So Best Friends said this, in the recent backlash they are getting over Oreo’s Law:
>>In 2007, Best Friends rescued a failed and dilapidated Pets Alive sanctuary by investing over a million dollars and 8 months of a rotating cadre of Best Friends staff to get the organization back on its feet. Best Friends has spent millions of dollars and countless hours of staff and volunteer time in the past few years bailing out or cleaning up after 501c3s and rescues that have gotten in over their head with animals they can’t handle. These include Pets Alive, Gabbs, Nevada, FLOCK in Las Vegas, Oasis Sanctuary in New York….
…In fact, a number of dogs from Pets Alive, to whom the current management did not feel they could do justice, and who had languished there in squalid conditions prior to our intervention in 2007, were taken in at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.<<
Yes, Best Friends, this is true. Well MOST of it. It wasn’t a million dollars you spent here. We know, because we got the bill from you that your past CEO, Paul Berry eventually waived, when he saw how great we were doing and how we would become a force for animals in this area. That bill, before it was waived, was just under $500,000. A minor point, but please, no need to inflate it. Let’s stick to the facts here. We have not bad mouthed you or beaten you up – in fact when people were saying they were going to withdraw support from you, we said “DON’T DO THAT”! We have stressed how we disagree with your opinion on being neutral about this and how critical we needed your support on this bill. That’s it. Others have run with it and it has gone viral but to attack us isn’t really necessary. We didn’t…we COULD. Remember all the things that happened in those eight months? Ouch. We all know each others secrets, don’t we? Secrets that are better left between us, yes?
WE – Pets Alive – don’t really have any secrets. Our bad history has been all over the web (and we include it on our website). In fact, we make no secret about it at all – I am the one that called you when I saw Pets Alive, and how bad it was. I was the one that personally begged you to come down and save all the animals. WE, the people here now, are NOT the people that were here THEN when the situation was so bad. YOU put us here, YOU trained us, WE are YOU. We follow all your protocols, and all your job descriptions and indeed use YOUR adoption contract, and YOUR surrender forms, and your hiring methods – we are you. We are what you trained us to be. And you trained us to always be on the side of animals and speak out and help where we see wrong.
That is what we have done here…when we tried to save Oreo. When we try to save animals from other shelters that will kill them, if there is any way that we can help.
But most of all…we do what you asked us to do. What your former CEO’s (Michael Mountain and Paul Berry) asked us to do when they left. They said “We will absolve your debt to us. Instead pay it forward. Help other rescues like we helped you. Help animals. Be the GOOD in the world. Be the change. Do what you can to make things better for animals in your neck of the woods.”
I get up every single day with that intent, and that goal, and I take that promise that we made to you very seriously. We have done that. We did what you asked. Let me give you a little summary.
- We have helped make FOUR shelters no-kill. We take in their over-flow, we help them develop programs, we help them by inviting them to our adoption events, or putting their animals on our petfinder or by directing our people to them. How many animals have they now saved as a result? How many less have died as a result of what happened with Pets Alive? We ask them what you asked of us – Pay it Forward. Help others. And they do. How many more will THEY then help and so on? So was your dropping half a mil here a waste? Do you regret it? Let’s look….
- We have adopted out over 1000 animals from our own site every year since you left. That is over 2300 animals right from here. 2300 that have lived as a result of us being here.
- We have saved countless numbers of others by putting them in touch with OUR adopters when we don’t have a dog or cat to match what they are looking for – we help them find that animal in a local (or even NON local) shelter and help facilitate getting that animal to them. Those numbers are not counted, but they are there and they DO count.
- We have become the resource for new shelters starting out. This “dilapidated place” as you call us?… well, other shelter directors and managers come here in DROVES every year to take a tour, ask us questions, learn from us and brain storm with us. We ask them to go and help animals, and call us no matter what they need. And we are always there for them – late at night, early in the morning with advice, sharing our resources, helping however we can.
- We started a Humane Education program. We teach kids about empathy and about how animals feel and what THEY need to do to BE THE CHANGE in their generation. Teach them to go forth and speak up if the see animal cruelty or lack of animal care. And those kids – they are our next generation to try to make a difference.
- We have gone in and done mass rescues. The most recent in West Virginia where we saved 78 animals from a bad situation, brought them here, worked with a dozen other rescues and shelters to place them, get them into good homes and get them vetted and cared for. It was a massive undertaking for a small organization like us.
- We started a foster program- moving seniors and hard to place dogs into foster care to help them become more adoptable….we’re in the wee stages but so far it has been very successful.
- We allow kids to come and volunteer here. Something almost no other organization allows. Little children are here every week, playing with animals, walking them or just sitting and talking to them. We have helped families reconnect and teach their children about charity and love.
- We take in animals that have no other place to go – the ones that need surgeries, or have issues, the ones that no other place will touch and we get them here and we fix them up and we find them homes. if not then we provide a great quality of life for them here.
- We take surrender requests and we put those people in touch with our trainers to try to show them that they can keep the animals there in the home with them and they can work on the problems rather than giving up the dogs or cats.
- We have provided boarding or animals for other shelters when they had over flow, or for military having to go overseas.
- We are building and raising money for a medical building. When done, it won’t just be for US. We plan to offer to EVERY no-kill shelter in the area, or ones trying to be, the use of our facility. They will pay ONLY our cost for any treatment that any of their animals need. We will help other rescues and shelters save money to help develop programs and other ways to help their animals find homes, so that medical costs do not need to stand in the way.
- The medical facility will also offer low or no cost spay/neuter and inexpensive basic medical care to the community residents.
- We have bailed out another rescue – one that is three times the size of us – because they are no-kill, and because to lose them in the community that they are in would be devastating to animals. This was a huge undertaking and frightening for us but it looks like we may just pull that off. Then there is another facility – this one that can house 300 dogs and 200 cats that would otherwise be dead. We paid that forward and we’re still struggling there – don’t suppose you’d like to help?
So Best Friends. When you belittle us and accuse us of not being grateful…what more could you have asked for?
What more could any mentor have asked for, than what we have become?
And when we came to you with a plan to save thousands upon thousands of animals- your only answer is to refuse because you don’t think everyone is being nice enough to each other?
You have broken my spirit.
Broken it.
I had total faith and total belief in you. You were the leader, my mentor, the place that I put all my faith and trust in, and all my belief that things CAN be better that things WILL be better.
You are wrong on this issue and instead of stepping forward and contacting us to try to work it out for January, you instead malign us on your website. I’m so saddened by this. I still believed that you would step up. Right up until today’s post…I still held out. Ask Matt, ask Nathan, ask anyone. They have been telling me that you have gone to the dark side and I said no way….wait and see they will do the right thing. I am so sorry to be wrong. I am deeply broken over this.
I wish, more than you could know, that you were by our side.
I get it though now. I finally get it.
We could have done GREAT things in New York together.
WE – Pets Alive – still will.
Read John Sibley’s blog. Your own staff recognize the negative changes in your organization.
Why can’t you?
Well said! My support of Best Friends has turned into disappointment and lack of trust! And YES PETS ALIVE does and will continue GREAT things in NY and many other states as well.
Dear Pets Alive, I could not believe Mr. Castle’s reply on BF FaceBook page this am. I too am a longtime supporter, in every aspect, of BF. I think you got the best of what Best Friends had to offer and it is now time to move on. My heart is broken,but we will all survive and find ways to keep working and helping the animals!Thank you for all the good you do!
You go, sister…. Beautifully written, from your heart and soul. Best Friends realizes they were cowardly in remaining “neutral”, and their unfortunate reaction to their own cowardice is to lash out at Pets Alive. It’s a terrible, heart- breaking shame when the real victims here are the innocents themselves….the animals that ALL the organizations involved have resolved to protect.
Get over it! They didn’t support the law, i’m sure they had their reasons. Going around and slandering them all over the internet is bullshit. Pets Alive people you need to grow up and worry about your own rescue instead of wasting so much time bad talking an organization who has done so much to help you.
You people are really really arrogant, just because Best Friends doesn’t agree with you on one thing suddenly they’re these horrible monsters? That is ridiculous! You are not always right, you are not god, you do some good things, yes. But so do a hell of a lot of other people. Get over yourselves!
Dear Lola,
Ah, yes…more intelligent debate from someone who has drank the Best Friends Kool Aid. This isn’t about agreeing or disagreeing…it’s about saving 25,000 animals.
We never said we were always right. We also never said we were God. But there IS a right and wrong here, and your idols were on the wrong side. Shrug. If you want to debate say something intelligent rather than debating like a 7 year old.
WE will get Oreo’s Law passed next session. Obviously without Best Friends and without your foul mouth.
Matt
Lola, can you please point out where we have gone all over the web bashing Best Friends? We have not. We posted blogs on our own website and even THEN didn’t bash them. We have not gone anywhere and done any bashing. This thing has taken on a life of it’s own by people who support Oreo’s Law….but you can’t point to us as bashing Best Friends all over the web. That is simply not true.
Dear Lola,
I can’t help swatting Mosquitos either…can you just not “get it” that Pets Alive will always be grateful for Best Friends help and support, they just can’t see any valor in remaining neutral on an issue that affects the lives of those they’ve sworn to protect…the animals? With Best Friends support of a bill that is already a LAW in many states, so many more animals could have been saved. Props to Matt and Kerry for standing up for yourselves and everything you believe in. Now where’s that can of “OFF”…?
Kerry..Your blog is well put. Some people may find it hard to swallow, (head in the sand) but you have learned and grown from what BF taught you, I guess when BF wasn’t as corporate. I may be mispoken, just my opinion. I have learned from my past job, that the higher up people go in life the more they forget from where they came. This is not true at PA, but may be true at BF!! Don’t know, again just an opinion from a distance. I have to chuckle when I am up there, because it seems that you remember every dog that has come through that place. I bet the higher ups at other places don’t even know the dogs that they have in their charge! You have not forgotten the roots you built from and in fact are trying to pass on those lessons and branch out. You are now the leader in this area! So don’t fret, eventually the law will be passed..
Maybe, just maybe had Oreo’s life AND death been thisclose to the others as it was to US they would see things differently. Pets Alive, if I may speak on your behalf, has felt the impact of Oreo’s death, Oreo’s Law being tabled & BFAS neutrality the most because they had a solution. It was simple. Oreo could have lived at Pets Alive. So, yes, this is about right & wrong. I am still waiting for somebody to explain to me why Oreo was put to death instead of living in a brand new run at Pets Alive. Why is Oreo not living? Is it an issue of not wanting to be told what to do? Sure seems like it to me. So, yeah there you go – Grow up! I will not EVER get over Oreo’s senseless death. It was wrong. Tabling Oreo’s Law was wrong. BFAS staying neutral was wrong.
To Lola,
“I’m sure they had their reasons” is a blind defense for an action by BFAS that contradicts their published philosopy. PA, on the other hand, has been true to their stated mission, and consistent in their advocacy for all animals. Drop the name-calling and re-read all posts with an open mind. Then, substitute whatever word you’d like in the well-worn phrase, “It’s the (blank), stupid!” The one I prefer is “animals”.
Very poignant blog.
Also, I don’t agree with the attitude of some that it’s over and it’s time to move on. I’ve heard similar statements from Houston’s kill shelters when they’ve wrongfully killed animals that people were willing to save. Along, with being a convenient and condescending statement meant to try to get people to ignore wrongdoing done to animals, I don’t agree that this is really in the past. It is not really in the past when the shelters who killed are still killing while people beg to save them. And thanks to the failure of support for Oreo’s Law, New York shelters are still allowed, by law, to keep on killing.
I will never agree that this was just a simple difference of opinion. This was a choice between defending the lives of thousands of animals or allowing the killers to keep killing.
As long as those who support laws that allow killing still support it, this will never be in the past. Some of us will never agree that to allow, or be blind to, killing is OK as long as one of your “friends” is doing it.
BF should just step up and admit they screwed up. They should have supported this law, especially when it mirrors their very own statement on shelter access. They should stop blaming Mr. Kellner or Mr. Winograd or anyone else and accept responsibility for not stepping up. If they had problems with wording, they should have kept offering revisions until it was accepted and the law could be passed. They should not have just claimed neutrality when the debate got a little hot.
Politics and money they never mix well. Best friends you had me fooled, but the scales from my eyes have been removed and I can see clearly. When you are a rescue organization you fight your hardest to save the life of an animal. Tell me Best friends what’s your excuse?
I had not heard about Oreo until today and as I read the story became furious that Oreo was not given a chance. Since there was a sanctuary offering to take this poor dog, there was absolutely no reason for him to be put down. This is such a sad story and I hope the fight to prevent this from happening in the future will soon be won.
“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.” Albert Schweitzer
Turning a blind eye to humane issues is the prime reason why rescue is needed in the first place. Staying neutral in this case is worthless – just as worthless as the thousands of people who avoid the problem daily.
What animal rights person/people WOULDN’T support this law? What is their actual agenda?
Lola: Grow up. I’m not even sure someone who calls themselves a rescuer or animal lover could even find a way to justify what you said.
I am simply dumb-founded. All through the furor, it was Pets Alive in particular I was thinking of when I was trying to wrap my mind around the contradictions in BF’s words and actions. On one hand, they clearly felt Pets Alive was worth saving and must have believed they were leaving it in good hands. They spent a great deal to save Pets Alive, and ended up waiving the bill. Why would they do that if they didn’t believe in Pets Alive and the work being done there? It struck me as so ironic that Pets Alive has worked so hard on Oreo’s Law and yet BF couldn’t support it. Pets Alive was worth saving, Pets Alive was worth giving a break, but Pets Alive can’t be trusted to save healthy animals in NY shelters from convenient death? Knowing the history there makes all of their arguments now sound hollow and false. There is no way to explain it away and maintain any sense of integrity.
They know what Pets Alive really is, they are simply lashing out because they’ve been called to answer for their choices. I hope they find their way but in the meantime I hope we find a way to get this law passed in NY without them.
Poor animals i save any dog on the street that I can.It not easy and it is very sad to see a stray dog or aboused.
Sorry, I’m neither a fan of Oreo’s law, nor someone who is going to wag a finger at BF for not sleapking up fo a bad law.
Yes, your reputation preceded you here in NYC when you wanted to take in Oreo. To give a potentially dangerous dog to an organization with a long history of getting in over their heads, with a history of letting dogs languish….even those who did NOT have such devastating issues would have been a bad move.
You may want us all to think of you as the “New and Improved” PA, but that only comes through proving yourself. More than once when there is already a histry of *not* doing the right thing.
Thee is no provision in Oreo’s law to prevent dogs with severe issues from being handed over to anyone who has a bigger heart than they have space or resources. That was never fully addressed, and until it was, frankly I (a rescuer of many years and a supporter of No Kill Sheltering) could never have gotten behind such a poorly constructed law. A law that causes more dogs to languish in overwhelmed rescues where no one has the time, experience or money to properly treat them is simply not acceptable.
And that was your history walking into that situation.
How this turned into a banner case for some in the No Kill movement has been, in my opinion, incredibly bizarre….and unsettling.
I’m sorry, I have to side with BF on this.
This is not the BestFriends that I know and love. I have been a supporter since 1996 and LOVE that they help shelters in trouble. It is so easy to get in over your head in this business of saving animals and they should know that just as well as anyone else. In fact, I was soo offended to read the whinning about having to go in and bail out shelters in the past that I immediately sent them an email asking them to remove me from their email list. It’s just a small thing but it feels like about the most I can do to let them know that I am not happy with what they are doing and saying these days. Whatever happened to Michael Mountain anyway ? They need to bring him back !
I will NEVER EVER forget Oreo……..
I have to say that I am just so much more than disappointed in BF’s attitude. This idea of neutrality rather than taking/stating a position is akin to killing the animals yourself. Those that sit back and do nothing, for whatever reason, are just as guilty as those that do the killing. The non-sensical reason for their neutrality has done much to hurt their reputation. This is not a game for children, it is a serious adult situation. State your case and take a stand, either way, but stop playing the popularity game.
Kerry-
This is incredibly well written, thoughtful and touching…I am so sorry for your disappointment and betrayal. To blog about this is both ill intended on their part and untrue in many respects as you have pointed out. When did ego get added to the mix, when did it stop being about saving lives…Best Friends you have changed.
As a very young rescue looking for guidance and support in our efforts to save the animals of Chesterfield SC from the gas chamber you have only ever done right by us. You have helped when no one would have stepped up and you have taken dogs that would have never had a chance and rehabilitated them and found them homes. We are forever grateful and only hope we can continue to work with you and learn from you as we join together in this fight to save innocent lives.
Sadly the organizations that were created to save animals often turn into something they never started out wanting to become, it is a choice that they make and for that I can’t feel sympathy. As we struggle along with so many others to make ends meet it is heartbreaking to find organizations that are raising millions every year but have dogs awaiting adoption for years meanwhile their directors are being paid 500K+ a year to oversee operations and maintain the status quo…comfortable in their complacency.
Our organization is small, we are young and in less than two years we have saved over 1000 dogs. We hope that our efforts push others to work harder and we hope that one day we will see the gas chamber in Chesterfield shut down. We do this all as volunteers and if we ever thought of what we could achieve and let our expectations for ourselves limit us we could not have accomplished what we have.
Pets Alive is an incredible organization, you should be very proud of all of your accomplishments and Best Friends should recognize this and commend you not malign you or misstate the facts to shine a brighter light on themselves. In publishing this information they have confirmed my suspicions – they are a changed organization and one that I don’t feel I can continue to support.
Thank you and everyone at Pets Alive for “paying it forward” we at Last Chance Animal Rescue are so lucky to have received some of the wisdom and strength that you have gained in your years saving so many lives and building so many excellent programs within your community. We and the dogs of Chesterfield will be forever grateful.
Sincerely,
Jude
well said, well said – as hard as it is for me to realize it.
please count us as one of the organizations that you helped to start, and educate, and support. we know that we can always call you and that you will help us if you can. we hope to never have to make that call. we’ve taken your lessons to heart and are going to try and do as much as we can.
our best to you and all the animals at Pets Alive … a truly wonderful place.
keep the focus on those doggies (and kitties!) that need you more.
TJel,
Your ignorance is astounding.
Don’t even know where to start. Oreo’s law IS NOT a bad law. You need only look to California, who passed the same exact law. It has saved tens of thousands of lives.
And as far as your Pets Alive bashing is concerned, whatever. Sara Whalen is dead. So either you can dig her up and yell at her or you can realize that organizations are not people.
And -uh- exactly which examples of ‘not doing the right thing’ are you speaking of? I am proud of our work at Pets Alive and we will continue our mission of saving animals while you sit your fat @ss in a chair and cast aspersions upon us.
>Thee is no provision in Oreo’s law to prevent dogs with >severe issues from being handed over to anyone who has a >bigger heart than they have space or resources.
Yeah…yawn. We’ve heard this before. The dog is better off dead. I have news for you genius…if people are getting in over their heads Oreo’s Law isn’t really going to make a big difference. In fact, it would be much easier for them to get in over their heads without going through the red tape and paperwork they’re going to have to go through to get the dogs. And most importantly for the one millionth time…THE LANGUAGE IS IDENTICAL TO THE CALIFORNIA LAW, AND THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN THERE, EVEN THOUGH THE POPULATION OF CALIFORNIA IS ALMOST TWICE THAT OF NEW YORK.
Sure hope I never have to rely on you to save a dog’s life. And what amazes me the most is that you claim to support NO KILL and then espouse the hackneyed and totally mindblowing ‘some dogs are better off dead.’
The animal rescue system (all over) is plagued with similar issues. Politics, money and different personalities often cause problems and the animals suffer from it.
While I wasn’t aware of this particular case, I’ve pulled my support from Best Friends for other reasons.
Yes they save lives and do good, I will give them that.
However I feel they have become too big for their britches. Pompous is the first word that comes to mind when describing them.
A couple of months ago a friend of mine and I decided to visit Best Friends. We are both independent rescuers that often take in animals that local groups either can’t or won’t take. Having watched ‘Dog Town’ I had noticed some interesting things there that we might be able to duplicate to help our dogs.
I emailed to set up a time to met with them, and received a ‘canned’ response. I send a second email, that we didn’t want to be volunteers but requesting some information. Again I received the same ‘canned’ response. So I called, and was told no problem. We set up a date and time.
My friend and I flew 1,500 miles, to Las Vegas, rented a car, rented our hotel room… all on our own dime. Yes we really wanted to learn from them!
When we got there, we were given the standard 1 hour van tour and that was it! When I inquired about what we were suppose to see, we were told that we could sign up to be volunteers. That was the only way we MIGHT be able to see the buildings and items we wanted to see!
Bottom line, if we didn’t want to feed and clean poo, they weren’t even going to give us the time of day!
I think it’s great for people who want to do spend their vacations helping care for animals. However there is something called professional courtesy. For the person who does this daily, they don’t want to spend those few days they might get away doing it.
If I hadn’t contacted them before booking the trip that would be one thing, but I did, they said they would, they didn’t.
TJel, I am confused about your statements because there is no such rule NOW. Any rescue or shelter can pull any dog they want from shelters that are willing to work with them.
There is nothing like what you state you are looking for in the laws today so why should Oero’s law be different? Why should THAT have to have all these additional requirements? If you want that rule about rescues being monitored and approved and levels of care being met, then GREAT – go ahead and request that be a new law or introduce a bill for it.
But to hold up Oreo’s law for something that doesn’t even EXIST today in New York is absurd.
Additionally “our long history of getting in over our heads” is absurd. please reference what you are speaking about. We have no other past issues except for ONE year when the founder here was dying of brain cancer, her judgment severely impaired and she made bad decisions. Besides that brief period of time there IS no other “long history”. State your case…because to throw ignorant comments about without being able to back them up makes you just…well…a moron.
Thank you very much Jude and Christie. Appreciate your kind words.
Tjel… Have you ever visited Pets Alive? Have you ever met Matt and Kerry and the rest of their wonderful staff and volunteers? Have you ever seen how happy and healthy the animals are at Pets Alive? Have you ever watched them take a starving, sick, scared dog and rehabilitate him or her into a wonderful, adoptable pet? I respect your right to your misguided opinion, but until you have the knowledge with which to back up your statements, you should keep them to yourself.
Pets Alive is so wonderful that after growing up in the very town they were founded, I never heard of them. It wasn’t until years later that I went back to visit.
Do people ever realize what an Animal Welfare organization does? You don’t rescue every single dog who walks through the doors, you have to say “No” to a lot of them. Oreo’s Law, as it stood, didn’t provide for this – anyone, anywhere could take these dogs in without any oversight.
In the long run, it would do more harm than good. If any organization is aware of this is should be Pets Alive. I realize their leadership has changed hands but this blog is the knee-jerk reaction of people who haven’t “thought it through” which is exactly how they (Pets Alive) ended up in the situation they were in years ago.
Animal Sanctuaries are a business and if a business doesn’t take care of itself it goes under. Until we’re an Enlightened society receiving government grants for 100% of the operating costs for our 501(c)3’s, non-profits need to be run with a good business sense. It’s like the doctors who need to treat themselves first or the airlines telling parents to put their masks on first – if the doctors don’t cure themselves, they get sick and can’t treat a patient; if a parent doesn’t put their mask on, they pass out and can’t help their children.
What separates a small, local shelter from a large no-kill organization is the ability to do this. Best Friends is responsible for rescuing more animals than Pets Alive ever was or will be – they’ve been doing it longer with a better track record. If they say something, it might behoove people to listen. This finger-pointing ordeal Pets Alive has become involved in is the same as a person standing up at a Steven Hawking lecture and arguing Basic Physics with him.
It might do you all better to sit down, shut up and listen. God forbid you may learn a thing or two!
Usually I delete the obviously ignorant posts like the one above. You have not read the law, and you don’t know at all what you’re talking about. I’m tired of repeating the same stuff over and over again.
My “reaction” was far from knee jerk. While you’re sitting there stewing in your own ignorance I’ve been working on this. Oversight? By whom? The Government? Yeah, that will work. I’ve been in animal rescue for more than three decades. And you?
Government grants? Are you insane? We haven’t ever gotten a government grant.
And in case you haven’t noticed, we have been trained by Best Friends, and they have left their mark here. They are actually the ones who have lost their way. And if you had even a whisper of a clue you would recognize that.
Before you argue one iota, I suggest you Google Hayden’s Law. If you ever bothered to READ Oreo’s Law you would see that they are virtually exactly the same.
None of your doomsday scenarios have come to pass in California, and the law has been working there for ten years.
Go do you homework. When it comes to sitting down and shutting up, I think you’re the one that should.
Here’s a test of business acumen – Who would suffer more from not receiving a $100 donation – Pets Live or Best Friends?
You do realize how many potential donors you’ve just alienated with statements like the ones in this blog, don’t you? Since you say Best Friends left their mark at Pest Alive, they obviously didn’t do a very good job or else you would have learned a lesson or two from them. “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
As I said before, non-profits need to be run as a business or else they will all “go under”. You wouldn’t invest half of your bank account in a business venture that already has one foot on the grave, would you? Why then, would you expect another organization to do so?
So what, Best Friends didn’t jump on board this sinking ship with you? Regroup and next time, find one with a few less holes in it.
Why do people lose all sense of logic when it comes to Animal Welfare? It seems that unless a non-profit is willing to martyr themselves for a specific cause and then beg for money afterward, people think they’ve become “too big” and lost their way.
To JM (very anonymous),
Please think about this quote by Jen Hancock:
“In order to have an educated opinion, you must first be educated…..
Lesson of the day, if you want your opinions to be taken seriously, make sure your opinions are educated and reality based. And don’t ever parrot other people’s opinions without first checking to make sure they have their facts straight!”
To JM,
I support Pets Alive since I see their work in action. So you consider it foolish to spend $ on unadoptable animals. I have one of those that Pets Alive saved. Who else would shelter a “dangerous” (not) Akita who was blind? They did and we adopted him after seeing him on the Best Friends website (Yes this was when they were teaching Pets Alive.) We love him very much and later adopted 4 FIV+ cats from them as well. We also send laundry detergent and we sponsor three animals there as well on a monthly basis. We donate to the garage sale, volunteer when we can and send more gifts at Christmas. In other words, we are supporters. Why? Because they saved my unadoptable pets. I think the system works. Sometimes saving those in the most need really gets results.
PS I’m an accountant but Paying it Forward is not quantifiable.