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Subject: Another puppy died in a drain at BARC
To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
I received information that another puppy died in a drain at BARC recently (you can confirm with Celina Garza Ridge). As you may or may not remember, several people spoke to City Council back in 2005 regarding puppies at BARC being washed down drains. The Mayor is on camera saying that there need to be changes at BARC. Yet, here we are in 2009 and this is STILL happening. Not only that but disease is STILL rampant and inhumane treatment by employees is STILL common place.
How long do we have to wait before the city and BARC provides even the most basic and humane care for pets who have the misfortune of entering its shelter?
How long do we have to wait until you all step up and do what is right?
As I have said many times, we do NOT need yet another consultant or facilitator with absolutely NO track record for saving animals in shelters. What we need is someone who has a proven track record of transforming high kill, atrocious facilities, such as BARC, into no kill shelters. That person is Nathan Winograd. Instead of spending $200,000 on someone with no clue how to stop
killing animals, spend $25,000 and get one of the top experts in the country on this topic. For $25,000, Mr. Winograd could do a top to bottom, thorough assessment of BARC and give step by step guidance on transforming BARC. This is so common sense. Why do you continue to fight it?
Houston does not have to re-create the wheel. We can copy what other successful No Kill cities and counties are doing. But, you must hire people who know how to take us there.
BTW: If you think that we do not know about the good ol' boy/buddy deals struck with Mr. Fusco and others, you are mistaken. We do know and we are not happy. You should also know that all of the animal advocates in Houston have friends all over the State of Texas who are also animal advocates and who also vote. We will be making each and everyone of these people/groups are aware of Mayor White's "solutions" for BARC.
If you are as appalled about this waste of time and money as we are, PLEASE SPEAK UP TO YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER NOW. The Mayor has paid Mr. Fusco part of his fee, but city council has NOT yet voted to pay him the rest of the money. Council has to approve the rest of this expenditure. This contract will likely be on the agenda in the next two weeks. The new agendas are posted on the City of Houston web site on Friday.
Please email, write letters and CALL City Council Members. Please ask them to vote AGAINST Gerry Fusco's contract. We could get this voted down if enough noise is made. FYI: You can leave voice mail at night that they will have to pick up the next day.
Talking points are below if you need them:
* You are appalled that the city would spend $200,000 on yet ANOTHER consultant who has NO ANIMAL SHELTERING experience whatsoever.
* How can Fusco turn BARC around when he has no experience in the subject matter at all?
* How about investing in someone who actually does have experience in successfully turning high kill shelters such as BARC into No Kill shelters? They could hire Nathan Winograd for almost 1/10 of that amount and he actually HAS experience in successfully turning shelters like BARC around.
* Perhaps this is just another way to control what information gets out...just like MCV who said they were not allowed to say certain things in the meeting. This was obviously because of who was paying their tab.
* Some people have been trying to get a commitment from the city for just a few thousand dollars so that BARC could have an offsite adoption location in a high traffic retail space. Do you know how many locations that $200k would pay for? Do you know how many animals would get adopted if BARC had adoption sites in high traffic locations all over the city?
* Do you know how many spay/neuters $200k could pay for especially in impoverished areas like the Corridor of Cruelty?
* Do you know how much food, heartguard or other services $200k could buy that would help keep pets in their homes, instead of being dumped at a shelter? (a friend said she kept 12,000 animals out of her shelter in one year by offering these types of services and other advice).
* The MOST IMPORTANT element of a successful shelter is a compassionate, hard working bureau chief. The city needs to hire Bonnie Ford as the Bureau Chief and then wholeheartedly support her efforts at BARC.
*The city needs to remove BARC from the Dept of Health and Human Services. It should be its own a stand-alone department. The Health Dept has proven that it cannot run BARC effectively.
* And most importantly if they think that we are going to be quiet for the next 6 months while they spend $200k on this idea, they should think again. We will be speaking out about BARC and the city's failures right up until election day and beyond.
We must stand together and DEMAND change.
Contact City Council today.
Contact Info for City of Houston / BARC personnel