mosby
Pacey
Paterno
Puzzles
Rags
Ranger
Reebok
Riley 2
Ritmo
Robbie
Sam
Sebastian
Shooter
Sissy
Smokey
Stash
Suki
Victor
Tiger
Tyrese
Xena
Yin

The Hermitage shelter/floor manager position has had several names, but is essentially the person responsible for running the non-medical portion of the front of the shelter. During the two-and-half years I was at the shelter, one person (Debbie Lundquist) performed this function. Rather well, too. Since September 2007, however, the position of floor manager/shelter manager at the Hermitage has been held by five other people: Linda Riley (twice as a temp), Allison Niver, Julie Vance, Jackie Bradley, and now Michelle. Linda even had to train her own supervisor. Jackie, who was hired as the Hermitage floor manager back in June, quit on August 3rd. The half-life of a Hermitage floor manager is about six weeks, so that fits the curve nicely.

I understand that the Hermitage staff read and discuss this blog on a daily basis, so I would like to address Michelle, the new employee, directly: read these blog archives. Then read the newspaper articles. Then read the letters to the editor. Ask your own vet what they think. Ask yourself what kind of nonprofit organization bans its own volunteers and donors. Ask yourself what is going on with this list of people you have been given, who are not permitted in the Hermitage. Ask yourself what kind of animal care organization prohibits its cleaning staff from talking to its medical staff. Ask the medical staff to sit you down in the Shyster area and tell you, specifically, how to tell all the cats apart from one another. Ask yourself if you want to work at an animal sanctuary where the executive director views the permanent residents as "taking up space". Ask yourself if suddenly moving a shy, feral cat that has lived in a protected environment for 5+ years, to a barn in the rural desert is a step up in care or kindness. Ask yourself how long such a cat will survive, and how you will feel helping to choose, net and send away such a cat. Ask yourself why you are the sixth person to hold this position in less than a year. Ask yourself why so many pieces of the picture do not fit.

From the Hermitage's own blog entry, dated July 23, and entitled "Hermitage Cats Doing Better Than Ever"
Amos, Panda, Roxy, Claudius, Tiny & Pookie--some of these kitties have the “Manx Syndrome”, are tail-less cats who have GI problems, and some of these kitties with tails have constant diarrhea. These cats have been re-evaluated and are on special diets. In just a few weeks, their GI problems have improved dramatically!

Claudius, a very nice cat, was also known as a champion sprayer. He was adopted out May 29 as part of the new Piddle Program, not as a special needs cat with GI tract problems. He was not a manx cat who dribbled urine, he was a sweet but territorial cat who held his fluids quite nicely for special application. He was returned within 5 weeks. And put down less than two weeks after the glowing health report cited above. He was a particular favorite of the volunteers, and I'm sure many people who had personal knowledge of exactly what his health was and was not would like to know why he was put down. But the Hermitage doesn't make that information public under the new vision.

Facts
On May 28th, 2008, a group of concerned employees, volunteers, and donors attended a board meeting in an attempt to get information about recent radical changes in policy and staff. The board members refused to address the questions. Within a week, all but one of the staff members had been fired or resigned. Simultaneously, the majority of the volunteers and donors were turned away and denied access.

By June 5th, 2008, there was no medical staff that could identify all the cats. There were 80 medications dispensed daily at that time. We don't know how many of the cats failed to receive their daily medications, or how many became ill because of lack of adequate medical care.

The current shelter management has admitted to putting down over 50 cats in the following six weeks -- more cat in six weeks than the yearly totals in the past three years. We believe that most of those euthanized were based on financial reasons, not for medical or quality of life concerns. This is a violation of one of the stated missions of the shelter.

Long-term, special needs, and reclusive cats continue to disappear, unannounced, from the shelter. Meanwhile, the shelter's incoming population is almost exclusively quickly-adopted kittens from the Pima Animal Control Center.

The hermitage's new barn relocation program may be considered an option for ferals already living outdoors, but not cats already living for a long period of time indoors. Many of the non-euthanized ferals have been at the shelter for 5+ years and have become semi-socialized, i.e. volunteers were able to feed and pet these shy cats. It would be cruel and inhumane to relocate them to a strictly outdoor environment.

What Can You Do?
--Adopt an adult or special needs cat from the Hermitage to ensure its survival
--Ask the Hermitage board to stop the killing and relocation of cats that are not highly adoptable
--Share this information with anyone you think would be interested in saving cats

Back when I first started working at the Hermitage, staff were given free tickets to the yearly fall fundraiser dinner/dance, the Litterbox. We were permitted to bring a spouse or date at a reduced cost which covered their meal. While working at the shelter was a labor of love, it was also an icky labor, what with feeding, cleaning, scooping, and caring for the medical needs of hundreds of cats, and no cafe or bar was exactly going to encourage us as a group to stop in and linger after work. So it was always nice to see everyone at the Litterbox event all dolled up and looking good, some folks going all out in formal evening attire. We would joke about how we all "cleaned up good" and it was nice to see everyone in a social role other than coworker. None of the workers made much money, there were not exactly loads of benefits other than free parking, so getting to go to the Litterbox event was a big deal to the staff.

At the last Hermitage event I attended, the 2007 Cat's Meow, initiated by Executive Director Mary Jo Spring, staff were permitted to attend the event, but only if they agreed beforehand not to eat or drink anything. So I purchased tickets for myself and a friend.

According to the Hermitage website, the new cleaning staff is being paid minimum wage now. The business manager has sent out an email to hundreds of donors and sponsors thanking them for their donations and support. I receive anonymous emails claiming the dollars are rolling in. So I hope the Hermitage will resume its practice of paying for its own employees to attend its big yearly event, and I don't mean the office staff, I mean the medical and cleaning staff, the ones who are out there in the 105 degree heat and monsoon humidity doing the physical work.

Sister Seraphim was the founder of the Hermitage over 40 years ago. It was a sanctuary, although she welcomed those who came looking to adopt. All her life, she was told a variety of reasons she should not care for the sick or unwanted or old creatures that came her way, and yet, she persevered. When she retired, a patron donated a house to her, and she devoted her remaining days to her animals' care. She financed much of what she did by writing about her experiences. Sister's remains are on the property, and staff would make occasional jokes when especially good things happened, that Sister's spirit was still there looking out for her animals. I haven't heard any comments like that in a long time now.

Here's an article on Sister Seraphim, taken from the Arizona Daily Star, last month.

Sister's framed photograph has been removed from its focal place of honor in the main room where visitors enter the Hermitage. It is now sitting in a closet. I guess there wasn't room for it in the new vision.

The 2007 Hermitage Annual Report, or as I like to call it, The Hermitage Annual Pie Chart, was published on their website the last week in July.
$104,770.81 is the amount listed in the upper pie chart from event fundraisers.
The 2007 Hermitage Form 990s, on page 13, line 101, lists the amount of NET income from special events as being $34,561.

I buy the line on the Form 990s, that make sense in terms of what I saw in the back office as the amount of money cleared from the sum of the Cat's Meow in the spring, and the fall Litterbox event. I believe there was also a yard sale in there. I calculate the difference between the amount claimed as being raised at event fundraisers, and the amount netted from special events as $70,209.81. Please explain.

I would really be interested in seeing the Hermitage put in writing a true annual report. Was there some special private money-raising event that the rest of us were unaware of? Is 67% of the amount raised at these events being spent to cover the cost of the events themselves? Did someone make a huge mistake in calculating the annual report that needs to be fixed? Is there some perfectly logical explanation for this difference? Among other things, fiduciary responsibility means making tax forms available to the public without them having to resort to IRS complaints to obtain access, inviting donors to inspect your books, publishing a basic balance sheet, a written analysis, making available the minutes of board meetings and amendments to the articles of incorporation, and being truly open to questions about finances. The Hermitage is not a little mom-and-pop animal rescue running on a shoestring out of someone's home, it is a nonprofit organization with a half-million dollar yearly budget. Fiduciary responsiblity is not satisfied by listing the amount of money down to the penny on two prettily colored pie charts.

Oh, and just in case John Q. Public wanted to compare the 2007 and 2006 annual reports, out of luck there too. The Hermitage's link is dead, and yields a 404 Not Found Error. http://www.hermitagecatshelter.org/forms/2006AnnualReport.pdf
But that's okay, because we have it here, stored on our website.

Are you a Hermitage cat sponsor, donor or former volunteer frustrated by the Hermitage Board's failure to even listen to the people who are concerned about the recent events? Unsure whether your contributions are being spent in the way you intended, but afraid if you withdraw your support, the cats will suffer? Purchase a ticket for the Litterbox fall fundraiser! The Board will be there. The Executive Director will be there. It's not at the shelter, so they can't claim heat stress and lock you out. It's a public event, so they can't go into executive session while they eat. It's a publicity event, so they can't prevent you from photographing yourself and others at the event wearing protest buttons, t-shirts or other expressions of disagreement. If you're uncomfortable going alone, then contact one of the other sponsor/donors that the Hermitage emailed last week, and go together. You won't have any difficulty contacting other sponsors or donors, because the email address of hundreds of them was included in an email the business director sent out last week.

The event is usually in early to mid-September, and I'm sure that with her fundraising background, Executive Director Mary Jo Spring has the time, date, location, ticket price, everything about the event all planned. Call or write the Hermitage today for details! 571-7839 hermitagecats@aol.com