2010-01-16: Different Band, Same Song--Part 2
In my last post I discussed the general observations shared with me by Martha Price, a now former volunteer at the Hermitage. Today I want to focus on the capriciousness of the way the Hermtiage is managed.
Ms. Price was asked to foster a litter of 5 kittens for several weeks over the holidays, which she happily did. When kittens reach 2 pounds (the minimum weight limit for a pediatric spay/neuter procedure), fosters bring them back into the shelter, where they are checked, and then fasted for the night prior to surgery. (This is done to prevent vomiting and choking under anesthesia). Ms. Price was also asked if she would be willing to continue to foster the kittens after their surgery, as the Isolation Area was not a healthy place for the kittens and their kitten area was full of sick cats.
But, one of the Hermitage's brilliant ideas under the new regime was to get rid of the on-site vet tech. So, from 5 PM to 7:30 AM, no one is there. So, these kittens would be brought in, fasted overnight, have surgery, return to the Hermitage at 4:30 PM, and then be left alone overnight.
When Ms. Price realized that no one would be checking on the kittens post-surgery, and that they would be coming home with her the following day anyway, she offered to just bring the kittens directly home from the Hermitage post-surgery. Debbie Brice, the Shelter Manager told her that was not possible, because the staff needed to check on them post-surgery. When Ms. Price asked how that was going to happen if no one was there, she was told that there was a baby monitor in the Isolation Area, and that staff would be alerted if there were a problem. They would hear the kittens if they were having a seizure or if they were hemorrhaging.
I will pause here while you all roll your eyes. Ms. Price felt the answer was inadequate, but dropped the matter. She was also told they would need to check on them in the morning and Ms. Price assured her she could have the kittens back before 8 AM, to no avail.
The following day, she sent an email to the Hermitage to find out what time to come pick the kittens up, and was told there had been a schedule mix-up, and the kittens had not gone in. Debbie Brice said they would be fasting again that night to prepare for surgery. They again refused to allow her to bring the kittens home the day of surgery and which would mean that the kittens would have to fast overnight for the third day in a row. Debbie repeated that taking the kittens home after surgery was considered a liability and they would be better off alone. ( Apparently she forgot that part of the contract a foster parent signs says they relieve the shelter of all liability).
When pressed as to how having a human being monitor the kittens could be considered a liability compared to a baby monitor, the staff responded that if the kitten became ill, the foster parent would not know what to do. Ms. Price responded that she would take the kitten to an emergency vet where she would personally pay all vet bills.
Debbie Brice was very upset that her decisions were being questioned and told Martha that they would no longer be requiring her services as a foster parent if she couldn't follow her orders. Martha was also told that Monica St. Claire had called the board, and told them Ms. Price would not follow the foster rules. (Ms. Price, who is in her 50's, told me she felt at this point that they were trying to treat her like a naive 18-year-old who would just go away). Later that evening she was left a voice mail that said that the kittens were staying at the Hermitage and it would be "silly" to send them home with her at all.
There are so many holes in the Hermitage response to Ms. Price, I'm not even going to try to address them. She did share with me that after her last discussion with the Hermitage, she contacted her bank, and canceled the donation check she had written to them over the holidays. And because she had been the one who wrote the thank-you cards to the donors, she knew that hers far surpassed any of the other donations.
Ms. Price was asked to foster a litter of 5 kittens for several weeks over the holidays, which she happily did. When kittens reach 2 pounds (the minimum weight limit for a pediatric spay/neuter procedure), fosters bring them back into the shelter, where they are checked, and then fasted for the night prior to surgery. (This is done to prevent vomiting and choking under anesthesia). Ms. Price was also asked if she would be willing to continue to foster the kittens after their surgery, as the Isolation Area was not a healthy place for the kittens and their kitten area was full of sick cats.
But, one of the Hermitage's brilliant ideas under the new regime was to get rid of the on-site vet tech. So, from 5 PM to 7:30 AM, no one is there. So, these kittens would be brought in, fasted overnight, have surgery, return to the Hermitage at 4:30 PM, and then be left alone overnight.
When Ms. Price realized that no one would be checking on the kittens post-surgery, and that they would be coming home with her the following day anyway, she offered to just bring the kittens directly home from the Hermitage post-surgery. Debbie Brice, the Shelter Manager told her that was not possible, because the staff needed to check on them post-surgery. When Ms. Price asked how that was going to happen if no one was there, she was told that there was a baby monitor in the Isolation Area, and that staff would be alerted if there were a problem. They would hear the kittens if they were having a seizure or if they were hemorrhaging.
I will pause here while you all roll your eyes. Ms. Price felt the answer was inadequate, but dropped the matter. She was also told they would need to check on them in the morning and Ms. Price assured her she could have the kittens back before 8 AM, to no avail.
The following day, she sent an email to the Hermitage to find out what time to come pick the kittens up, and was told there had been a schedule mix-up, and the kittens had not gone in. Debbie Brice said they would be fasting again that night to prepare for surgery. They again refused to allow her to bring the kittens home the day of surgery and which would mean that the kittens would have to fast overnight for the third day in a row. Debbie repeated that taking the kittens home after surgery was considered a liability and they would be better off alone. ( Apparently she forgot that part of the contract a foster parent signs says they relieve the shelter of all liability).
When pressed as to how having a human being monitor the kittens could be considered a liability compared to a baby monitor, the staff responded that if the kitten became ill, the foster parent would not know what to do. Ms. Price responded that she would take the kitten to an emergency vet where she would personally pay all vet bills.
Debbie Brice was very upset that her decisions were being questioned and told Martha that they would no longer be requiring her services as a foster parent if she couldn't follow her orders. Martha was also told that Monica St. Claire had called the board, and told them Ms. Price would not follow the foster rules. (Ms. Price, who is in her 50's, told me she felt at this point that they were trying to treat her like a naive 18-year-old who would just go away). Later that evening she was left a voice mail that said that the kittens were staying at the Hermitage and it would be "silly" to send them home with her at all.
There are so many holes in the Hermitage response to Ms. Price, I'm not even going to try to address them. She did share with me that after her last discussion with the Hermitage, she contacted her bank, and canceled the donation check she had written to them over the holidays. And because she had been the one who wrote the thank-you cards to the donors, she knew that hers far surpassed any of the other donations.
2010-01-15: Different Band, Same Song--Part 1
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: admin
After unsuccessfully suing me for slander and failing to convince a judge to shut down this blog, Executive Director Mary Jo Spring left the Hermitage to "further her career" elsewhere, and the Hermitage Board paid out thousands of dollars in legal fees and eventually forked over thousands more in a financial settlement to me. This was all reported in both the daily and weekly papers. You would think that this would have made the board take a long, hard look at their behavior and make some changes. And you would be wrong.
I was contacted this week by Martha Price, a retiree who had joined the Hermitage as a volunteer this past August. Ms. Price had found the Hermitage on the internet, and was unfamiliar with the great unpleasantness of the previous year and a half. During her time at the Hermitage, Ms. Price served in a variety of capacities: she did laundry on Monday afternoons, fostered kittens, staffed the table at adoption events, put cat information on Craig's List, and helped in the office on occasion. Prior to her departure, she was scheduled to take over the coordination of the volunteer program at Petco and the Foster Parents Program. Given that, I would tend to think that she had as good a view of the overall organization as a volunteer would get, and the management must have felt she was a trustworthy individual.
In her five months with the Hermitage, Ms. Price never saw a board member, and only one other steady volunteer. The second volunteer felt that Debbie Brice, the shelter manager, was "a fake and not truthful", and stopped volunteering. Ms. Price said Monica St. Claire (the Development Director) had dropped her duties at Petco and with the volunteers according to Debbie Brice. Debbie herself wore many hats and was eager to be delegate some of those jobs. Martha did not know if this was being done at the direction of the board, or was the management staff's idea. Coordination was poor across the board, indeed, the last time Ms. Price showed up at PetCo to staff the adoption desk, no one brought any cats.
The Hermitage continues to adopt official policies more and more in line with kill shelters like the Humane Society, which is not surprising. There is now a $35 (??) drop-off fee for a cat, and there are no home checks (so yes, if they want to do one on you, you ARE being targeted). The most disturbing information Ms. Price gave me was that cats are now being put down for ringworm. She felt that the shelter manager twisted the meaning of no-kill by stating "We only euthanize animals with no quality of life, or for whom the treatment is worse than the disease", but in fact, put cats down for highly treatable illnesses.
I'm not surprised by any of this. PACC and the Humane Society put down thousands of animals with highly treatable illnesses in Pima County every year. They do it on a cost basis. But they do not claim to be no-kill, and the Hermitage still does.
As mentioned in the previous post, at the start of 2009, the Hermitage claimed to have approximately 120 cats. I've seen a copy of a letter from Debbie Brice to the volunteers, claiming that in 2009, the Hermitage took in 426 cats, and adopted out 348. That means the population of the Hermitage should have increased by 78. So that would bring the current total to almost 200. Ms. Price did a walk-through of the entire shelter on January 4th, and counted 85-90 cats. She also told me that in even the short time she had been there, the number of feral cats seemed to be declining, and that cats not listed on the "Rainbow Bridge" board disappeared; mind you, this is AFTER the great purge initiated by Mary Jo Spring. So, where are all those cats?
I was contacted this week by Martha Price, a retiree who had joined the Hermitage as a volunteer this past August. Ms. Price had found the Hermitage on the internet, and was unfamiliar with the great unpleasantness of the previous year and a half. During her time at the Hermitage, Ms. Price served in a variety of capacities: she did laundry on Monday afternoons, fostered kittens, staffed the table at adoption events, put cat information on Craig's List, and helped in the office on occasion. Prior to her departure, she was scheduled to take over the coordination of the volunteer program at Petco and the Foster Parents Program. Given that, I would tend to think that she had as good a view of the overall organization as a volunteer would get, and the management must have felt she was a trustworthy individual.
In her five months with the Hermitage, Ms. Price never saw a board member, and only one other steady volunteer. The second volunteer felt that Debbie Brice, the shelter manager, was "a fake and not truthful", and stopped volunteering. Ms. Price said Monica St. Claire (the Development Director) had dropped her duties at Petco and with the volunteers according to Debbie Brice. Debbie herself wore many hats and was eager to be delegate some of those jobs. Martha did not know if this was being done at the direction of the board, or was the management staff's idea. Coordination was poor across the board, indeed, the last time Ms. Price showed up at PetCo to staff the adoption desk, no one brought any cats.
The Hermitage continues to adopt official policies more and more in line with kill shelters like the Humane Society, which is not surprising. There is now a $35 (??) drop-off fee for a cat, and there are no home checks (so yes, if they want to do one on you, you ARE being targeted). The most disturbing information Ms. Price gave me was that cats are now being put down for ringworm. She felt that the shelter manager twisted the meaning of no-kill by stating "We only euthanize animals with no quality of life, or for whom the treatment is worse than the disease", but in fact, put cats down for highly treatable illnesses.
I'm not surprised by any of this. PACC and the Humane Society put down thousands of animals with highly treatable illnesses in Pima County every year. They do it on a cost basis. But they do not claim to be no-kill, and the Hermitage still does.
As mentioned in the previous post, at the start of 2009, the Hermitage claimed to have approximately 120 cats. I've seen a copy of a letter from Debbie Brice to the volunteers, claiming that in 2009, the Hermitage took in 426 cats, and adopted out 348. That means the population of the Hermitage should have increased by 78. So that would bring the current total to almost 200. Ms. Price did a walk-through of the entire shelter on January 4th, and counted 85-90 cats. She also told me that in even the short time she had been there, the number of feral cats seemed to be declining, and that cats not listed on the "Rainbow Bridge" board disappeared; mind you, this is AFTER the great purge initiated by Mary Jo Spring. So, where are all those cats?
2010-01-14: Calling All Volunteeers
I have below a letter from Debbie Brice, the Hermitage Shelter Manager wrote to the Hermitage volunteers. Once again, the Hermitage staff does not know the difference between CC and BCC, so I now have all the emails of all the people on the Hermitage volunteer list. This list is that it does not contain a single name that was on the Hermitage volunteer list of even a year ago. My commentary follows.
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2010, I wanted to make sure I have all the correct information on our wonderful volunteers. Please let me know if you have changed your address, phone numbers, or any additional information. I am now the volunteer coordinator for the shelter, if there are any questions, please feel free to ask.
The best way to contact me is via email at hermitagecatcare@gmail.com as well as (520)571-7839 ask for Debbie. I am also checking to see who will be rejoining us for the New Year as well as the best times for you to volunteer. We operate every day from 8AM TO 4PM. Let me know what schedule you are able to commit to, and I will place you on our schedule. We are also planning some major projects that will require a solid day or two of work, and we need some extra helpers. A few projects include: converting our FFPP shed into a TNR holding space. Which requires moving and heavy lifting, but also some management to ensure it is done fluently. We also need to sort through linen shed while the weather is cool. We will be donating any items we can no longer use to the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary. We are looking for volunteers to commit to the first Saturday of every month as well as the following weekends for Petsmart adoption events at the corner of grant and swan from 11am -4pm. The more support, the more cats we can place into loving homes and the more cats we can rescue.
__ Feb 12-15 __ april 30- may 2 __ sept 10-12__ nov 12-14
This year we will focus on rescuing from PACC more. In doing so, we need foster families for kittens and their mothers. If you have a spare room and can offer a short term home, please let me know. Let the rescues continue! Foster information is available, let me know and I will forward the information. If you are able to commit to any of these projects let me know and I will start the assignments. Have a wonderful, safe, and bountiful year. Let’s rescue, save, and
protect the cats and kittens in Tucson, and create an impact beyond our city limits.
Thank you for all you do!
Sincerely,
Debbie Brice
PS:
# OF CATS RESCUED IN 2009- 426
# OF CATS ADOPTED IN 2009- 348
Sounds cheerful and positive, right? And if you were new to the area or the Hermitage, and didn't know about what's gone on there, you would not know that you should be asking the following questions:
Why is Debbie the fifth volunteer coordinator in less than 3 years?
What happened to all the other volunteers the Hermitage used to have?
In an organization over 40 years old, why have all the volunteers been there less than a year?
Why aren't there any group volunteer meetings or events?
If the Food for People's Pets Program space is being converted, what is happening to that program?
What, exactly, is a holding space for TNR (trap-neuter-release)? The Hermitage does not provide veterinary services, and contracts with the Humane Society for its own needs. Why is it not coordinating its TNR events with other groups which already have programs.
The Hermitage's Executive Director was quoted in the press as saying the feral cats at the Hermitage "took up space". If the Hermitage is starting a TNR program, exactly does it plan to do with the feral cats it traps that are found to non-releasable? Their buddies at the Humane Society do not accept ferals and kill them.
Why did no one bother to bring the cats to the last PetsMart adoption event?
What does Debbie mean by "rescuing from PACC more?" Other than the publicity litter that Mary Jo Spring accepted to look good for the public access TV show, how many cats from PACC did the Hermitage actually take in?
Why is taking in a cat from PACC a rescue, but turning away a cat in need at the door isn't?
Why is there no mention of needing volunteers to actually help care for permanent cats at the shelter? What has happened to that part of the mission?
If there were 120 cats at the start of 2009, and 426 were taken in, and 348 were adopted, then shouldn't there be almost 200 cats at the shelter? Why are there only 88? WHERE ARE ALL THE MISSING CATS?
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2010, I wanted to make sure I have all the correct information on our wonderful volunteers. Please let me know if you have changed your address, phone numbers, or any additional information. I am now the volunteer coordinator for the shelter, if there are any questions, please feel free to ask.
The best way to contact me is via email at hermitagecatcare@gmail.com as well as (520)571-7839 ask for Debbie. I am also checking to see who will be rejoining us for the New Year as well as the best times for you to volunteer. We operate every day from 8AM TO 4PM. Let me know what schedule you are able to commit to, and I will place you on our schedule. We are also planning some major projects that will require a solid day or two of work, and we need some extra helpers. A few projects include: converting our FFPP shed into a TNR holding space. Which requires moving and heavy lifting, but also some management to ensure it is done fluently. We also need to sort through linen shed while the weather is cool. We will be donating any items we can no longer use to the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary. We are looking for volunteers to commit to the first Saturday of every month as well as the following weekends for Petsmart adoption events at the corner of grant and swan from 11am -4pm. The more support, the more cats we can place into loving homes and the more cats we can rescue.
__ Feb 12-15 __ april 30- may 2 __ sept 10-12__ nov 12-14
This year we will focus on rescuing from PACC more. In doing so, we need foster families for kittens and their mothers. If you have a spare room and can offer a short term home, please let me know. Let the rescues continue! Foster information is available, let me know and I will forward the information. If you are able to commit to any of these projects let me know and I will start the assignments. Have a wonderful, safe, and bountiful year. Let’s rescue, save, and
protect the cats and kittens in Tucson, and create an impact beyond our city limits.
Thank you for all you do!
Sincerely,
Debbie Brice
PS:
# OF CATS RESCUED IN 2009- 426
# OF CATS ADOPTED IN 2009- 348
Sounds cheerful and positive, right? And if you were new to the area or the Hermitage, and didn't know about what's gone on there, you would not know that you should be asking the following questions:
Why is Debbie the fifth volunteer coordinator in less than 3 years?
What happened to all the other volunteers the Hermitage used to have?
In an organization over 40 years old, why have all the volunteers been there less than a year?
Why aren't there any group volunteer meetings or events?
If the Food for People's Pets Program space is being converted, what is happening to that program?
What, exactly, is a holding space for TNR (trap-neuter-release)? The Hermitage does not provide veterinary services, and contracts with the Humane Society for its own needs. Why is it not coordinating its TNR events with other groups which already have programs.
The Hermitage's Executive Director was quoted in the press as saying the feral cats at the Hermitage "took up space". If the Hermitage is starting a TNR program, exactly does it plan to do with the feral cats it traps that are found to non-releasable? Their buddies at the Humane Society do not accept ferals and kill them.
Why did no one bother to bring the cats to the last PetsMart adoption event?
What does Debbie mean by "rescuing from PACC more?" Other than the publicity litter that Mary Jo Spring accepted to look good for the public access TV show, how many cats from PACC did the Hermitage actually take in?
Why is taking in a cat from PACC a rescue, but turning away a cat in need at the door isn't?
Why is there no mention of needing volunteers to actually help care for permanent cats at the shelter? What has happened to that part of the mission?
If there were 120 cats at the start of 2009, and 426 were taken in, and 348 were adopted, then shouldn't there be almost 200 cats at the shelter? Why are there only 88? WHERE ARE ALL THE MISSING CATS?
2010-01-13: Keep Those Calls and Emails Coming
As is usual when they're not doing well, the Hermitage has changed its website. They've dumped the old one, http://www.hermitagecatshelter.org Their new one at http://www.hermitagecats.org makes no mention of any of the great unpleasantness that came before, and has NO links to any kind of financial information. Apparently that is a step up from having only information that is from 2007, which is what was on the old site. I was contacted this week by one person about a nice new feature of the website--it accepts comments! Since hers were not favorable, the Hermitage did not publish them. But it's nice to know that someone in management has to read them, regardless. It's also interesting to see that the primary contents of the site are the same as they were 3 years ago -- I know, because I wrote it. Most of the posted dates are December 27, 2010, which is when this site was set up. But if you look at actual items, you'll see there's been no new newsletter since April 2009, the events listed are all from 2008, etc.
Next up, I'll share with you an email that Debbie Brice, the Hermitage Shelter Manager, sent out to their volunteers.
And then I'll share with you the comments of two volunteers who have left this fall.
Next up, I'll share with you an email that Debbie Brice, the Hermitage Shelter Manager, sent out to their volunteers.
And then I'll share with you the comments of two volunteers who have left this fall.
