On January 14th, Lorraine Swanson, a writer with the Oak Lawn Patch published an article containing a number of inaccuracies. Fanning Communications contacted Lorraine and asked for corrections. While we noticed that the article has been removed from the original Patch website, we also noted that the Patch article has remained on their Facebook page and on other sites where users shared the original story. We attempted to post a comment to the article on the Patch Facebook page correcting their inaccuracies, and our comment was promptly removed and hidden from public view.
Because the inaccuracies and fabrications within the story are egregious and the author of the Patch article is apparently determined to keep the truth from its readers, as demonstrated by the unwillingness to issue a retraction, corrections or any apology to both AWL and Patch readers, we feel compelled to post the following corrections in order to bring the truth to light and to set the record straight.
In the Patch article, it was reported that state and/or federal DEA agents raided the AWL clinic in Chicago Ridge after $17,000 worth of Tramadol was stolen.
This assertion is completely and utterly false. At no time was any Tramadol ever stolen from the AWL clinic, nor was there ever a raid by federal, state or local law enforcement at any AWL facility. There was a reported theft of some HeartGard® medication (a Heartworm disease preventative) from the AWL shelter in Chicago Ridge. That theft was reported by AWL staff to the Chicago Ridge Police. They undertook the investigation into this crime and no federal agency, to the best of our knowledge, has ever entered into that case. Also, for the record, there has never been a raid by any agency from the federal, state or local level upon any Animal Welfare League facility. Records have never been seized, equipment has never been seized, people have never been interrogated or held in any manner for questioning. Assertions to the contrary are simply untrue. As a matter of routine, unannounced inspections of the facility are periodically made by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, but that is a routine occurrence experienced by all shelters as part of their licensing agreements with the state.
The Patch story also stated that employees and volunteers, both past and current, say they were required to sign non-disclosure agreements under threat of legal action. This is also not true. The Animal Welfare League does not currently, nor has it ever required nondisclosure agreements from any employee or volunteer. The Animal Welfare League does have a social media policy of which every employee and volunteer is made aware and to which they must agree. Social media policies are common and current best practice dictates that every business should have a social media policy.
The purpose for AWL using a social media policy is clearly explained within the policy given to each employee and volunteer. It reads as follows:
Purpose: AWL is unique in its mission to help animals, in that we take any animal, at any time, from any circumstance. That necessarily means that not every animal can or will be adopted. Unfortunately, many animal lovers are offended by the practice of euthanasia, because they want every animal to get a loving home. While AWL would be thrilled to have this ideal world exist, our mission is to minimize pain and suffering for all animals, not just finding homes for some while leaving countless others to pain, suffering, and death.
Due to the high emotions that arise around the issues of animal care, cruelty, overpopulation, and euthanasia, AWL is incredibly vulnerable to hateful, threatening attacks on the Internet and through social media. AWL fully recognizes that its employees and volunteers are free to communicate in their off-time about matters not related to AWL. However, the purpose of this policy is to prohibit all unapproved communications about AWL by employees and volunteers, as that exposes AWL, its people, and the animals that we are trying to help and protect, to danger, violence, threats, and false statements about AWL.
It’s somewhat ironic that these two paragraphs seem to relate directly toward much of what is transpiring in the protests that sometimes occur at the AWL Chicago Ridge facility.
The concept of “no-kill” as it pertains to animal shelters is, for the most part, a lie. Ask any shelter or rescue anywhere in the world that proclaims itself to be “no-kill” what restrictions they place upon animals they accept into their facility and what they do with their sick and injured animals? These are very simple questions that open the door to the ugly truth about many of these shelters. Any shelter or rescue that has no restrictions on the animals it takes into its facility will soon be overwhelmed both financially and logistically. According to ASPCA approximately 6.5 million animals enter shelters nationwide each year. Despite efforts to educate the public, today only 23% of dogs and 31% of cats are obtained from those same animal shelter or humane societies. With the demand for cages consistently increasing above the demand for adoptions, no shelter or humane society can possibly operate without restricting and/or managing the animals they accept.
The cost of sheltering a single dog or cat at the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge is approximately $105.00 per day. This cost does not include any veterinary services, it includes only food, 24-hour monitoring, cleaning, grooming, exercise, adoption service, shelter and overhead (insurance, utilities, licenses, taxes, rents etc.). Assuming that every sheltered dog and cat receives the same high quality of care and sheltering provided by AWL (which they don’t), the nationwide cost of sheltering just the new animals taken in each year would be well over $675 million per day! To avoid argument about the cost nationally of sheltering animals, let us assume a cost of just $50 per day for an animal to be sheltered nationally. Even with this lower figure, the total national cost would still amount to approximately $325 million per day!
According to Giving USA, in 2014 Americans donated approximately $10.5 billion to Animals and Environmental organizations. That sum – if directed solely to the care of animals – would fall short by over $108 billion in covering the annual cost of providing shelter for just the new intake of animals brought to shelters in a single year.
While the concept of “no-kill” clearly appeals to an audience that wants to believe that “no-kill” is real and viable, it simply is not. So-called “no-kill” shelters and rescues siphon away millions of dollars in donations from legitimate shelters and rescues by perpetuating this no-kill myth, while in reality, all they do is pass the dirty work of euthanasia on to the very shelters and rescues they publicly vilify. What is worse is that by perpetuating this no-kill lie, they direct donations away from the very shelters they rely upon to do their dirty work, inflicting unnecessary pain and suffering on those stray and abandoned animals that are most in need of care and sheltering.
According to the ASPCA, approximately 1.5 million animals are euthanized in shelters each year in the United States. This number does not include animals euthanized at veterinarian clinics or directly by their owners. This number, though appalling, is significantly less than the 20 million euthanized each year in the 1970’s. A decrease attributed to public education and spay and neutering programs put into place throughout the US by responsible shelters and rescues like AWL who spays and neuters every dog adopted at its facilities and offers reduced prices on spaying and neutering depending upon the owners financial needs.
No one would like to see the idea of no-kill animal shelters realized more than those shelters who are forced to undertake the dreaded and heartbreaking task of euthanizing animals. While America has made strong gains towards achieving this goal, it has a long way yet to go. AWL is not in the business of selling animals it is in the business of saving them. And for that reason, AWL will never lie or attempt to deceive the public by promising that which it is not capable of providing. While AWL and other clinical animal shelters throughout the U.S. work hard to achieve the goal of euthanizing solely for terminal injury and disease reasons, no shelter has currently reached that point and it is wrong for people to try to convince you otherwise in order to take your money.
AWL is often victimized on social media by pedantic personalities and no-kill actors because it refuses to go along with any form of public deception. AWL turns no animal away from its doors. It never has and it never will. No-kill shelters turn them away all the time. They are forced to because if they don’t, their cages would quickly overflow with unpopular, unadopted animals. Animals that simply are beyond saving because of injury or disease would be made to suffer in agony until they die — making that shelter and the people behind it openly and incontrovertibly inhumane.
No-kill shelters and rescues cull only healthy, adoptable dogs from the strays and abandoned pets brought to other shelters or directly to them. Following AWL’s decision not to renew its contract with Cook County Animal Control, these shelters and rescues are becoming exposed for what they truly are, by turning animals away that are brought to them by the county and various municipalities. Publicly they claim that their cages are full, but that isn’t the truth. The truth is that they will not take sick, injured and elderly animals or unpopular breeds that they cannot quickly turn over for profit.
The protestors who occasionally show up outside of the AWL facility in Chicago Ridge state the reasons for their being there as:
- AWL does not work with other rescues, and therefore the board should be replaced.
- Animals at AWL are being mistreated and/or the facility is unsanitary.
- AWL is unfair to employees and volunteers.
The first assertion is simply a lie. AWL works with reputable rescue groups that have been properly licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. It does not work with unlicensed groups or individuals who refuse to comply with simple, but necessary adoption procedures.
As for AWL being unsanitary, the Illinois State Agricultural Department has conducted unannounced inspections of the facility on numerous occasions and has never found any notable violations. AWL is a facility that accepts every animal that is brought to its doors. It also offers low-cost veterinarian services to people of modest and low income who otherwise would not be able to care for their pets. It is a hardworking, incredibly busy facility. If you happen to be someone expecting wall-to-wall carpet and piped-in music like you might get at one of the plush vet clinics in the towns surrounding AWL, then you are going to be disappointed. Every day the clinic is open, thirty to fifty people are there with their pets, waiting, sometimes hours, for one of the busy vets to assist them. Sometimes pets are brought to the clinic in critical condition. At times like that, you may see blood on the floors, but only compassion in their hearts. AWL puts animals first and sometimes people don’t like being put second to the needs of animals. You can find those people on the pages of Yelp and Facebook, making up stories of how horrible they were treated or spouting other nonsense. At AWL, animals will always come first, and those who cannot abide that fact can stand outside their doors, hoot, holler, and make up all the lies they want.
As for AWL being unfair to employees and volunteers, they do recognize that there are a number of disgruntled employees who show up outside their doors hoping to somehow come back to work there. Why these people would show up, complain to everyone about how bad it was working at AWL yet still want to go back to work there is a question. When asked, the typically coached response is because they care about the animals. But if that were true, they would be taking care of animals now. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of stray and abandoned animals, so what is stopping them from acquiring jobs or volunteering at other shelters or rescues?
Recently, under new leadership, AWL changed its management structure and the way it runs its day-to-day operations. Unfortunately, some individuals may have had difficulty in accepting those changes, and some individuals simply could not be accommodated through these changes and with new scheduling. While everyone at AWL wishes these people the best of luck in their future endeavors, the idea that AWL or any organization should be run solely for the benefit of employees and volunteers, as espoused by some critics, is wholly rejected. As has been said, AWL is run exclusively for the benefit of the animals it takes under its care. If people are unwilling or unable to accommodate the needs of the animals that they care for, then AWL is not in need of their services as employees or as volunteers. AWL does not feel that its position in this regard is harsh, nor is it unfair. Putting animals first is the way AWL has always been, and the way they will always be. People who cannot accept that fact are welcome to join with the pack outside their doors making up stories to further their own aims.
This does not however, include those people who claim to represent the press. Those people should and will be held to higher standards and disseminating false information, attributed to dubious and non existent sources will not and can not be tolerated.
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