| animal shelter volunteers' claims echoed in 2011 report In one kennel, an appraisal team found a Chihuahua that couldn't raise its head because it had been hit by a car. After an incident in late 2010 when dozens of abandoned Shih Tzu dogs died at the shelter following an outbreak of the parvo virus, Richard Silvani, executive director of the PetLuv Nonprofit Spay and Neuter Clinic in Brooksville, commissioned a study of the shelter. "If the other two cats had been placed in an area viewable by the public, would they have been adopted?'' the assessment team asked. Yet little has been done, and the volunteers and their supporters, who found the study in a public records search, say they are shocked that the county hasn't acted sooner to improve conditions at the shelter. But there was no request for veterinary care or input. The same owner also surrendered a blue-eyed cat; it was put in the adoption area and got a home within days. That 22-page report by veterinarian Cherie Buisson and Jennifer Clement also urged procedures to reduce the number of euthanizations and to improve treatment of animals. The findings and recommendations mirror the current complaints, which have sparked an audit and investigation. The male was euthanized 22 days later. The discovery of the UF study prompted an email exchange Friday between Laurie Boynton, one of the core group of volunteers at Animal Services, and Silvani, who expressed frustration with Liana Teague, the Animal Services manager. Two tabby cats brought to the facility were surrendered by their owner. These cases were among the findings of a weeklong assessment of the county's animal shelter done at the end of June 2011. And the July 1 report, by the University of Florida Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program, wasn't the first with similar findings and recommendations. and Liana does nothing,'' Silvani wrote. The cases sound like the litany of sad tales a group of volunteers at Hernando County Animal Services has been telling to anyone who will listen in recent weeks. "There is incident after incident, study after study, recommendation after recommendation . "And without the rest of us beating our heads against the wall and meeting resistance for trying to help, no additional animals would have been saved even now. |
Sunday 13 May 2012
animal shelter volunteers' claims echoed in 2011 report
