More funding means shelter must improve
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Compare the numbers allotted to various non-profits for the county’s next fiscal year:
Magness Library, $116,000; Families in Crisis, $10,000; the Child Advocacy Center, $5,000; and McMinnville-Warren County Industrial Development Board, $137,150.
The shelter’s new county funding should be looked upon with great care and with at least as much scrutiny as some of the above mentioned. I say all this as I had two unpleasant experiences the two times I asked for the shelter’s help.
When a stray dog attacked my dogs in the front yard, much to my 10-year-old son’s horror, I called the sheriff’s department’s hoping they could garner emergency assistance from the animal shelter. A few phone calls later, it was obvious no one from the shelter would be coming to help, and no one did. A sheriff’s deputy ended up handling the problem.
The shelter didn’t do much better in my book this year. It started when a pregnant dog got dropped off at our house a few months back and had puppies that ended up in our garage. I let them stay, hoping to find homes for them when the puppies got bigger.
That was up until the mother started ripping through the trash every day. Not knowing the kill rate at the shelter at that time, I thought I would be helping out by taking the animals there myself.
I was highly offended, then, when the implication was made the dogs were mine.
The person at the door cast a disinterested glance my way as he led the mother dog away and told me to place the box of puppies by the front desk. I left the shelter with a sick feeling.
During this last crisis, animals shelter officials reported workers had euthanized 4,000 animals in a year – which boils down to a rate of roughly 10 animals per day – so I can understand the person doing the euthanizing would not be excited to see seven puppies dropped off at the front door.
Understanding aside, people shouldn’t leave that place feeling the way I did. This apparent public relations problem needs to be remedied, perhaps by hiring someone who can put forth a friendly smile at the door when someone like me, the average taxpaying citizen, comes walking through it, whether to drop off or adopt. And dog doo doesn’t need to be the prevailing scent when one walks through those doors.
These experiences are perhaps examples that show the shelter has not been able to provide adequate services with the meager funds of years past. Shelter workers perform duties we can’t possibly fathom. But if my experiences are any indication of what has been, it also needs to be said that this $80,000 needs to bring with it more professionalism, more responsiveness and an accountant in the times to come.
Additionally, if I read state law correctly, this major public funding now also makes the Humane Society subject to the Open Meetings Act, which in basic terms requires non-profit organizations receiving 30 percent or more of their funds from governments to have open meetings. Maybe that will prevent some of the bickering I know in years past took place.
As far as the money, we’ve done our part as taxpayers. It’s up to the people who have asked for this money to do theirs better. If that doesn’t happen and we don’t bother to ask the shelter to be accountable, then shame on us.
Amy Satterwhite is a reporter for the Standard. She can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at citynews@southernstandard.com.