This email below was sent after a town meeting in April. I am deeply disappointed that you do not take rescue groups seriously. The inappropriate movie reference and disrespect to rescues trying to help this shelter is unprofessional to say the least. Please take this matter seriously. Rescuers have jobs, families etc. They are cleaning up the mess that towns and cities refuse to address at a local level. This email was sent twice and has never been responded to.
Now there is media traction and a protest. It is a real shame you think the answer is to bash rescues and laugh at them. You get upset when you get angry calls etc but do you honestly think you do not deserve them you are doing absolutely nothing for these poor animals. Shame on you. Media campaigns are being arranged to notify the Apple Valley community about the inaction by elected officials. I am sure they have no idea.
Gina
Former Apple Valley resident
On Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 3:48 PM Gina Downey <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Mayor Nassiff and town council members ( Larry, Art, Curt, Doug, and Kari), I have some GREAT resources for you but please humor me and read my additional comments...
First and foremost, thank you again for making time for the rescue community! As a former resident who spoke to the town on this issue decades ago regarding VVAPL, I was pleasantly surprised by your welcoming energy and shared passion for the animals and finding solutions that work! Doug! Thank you for making that huge effort to cover all of those topics in one slide show! I can tell you care a lot.
It's not easy and we all understand the burden the PUBLIC place on shelters. I believe we can be too soft on the community. We are afraid to ruffle their feathers, offend them, or hurt their feelings. We are worried about discussing the reality of mass animal killings because it is unpleasant. They used to show animal euthanasia on the news and as you can imagine the public went crazy about it. But passion and action sometimes come from being hurt or infuriated by a situation. Why hide it? And at the end of the day, the public is creating the problem or at minimum looking the other way while cities, and towns. and rescues are drowning in stray animals.
Backyard breeders are LAZY people that provide little to no care for the animals they are breeding and their puppies. They often are bred completely wrong or inbred with a lot of health issues. Adopters are not educated on the breed. They end up in shelters. We are overwhelmed with huskies, pit bulls, German Shepherds, and even Frenchies! When 101 Dalmations was released in theatres VVAPL was overflowing with Dalmations decades ago.
These breeders do not hold business licenses or seller's permits. They just pump animals into the system. When the puppies start getting too big to be adopted they will dump entire litters at shelters or basically anywhere. They will not spay/neuter the adults or relinquish them so they can have more litters. They dump the parents when they are no longer of use. Most are severely neglected and unloved.
I have been waiting decades to see this headline APPLE VALLEY CRACKS DOWN ON BACKYARD BREEDERS. With the right coalition, Apple Valley could be an example of what a community can do to control this problem. Being a rural area it is much worse than a lot of other communities. Taking from the county also piles it on. But, as mentioned the animals have to go somewhere.
I respect and appreciate realistic logical discussions about budgets, operating hours, and the business side of things. These things absolutely come into play. However, in most businesses, if I show up a few minutes late after driving from 2-4 hours away usually nobody is going to die because of that. Animals die when people are late. I get logistics and respect for business hours etc but also I strongly feel there needs to be some gray area and more flexibility. There are usually people still there and why not let a rescuer in to grab an animal? This needs further discussion. I know that animals have been killed due to lack of transport when there is still room to hold them for another day or two. I do not think people on power trips should be in charge of deciding who lives or dies. I know this is a sensitive subject as everyone wants to praise the staff but please be open-minded to the idea that some situations are hidden from you. Some people need spoken to and monitored until you see what they are doing.
The laundry list of issues such as illness, dog socialization, training, assessments, and more occur at EVERY shelter. Some have more resources or volunteers and can manage those things better. The fact is most public shelters do not have the resources. When volunteers are made unwelcome this is BAD. I know transparency can be an issue but frankly, there should be nothing to hide. Volunteers are there to help and if they get upset that situation needs to be looked into. This whole mentality of "it's just the way it is". Is old school and not okay. We CAN do better. I see that ALL of you are willing to learn more about the solutions out there and hopefully continue to be proactive.
Why are euthanasia numbers up when we now have more rescues than ever and social media? It is because local and state governments refuse to tackle the source of the problem. Breeders and irresponsible pet owners. Some people turn their pets in because they cannot afford to care for them or get them treatment there should be other options. Nobody should have to turn in an animal if they do not want to.
I looked at February's report. All you see is stray and owner turn-in. Mostly stray. These are people's animals. Why do we allow this with no accountability? Just dump your pet and walk away? Make it someone else's problem? How about we send a follow-up postcard that says your animal was rescued donate here, adopted, or your animal is DEAD! I do not have all the answers. But why do we let people do this and just walk out? Spay/neuter and microchips should be mandatory and we should find ways to enforce it. I just hear all the time how it can't be enforced. Well, we better find a way because how else can we stop it?
East Valley has a table out front where volunteers first speak to people before they dump their animal.
I don't want to rant on and on. I have some resources for you. Someone on the council and at the shelter will have to take a special interest in going above and beyond to stay on top of this or I will be back there again I am sure. Rescues have a lot of knowledge and experience. I encourage you to keep working with them. Let them help. Let me help.
Okay, here we go, again I apologize if it is already being done....
Marketing and PR was mentioned. YES, YES, and YES! Adoptions are marketing driven. Every shelter needs an excellent marketing person. How else do you move "products" ? California for All Animals (https://www.californiaforallanimals.com/) has a lot of resources. This is the organization that was allocated MILLIONS of dollars by the governor. I am not sure how well they are spending it and I am skeptical. They did alert me to the vet shortage which is another issue in itself.
Here is a shelter marketing link they sent me, it's free https://heartsspeak.org/ My background is in marketing, and if I can help let me know.
To see what shelter social media can look like when done really well to move animals out look on Instagram at @rita_earl_blackwell and Savingriversideshelterdogs and iloverescue and Annenberg Pet Space
Members of Apple Valley Shelter- monthly memberships like HSUS and ASPCA have. Recurring revenue you can count on.
*Petfinder and adopt a pet should be updated with good descriptions. New behavior staff can help a lot with this. Photos, videos, and reels can save so many animals. Content is king just like with regular products. Shelter staff probably does not have time to do this. Poorly run social media is useless. I see it all the time. A marketing person should create profiles.
They also have a 5k grant for any shelter. I know it is not much but it's 5K Go to their website then click https://www.californiaforallanimals.com/grants/ Application help https://vimeo.com/679323735
I completely understood what was said about grants! Lots of paperwork little money. But some grants are a lot of money. Millions. If this is a public vs charity issue I would suggest something like Friends of Apple Valley Shelter as a 501c3. This may already exist. Forgive me if I suggest things you are already doing.
They also have meetings that anyone can attend periodically. The last one was about housing and kennels etc. Here is the recording and other videos. https://www.californiaforallanimals.com/getinvolved/shelters/shelter-resources/ Please have someone sign up to join these meetings and research their resources. Ask them how to get notified about the call schedule. You can submit questions for the calls to [email protected] https://www.californiaforallanimals.com/get-involved/shelters/ LICENSE PLATE: Another one you may, or may not, already know about is California's Pet Lovers License Plate designed to fund low-cost spay/neuter. In 2023 the Pet Lover's License Plate Grant Program will fund up to $488,000. The deadline has passed but I believe is in fall for next year. https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/SpayNeuter/pdfs/2023_Pet_Lovers_RFP.pdf
MADDIES FUND
They have an incredible amount of education and resources for shelters! Please, please scour this website.
https://www.maddiesfund.org/learn-and-connect.htm
Their do it yourself Shelter Assessment
https://www.maddiesfund.org/do-it-yourself-shelter-assessments.htm As you can see this is a full-time job for someone (the right person). The staff is too busy running the shelter. But someone has to oversee and make sure that these resources are being tapped into and applied. I think some of your positions can be covered by volunteers but not excessive full-time work.
This is a separate job and I'm not sure a shelter manager would have time or interest to do this. To solve this SERIOUS problem someone is going to have to be proactive and on this stuff full-time.
People soon forget and then it is back to the status quo and accepting it. It is 20 years later it should be better even with more people moving to the HD. If you handed this email to a shelter manager I think their head would explode. They simply do not have time to run the shelter and stay on this stuff.
Random ideas:
Friends of the shelter organization formed to raise money- go after private donors with tons of money.
They may add a wing or play area and put their name on it. Like what Jane Dollar did years ago! Raise money with microchip clinics- this also. helps. more dogs get home.
Have officers carry scanners in the event an animal can be traced to home and take them home. Write a citation, warning, or whatever.
More offsite adoptions.
Utilize local media, radio, papers, tv etc
Up the license fee a $1 or any amount to offset expansions or new staff Billboards!! Like I said why hide the problem? Put it in their face! Get more volunteers, donors, adoptions etc. Apple Valley is HIGH KILL and it is mostly a community problem. What are shelters supposed to do? I get it.
Transport volunteers; It is a giant pain to get people to drive all the way out there.
Event coordinator - could be a volunteer or the marketing person. Sounds like the county may pitch in for extra staff. They should!
Volunteer and foster coordinator. Yes, volunteers can be flakey but a good coordinator can set boundaries and requirements. No way to avoid it completely. VVAPL did not want me in there at first poking around and taking photos. But they realized I was there to help and we started moving animals out and it WORKED! I was not there to police them. This was way before social media. It should be easier now! But they were not being run well and it was sad. I often pulled dogs with names and phone numbers on the collar! Nobody had tried to call the number. :-/ At the rescue I was at every person needed to be approved to pull and this was a lot of friction when trying to pull a dog marked urgent. Especially when certain staff refuse to accommodate a dog for even one more day. I think if the 501 is a partner and they send someone and tell you who is coming that should be good enough. Having every person sign up is just a lot. It puts transport burden on the same people all the time. Nobody wants to drive up there as it is. But they do.
I love that one of you mentioned tapping into students. A running club at a high school had the guys go run the dogs and many ended up adopting their dog! By all means, tap into youth. Get your waivers solid and let them help.
VVAPL used to have a large enclosure for long-term residents. They would put dogs out there they refused to kill for whatever reason. Apple Valley has a ton of highly adoptable dogs- due to all the breeders out there. But killing half of them is just devastating. I don't want to harp too much on expansion because the root of the problem needs the most attention. But expanding is a great fix in the meantime.
Art was teasing me about moving back. While I really do not want to move back full time there may be something I can do remotely or a couple of days a week. I did not go into all of my experiences and how I got into rescue. But as I mentioned I have been doing it for over 30 years! I would go to home depot and people would say oh you are the girl with dog crates in the back of your truck. I repeatedly had to take dogs from my own neighbor. I just can't even tell you everything but Apple Valley is where it all started for me and I would LOVE to see this council and community go viral for actually getting this under control.
I know you are looking to other public shelters for guidance but honestly, most of them are in the same boat or doing it wrong. Absolutely talk to anyone that has it figured out. Best Friends and Maddie's Fund and maybe California for All Animals can probably be super helpful. Please let rescue people share their knowledge. I know we can be a pain but sometimes it is justified. Not everyone gets the burden on shelters and those are the people that cuss you out. Most of us do not do that. We know staff care!! They have their hands tied. Please let us help.
LAWS- check out @socialcompassion AB332 Shelter Animal Data Collection Act and AB595 Bowie's Law 72 hours notice required prior to euthanasia. Too many animals have been "accidentally" euthanized.
This is not okay.
Thanks for getting through that! Please do not hesitate to reach out to me anytime. I also think with VVAPL closing and starting over it could be a good time for a coalition with them and Hesperia. What are they going to do?!
Love the sanctuary idea. Maybe the town can donate some land to a rescue and they can help with fosters and overflow. San Diego does this. The public intake is on one side then the rescue is on the other side. Actually, you may even want to talk to SDHS or Carlsbad. They really tap into the residents with MONEY and have a great legacy program for when people die. 619-204-8084 call, text, or email. I'm also happy to come back up to any meetings where I may be helpful.
I am attaching some square and story graphics for the rescue day 4/18. I am already sharing everywhere. Reels are where it's at so lots of videos are needed. Maybe even time for Tik Tok. Some of the rescuers feel this is just a rescue pull day- I told them that the Mayor said there will also be adoptions. So we can push that too. Yes?
Do you have a Director of Development?
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Sincerely,
Gina Downey
Class of '87 Sun Devils ;)