Note: below that they will not investigate the false reports sent to the County by APS Humane Society's role Chapel Hill Herald Tuesday, April 01, 2003 The Humane Society of the United States will be conducting an evaluation of the animal services provided to Orange County, at the request of the county and Animal Protection Society of Orange County. The visit of our Animal Services Consultation team is scheduled for April 24-25, and we would like to thank citizens of Orange County for providing public comment about the services provided for animals and citizens through APS ["Written comments sought on animal shelter," March 16]. We have received public inquiries that reflect some confusion about the scope of this evaluation. Our goal is to thoroughly examine services to find ways to improve services for the community now and into the future. The HSUS does not investigate allegations into past incidents as part of the consultation. The HSUS team is composed of practicing animal services professionals, with expertise in the fields of animal care and control, management, field services, public relations and more. As part of the public comment period, the HSUS welcomes any and all data or documents to help us better understand the situation and ultimately allow us to make recommendations. Results of the independently conducted focus groups also will be made available to the HSUS team. The HSUS applauds all animal care and control agencies that request such an evaluation. It is a great benefit to have experts from the industry provide recommendations, advice and suggestions on improving service, animal care and outreach. Kate Pullen Director, Animal Sheltering Issues The Humane Society of the United States Washington, DC ________________________________________________ Animal protection officials: No illegal action By Geoffrey Graybeal, The Herald-Sun April 2, 2003 12:02 am HILLSBOROUGH -- A dispute over the Animal Protection Society's operation of the county animal shelter carried over to the County Commissioners' meeting Tuesday night as APS officials rebutted allegations they'd acted illegally. In a lawsuit filed in February, retired UNC professor Elliot Cramer and activist Judith Reitman said the APS had refused to disclose documents, stripped members of their voting rights and blocked members' attempts to nominate people to serve on the APS board. "The allegations are false," and "simply not true," said Ann Peterson, chairwoman of the APS personnel committee that hired executive director Laura Walters. Cramer, Reitman and several others have been sharply critical of APS management and of Walters in particular. "She is an extraordinarily energetic, competent person," Peterson said of Walters. "I personally believe she has done an excellent job." Responding to the criticism, the commissioners agreed in November to hire an independent group, the Humane Society of the United States, to study the shelter and its management. The assessment won't be complete until the summer. "If this evaluation is allowed to play out without intervention it will be money well spent," said Pat Beyle, president of the APS board of directors. Beyle said the APS would file its answer to the lawsuit by April 26. She also gave the commissioners the results of surveys the APS has conducted of shelter users over the past nine months. Commissioner Moses Carey and Commissioners Chairwoman Margaret Brown asked how the surveys were done. "They weren't siphoned out," Beyle said. "This is everything we've got back." Kendall Page, who was elected to the APS board last fall, said Cramer and Reitman interfered with the shelter's daily operations and that their "negative energy" was harmful. Judge Chuck Anderson, who volunteers at the shelter, said the shelter employees impressed him. "There is a remarkably dedicated and committed staff there," he said. Anderson said the current debate is beginning to harm staff morale and public perception as well as distract APS workers from doing their jobs. He encouraged the parties involved to take the matter to the Orange County Dispute Settlement Center. ________________________________________________ APS problems caused by poor management Chapel Hill Herald Wednesday, April 02, 2003 I am an acute care nurse practitioner with 22 years of experience in critical care medicine and disease management. I am an animal advocate and have frequently adopted abandoned and sheltered animals, providing medical care and love. Until Dec. 1, I knew nothing about the problems at APS; my experience in fostering "Vinny" led to my Feb. 11 guest editorial ["Better disease management needed at APS"]. Nicole Carper's March 16 guest editorial ["Accusations against APS are unfounded] is inaccurate as she states APS policy, not practice, theory, not facts, and distortions as truth. Every word in my editorial is true and documented on www.ourpaws.org. A reputation of disseminating contagious diseases can ruin a shelter, leading to declining adoptions and increased euthanasia. My intent was to stimulate APS into ensuring strict adherence to effective disease management protocols, not to hurt anyone. Instead it produced defensiveness and personal attacks. Carper states, "When parvo darkens our doors ... contaminated areas are shut down for 72 hours and all neighboring animals are isolated and revaccinated." My sick puppy was kept in the staff bathroom and exposed many foster animals at the front desk. Did they close these areas for 72 hours? It doesn't matter, as parvo's incubation period is 10 to 14 days; therefore their policy is futile. Did they recall all the foster canines for revaccination? No. Carper states, "All animals are vaccinated within 24 hours of admittance." This statement indicates that the shelter manager is out of touch with APS practice. Dr. Elliot Cramer has copies of September's vaccination records: Few were vaccinated within two days; some were not vaccinated at all. After two months, Vinny should have been fully vaccinated and unlikely to contract parvo. However, no vaccination record exists and my situation is not unique. Carper states, "Does Glotzer suggest that we simply euthanize every animal with a runny nose?" Absolutely not; they should be treated with antibiotics and isolated. Staff told me the sick kitten I fostered had not eaten for days and was untreated. We spent $200 on him, and more than $1,500 saving Vinny's life while APS would have euthanized him. Yes, Ms. Carper, I have Vinny and I have the receipts. I believe that most APS problems are due to poor disease management; nothing is more important than prompt vaccinations. One diseased animal can infect an entire shelter. If the APS board would insist on proper disease prevention, this could be a win/win situation, and Orange County could again be the state's best shelter. Jana Glotzer Chapel Hill ________________________________________________ Note: We just wan't have any axes; we just want the animals and APS members treated properly. The Chapel Hill News April 9, 2003 Letters to the Editor - Part 3 Criticism of APS has been unjust I write as a concerned regular member of the Animal Protection Society, the father of an animal-loving son who actively volunteered at APS last summer, and an association professional who knows quite a lot about not-for-profit organizations and how they operate. In my view, APS has been unjustly criticized by individuals, each with their own special ax to grind: a family friend of the former staff veterinarian who tried and failed to redefine the mission of APS and whose contract was not renewed; a self-described "investigative journalist" who was not allowed to adopt a dog from APS that was found to be unsuitable for adoption; and a former executive director of APS who left the organization reluc- tantly, according to press reports of the time. Those who know APS and its recent work believe the Human Society of the United States will determine that the APS is heading in the right directions, with a competent staff and reasonable procedures in place. I encourage all of your readers who care about animals to visit APS this month. They will learn first-hand about the loving, professional way APS staff and volunteers care for the Community's abandoned pets and help them find appropriate new homes. We need to encourage, not tear down, organizations like APS that serve our Community so well. Chris Bates Chapel Hill ________________________________________________ APS continues negativity Chapel Hill Herald Saturday, April 12, 2003 Unable to counter critics' documentation with facts, the Animal Protection Society continues to vilify veterinarians, animal rights attorneys, UNC faculty, journalists and animal lovers who are showing cause why APS must be reformed. Alas, the last resort of scoundrels is to make ad hominem attacks against truth tell- ers. APS's defamatory campaign is a transparent attempt to divert public attention from the core issues: continued mismanagement that costs animal lives and violation of state law, which prev- ents APS members from participating in decision-making. Mean- while, animals continue to receive substandard care at the shelt- er, which fails to make even rudimentary efforts at disease prevention. For instance, vaccinating animals on intake is a basic disease management tool at shelters, according to the Humane Society of the United States. APS's shelter manager publicly stated that animals are vaccinated "within 24 hours" of intake. This is not true. APS's own records indicate that animals are vaccinated anywhere from six to 63 days after admission. Some are not vaccinated at all! The cost of caring for predictably sick ani- mals is foisted on adopters. The community has made it clear that it wants a responsible animal shelter that places animal welfare over politics. It is now evident that APS cannot take that higher road. It continues to run a slipshod shelter, defy public scrutiny and undermine community trust. We ask county residents to urge the BOC to hire an ethical, highly competent shelter manager to ensure that the shelter will maintain an open door, open records and open-heart policy toward animals and our community. Judith Reitman Chapel Hill ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Note on letter below. The APS response to the documentation that they are not vaccinating animals in a timely manner is to trot out volunteers to lie for them. As indicated below APS no longer posts vaccination and other information about animals on cage cards due to "animals occasionally sabotaging their own cards"!!!!. Since neither the public nor employees will be able to see that animals are vaccinated, even MORE unvaccinated animals will be foisted on a trusting public and disease problems at the shelter will be even worse. ________________________________________________________________ Note: Unfortunately she is out of touch with reality. The records submitted to the County show the contrary. APS records complete Chapel Hill Herald Sunday, April 20, 2003 I am concerned that the impression has been given that APS medical records indicate a failure to provide timely vaccinations for incoming pets. I have worked at the shelter since 1991. I have volunteered here since 1988. Until recently, shot records have been displayed on an animal's cage card. Due to complications arising from such scenarios as animals being out of the shelter in foster care and animals occasionally sabotaging their own cards (!), and due to the logistics of recording everything in two places, it was decided that full and permanent medical records would be maintained only on an animal's health sheet. A copy of this health sheet is then passed on to any adopter. In other words, animals are being vaccinated, as or when appropriate, and these records are safely attached to their log sheets, a simple one-step procedure. Zandra Talbert Chapel Hill ________________________________________________ DESPERATION AT APS It's taken them 60 days to decide that they have no response to our lawsuit and they now claim that we have made slanderous and damaging statements about APS. Of course we have made damaging statements and they are all true. ----- APS files lawsuit against 2 critics By Rob Shapard, The Herald-Sun April 26, 2003 7:13 pm CHAPEL HILL -- Targeted by a lawsuit earlier this year, the Animal Protection Society of Orange County has responded with a counterclaim against the two vocal critics who filed the lawsuit. The response from the APS contends that Elliot Cramer and Judith Reitman have made slanderous and damaging statements about the society on several occasions since last year, both in spoken comments in public meetings and in written comments. Cramer and Reitman could not be reached for comment on Saturday. Cramer, a retired UNC professor, and Reitman, an author and activist, have criticized the APS harshly for what they describe as major problems with how the APS operates the animal shelter on Airport Road in Chapel Hill. Orange County owns the shelter, but the county contracts with APS to run it, paying the society about $429,000 in the current fiscal year. The areas of their criticism have ranged from the disease-preven- tion measures at the shelter to the society's record keeping, and their wrath has in large measure been aimed at APS Executive Director Laura Walters, although Cramer and Reitman have sharply criticized the APS board as well. They've described some of the society's actions as fraudulent and criminal. And Cramer and Reitman have succeeded in getting the Orange County Commissioners to hire the Humane Society of the United States to study the APS' operation of the shelter. Cramer, who has been legally barred from the animal shelter, and Reitman led the creation earlier this year of the Piedmont Animal Welfare Society, based in Chatham County -_ where Cramer lives _- and intended as an animal watchdog group. In February, the two critics and PAWS filed a lawsuit against the APS in Orange County Superior Court, accusing the society of actions like refusing to hand over minutes from board meetings, membership lists and financial records, and improperly changing the group's bylaws. Their suit asked the court to set a jury trial and take actions such as declaring APS' actions unlawful, forcing the group to release information, ordering a new election of board members and awarding more than $10,000 in damages. Cramer and Reitman have been collecting documents related to the issue for many months, and the APS apparently has done so as well, considering it included about 20 pages of exhibits along with the counterclaim that the society filed in Hillsborough on Friday. It appears that one of the few points of agreement between the critics and the APS is that they both would like to make their case to a jury. The APS asked for a jury trial in its filing, as did Cramer and Reitman. The society also asked that no money be awarded to Cramer, Reit- man and PAWS, and that their complaints be dismissed. The APS also argued that it should be awarded compensatory damages of more than $10,000, as well as punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury. The APS' response denies the key accusations by the two critics, and it claims in part that both Cramer and Reitman have made "false, defamatory, slanderous and libelous statements" about Walters and the society. "Beginning in August, 2002 and continuing to this date, both individually and acting in concert together, pursuant to their own selfish, reckless and malicious motives, Plaintiffs Cramer and Reitman have undertaken, agreed, conspired and acted to undermine and destroy the contractual relationship existing between Defendant APS and the County and to subject [the APS] to ridicule, public hatred, contempt and disgrace by damaging its business and professional reputation in the community and busi- ness goodwill," the society claimed. Choosing her words carefully, Walters said Saturday afternoon that it was a "shame" the situation had reached this point. "It's a real shame that we were forced into this position, and we have to spend our time and money on litigation, when time and money could be better spent on helping the animals," Walters said. "We have been advised by our attorney that this was the only appropriate remedy that we could take to prevent Reitman and Cramer from further spreading false information about APS." ________________________________________________ The Chapel Hill News April 27, 2003 Letters to the Editor Explain controversy to starving babies As spring is upon us and wildlife babies abound, I'm wondering what has become of the APS wildlife center. As so often in the past, I was able to rush abandoned babies and injured animals to the center where Dr. Bobby Schopler and his staff were ready to respond. This season, I am at the mercy of area veterinarians who help where they can, but who do not have the facilities or the license to perform wildlife rescue. I stayed out of the fray last year when Schopler was dismissed. Often there are differences of opinion and personality conflicts, although my only experience of Schopler and his staff was care and compassion. In moments of terror while rescuing an injured little one, I took comfort in knowing that this competent and compassionate staff was there and ready to respond. The APS has the facility, they have the means, but they provide no wildlife center. Disputes and personality conflicts cannot be explained to a starving baby bird or a bleeding turtle. They deserve better leadership and promises kept. So do we. Terry Dorsey Chapel Hill ________________________________________________ Unpublished Letter to the Editor April 29, 2003 For almost a year the public has expressed serious concerns about the APS operation of the Orange County Animal Shelter. Residents have complained about APS's treatment of animals and unhealthy conditions at the tax-payer financed shelter. Vaccination of animals is delayed for days or completely omitted. APS adopts out diseased animals and misrepresent their breeds. The Execu- tive Director has been criticized by law enforcers for "border- line cruelty to animals". All this is in the public record. APS, a public charity, is mismanaging its finances. It's 2001- 2002 IRS filing is six months late while a last minute hand- written State filing erroneously claims $223,787 profit instead of a deficit of over $300,000. We can only guess at the deficit for the current year due to extravagance and wastage. Our sole concern is the welfare of the animals, unlike the APS Board members who have their own agendas. A long-time APS Board member, one of four who has resigned since February writes: "I find it impossible to continue to serve with the current lead- ership of the Board and of the Shelter who are more interested in their own agendas than they are in the animals and the organiza- tion." "Board meetings are conducted in an atmosphere of distrust, con- tention and at times mendacity rather than one of cooperation, compromise and honesty. ... Walters has complete autonomy in operating the Shelter and is not held accountable for anything by the Board. In fact the Board has little understanding of the financial records ... Whatever Walters tells them is accepted with little or no questioning." I sought nomination to the APS Board last October because of these concerns but was immediately impeded by actions of the APS Board and Executive Director. Because of this the Piedmont Animal Welfare Society sued APS charging violation of state law in removing voting rights from members and refusing access to financial and other records. Instead of responding to the law- suit, APS has focused on other issues, falsely accusing us of slander and libel. In fact APS has slandered us in their news- letter, on their web site, and in statements to the press. We have not pursued legal action with regard to this because we believe in freedom of speech. We would like to see APS respond with the truth, rather than charges of slander. We would like to see APS run by a competent Executive Director and a responsible and ethical Board. Elliot M. Cramer ________________________________________________ Chapel Hill News April 30, 2003 APS files suit against critics The suit charges that two critics who legally challenged the animal society's voting policies have subjected APS to 'ridicule, public hatred, contempt and disgrace.' By KATHLEEN HUNTER, STAFF WRITER CHAPEL HILL In the next act of what has become a dramatic back-and-forth between representatives of the Animal Protection Society of Orange County and two vocal critics of the group, APS lawyers have filed a counterclaim to a lawsuit brought against the organization in Orange County Superior Court. The original suit, brought in February by Elliot Cramer and Judith Reitman, alleges that APS illegally refused to disclose information and records, removed members voting rights and obstructed members efforts to nominate candidates to the APS board of directors. The counterclaim contends that Cramer, Reitman and the Piedmont Animal Welfare Society a nonprofit organization started by Cramer and Reitman have defamed APSs reputation. Beginning in August 2002, and continuing to this date, both individually and acting in concert together, pursuant to their own selfish, reckless and malicious motives, plaintiffs Cramer, Reitman and PAWS have undertaken, agreed and acted in concert to undermine and destroy the contractual relationship existing between defendant APS and the county and to subject defendant APS to ridicule, public hatred, contempt and disgrace by damaging its business and professional reputation in the community and business goodwill, the counterclaim states. The document also answers the allegations made in the original lawsuit, offering explanations for some of the claims and flat-out denying others. The APS attorney, Ron Merritt, declined to comment on the issue, saying it is his policy not to comment on his clients pending litigation. In a written response to the counterclaim, Cramer restated his allegations against the APS and accused the group of skirting the accusations made against it. Instead of responding to the lawsuit, APS has focused on other issues, falsely accusing us of slander and libel, Cramer wrote in the statement. In fact, APS has slandered us in their news letter, on their Web site and in statements to the press. We have not pursued legal action with regard to this because we believe in freedom of speech. The counterclaim requests that Cramer and Reitman pay the APS compensatory damages in excess of $10,000. The counterclaim also requests that Cramer and Reitman pay punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury. The original lawsuit makes its own set of requests. The lawsuit by Cramer and Reitman asks that APS be required to void the results of the December board election and hold a new one, nullify the voting-rights amendment, disclose the requested information and tape all future board meetings. In addition, it asks the court to declare APSs actions illegal, award damages in excess of $10,000, pay costs and attorneys fees, and pay for the cost of contracting with the Orange County Dispute Settlement Center to oversee a new board election. The legal grappling is just the latest step in a long-running series of disputes over APS. The organization found itself embroiled in controversy last summer after a widely publicized break with former APS veterinarian Bobby Schopler. In the months since, Cramer, Reitman and others have been sharply critical of the APS adoption practices, disease control, record-keeping, management and other issues. In response to the complaints, Orange County last November decided to contract with the Humane Society of the United States to conduct an examination of the organization. The county contracts with APS to run the Orange County Animal Shelter. Results of that inquiry are expected this summer. ________________________________________________ Comment: Susan Caldwell says below "Don't abandon the animals". Unfortunately, giving money to APS is like throwing money down a rathole. As has been reported, it supports expensive trips for Laura Walters and her cohorts, refurnishing her office etc, while APS has been running a deficit due to mismanagement. The County is supporting the shelter to the tune of $420,000 including $186,000 of administrative salaries allocated to the Shelter. Does Laura Walters do nothing else??? The APS 2002-2003 income tax report was supposed to be available in May, over six months late. They reported a profit of $223,787 to the State Charitable Solicitations office in a hand-written statement, one week before it was due. OOPS; it was a loss. Never could keep track of those minus signs. It's even worse; they appear to have failed to account for about $90,000 in depreciation. I think your money could be better spent supporting Piedmont Wildlife (see letters below that follow.) ----------