KENT KRIEGSHAUSER/The Register-Mail

Jessica Bush, right, a staff member at the Prairieland Animal Welfare Center in Galesburg, speaks with Joanne Curran and her son LeRoy, both of Galesburg, as they view cats at the center. Currans were only looking on Friday but have adopted three cats and one dog from the center.

Rival humane societies hope to repair split

Prairieland shelter strapped financially; city denies $45,000 request for now

Sunday, November 11, 2007

By MATT HUTTON

The Register-Mail

KCHS, which is responsible for maintaining and operating Prairieland Animal Welfare Center, is facing a significant debt. In the past, it has operated with a budget close to $220,000, but now is working only on the $186,000 contract it has with the city for animal control duties.

While no one has questioned the dedication of KCHS staff, their perceived lack of organization is a sticking point between them and getting as much as $45,000 more in funding. The shelter requested a one-time grant from Galesburg for $25,000 to get the organization out of the red, but City Council members decided Monday not to provide the money, at least for now.

Alderman Karen Lafferty, Ward 5, has served as liaison and mediator between KCHS, the city and the county's other humane society, the Guardian Angels. She initially supported the grant, but on Monday suggested the city hold off on providing the money because of some "deficiencies" on the animal control side of the operation.

Other revenue sources are available, if old wounds can be healed and fences mended two years following a messy split that led to the creation of a second humane society in Knox County. The shelter could be in line to receive $20,000 annually from the Guardian Angels to be used for medical care for the animals. However, the Guardian Angels, headed by former longtime KCHS board member Cathy White, has requested financial accountability to be sure the money is being spent properly. KCHS Administrative Director Ned Anderson said the shelter is open to providing some information, but did not want to be overwhelmed with record keeping.

Public divorce leaves hard feelings

To understand how the KCHS and shelter came to this point, one must look back to August 2005, when there was just the Knox County Humane Society. In the months leading up to her ousting, White had become embroiled in a dispute with Anderson, the rest of the KCHS board and President Wil Hayes after publicly criticizing the board on several policy issues, including closing meetings to the public, parasite testing and the removal or "firing" of several volunteers. The other members voted 6-2 to kick her off the board.

White, who said she dedicated her life to helping animals, decided she could not just walk away. So, she formed her own humane society, the Guardian Angels.

"I had to think long and hard about starting a new organization," White said. "It is a passion and a mission - as long as I have that, I'll continue as long as I can."

In interviews, both White and Anderson say they do not want to relive the situation from 2005 and both went out of their way to praise the other organization, each saying the animals must come first and it is time to put the past behind them.

"I wish this didn't happen," White said, referring to the split. "I'm the only board member ever removed after 10 years. I felt disappointed, I felt betrayed. But I'm not bitter; I'm determined to stay focused on the animals. ... For us, we have made a commitment to put the animals first. That means working with whoever has shelter. We are not willing to sacrifice animals for personal egos."

Anderson said he only wanted to talk about the positives of the Guardian Angels.

"I was impressed with their board. It's a good bunch of people over there."

The reduction of harsh rhetoric seems to bring with it optimism that there is a chance the two sides could work together, if never return to being one. But both White and Lafferty said nothing could move forward until the shelter addressed its biggest need - a manager.

"In my opinion they need to reorganize and hire an experienced, qualified, mature manager," Lafferty said. She added that, while the staff -12 full-time and four part-time employees - cared for and treated the animals well, there needed to be more accountability in terms of record keeping, both financial records and records of the animals.

For the KCHS's part, Anderson stopped short of blaming the split for its financial woes, however, he said the Guardian Angels have applied for the same grants that used to go to the KCHS and are doing similar fundraisers.

"It does split the pie," he said.

Roles of the humane societies

Since the two organizations split, some residents have been confused about the purpose and practices of each group.

The KCHS wears two hats in its operation of the Prairieland Animal Welfare Center. Part of its duty is maintaining the welfare of animals at the shelter and running the adoption program. That includes medical care for animals - testing for parvo, heartworms, spaying or neutering the animals and making sure they have all their shots. Staff members also test attitude and aggressiveness to make sure they are adoptable. In addition, KCHS provides a low cost spay and neuter clinic with local vets coming in every Wednesday to perform the surgeries.

KCHS' second responsibility is animal control for the city, which it is contractually obligated to perform, and to a lesser extent the county. The shelter is not permitted to turn away any animal that comes to it from a Galesburg resident. KCHS also has an animal control officer licensed to investigate cruelty and neglect cases. The shelter has a "verbal agreement" with the county and receives a boarding fee for three days for animals brought in by the county animal control officer. Unlike a city resident, if the shelter is full it does not have to take animals from county residents.

The Guardian Angels also is a licensed, not-for-profit humane society in Knox County. It does not, however, have a shelter to take animals in. Its focus is on providing medical care to animals in low income homes or who are homeless. White said the organization has spent $64,000 so far this year to provide for the medical needs of pets. Their network extends outside of just Knox County, into locations including Alexis, Monmouth and Fulton County. The Guardian Angels also provide a low cost spay neuter clinic, partnering with local vets.

While the Guardian Angels do not have a shelter, they will attempt to find temporary homes, be it with vets or at local boarding houses, for animals if someone was not able to surrender it to Prairieland. White said often they will ask someone to hold onto animals and then bring them to the Guardian Angels' adopt-a-pet program, which takes place every third Saturday at Sandburg Mall.

White stressed that, even with 15 to 20 volunteers helping her, the Guardian Angels are a completely volunteer group and not a professional organization - she receives 15 to 20 calls daily.

"People think we're a business," she said. "But if I don't respond right away, people can get frustrated."

Change of philosophy

Next to the funding, the biggest change at the shelter the last two years has been a change in basic philosophy regarding euthanasia.

From 1995 to 2005, the shelter put down about 12,880 animals, with at least two to three times that many animals coming through the shelter and being either adopted or reclaimed. That averages out to almost 1,300 animals per year. So far in 2007, the number of animals put down is 221, with about 570 animals adopted.

The reason for this change is two-fold. First, Anderson said the shelter, under Erin Andrews guidance and with a new staff, has been more aggressive in its adoptions. Increasing the hours the shelter is open for adoptions and extending hours to Saturdays has helped, as has moving more animals into the front of the shelter to showcase them.

The second reason is that the shelter is simply not taking in as many animals. Comparing the 2007 figures with those in 2005 when White was voted out, the shelter took in 977 dogs and 1,455 cats, putting down 261 and 846 respectively. Andrews said she pushes people who are thinking of surrendering an animal to really think about it, because life in a shelter is not good for an animal and it runs the risk of being deemed too aggressive for adoption or not passing an attitude or medical test and being put down. She said the shelter will not take an animal if the owner's only wish is to have it killed.

"We're not in the business of putting down people's pets," she said. "That's the vets place, not ours."

Anderson did not blame the past administration for the high total of animals put down, he said it was just a difference in philosophy.

"I'm not laying anything on the past, but it's the difference between a humane society and animal control. In the past, it was more to make it more efficient. What they considered more efficient was, they could only maintain so many in the shelter and anything beyond that was put down, that's how you ended up with such high figures," Anderson said.

White agreed it was a difference in philosophy, but she thought taking in more animals, even if they had to put them down, was the humane way to address the problem because some pet owners, if there are no other options, will turn an animal loose.

"We don't think (setting an animal loose) is humane. We intervened because we felt that was more cruel than accepting an animal, even when too many were in the shelter," White said. "Cats cannot survive out on their own. I'm not in favor of euthanasia, but it is more humane than starving to death."

White said when she was with KCHS, the shelter took any animal that someone wanted to surrender from Knox and other counties, and many from Warren County, which does not have a shelter.

Animals KCHS must put down are disposed of in one of two ways. Some are taken to the landfill, but KCHS also has a contract with a company called NASCO, which takes mostly cats. The cats are then sold and used for scientific purposes, such as dissection.

Anderson said KCHS would not be facing the tough decisions about taking animals in or putting them down if pet owners were more responsible. For some, owning an animal is simply something they do "fly-by night ... it's a disposable thing."

White said the cat population and the pit bull population are out of control. That is why both organizations push so hard for spaying and neutering.

"We're all about stopping the population," White said. "That's our way around it."

Prairieland Animal Welfare Center

- Run by: The Knox County Humane Society

- Location: 1855 Windish Drive

- Phone: 342-1275

- Established: KCHS took over the shelter in 1995.

- Roles: Maintaining animal welfare and adoptions; contract with Galesburg for enforcement of animal control ordinances. It is the only Department of Agriculture licensed shelter that can collect animals in Knox County and must take any animal from the city. It does not have to take all animals from outside the city and usually will not take them from outside Knox County.

- Additional services: Provides a low cost spay/neuter clinic - households with income of $37,000 or less can quality for free or reduced-fee spay/neuter services; professional groomer Linda Ibach provides grooming at the shelter on Wednesdays and Saturdays, by appointment only - fees vary according to the size of the animal, the extensiveness of the grooming and the breed of the animal.

- Hours of operation:

Viewing and Adoption of Pets: Monday through Friday noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays noon to 4 p.m.

Adopt-a-pet at the Carl Sandburg Mall second Saturday of every month

City of Galesburg Animal Control Office Hours: Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon After hours animal control calls: Galesburg Police Department, 343-9151.

- Budget: Operating on $186,000 contract from city; has requested a one-time grant of $25,000 from Galesburg to eliminate debt.

- Governed by: KCHS Board. KCHS considers its meetings open to the public, however in order to attend administrator Ned Anderson must grant someone permission.

- Staff size: 12 full-time and 4 part-time

Guardian Angels (Humane Society)

- Run by: Cathy White

- Phone: 344-1164

- Established: In 2005 after White was removed from KCHS Board

- Role: While a licensed humane society, Guardian Angels does not have an animal shelter and is not licensed by the Department of Agriculture to collect animals. The entirely volunteer organization focuses on providing medical care for needy and homeless pets.

- Adoptions: Though not a shelter, it will find boarding locations for sick animals with vets or other boarding houses. It runs an adopt-a-pet at Carl Sandburg Mall the third Saturday of every month, including those boarded pets and animals people might be tending at home but want to put up for adoption. Animals available for adoption can be found through www.petfinder.com.

- Other services: Low cost spay/neuter program run with local vets.

- Staff: 15 to 20 volunteers

- Budget: Has spent $64,000 through end of October.

- Governed by: Guardian Angels board, which meets 6 p.m. the first Thursday of every month in the Sandburg Mall Community room. Meetings are open to the public.