Pet Rescue avoids answering questions from the public?

One of the biggest red flags with Pet Rescue is their lack of transparency. There is almost no information online about the organization. Their policies, goals, mission statement, financial information, shelter statistics, even something as simple as the names and duties of the board members is all a mystery. And considering the many allegations of poor practices and downright abuse, many people in Hermiston are concerned that such a lack of transparency is just a sign of corruption and an attempt to hide shady dealings from the public.

On May 27 2013, I sent an email to the Humane Society of Eastern Oregon with a list of 18 questions (see below). The next day, Jackie Alleman (the president of Pet Rescue) sent a Facebook message to my employer stating that she thought some of the questions were "confrontational" but that she would "compile that information as soon as possible". It was inappropriate for her to contact my employer in any way: my questions were sent from my personal email on a weekend day and there was no information in the email that pointed to where I worked and in fact none of the questions had anything to do with where I worked; I was asking them as a concerned citizen. She would have had to search my name on the internet to even figure out that information, and I find that unprofessional and downright strange.


But the bigger point is: I have yet to recieve a response of any kind.

Here are the questions I sent:

Hi, since I moved here a few years ago, I've heard a lot of negative rumors circulating about Pet Rescue, and I was hoping you could answer a few questions. The Humane Society of Eastern Oregon is the largest shelter in the entire region, and I really want to give you the benefit of the doubt.

1) It's difficult to find information about your organization online. Can you tell me the names, and duties of the board of directors (and any paid staff) for Pet Rescue?

2) Do you have yearly statistics for  things like: number of animals that you took in, number adopted, number of return adoptions, number and reason for euthanasias, etc? And if so, is it published somewhere or can you send it to me?

3) I've heard from several people that you've adopted animals to friends or family members who then used the animals for breeding purposes, is this true?

4) Do you utilize foster homes? How many foster homes do you currently have?

5) Every time I visit the shelter, I never see any volunteers working (walking dogs, manning the front desk, cleaning, answering phones, etc). Pretty much the only person I've seen there is Beau Putnam. How many volunteers do you currently have coming on, say, at least a weekly basis? How often are dogs walked during the day?  Is there a fenced play area nearby where dogs can play off leash?

6) What kind of contract(s) do you have with local municipalities, which cities/counties do you contract with, and what are your specific (contracted) duties? How much money do the cities/counties pay you for these contracts?

7) How long do you typically hold a stray/found animal before offering it for adoption or euthanizing?

8) I think that euthanasias are performed in the shelter building, but I've heard that they're done in the cat room in front of all the cats. Is this true? Is there a certified euthanasia tech on staff?

9) The last time I visited the shelter, there were no toys or bedding in any of the dog runs, are the dogs provided with any toys or bedding at any time during the day?

10) The last time I visited the shelter, there were healthy cats in cages very close to cats with an obvious URI. Do you ever separate or quarantine obviously sick animals from the healthy ones?

11) Do you vaccinate animals upon intake? All of the Pet Rescue adoptions paperwork I've seen show that you either don't vaccinate at all, or only vaccinate the day an animal is adopted.

12) Sometimes I've seen some very nice, obviously professional photos of adoptable animals on the Pet Finder website, but most of the time the photos are very poor quality. Is there a photographer who volunteers sometimes, and if so, why doesn't he or she take all the photos for marketing purposes?

13) I've also noticed that almost all the entries on the Pet Finder page under "adopted" animals (aka the "Happy Tails") have been deleted (normally Petfinder keeps them up forever as good publicity for the shelter). Why is that?

14) I've also noticed on Petfinder that the postings for adoptable animals almost never have a description or much information on each animal, even for pets that have been listed for days or weeks. Why is that? Who puts up the Petfinder listings? Do you ever have volunteers do this?

15) Why does Pet Rescue not have its own website?

16) Are there written protocols or SOP's for shelter operations and policies? And if so, can you send them to me?

17) What kind of software/record-keeping do you use at the shelter to keep track of animal ID's, intakes, adoptions, etc?

18) Which veterinarian(s) do you typically use for shelter animals?

I understand that was a lot of questions, but these things concern me and others in the community. Thank you for your time in answering them.

Today I sent a follow up email. We'll see if they respond.