Running an animal shelter or humane society is no easy task! Most of them are staffed with caring, dedicated people who have the animals’ best interests at heart. However, a time may come when you are concerned with the way your local shelter is being run.
The best thing you can do first is document problems. If you can, keep track of time, place, and specific issue. Once you have your documented issues, you can talk to the shelter staff and management about your issues. There may be a very good reason for a problem to exist — animal care issues can be relieved by finding more volunteers; kennel conditions can be improved with more aggressive fundraising.
Rather than point fingers, why not volunteer your own time to the shelter? You may even want to try to join the board of directors. It’s easy to pick out problems and far harder to do something to correct them. You may need to get sympathetic people on your side — important donors, media personalities, veterinarians, animal welfare advocates, etc.
If you do think you have a serious problem shelter on your hands, contact one of the following organizations for advice and support.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
424 East 92nd Street
New York, NY 10128-6804
212-876-7700
Email outreach@aspca.org
American Humane Association
63 Inverness Drive East
Englewood, CO 80112
303-792-9900
Humane Society of the U.S.
2100 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
202-452-1100
Some common shelter complaints are not actually serious problems. Not seeing food or water in a cage when you visit may not be a case of animal cruelty. Many dogs and cats tip their water dishes over! And animals in a shelter are fed on a schedule, not left with a full bowl around the clock. Dirty cages and sick animals are not necessarily a sign of a bad shelter either. No matter how often a shelter cleans, there will be some accidents and some dirty cages. And no matter how careful the shelter may be with health care and isolating ill animals, it is too easy for a sickness to spread in a closed environment.