Rock County Humane Society sees fewer animals in 2011
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Changes at the Rock County Humane Society might be helping to keep down the number of animals coming in to the crowded facility. Executive Director Angela Rhodes tells the Gazette they now charge municipalities for each animal they bring in, which means they're trying harder to get strays to their owners before taking them to the humane society. Kyle Geissler reports.
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Some members at Tuesday's annual meeting expressed concern at what they said was a lack of communication or information about Rock County Humane Society Board meetings and activities. To ensure society members or members of the public are getting shelter news and information, board members suggested they visit rockcountyhumanesociety.com and sign up for email alerts.
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Angela Rhodes
JANESVILLE — The number of animals coming into the Rock County Humane Society declined slightly in 2011, a humane society official says.
The drop can in part be attributed to contracts with local municipalities that push the responsibility of animal control back to those municipalities, Executive Director Angela Rhodes said.
The shelter in 2012 will continue to stand by those contracts and educate the community on the difference between shelter services and animal control services, she said.
Rhodes and members of the humane society board Tuesday night spoke to about 20 members of the public, many of them society members, at the humane society's annual meeting.
Rhodes read a statement during the meeting that addressed some concerns that have been raised by members of the public and local elected officials since Rhodes took over as the shelter director in 2008.
One major change has been an attempt to separate the shelter's role of providing temporary care for adoptable animals. The shelter's job is not to provide care and treatment to stray animals during the seven-day, state-mandated waiting period after a stray animal is picked up off the street, Rhodes said.
That role belongs to municipalities, she said. Over the course of many years, however, Rock County residents started blurring the two jobs and assuming the local humane society did both. Workers at the shelter care greatly for animals, so they didn't work to clarify the roles.
"The Rock County Humane Society's image has morphed into a ‘pound' in many people's eyes," Rhodes said.
The humane society cannot continue to do both jobs well, Rhodes said.
Starting last year, the humane society changed the way it contracts with local municipalities. The charges changed to per-animal fees for the shelter to house strays as opposed to what had been an annual lump sum.
If a municipality does not have a contract with the shelter, it has to find a way to deal with its stray animals on its own.
The change has motivated local municipalities to work harder to figure out where a runaway dog or cat came from, Rhodes said. This has helped reduce the number of strays coming into the shelter.
The change is necessary because the humane society does not have the space or the resources to care for adoptable animals with known backgrounds and, at the same time, care for stray animals, she said. When people donate money to the shelter, they want it to be used to care for an adoptable animal, not to quarantine a stray, she said.
"If someone donates $100, we shouldn't spend that $100 to keep an animal in a stray hold for seven days," Rhodes said.
Rhodes is hopeful that a feasibility study recently conducted by the city of Janesville will shed some light on a way forward. The shelter has contracts with the cities of Beloit and Janesville, which are the biggest sources of strays in the county.
Audience members asked questions of the board about its activities and the operation of the shelter.
Jan Hoopes of Janesville asked why the shelter doesn't contract with a local veterinarian for spaying and neutering services. She said working with local professionals could improve the humane society's relationship with the community.
The shelter contracts with a specialist who can perform between 20 and 40 such surgeries in a day, Rhodes said. The contracted veterinarian comes to the shelter once a week. It is a very specialized skill to do so many surgeries in one day as opposed to the three or so a local veterinarian would be likely to handle.
From the audience, society member Maribeth Lindstrand of Beloit said this system helps move animals more quickly through the shelter. Previously, when fewer surgeries were performed at a time, adopted animals sometimes had to stay in the shelter to wait for surgery before they could go home, Lindstrand said.
The shelter's financial report showed a good year for 2011, according to humane society data. The shelter's net income was $286,589, which was considerably higher than the budgeted loss of $47,000. The change came from two substantial donations left by the estates of shelter members, Treasurer Julie Michaelson said. The humane society does not budget for such donations.
BY THE NUMBERS
$1.808 million: Total assets and liabilities for 2011, an increase of $276,000 over last year.
$991,087: Revenue for 2011, which was $176,587 over budget.
$286,589: Net income, which was $333,589 over budget.
12 percent: Decrease in number of dogs taken in.
15 percent: Decline in dog adoptions.
63 percent: Decline in euthanasia of dogs since 2008. The figures translate into a 90 percent save rate for dogs.
12 percent: Decrease in number of cats taken in.
7 percent: Increase in cat adoptions.
33 percent: Oneyear decrease in euthanasia of cats. In 2008, less than 70 percent of shelter cats were euthanized. Now, 50 percent of the cats that enter the shelter are saved.
—Source: Rock County Humane Society data
Apr 27, 2012 at 1:57 p.m.
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grandprixgirl- I was in the other day and not many cats. I really doubt they are lying about all being adopted.
they don't want fingers in and out and spead virus if they have a virus. I know they shouldn't follow you around like police though.
Apr 26, 2012 at 7:07 p.m.
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Grandprixgirl-
Euthanasia is a sad fact of animal control. We sing the praises of no kill shelters or rescues, but when they say, "no, we can't take any more animals because our cages or foster homes are full", the animals are still out there running around, perhaps freezing or starving. So how are they less culpable? Why on earth would you blame the Humane Society? Is it not their humans who let them over breed and run wild?
Late winter and early spring has the lowest census because animals typically do not breed as much then. Go back in the summer or early fall and the cages will be full. Will that make you happy? Sounds like some sour grapes over something else to me.
Apr 26, 2012 at 7:03 p.m.
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GrandPrixGirl,, you obviously have NO clue what your talking about. They are an adoption guarantee site which means they do not euthanize unless feral, aggressive, or extremely sick. Me and my partner have volunteered there for years, and I know for a fact they dont "clean house of perfectly healthy cats" as you put it. No healthy animal is put down at all, and yes they HAVE had a LOT of adoptions just as they told you. You may not see the overcrowding now, but since birthing season is here, they WILL be overfull in the next month.
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.To everyone else with the negative comments, you words do nothing but hurt the animals there. Them being a private business,,, let me see if I can give you some perspective. Gas stations, garbage companies, and grocery stores are also businesses, but would you demand they give free stuff just because they have them available and you need their services? Nope, never, won't happen!!
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Unfortunately in the case here it is dealing with living breathing animals that have no choice when lost or abandoned. (which by the way, if the cities need to recoop costs, how about ticketing the people causing the problems?!) The cities and townships that dont want to work with the shelter should be urged or pressured to provied their OWN services if they dont want to work with the shelter, I think its required they do that by state law, but i'm not 100% sure.
Apr 26, 2012 at 6:39 p.m.
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Grandprixgirl, where are you getting your facts? They have fewer cats coming in, more being adopted out, less euthanized.
Why is it easier for you to believe they are "disappearing" instead of being adopted? And spreading your contorted inacurate view of things.
Also for years I remember seeing signs saying not to touch cage to cage. You must not be able to read or understand "do not touch".
Apr 26, 2012 at 6:07 p.m.
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..and Frogger...oh...they most cerrtainly DO kill perfectly normal, healthy cats!! And dogs. My gosh, where do you think they all go when they disappear???! Dont be so quick to jump to their defense.
Apr 26, 2012 at 6:02 p.m.
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I visited the shelter a couple weeks ago. I was shocked to see about NINE cats. I used to work there, and I remembered the two glassed in rooms that were stacked 2 high and about 7 across filled with cats. As I was looking around in surprise, I noticed I was being followed by a very young woman, who "cautioned" me TWICE, to "not put fingers in the cages". Now...Im an adult..and I own several cats and dogs, been around animals my entire life. The first time she said it, I said ok. But..she continued to follow me..and said it again.
So...I asked her where all the cats went. She smiled and said they were ALLLLLLLL adopted out.
Come on.
Ive never, in all my years of being in and out of that place, Ive never seen it empty like that.
And suddenly, there is such a high demand for adult cats??
I know what happened. And it makes me sick. They "cleaned house". They can deny it all they want.
That night, there happened to be an article in the Gazette about the Humane Society. I couldnt believe it--they actually talked about the "overcrowding" problem!
And now, reading this article, which seems to just be Rhodes way of trying to justify why they DONT help animals any more, i feel sick.
So..when its snowing and blowing and bitter cold, and a dog is reported to be loose (for whatever reason..they do sometimes run away!!!) and is cold..and hungry..and scared, and in pain....I guess its NOT the Humane Society that helps??
Money, comes before helping the animals?
How can Angela Rhodes and her crew be ok with that? How can they ignore an animal that needs help??
Apr 26, 2012 at 3:57 p.m.
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The Rock County Humane society is a joke.
Apr 26, 2012 at 3:45 p.m.
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I think they are releasing them without people knowing to save on money. I live nearby and have noticed about 10 new stray cats wondering around lately. can't tell me they are coming from a farm.
Apr 26, 2012 at 2:48 p.m.
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moderate"Please get some more non profit REAL organizations that don't charge as much to adopt without the red tape to boot."
Tired of this comment. You get an animal for $75 that is fixed, chipped, tested for many things incl feline leuk, treated for worms, ear mites etc,rabies too (if one from mounds kitty room) Try getting a FREE kitty and paying only $75 for the services!!! They always have a FREE cat to pick from as well and if a SR cat they are $35 and if you are a senior I believe you can get free or a very lg discount. DO your research before you spout junk on here. Not to mention if they did have a cold they would be treated before it goes home with you. If yuo get them from Mounds kitty room you get free food as well for your kitty.
Biscuit- again get educated. They do NOT kill unless they are really sick or feral and cannot tame them! What is the "better option" let the dying cat suffer from cancer? Would you like a feral cat in your home that cannot be tamed?
Apr 26, 2012 at 2:26 p.m.
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So if my kitty gets out WHO do I call to find my lost kitty who they think is stray??? So they wont feed my kitty even though they will charge you $$ when you pick up the kitty which I am fine with. My kitties have chip so hopefully somebody will scan it and call me but WHERE do I pick up my kitty??
Apr 26, 2012 at 1:57 p.m.
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Always consider giving to the Shelter when you feel charitable.
Apr 26, 2012 at 1:51 p.m.
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I will not help any "will Kill" shelter, there has got to be a better alternative than euthinasia.
B
Apr 26, 2012 at 1:46 p.m.
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Anon22 may be right that the Society has only provided all services for the past 30 years or so rather than 50. However, the fact remains that this "morphing" has not been a recent development. In any case, it makes more sense to have a single agency do both animal control and adoption than to have every municipality - large and small - duplicate efforts and personnel. Let's look for a way to fund that sort of solution.
Apr 26, 2012 at 12:33 p.m.
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It was Approx. 1983 when the City of Janesville sought an alternative to keeping a city pound at 3306 Center Ave. and reached an agreement with the Humane Society to provide stray holding services.
The city pound did not provide an adoption program.
The humane society at one point did not accept stray dogs at all, only cats and owned unwanted animals as all the municipalities provided there own pounds for stray dogs.
It also helped investigate animal complaints for free for several decades.
Also at no point have they said they don't want to provide the service, it's their facility built in 1976 is not able to adequately provide those services anymore serving as a dual purpose for the community.
Apr 26, 2012 at 11:49 a.m.
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"Over the course of many years, however, Rock County residents started blurring the two jobs and assuming the local humane society did both.
'The Rock County Humane Society's image has morphed into a ‘pound' in many people's eyes,' Rhodes said."
Interesting.... I lived in janesville for nearly 50 years, and during all that time until just recently the Humane Society did indeed perform both functions. This is not a recent development or shift in attitude as Rhodes contends. If anything, it's the Society that has morphed and narrowed its functions, charging municipalities more for less services.
Also, I'm curious: If the Society's function is to be limited solely to caring for adoptable animals and not dealing with the intake of strays, just where are those adoptable animals going to come from?
It is impractical and very inefficient for the county, plus every city, village, and rural municipality to have their own trained animal control people and the facilities to hold animals for those first seven days. One central agency - the Humane Society - could provide those services as it always has, much more effectively. Even at increased cost to the municipalities, this would be far more economical than each creating its own infrastructure.
Apr 26, 2012 at 8:23 a.m.
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The Humane Society is technically a private shelter that can elect to offer any service it chooses. Years ago, each city and township did it's own animal control. Because the Humane Society felt they could perform the service better, they started doing animal control and contracted out with various cities and townships. There is a lot more to animal control these days and very often involves dangerous or legally entangled issues. I believe they are saying that this is better off left to law enforcement officials. The Humane Society should be caring for stray animals, not endangering staff and becoming involved in legal entanglements where animal pick-up is concerned. Despite the misleading name, they are not a govenment entity, just a private animal shelter that has the right to select the services they offer. I am so appalled at the negative attitudes some people have about the shelter; they are a group of hard working people in an often thankless job and derserve much more respect. In fact, when you stop and think about it, most of the negativity comes from their role in animal control. No wonder they want to get out of that aspect of it!
Apr 25, 2012 at 10:32 p.m.
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"One major change has been an attempt to separate the shelter's role of providing temporary care for adoptable animals." ???? What is/are the other role(s)? Spaying and neutering are already offered at nearly any veterinarian.
"If someone donates $100, we shouldn't spend that $100 to keep an animal in a stray hold for seven days," Rhodes said. Ha! The municipal contracts had paid for the service, what a miss leading comment!
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