The Truth about Animal Humane Society

A link to this information was just posted on Twitter by AHS of MN. While most of the information may be accurate.... the devil is the details. Please note how important the wording of their claims are.

Quotes from: "But I heard… A few mythbusting facts about AHS"

"Myth: AHS picks and chooses the animals it takes in"

"Truth: AHS is an open admission facility. We believe that all animals in need of assistance should be aided. At our five locations, we do not turn animals away based on space, temperament, health, age or physical characteristics. Last year, 38,177 animals came through our doors."

THE REAL TRUTH:
AHS of MN is an open admission facility. At their five locations, they do not turn animals away based on space, temperament, health, age or physical characteristics. Last year, 38,177 animals came through their doors. They DO KILL cats and other small animals for space issues. They DO KILL animals for temperment and they DO KILL animals for age and other physical characteristics. They take all the animals in; that doesn't mean they will ever leave alive.



"Myth: Animals in our care have a time limit"

"Truth: Animals on our adoption floors stay with AHS until they get adopted. We do not impose a time limit on available animals. As long as the animal remains in good health and temperament, it is available until it is adopted. The average stay for a dog or cat from the time they arrive to the time they’re adopted is 12 days—that’s 30% less time than they spent on the adoption floor last year!"

THE REAL TRUTH:
Animals on the adoption floors stay with AHS until they get adopted. They do not impose a time limit on available animals. As long as the animal remains in good health and temperament, it is available until it is adopted, if not, it will be destroyed. What they failed to mention is that almost half the animals that they take in NEVER MAKE IT TO THE ADOPTION FLOOR.

More of the REAL TRUTH to come....

14,500 Unnecessary Animal Deaths by AHS in Minnesota

Over 36,000 animals were taken into the Animal Humane Society of Minnesota and nearly half of them were destroyed. The AHS of Minnesota is a non-profit 501(c)3 and is now a collaborative of 5 agencies throughout the Twin Cities. A budget of an astonishing $11 million was collected by AHS from a number of sources none of which include government funding in 2007. They have also ventured into "for profit" business in the past year to raise even more money. The AHS needs to be restructured immediately and we are calling for the resignation of the CEO, Janelle Dixon and COO, Ray Aboyan. Under the direction of Janelle Dixon and Ray Aboyan, AHS destroyed over 14,500 animals for various reasons.

Please sign this petition to save animals from the Animal Humane Society of Minnesota and it's current administration.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/14500-unnecessary-deaths-by-ahs-in-minnesota

According to Janelle Dixon, CEO of AHS, the explanation of the more than 14,500 "humane deaths" by AHS included:
19% were owner requested
30% health of the animal
42% behavior/temperament (including animals that were just shy)
5% lack of space in the AHS for cats and other small animals
4% un-weaned babies with low survival rate.

Some simple math paints a troubling picture. If we remove from the total the 19% "owner requested" we are left with around 11,700 animals. We know from other publications that around 94% of the euthanized animals are dogs and cats. This means that around 11,200 cats and dogs were killed under the discretion of AHS reasons ranging from "un-weaned babies" (labor intensive), "health of the animal" (often very treatable illness), "behavior/temperament of the animal" (using very suspect criteria streamlined to pass only the most easily adoptable animals), and "lack of space in the AHS" (obviously relieved by working with rescues).

All of these numbers could be dramatically lowered or eliminated. Rescues and other groups throughout Minnesota could help these numbers decrease and save these special lives. AHS will not encourage this collaboration as they made over $2 million in revenue through their own adoptions and simply destroyed the other animals instead of making them available to rescues. The AHS of Minnesota has one of the highest kill rates of non-profit kill shelters in the US and still manages to try and defend their actions by saying they had to do it. The 5 Animal Humane Society branches in the Twin Cities run by CEO, Janelle Dixon, according to their own numbers, euthanized an average of over 30 animals every day for a year. There are rescues who are willing to take most, if not all, of the animals. They only sent 43 animals to rescues over an 8 month period last year and still claim to work with dozens of rescues. In 2007 AHS made over $11 million. They paid 157 full-time, 98 part-time employees, almost $6 million (more than half of what they made). They also had 1,550 volunteers that put in over 100,000 hours of volunteer time - and they still did NOT save the animals.

The AHS of Minnesota under current management is destroying far more animals than it should. The Board of Directors should be ashamed of this catastrophe. The animals deserve better and people that care need to help them. Please sign this petition asking for the resignation of the AHS CEO - Janelle Dixon and COO - Ray Aboyan. An immediate restructuring of the Animal Humane Society in Minnesota needs to take place if there is any hope of stopping their killing of vulnerable companion animals.

To speak directly to Janelle Dixon of AHS call her at 763-522-4325.

The people listed below are the Board of Directors of AHS; Ultimately, they are the people responsible for keeping AHS on a path of destruction.

Jeff AmentSmith Barney
445 E. Lake Street, Ste.
320Wayzata, MN 55391
(952) 475-4304 or (800) 433-0147

Emilie Buchwald
6808 Margaret's Ln
Edina, MN 55439
(952) 941-5993

Ed Clausman, DVM
Southdale Pet Hospital
3910 W 70th St
Minneapolis, MN 55435
(952) 926-1831

Barb Colombo, Esq.
Hamline University
1536 Hewitt Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55104
(651) 523-2800
bcolombo01@hamline.edu

Kerry D'Amato
502 Grand Hill
St. Paul, MN 55102-2613
(651) 222-6441

Lisa Goodman
Minneapolis City Council
350 S 5th Street, Room 307
Minneapolis, MN55415
(612) 673-2207
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/ward7/

Dean Hedstrom, VP Engineering
Aetrium, Inc.
2350 Helen Street North
St. Paul , MN 55109
(651) 770-2000
info@aetrium. com

Cyndi Lesher, President
Xcel Energy, Inc.
800 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55402
(800) 328-8226

Teresa Morrow, Senior VP
Bremer Financial Services
445 Minnesota Street, Ste. 2000
St. Paul, MN 55101-2135
(651) 227-7621

Ned Patterson, DVM
C39 Veterinary Medical Center
1352 Boyd Avenue
University of Minnesota
Saint Paul, MN 56345
patte037@umn.edu

Nicholas S. Pifer, CFA
RiverSource Investments
70100 Ameriprise Financial Center
Minneapolis, MN 55474
(800) 817-4647

Wayne Popham, Esq.
Popham Law Office
33 S. 6th Street, #4100
Minneapolis, MN 55402-3601
(612) 333-7680
wpopham@pophamlaw.net

Boyd Ratchye, Esq.
970 Wagon Wheel Trail
Mendota Heights, MN 55120-1316

Damon Schramm, Esq.
Lakes Entertainment, Inc.
130 Cheshire Lane
Minnetonka , MN 55305
dschramm@lakesentertainment.com
(952)449-7069

Kristi Skordahl, Esq.
Family Law Services
2139 Carroll Ave
St. Paul, MN 55104-5043
(651) 644-1443
Kristi@kristiskordahl.com

Robert Washabau, DVM
1352 Boyd Avenue
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Minnesota
Saint Paul, MN 55108

You can also contact the following board members
c/o Animal Humane Society
845 Meadow Lane N.
Golden Valley, MN 55422
(763) 522-4325
or email c/o Megan Pelka mpelka@amimalhumanesociety.org

Don Jacobsen
Sheila Kennedy
James Lane
Linda Lee
Walt McCarthy
Murphy McKee
Lia Melrose
Deborah Patterson
Carolyn Smith
Stephanie Swanson

You may also wish to contact the Humane Society's sponsors.
These are some of the sponsors of AHS that provide funds to help the killing continue:

Oreck http://www.oreck.com/
Links http://www.linksprintpromo.com/
Fetch Delivers http://www.fetchdelivers.com/
Advanced Carpet Restoration http://www.viewacr.com/
The One Hope Network - Purina http://www.onehope.org/Public/Default.aspx
The nonprofit James J. Hill Reference Library http://www.jjhill.org/
Sussner graphic design http://www.sussner.com/
The Dog Perk http://www.thedogperk.com/