Trash Talk Redux

The THS just can't get a break.

Since the horrific and lethal raid by the OSPCA three years ago,  compounded by the abortive and vindictive attempts to retake control by Tim Trow and supporters in the years following, membership and support for this once well respected institution has plummeted.

OSPCA supporters conveniently forget that under the illusion of cleaning up Tim Trow's mess, the OSPA and its minions (including some THS staff(and former staff)  at that time) slaughtered hundreds of animals.  Their unprofessional and illegal conduct resulted in two eventual outcomes - most charges  against Trow were dropped (based on the patently unprofessional manner in which the raid - and arrest - of Tim et al took place, not because they weren't valid) and the beginning of of what has - and continues to be - a massive abandonment by its membership.

Truth be told it is almost understandable - in that with the various factions attacking and defending, many people have simply walked away.  The past two annual meetings have been divisive and controversial - albeit the naysayers,while vocal and malicious were actually small in numbers and garnered very few votes.

Since then, the THS has been struggling to deal with a myriad of challenges, not the least of which is the hemorrhaging of the increasingly limited membership base.  No membership means no money - no money means less staff.  Less staff means less animals (as unlike the former management days when the shelter was horrifically over-crowded, unsanitary and resulted in a lot of animals with substandard care and suffering), it is limited by the regulations imposed on its reopening a couple of years ago to a specific ratio of animals to staff.

I have my own issues with the "new" THS - enough so that i walked away as a long-term volunteer.  However, although our philosophies diverged enough that i wasn't comfortable volunteering there any more, I still support them to a great extent and continue to believe that there are a lot of people with a vision that at some point may again mesh with my own.  Further I am comfortable transporting rescue dogs there as I know they will receive excellent care.

What I cannot tolerate, however, is the continued malicious, vindictive and destructive undermining of the Toronto Humane Society by individuals who hide behind created personas to wreak havoc.  I believe, implicitly that if these small-minded, vicious berserkers continue to divide the already compromised membership, it is a very real possibility that the Toronto Humane Society will cease to exist.

And that would be a tragedy indeed.

Yes, there are steps the THS needs to take.  Realities they need to create.  Visions they need to fulfill.  They have let some amazing staff go - Jazzmine was one of the most compassionate, skilled and talented dog person I've know - and I was shocked and dismayed when I heard she was let go.  But what I don't think is that any of the staff who have lost their job - particularly in the latest round  - did so because they weren't valued or needed - but water out of stone will not happen and without a solid membership base, money is a huge issue.  Granted, I'm not privy to the ins and outs - but common sense and years of volunteering there leave you with a certain organic knowledge about the dynamics of the place.

There is currently a Kijji advertisement seeking disgruntled former employees and members.  An ad which is reflected in a facebook page euphemistically called "Friends of the THS" - a misnomer if there ever was one.

Their bleatings are simplistic and clearly deluded.

Making assertions that small rescue groups have better numbers.  Claiming staff are being terminated for no good reason. That Board  members are lazy, uninvolved and uncaring.

While I find it astonishing that anyone would actually take these assertions seriously - apparently people do.

The THS is struggling, in large part, because they are legally bound to deal with the aftermath of the many years of mismanagement .  Lawsuits (of which there were many) do not go away because management changed.  Civil suits do not disappear because the former president of the organization was deposed.  The shelter itself required a massive infusion of cash to upgrade and fix years of neglect to the physical structure.  In order to meet the strict (perhaps overly rigid, in my view) conditions which accompanied their re-opening and were imposed by the OSPCA means more money was needed both in the process and ongoing to keep standards of care of the animals high.

Of course the standard of care I saw on my return there is so far beyond what I saw for the three and a half years I was there under former management that it bears no resemblance.  Good vet care takes money.  Decent food requires an infusion of cash.

I remember Patience with her ears so badly infected that the pus was running in gummy green streams down her matted fur.  I remember Diva dying in agony, writhing in pain because no one would give her the compassionate way out. I remember cats stacked like cordwood in filthy cages with not a person to touch or pet them for weeks due to the simple magnitude of animals that needed care.  I remember the expired pallets of mouldy food in the dank basement. The dogs in filthy cages, rampant parvo... dogs who were lucky to get out for a total of a couple of minutes a day.

The simplistic bleating of whoever is behind the ads and the page simply do not account for any of the realities which face the shelter. They gloss over and romanticize former days and former management, while conveniently forgetting the other parts of those days.

Do I think the THS needs to get its ass in gear?  That there are changes I passionately want to see? Absolutely.

But hearkening back to what was a dark part of its long history is not the way to accomplish this.

Further dividing a shrinking membership is only going to compound and undermine an organization which is already struggling to keep its head above water.

And Friends of the THS- why don't you develop a pair and come out and say who you are instead of hiding behind a created persona?  Bloody cowards.

And while you're at it- be honest and let's look at what the THS HAS done in the past few years.

• a low-cost (very reasonable) spay and neuter clinic for cats open to the public - as well as a wildly successful program of spaying, neutering and catch and releasing feral cats

• continued support of needy animals that would not have a chance anywhere else - Newt - the latest - a little pug who will require thousands of dollars in medical care

• saving and finding homes out of province for dogs escaping the consequences of the horrific and ineffective BSL (Captain aka Henry for instance, who found a wonderful home in PEI)

• opening doors, hearts and pockets to the care of puppy mill survivors

• continued education in the schools on educating children about animal welfare

• a very successful partnership with Classical 96.3 where a pet of the week (sometimes more) has resulted in many successful adoptions

• a continued commitment to taking in dogs from over-crowded shelters where they are at risk (in Ontario and Quebec)- and I know because I've transported MANY of them

There are many more excellent programs and initiatives both completed and in the works.  There are people with visions (and some with none)- there are some great staff members and some not so great staff members.  But when all is said and done, the THS has the chance to be great.  It has the chance to fulfill a destiny begun more than 100 years ago when a man saw a horse falter and fall in the Victorian streets of Toronto and knew that was a wrong that needed righting.

To achieve that vision it needs support - pure and simple.  It needs goodwill and belief.  It needs money and it needs a willingness to invest in a future which will embrace all that is best about animal welfare.  Positive criticism can be a realistic engine of change.  Vision can excite and compel people to create miracles.  Small-minded, cowardly and deluded small minds, on the other hand, can undermine and ultimately destroy a refuge which can, one day, be a shining example of how we can co-exist, embrace and respect the animals which are such an intrinsic part of our lives.

*Pictures were borrowed from the THS website or Toronto Star