Hinky dealings at the Humane Society
The latest issue of The Source has a really good article on some of the sketchy dealings coming to light at the Humane Society here in Central Oregon. I think everyone should read it, even if you’re not an animal person; since the Humane Society is a non-profit, it’s our tax dollars that help support it.
These dogs and cats are often quickly euthanized with little record that they ever entered the shelter’s care – thanks to creative record-keeping that allows shelters like the Humane Society of Central Oregon to exclude animals like Annie from their often rosy adoption statistics.
Critics, including a former shelter staff member, say that shelters like the Humane Society of Central Oregon are misleading the public about their adoption rates, and in turn the likelihood that an animal will find a home when it is left in their care. Just as importantly, they say, the stats also hide the true problems of animal overpopulation in a region like Central Oregon, where the shelters in Bend, Redmond and Prineville are often running at or close to capacity.
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When asked whether the shelter would benefit from some form of outside oversight, similar to Oregon’s veterinary medical examining board, Roden said she wasn’t sure that would be an appropriate requirement for a non-profit.
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems to me that outside oversight is exactly appropriate for a non-profit like this.
Just out of curiousity (haven’t read the article yet, but meaning to): Since when does "Non-profit" mean "our tax dollars help support it?" There are hundreds of local non-profits that don’t get a dime of tax money and are 100% self-sufficient. I just want to make sure that before we open a can of worms on this that the humane society does indeed receive public funding (I’m sure they do, probably in the form of fees levied on licenses and such, but just wanted to make sure).
Whoops, I misspoke a bit on that phrase there: I don’t mean to imply that "non-profit" automatically gets our tax dollars… but in the case of the Humane Society, they do–from the article:
"It also glosses over the fact of just how dependent the Humane Society is on government. Despite its non-profit status, which exempts it from open records laws, the Humane Society gets a sizable amount of support from local taxpayers."
Fair enough — just wanted to be clear 🙂
And I thought non-profit’s weren’t exempt from open-record laws when they receive gov’t funding. Been a while since I’ve done my open records law reading. Interesting story, just the same.