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Supporters of Liberty Humane Society,

So many of you have dedicated your time and energy to the animals at Liberty Humane Society over the past months and years and without your support we would have a city pound where the outlook of the animals would be bleak. Due to your efforts, literally tens of thousands of animals over the past six years have found refuge from the streets; a safe place to lay their heads, heal from their wounds, and find their forever home. Many of you have worked alongside us during good times and some not so good times. Together, we built Liberty Humane Society (LHS). There really aren’t words to express the thanks you deserve or the gratitude we feel.

Obviously you are aware that in the past six weeks there have been many changes at the shelter. The interim board and paid staff, as well as long time volunteers, have had the overwhelming job of keeping the organization from complete collapse. In this time we have eased the suffering of many animals that were being inhumanely housed. Sick animals are now provided with the medical care they deserve and the spread of disease is slowing. While we have brought the shelter back up to or close to state standards, we believe the animals we care for deserve a higher standard than the basic minimum that the state mandates. LHS is committed to providing them with the highest degree of care possible. We have managed to adopt, or transfer to rescue a record number of dogs and cats in a matter of weeks. The staff work incredibly hard and rarely complain. They are amazing.

Despite these efforts, there have been great misunderstandings. As a board we apologize if we have not always been able to reach out and respond to the questions being asked of us every day. You have been left to wonder about things that haven’t been explained. That is not okay. We were given a very, very short deadline to ease the overcrowding which led to inhumane conditions and that has been our main focus. Our time has been spent and will continue to be focused foremost on the well-being of the animals in our care, working extensively with all the reputable animal advocates and rescue organizations that have come to our aid during this crisis.

Current Challenges We Still Face

We had our re-inspection by the state this past week and many of the most serious violations dating back to last November have been rectified. While the accommodations for the animals are not completely up to where we want them to be, they have vastly improved. Our Vet, Dr. Bloom, has done an incredible job setting up protocol for all the animals so that they are properly medicated and evaluated. One huge challenge we face is that the State has told us that none of the cages we have are large enough for dogs over 45 pounds. A major challenge we face is that last year, the state changed the regulations on minimum size requirements for dogs over 45 lbs. That left LHS in a position where we needed to obtain larger runs for our dogs. Thanks to a grant awarded by the ASPCA to purchase some larger runs, and Mason Kennels for providing us runs at a deep discount or even donated, we are well on our way to meeting those new requirements.

Rumors

We know you may have concerns over some rumors that have been circulated. LHS would like to take this opportunity to address some of those false and slanderous statements. First off, we have not euthanized animals purely to make room for other animals nor do we intend to do so. We have also not refused to release any adoptable animal to any trustworthy rescue, foster home, or adopter. In fact, 60 dogs were adopted, rescued, or placed in foster homes in just three weeks. During this time period it is true that we have had to euthanize some animals. The sad reality of animal sheltering is that not all animals are adoptable. It came to our attention when we stepped in that in an effort to avoid euthanizing, dangerous and aggressive dogs were removed from public view while adoptable dogs were placed in smaller and smaller cages to make room. This led to overcrowding, suffering, and the stockpiling of dangerous dogs. It also meant that we had to contend with a large number of dangerous dogs — dogs that could not be safely placed in a home — all at once. The choice we faced was to either release these dogs on an unsuspecting public and hope no one or no animal was hurt or attacked or to humanely euthanize the dogs. That is an awful choice for anyone who loves animals to have to make. In the end, 26 dogs deemed to be too dangerous to be placed into our community, were put to sleep. That is heartbreaking. Not only to you, but to our staff and everyone on the board as well.

Evaluations

To determine whether a dog is adoptable or not, we asked two outside agencies with nationally recognized expert trainers to assist us in performing behavioral evaluations on the dogs. These evaluations have been the source of rumor, innuendo, and blatantly false statements. Who did the evaluations; how those evaluations have been interpreted; what they said about what dog; allegations that dogs passed, but were euthanized anyway. We can’t blame you for being confused after everything that’s been said. Our critics have completely distorted the truth and we’ve watched in horror as the rumors get worse and worse, the allegations get more and more grotesque, and the personal attacks get more and more vicious.

How You Can Help

As animal lovers, we can understand your concern over what you may have heard, but we want to assure you that LHS stands by our staff, our decisions and our practices. We will not allow these vicious attacks to distract us from our mission and we need your help. As a friend of LHS, we ask that you stand by us and continue your support. We want to show everyone the challenges we are facing and how we are overcoming those obstacles by opening our doors to the media. In the coming days and weeks, our Acting Director, Nicole Dawson, will be setting up interviews with the media and giving tours of the facility in order to dispel some of the myths being circulated. The truth will soon be revealed that LHS is dedicating to protecting the animals and people of our community.

Sincerely,
Board of Directors
Liberty Humane Society