Introduction: Below is a comment on this page of the Westberry story (opens new page). I really don’t want to over-egg the story but there are a number of comments amongst many that need highlighting because they may prevent this happening again. Ruth’s comment is supported by a number of other comments which remarked on the culpability of other people who supplied Julianne Westberry with cats.
By Ruth (a visitor to the site) commenting on the Julianne Westberry tragedy
Friends of Harnett Animal Shelter, In light of recent incidents in which numerous deceased cats were found at a local rescue, I am compelled to express my concerns. This statement concerns not only your organization, but the numerous other shelters organizers involved in transporting cats to Julianne Westberry. I realize there are numerous shelter animals with limited options.
The available fosters/rescues and animal advocacy groups are minimal compared to the need. Oftentimes, time is limited and there is an urgency to get animals out of high kill shelters as quickly as possible. As I am sure you realize, the need is ongoing and there is a desperation to save as many lives as possible.
Unfortunately, I believe that this urgency has had tragic results for many homeless animals and my concern is that this does not happen again. There were many red flags that went unheeded.
First of all, JW insisted on meeting in a public location. Transporters did not deliver to the home. When a rescue does not welcome a home visit, people should be very cautious.
Secondly, with the number of cats in shelters in SC, why did this woman obtain cats from NC, TN, and other out of state locations? That is clearly a red flag. SC shelters are overwhelmed with homeless cats. Why are you continuing to send NC cats to rescues in SC? Clearly, their own shelters are full and overflowing.
Let me get to the point, you actively collect money from your supporters to pull and transport pets to various out of state rescues. How many of these rescues have you personally inspected before transporting these animals?
It is one thing to be fooled by unscrupulous rescue organizations, but quite another to ignore obvious red flags. When you collect money from the public to pull and transport these animals, you must be held to a higher standard. People who pledge and support your organization trust that you are taking these animals out of danger to a safe environment, not sending them on to a life of pure torture.
As an animal advocate, I plead with you, you must do better. The safety and health of these loving animals rests in your hands. If you cannot ensure their safety, do not “rescue” them. I hope that in the future you will proceed with caution and investigate before dropping off animals to “rescue organizations”. They should be able to provide vet references as well as be open to showing you where the animals are living until adoption.
Harnett Friends….I plead with you….don’t let this happen again. These precious animals depend on you and me…we cannot let them down.
Susan,
I originally posted this letter to you on your FOH page, but it was conveniently deleted and ignored. Not until it was published elsewhere did you feel a need to respond. It is apparent that your response is an attempt to cover your own history of failing to ensure the safety of the animals you claim to “rescue” each week. Believe me, I have researched your organization and this is not the first time that you have failed the animals in your county shelter. Why did you proceed to deliver cats to Sue Lebright of Azrael’s Ark knowing that she was not licensed to operate as a 501c3 and had 75 plus cats in a trailer. In correspondence, you acknowledged that at least one of the pledger’s had opted out when they realized she was not a non-profit and the state was involved. Yet, you continued to use your page to petition pledges for this individual and were not forthcoming to your patrons about the situation. This is not only oversight, it is outright deceit. As far as not being aware that Julianne Westberry was taking in numerous cats from various shelters, let’s look at your numbers alone. JW claimed to rescue 5-6 cats from you weekly. That is roughly 20-24 cats per month. This has been going on for the past year. How could you not question how she was rehoming this many cats, particularly when SC shelters are overrun with homeless pets. You claim that she probably just helped FOH because she liked your volunteer. Wake up…your supporters were paying high dollar for her to take your cats. There are no easy answers to saving the animals that end up in shelters. However, surely you must take some responsibilty in terms of your complicity in sending Harnett cats to an abuser. It is time that you reexamine your policies and start taking steps to ensure the safety of the animals instead of just getting them out of the shelter at any cost. If this is not a wake up call to exercise due diligence in rescuing these animals…for the life of me, I don’t know what it will take!
I am in one of my psychotic phases right now so am unable to understand what you are saying. Sorry.
Preaching to the choir here, Ruth.
1. After the first time she took animals, the transporter was Julianne’s. She was not a paid transporter, and she says she DID go to the home.
2. The Friends of the Harnett Shelter Facebook page posts and networks shelter animals. We are not a rescue and we are not the shelter. When we learn that rescues are interested in our aimals, we try to check out the rescue. Sometimes information is scant. In this case there was plenty of information. Julianne Westberry was referred to us by someone who is well known and well respected in the rescue community. The first time cats went to her, a volunteer and one of our page admins drove the cats. Westberry met them after hours at the Anderson County Humane Society, to which she had keys. A foster came and took several cats. Others were put into holding pens at the Humane Society. Her adoptions at the local Petsmart were verified. After that our volunteer did not transport again; Julianne’s person did. But Julianne did maintain regular contact with the volunteer and frequently sent photos of and information about various cats. In order for us to have known that she was pulling from so many other places we would have had to have a suspicion that something was amiss, but we did not. Nor did we search the web sites and Facebook pages of other shelters in other counties and states to get a count of animals going to rescues we also use. There was never a whisper of any impropriety.
As to why she would rescue from us rather than from, say, Anderson County P.A.W.S., there were a number of possible scenarios. Perhaps she liked the volunteer and wanted to help. Perhaps she wanted to ensure that she maintained a good relationship with the person who connected us to her. We didn’t interrogate her about her motivations; she and the volunteer had become friends (or so the volunteer believed), and our dealings with Julianne had been nothing but positive. We know lots of people who also know Julianne and none of them had any reason to question her legitimacy.
You ask, “Why are you continuing to send NC cats to rescues in SC?” We aren’t; why do you make that assumption?
3. Volunteers have visited every out of state rescue that our cats have gone to except one in New Jersey, just like they visited Julianne. The New Jersey rescue was carefully checked and also came highly recommended. There are rescues we refuse to work with. There are two cat rescues in Wake County that I personally refuse to work with.
Currently we are enjoying a Facebook bashing page that is making every effort to discredit us (Hi, Lori), but the fact is that Friends of Harnett does its due diligence. One regular contributor to that page is one of only two people banned from the page; she was a foster who placed animals with someone else without notice or permission, and then bombarded us with PMs and posts when we reclaimed the animals. There are individuals with whom we refuse to work as well.
When the volunteer who is the rescue liaison assures us that the rescue is legit, and when we trust the volunteer, we will accept that assurance. In two cases, we have been wrong. In the Westberry case we were spectacularly wrong but, again, there were no indications. I went to South Carolina to try to identify Harnett County cats. It was heartbreaking. I wish it had never occurred and I hope it never recurs. But was it my fault, or the fault of Friends of Harnett? No, it was not.
It was Julianne Westberry’s fault.
4. The volunteers who work with rescues do get vet references.
The vast majority of rescue groups are reliable and responsible and have the best interests of the animals in mind. Those that are not are horrific. Julianne presented herself, and was accepted generally, as an employee of the Anderson County Human Society acting under its auspices. We wish we had seen red flags, but none were waving at the time.
Jeff most of the shelters involved had nothing directly to do with their animals going to Julianne. Our shelter is not directly involved with the Facebook page but they are aware of its activities.
Melinda I certainly support your suggestions about what should happen when an animal is pulled for rescue but as you note, such things are not always possible. The Harnett County Shelter does not even recognize or work with rescue groups so they certainly will not be confirming rescue licenses. Not sure what you mean by “documentation of transporter.”
Just a little over a year ago, the Harnett County Shelter regularly euthanized almost every animal that came into the facility. That has changed; now almost every adoptable animal is saved. Unfortunately relatively few of the saved animals go to individual adopters. In this rural, farming and hunting county, there are free dogs everywhere and a litter of kittens outside every door. Cats and kittens in particular are considered disposable. If there were required pet registration including a much higher fee for unaltered animals, perhaps the problem would be alleviated but the hunters would fight that tooth and nail. If there was an effective,affordable and convenient low-cost spay/neuter service, perhaps the problem would be alleviated but the program that does exist is not convenient for many people and has not been particularly effective. So in order for the shelter animals to live, we must rely highly on rescues. There are almost NO cat rescues around here. By some people’s logic, since there are no rescues with space in North Carolina, the cats should just die. Really? Well, by that same logic, why should we send cats to a different county since some of the counties in NC are more distant than some areas of, say, Virginia. And honestly, given North Carolina’s ridiculous animal protection laws and this area’s almost total nonchalance about animal welfare, animals would be better off in many if not most other states.
If people want to keep animals close so they can keep an eye on them, those people need to work to change the culture here so that companion animals are valued and cherished rather than ignored and abused. They also need to get off their butts and help find placement for the animals instead of preaching to the people who actually do the hard but imminently fulfilling work of animal rescue. Until those things occur, we will continue to welcome rescues outside the rarefied boundaries of North Carolina.
Approved Vet? Oh, you mean like all those no-kill shelters with “approved vets” that ship truckloads of your unwanted vermin cats to other states to have them killed there? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let us all know when you start to wake-up from your psychotic cat-lickers’ Toxoplasma-gondii brain-damaged delusions! Yeah, that’s never going to happen, is it now. LOL!
Another good comment adding to the page. Thanks. Future comments will be published instantly.
Nice point Melinda. Thanks for sharing your views.