Missing Cats Posts
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?
2009-07-16: Where Are the Kittens?
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: admin
Every other animal rescue and shelter I know is bursting at the seams with kittens, I'd guess they make up 50% of the population waiting for adoption. Mary Jo Spring's welcoming letter on the Who's Who page of the Hermitage website states "The shelter is also rescuing cats from Pima County Animal Care Center and is working with animal rescue groups."
Earlier this spring the Hermitage made a big deal out of hosting a workshop on fostering kittens. And there is a sign at the front of the Hermitage stating they are at capacity. So where are all the Hermitage kittens? When you click on the "KIttens" link on their webpages, it takes you to a link-up with Petfinder specifically for the Hermitage listings. And you follow the directions, select "Baby" and click on "Go", there are no entries. Weirder still, if you select All Ages, only 49 total cats come up, and that includes sanctuary cats. Where are the kittens?
Earlier this spring the Hermitage made a big deal out of hosting a workshop on fostering kittens. And there is a sign at the front of the Hermitage stating they are at capacity. So where are all the Hermitage kittens? When you click on the "KIttens" link on their webpages, it takes you to a link-up with Petfinder specifically for the Hermitage listings. And you follow the directions, select "Baby" and click on "Go", there are no entries. Weirder still, if you select All Ages, only 49 total cats come up, and that includes sanctuary cats. Where are the kittens?
2009-07-13: Cats Continue to Disappear
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: admin
The "old" Hermitage cats, those taken in as sanctuary cats prior to the "New Vision", continue to disappear, and not into happy forever homes. The most recent are Belle, Bowie, Bunny, Comet, Dorito, Quincy and Yang. That may not seem like many, and if this were a large shelter with many animals coming in, some in bad shape, this would be sad, but not unexpected. But this is a facility with less than 100 cats, which is killing 3 or 4 of the remaining long-time resident cats every month; this is whack. It's been a year since Ms. Spring announced the cats were now all getting new and improved medical care at the Humane Society, purged all the staff she accused of animal abuse, and replaced the cleaning volunteers with a paid, outside company. She claims that only cats who no longer have a good quality of life are euthanized. So why do cats continue to be trucked off to the Humane Society to be killed?
The Hermitage is plunging into a financial abyss, yet it continues to deny former volunteers, sponsors, donors and employees the right to adopt. You would think they would see this as the golden opportunity it is to improve their bottom line by having fewer expensive, time consuming, sanctuary cats. But they don't, and they would appear to prefer to kill cats rather than have them go to loving homes. Ms. Spring couldn't even identify more than a quarter of the volunteers she's banned if she saw them walking down the street, but that doesn't stop her from forbidding them to adopt. That's the mark of a true animal lover.
The Hermitage is plunging into a financial abyss, yet it continues to deny former volunteers, sponsors, donors and employees the right to adopt. You would think they would see this as the golden opportunity it is to improve their bottom line by having fewer expensive, time consuming, sanctuary cats. But they don't, and they would appear to prefer to kill cats rather than have them go to loving homes. Ms. Spring couldn't even identify more than a quarter of the volunteers she's banned if she saw them walking down the street, but that doesn't stop her from forbidding them to adopt. That's the mark of a true animal lover.
2009-07-12: Free Allison
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: admin
Want to know what kind of people run the Hermitage? If only you could ask Allison.
Allison is a very sweet, gentle, middle sized, creamy white cat with neurological problems that require daily medication. She is the kind of cat who would be instantly put down if she came in at the Humane Society or PACC, but she had a home at the Hermitage. She stayed mostly in the front adoption area, in the cat furniture near the door, so many visitors knew who she was.
Then came the "New Vision", and Executive Director Mary Jo Spring declared that none of the 70 or so former sponsors, donors, volunteers or employees could adopt any of the cats. Simultaneously, she declared to volunteer Sherri Cox that a sanctuary was no longer viable. Ms. Spring called a press conference to announce that sanctuary cats like Allison were put down en masse. Allison had a sponsor in Texas who was willing to drive up to adopt her. Allison had a former vet tech from the Hermitage who knew exactly what her needs were, was used to medicating her, and was willing to welcome her into her home. But the Hermitage will not adopt Allison out to these people. This has been going on for over a year. Now Allison's name has disappeared from the adoption list; the remaining volunteers know better than to ask why, if they wish to stay volunteers.
Since Allison can't speak, I will speak for her, that's my job here at the blog.
"The people who run the Hermitage would rather make me spend the rest of my days in their shelter, instead of letting someone adopt me, solely because they don't personally like the adopter. There are two women who cherish me as an individual, understand and accept my special needs, and want to love me. I would like to spend my remaining days with them in a true home environment. Please help me to convince the Hermitage to let me go."
Allison is a very sweet, gentle, middle sized, creamy white cat with neurological problems that require daily medication. She is the kind of cat who would be instantly put down if she came in at the Humane Society or PACC, but she had a home at the Hermitage. She stayed mostly in the front adoption area, in the cat furniture near the door, so many visitors knew who she was.
Then came the "New Vision", and Executive Director Mary Jo Spring declared that none of the 70 or so former sponsors, donors, volunteers or employees could adopt any of the cats. Simultaneously, she declared to volunteer Sherri Cox that a sanctuary was no longer viable. Ms. Spring called a press conference to announce that sanctuary cats like Allison were put down en masse. Allison had a sponsor in Texas who was willing to drive up to adopt her. Allison had a former vet tech from the Hermitage who knew exactly what her needs were, was used to medicating her, and was willing to welcome her into her home. But the Hermitage will not adopt Allison out to these people. This has been going on for over a year. Now Allison's name has disappeared from the adoption list; the remaining volunteers know better than to ask why, if they wish to stay volunteers.
Since Allison can't speak, I will speak for her, that's my job here at the blog.
"The people who run the Hermitage would rather make me spend the rest of my days in their shelter, instead of letting someone adopt me, solely because they don't personally like the adopter. There are two women who cherish me as an individual, understand and accept my special needs, and want to love me. I would like to spend my remaining days with them in a true home environment. Please help me to convince the Hermitage to let me go."
2008-10-26: Dead Cat List
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: admin
This is a list of 64 dead Hermitage Cats put down between June 6 and July 28, the date put down, and the cause the Hermitage/Humane Society cited. This is part of what will be on the back of the T-shirts. There are additional cats not on this list, so the total killed since the purge of vet tech staff is greater than 64. If you are a sponsor, you may want to check for your cat, and see if you were charged for sponsorship after the date your sponsored cat was put down. If so, you may want to contact the IRS.
I am receiving emails from former techs, volunteers and visitors, telling me that cats listed are not feral, did not have the conditions listed, etc. For example, Blossom did not have manx cat syndrome, the reason she had no tail because she had been hit by a car, and it was amputated. Anyone who had bothered to read her medical chart would have known this.
I wonder how many of you reading this now would be euthanized if humans were put down for severe asthma, cystitis or ringworm or gum disease. This list was generated by the Hermitage and Humane Society, I did not edit anything on this, including their typos. I have only bolded some items to make it easier to read.
I am receiving emails from former techs, volunteers and visitors, telling me that cats listed are not feral, did not have the conditions listed, etc. For example, Blossom did not have manx cat syndrome, the reason she had no tail because she had been hit by a car, and it was amputated. Anyone who had bothered to read her medical chart would have known this.
I wonder how many of you reading this now would be euthanized if humans were put down for severe asthma, cystitis or ringworm or gum disease. This list was generated by the Hermitage and Humane Society, I did not edit anything on this, including their typos. I have only bolded some items to make it easier to read.
| June 6 | Bella | semi-feral/cystitis/urine retention |
| June 6 | Sissy | uncontrolled seizures/poor BCS/cog dysfx |
| June 6 | Jasper | renal failure/poor BCS |
| June 6 | Christine | feral/stomatitis/atopy |
| June 6 | Kes | feral/chronic uncontrolled inflamm disease |
| June 9 | Puzzles | FELV+/chronic diarrhea/poor BCS |
| June 9 | Fatso Catso | DM/deteriorating BCS |
| June 9 | Kino | severe asthmatic |
| June 9 | Riley | poor BCS/geriatric/CRF? |
| June 9 | Jessie I | feral/geriatric/stomatitis/Depo induced DM |
| June 10 | MacGuire | FIV+/stomatitis/chronic inflammatory disease |
| June 10 | Buffy | FELV+/paraplegia/hx DM/chronic URI |
| June 10 | Brutus | stomatitis/inflam skin disease/poor BCS |
| June 10 | Mosby | chronic UTI/IBD/FIE |
| June 11 | Annette | feral/stomatitis/CRF |
| June 11 | Sam | severe stomatitis |
| June 11 | Hoover | feral/stomatitis |
| June 12 | Reebok | feral/stomatitis |
| June 12 | Hitchcock | feral/severe stomatitis/rhinitis/URI |
| June 12 | Bebe | feral/viscous/chronic stomatitis |
| June 12 | Al | feral/chronic stomatitis/renal failure |
| June 12 | Ranger | feral/stomatitis/rhinitis/URI |
| June 12 | Malibu | feral/stomatitis |
| June 12 | Ritmo | mega colon/impaction/feral |
| June 13 | Tyrese | feral/stomatitis/rhinitis/URI |
| June 13 | Robbie | 20 year old/stomatitis/chronic rhinitis/FLUTI |
| June 13 | Solomon | semi-feral/somtatitis/poss FLUTI history |
| June 13 | Tiger | CRF/stomatitis |
| June 14 | Dusty | geriatric/renal failure/ OA R hip/CV disease |
| June 14 | Crum | chromic URI/stomatitis |
| June 14 | Malachi | poor BCS/geraitric/prob CRF |
| June 14 | Dasher | chronic inflammatory diz(stom/rhinitis/colon) |
| June 14 | Danner | feral/stomatitis/rhinitis |
| June 14 | No name | feral/stomatitis |
| June 17 | Blue | BCS1/9 /severe weight loss/hepatobiliary? |
| June 17 | Beatrice | felv+/feral/stomatitis/active URI |
| June 23 | Smokey | hx LSA/chemo/chronic URI/ringworm carrier |
| June 27 | Golden Boy | geriatric/stomatitis |
| June 27 | Rags | geriatric/stomatitis/neoplasia? |
| June 27 | Beta | feral/severe stomatitis |
| June 27 | Dante | feral/stomatitis/other CV disease |
| June 27 | Leta | GI lymphoma?/thickened SI/poor BCS/lethargic |
| June 27 | Black Beauty | feral/severe stomatitis |
| June 30 | No name feral | stomatitis/tongue sloughing |
| June 30 | Rose | feral/severe stomatitis/rhinitis/URI |
| July 1 | Stash | azotemia/poor BCS |
| July 1 | Shooter | feral/severe stomatitis |
| July 2 | Paterno | feral/stomatitis/URI |
| July 2 | Johnny | feral/stomatitis |
| July 2 | Xena | feral/severe stomatitis/poor BCS |
| July 2 | Cash | feral/stomatitis/URI |
| July 3 | Blossom | manx syndrome/chronic diarrhea/poor BCS |
| July 3 | Pacey | hyperT4/stomatitis/rhinitis |
| July 7 | Victor | semi-feral/osteomyelitis/stomatitis |
| July 7 | Sebastian | feral/stomatitis/severe weight loss |
| July 9 | Gromet | uncontrolled Stomatitis |
| July 10 | Cannoli | FeLV+/large abdominal tumor/resp distress |
| July 14 | Lucienne | feral/Stomatitis/chronic URI/rhinitis |
| July 15 | HBC D/0 | HBC/epistaxis/moribund/brain damage |
| July 18 | Lolita | FeLV+/poorly controlled Stomatitis |
| July 22 | Kenna | feral/stomatitis |
| July 22 | Keesha | feral/Stomatitis |
| July 28 | Blinky | FIV+/last eye w/melting ulcer/non resp Stomatitis |
| July 28 | Digger | recurrent severe Stomatitis/loss after TME in 07/08 |
2008-10-03: Where Are All the Adoptable Cats?
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: admin
This time last year, there were over 300 cats at the Hermitage. If you go to the redone hermitage website, it appears they only have 27 cats available for adoption, and I can see from the photos posted that even some of those cats are no longer there. The number of cats cared for at the shelter used to be proudly included in the introductory paragraph. Now this number is mentioned nowhere on the site -- from the few photos shown, you'd think the Hermitage was a very small facility, not an organization with a $500,000 yearly budget. How many cats are at the shelter?
2008-08-18: Where are they?
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: KatyH
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
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
2008-07-01: Where are they?
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: KatyH
Avalanche
Bebe
Ranger
Dusty
Ritmo
Hitchcock
Beatrice
Puzzles
Buffy
Fatso Catso
Bella
Jaspur
Kino
Wierd Al
Bebe
Ranger
Dusty
Ritmo
Hitchcock
Beatrice
Puzzles
Buffy
Fatso Catso
Bella
Jaspur
Kino
Wierd Al
2008-06-16: More Questions for the Hermitage Board
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: KatyH
Where is Buffy?
Where is Annette?
Where is Jaspur?
Their names are not on the adoption board.
Their names are not on the vet board.
Their names are not on the euthanasia board.
They are not in the shelter.
Where are they?
Where is Annette?
Where is Jaspur?
Their names are not on the adoption board.
Their names are not on the vet board.
Their names are not on the euthanasia board.
They are not in the shelter.
Where are they?
2008-06-15: Questions for the Hermitage Cat Shelter Board
Category: Missing Cats
Posted by: KatyH
Where is Kino?
Where is Bella?
Where is Sam?
Where is Weird Al?
Where is Puzzles?
We all know where they were two weeks ago. Where are they all now?
Where is Bella?
Where is Sam?
Where is Weird Al?
Where is Puzzles?
We all know where they were two weeks ago. Where are they all now?
