She has suspended the dog volunteer program at the shelter. That means that dogs are not being walked, socialized, their cages are not being cleaned (except once a day in the early morning by staff), and they are not being bathed. They are left confined to their cages 24-HOURS A DAY, something that is highly detrimental to their health, well-being and drastically reduces their chances of being adopted. In an attempt to deflect public criticism, the shelter manager may attempt to have staff let dogs out in a back run area but this is not a sustainable solution with her small staff and, they can't manage to walk dogs, socialize them, work with adopters and do the many things that volunteers do and that are required to maintain a successful adoption program.
In addition, she has decided that animals cannot be listed on any other website but virtualpetadoptions.com. So, sites like Petfinder.com which is one of the largest if not the largest animal adoption site in the nation, is used by EVERY shelter and rescue group and has partnered with Animal Planet and is advertised on their TV station, cannot be used. Neither can breed specific rescue site like German Shepherd rescue. Using breed specific sites is important because someone looking for a certain kind of dog will often go to these sites. The shelter has been using multiple sites for years and now, all of the sudden and for no reason, none are allowed but Virtual Pet Adoptions. Since we are a small, out of the way shelter, a large number of our adoptions occur because the animals are found on the internet. Going from using several sites to just one will again, reduce adoption rates.
The Alameda Animal shelter has drastically reduced its euthanasia rate over the last several years and these new rule changes virtually guarantee that all the strides that have been made will be reversed.
Please let the shelter and city of Alameda know that Alamedans and bay area residents want an animal shelter that is looking out for the best interest of the animals in their care. Not one that puts politics above animal welfare.
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