Nonprofit Operator, Whose Contract Ends in June, Faces Criticism Over Cleanliness and Euthanizations
By Ruben Castaneda and Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
In November, Christine Attanasio went to the Prince George's County Animal Shelter to adopt a dog. She fell for a healthy beagle mix named CeeCee, a 2-year-old female scheduled to be euthanized that day.
"No, no, no," Attanasio recalled telling a shelter worker. "I'll take her."
The shelter would not budge. Attanasio asked to speak to Rodney Taylor, head of the county's animal management division. Taylor arrived after about 15 minutes, but it was too late. CeeCee had been euthanized.
Several animal rescue workers and shelter volunteers said the incident, although particularly tragic, is in many ways emblematic of shortcomings at the facility, operated by a nonprofit organization for almost a decade.
The organization's contract expires June 30, and the county is seeking new management for the Forestville facility.
"Things like this shouldn't happen," Attanasio said of the incident, which Taylor confirmed. "Not once, not ever. . . . She died for no reason."
Under the Prince George's County Animal Welfare League's management, volunteers said, kennels are not cleaned properly and dogs are not walked often enough. Taylor said that each dog is walked daily and that kennels are cleaned. The animals' well-being is the top priority, he said.
The adoption process can be lengthy and bureaucratic, volunteers said, discouraging some prospective pet owners. A few of the volunteers spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared they would be barred from helping at the shelter if they allowed their names to be published.
The outdated building is also a problem, volunteers and officials said. Some dogs and cats develop respiratory illnesses because of the building's poor ventilation, said volunteers, Taylor and the president of the welfare league.
The league has been contracted to run the shelter for about $1 million annually for at least eight years. Under the current agreement, Taylor said, the league had a three-year contract and an option for two additional years. The county approved the first-year extension but is not renewing the contract for the second year, he said.
Taylor said that the league's performance has been "satisfactory" and that bids are being accepted because "it was time to do it."
"There's always room to improve," he said. "The goal is to be outstanding. We're not there yet. The vision we have is to become the number one shelter in the nation. It takes a lot of work to get there."
County officials are looking to improve conditions at the shelter, which can temporarily house 100 dogs and 50 cats. The county is accepting bids from contractors until Thursday.
Patricia A. Shema, the unsalaried president of the league, said the group is not bidding on the contract largely because her longtime shelter manager has resigned and no other experienced manager is available. The league was formed specifically to run the shelter.
Shema said the county plans to open a $13 million shelter next spring. It would feature updated ventilation systems to segregate air breathed by sick and healthy animals, a dog park and a spay-and-neuter clinic. It could house 300 dogs and 150 cats, officials said.
Shema said her group, which employs about 40 people to run the shelter, is too small to run the larger facility. The retired veterinarian said she helped form the league because she was critical of how the shelter was being run more than a decade ago.
"These problems aren't new," she said.
A 1998 report by the Humane Society of the United States found "a great deal of kennel cough and upper respiratory infections in the shelter." It also deemed the shelter's adoption process lengthy and said this potentially contributed to "far more animals being euthanized than adopted."
Taylor said 2,600 animals were adopted and 6,000 were euthanized at the shelter last year.
"It's extremely frustrating for me to have worked as hard as I have and feel like things are status quo," Shema said.
She praised the efforts of volunteers and rescue workers, saying, "Without them, many, many, many more of these animals would be euthanized."
Still, rescue workers say they sometimes find their efforts thwarted.
Lisa Ordakowski, a volunteer with a Northern Virginia animal rescue group, said she went to the shelter on a Sunday about six weeks ago to evaluate canine rescue candidates. Two days later, she returned for a dog that was chosen for rescue. But she learned that the animal had been euthanized the previous day, Ordakowski said, even though the shelter had paperwork showing that the animal was slated to be rescued.
"The saddest part was the shelter wasn't even completely full that day," Ordakowski said.
Staff researcher Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report.
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