This is an in-depth article concerning the sad fate of the cats rescued from the home of paedophile Douglas Westcott back in September and how a new initiative to try to end euthanasia of adoptable cats failed to assist them. I covered the initial Westcott story here on PoC.
Palm Beach County’s initiative to end euthanasia of adoptable cats
Today I’d like to talk about Countdown 2 Zero, a public-private community collaboration, initiated by Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, the Board of County Commissioners, and Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League, to bring animal welfare organizations together to end the euthanasia of adoptable animals in Palm Beach County. The focus of this article is Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control.
Back on February 4, 2014, the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners met to approve Countdown 2 Zero. The plan basically aims to end the unnecessary killing of adoptable animals by 2024. Dianne Sauve, director of the Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control stated in a September 27 article published in the Sun Sentinel
“Funding is instrumental in helping to lower the euthanasia of animals.”
From what I understand, $500,000 in funds had been cut in the animal care budget over the last several years. On September 23, the council approved to spend an additional $250,000 to fund spaying and neutering programs.
According to their Facebook: Friends of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control page:
“Palm Beach “Friends of Palm Beach County Animal Care & Control” is comprised of a dedicated group of animal-loving staff and volunteers who aid in the adoption of homeless pets in Palm Beach County. We keep the community up-to-date on events, adoption promotions, and pets in need at our local county shelter.”
There’s a lengthy YouTube video here where the statement is made by Diane Sauve, director of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control at 2:44, that “Trapping and killing does not address the root cause.” and “Trap and Kill does not solve the problem.”
In the video, shelter statistics are provided: 80% are euthanized, 1% reclaimed by owner and 19% are adopted. Trap, neuter, vaccinate and return will reduce the number of cats euthanized in a shelter. It’s also stated that most stray cats will eventually find their way home, provided they aren’t caught by animal control and taken to the shelter.
Impact on “Westcott Cats”
So what does all of this have to do with the cats belonging to Douglas Westcott? It’s with deep sadness that I must report only 12 of those cats got out of the shelter alive. There was no promotion of these cats on the Facebook: Friends of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, despite the cats being healthy, despite their living conditions. From what I’ve heard, no out of state adoptions were allowed.
One of my Facebook friends was able to save a few of the cats, thanks to Justin Bartlett Animal Rescue. Only two of the cats tested positive for FeLV/FIV, and Puffy Paws Kitty Haven in Englewood, Florida had spoken up and offered those cats a home. The cats were killed anyway, along with roughly 16 others who were killed for space. An email sent by the shelter stating the cats would be killed to make room for other cats after being contacted by an individual saying rescue was being arranged wasn’t enough to save the cats. They were killed within a few hours after the email was sent.
It’s understandable that a shelter has to make room for incoming cats, but to make so many restrictions on who can take the cats….well…it does raise a lot of questions. Especially since the email stated rescues and adopters were being contacted to take the remaining cats.
If you look at the volunteer Facebook: Urgent Cats of Palm Beach County page, you’ll see a LOT of feral cats are euthanized. Or should I say a lot of NON-feral cats? It’s a possibility cats may be determined as feral just so they can be killed. Cats (yes, even kittens) are killed when they exhibit fear. This is recorded as “behavioral problems” or “feral.” Many more are killed for minor upper respiratory infections, which are totally treatable.
To see some of the cats who lost their lives at Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, after the statement was made where they talked a good game of saving lives, can be found here on the Rainbow Bridge Album here.
This goes against everything said at the September 23 meeting. In checking the photo albums on the county Facebook page, Friends of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, I also found that dogs are promoted with much more emphasis than cats. Does this shelter have a dislike for cats? Just asking…
Regardless, those in charge, especially Diane (who has to sign off on the euthanasia orders) appear to be preaching one thing and doing the total opposite. Diane, how do you explain the murder of cats with a mild illness, terrified cats, and cats that may or may not be feral? Are you killing cats lost by residents in the Palm Beach community before their owners even have time to visit the shelter? And it IS murder, to kill a cat that can be healed or rehabilitated and go on to make someone a good pet.
Dahlia, Dianthus, Daucus, Daisy, Daphne, Lexi & Hope are the remaining survivors still looking for a forever home. If interested in adopting any of these beauties, please contact Justin Bartlett Animal Rescue.
Please go to this page for some links (opens a new window).
It makes me mad when we are challenged to disclose our cat welfare efforts but, the challenger doesn’t disclose anything.
I work my butt off, as well as you and Elisa. We may not share the same venue, but we are passionate about cats.
This Diane person just needs to go in my book. She’s just too stupid to have any authority over animal welfare.
Beautiful, Tonya. Agreed.
The bogus goal of that loosely not-in-place program is to save adoptable pets.
I have searched and searched for details.
There are none.
I don’t know how anyone can support a project that has no substance, unless they are an intregal part of this bogus thing. It smells of a “take the money and run” scenario to me.
Exactly Dee! CountDown2Zero is nothing but a bunch of promises with absolutely no step by step plan or list of shelter policies and procedures to back it up.
One thing we all know is you can’t just throw money at a problem. If there is not the right leadership and a step by step plan, then it’s just throwing money at a problem. How often does that ever work?
Darbster Foundation funded both op around the clock and Peggy Adams TNR on National Feral Cat day, so that money came from outside of tax payer dollars. Thank God for Darbster, but they were helping save lives even before CountDown2Zero so their generosity is completely separate from CountDown2Zero. The shelter can’t expect outside non-profits to do it all.
Yes, of course TNR is important and spay/neuter programs are absolutely necessary and always will be, but they are not the total solution here. It will prevent many births, but does not save the adult cat from being trapped and killed by the county. Although CountDown2Zero speaks about aggressive implementing life saving programs, they don’t say what programs or how.
From the website –
Our Critical Areas of Focus:
*High Volume-Affordable Spay/Neuter
* Proactive Lost & Found
*TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return)
*Medical and Behavior Programs
*Proactive and Efficient Adoptions
*Rescue Networks
*Foster Care
*Keeping Pets and People Together
*Volunteers
*Community Outreach and Involvement Advocacy
There is no proactive lost and found. Peggy Adams recently updated their website and had the lost and found listings so you could click on the photos and share right to fb, twitter, etc and they even posted them on their fb page, but then they disabled the share feature and stopped sharing the lost animal posts on their fb page.
Medical and behavior problems? Just look at the 3 terrified baby kittens and we have the answer to that.
Not one of these mission statement points has anything to back it up. Any effective plan has to state who, what, why, how , etc.
Not one of those links shared by Caretaker goes into any detail at all on how they plan on doing any of it other than a pretty website with inspiring words. All of the other links about every article ever written about the shelter are not helpful either.
Since Caretaker knows so much why won’t she answer a direct question? She criticizes everything printed here yet skirts every question like a politician. Caretaker – Where are the details of the step by step plan for CountDown2Zero? As far as your comment about it’s because there is no funding, no one funds an “idea”. Whether a private business or non-profit, no one is going to just keep handing you money unless you have a step by step business plan. Caretaker you say your focus is free spay/neuter. I think that’s great! I really do, yet you don’t give any details either on how when asked by myself and by Dee. Free spay/neuter is needed for ALL cats because most of the free roaming cats were dumped by their owners. You criticize what I do, so why not instead tell us what YOU are doing then. Don’t tell us what we should do – that’s very “Diane Sauve” – tell us what you are doing, because so far it’s as vague as CountDown2Zero
No “reply” available.
So, I viewed and listened to all 5 meetings.
TNR and feral/community cats are mentioned quite a bit. But, what is always being stated is that the Countdown 2 Zero goal is to reduce the number of adoptable pets being killed. That pretty much excludes feral.
I think it’s very confusing to have that stated goal but, then, earmark the money for community cats. Perhaps, the mission statement needs a rewrite.
Believe me, I would be thrilled to know that the money was going toward ferals. And, hope it will as long as AC stops trapping TNR’d ones and taking them in to be killed. I’m appalled by that. Eartipping is the universal language to leave alone. In my county, TNR is headed by a private not-for-profit rescue and neither AC nor the county shelter are privvy to any colony location and are forbidden to pick up any eartipped feral unless a nuisance call was made. In that case, the cat is checked to ascertain microchipping and the rescue is called to pick up and intervene with the complaint.
I’m sorry to say that I find all that is happening in PBC to be disorganized and uninformed.
No “reply” available.
So, I viewed and listened to all 5 meetings.
TNR and feral/community cats are mentioned quite a bit. But, what is always being stated is that the Countdown 2 Zero goal is to reduce the number of adoptable pets being killed. That pretty much excludes feral.
I think it’s very confusing to have that stated goal but, then, earmark the money for community cats. Perhaps, the mission statement needs a rewrite.
Believe me, I would be thrilled to know that the money was going toward ferals. And, hope it will as long as AC stops trapping TNR’d ones and taking them in to be killed. I’m appalled by that. Eartipping is the universal language to leave alone. In my county, TNR is headed by a private not-for-profit rescue and neither AC nor the county shelter are privvy to any colony location and are forbidden to pick up any eartipped feral unless a nuisance call was made. In that case, the cat is checked to ascertain microchipping and the rescue is called to pick up and intervene with the complaint.
I’m sorry to say that I find all that is happening in PBC to be disorganized and uninformed.
Dee, since you seem truly interested in having a discussion, i have to break my promise to myself to stop replying to posts that are just argumentative.
if you listen to the meeting tape its all about community cats (which really means feral cats and cats of income qualified persons) . My understanding it that it is to fund free spay neuter for community cats and large dogs. the two types of animals that the shelter is killing more than any others. If I’m wrong I’m sure that poster who knows more than me will correct me. by the way the shelter was doing feral cat spays calling them op around the clock until commission stop funding them. There is also a local vegan restaurant Darbsters who has been funding them at the shelter and at Peggy Adams. Not sorted in any order by date
http://www.pbcgov.com/newsroom/0410/04-09-10_marathon.htm
http://www.pbcgov.com/newsroom/0214/02-25-14-acc_op.htm
http://www.peggyadams.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.details&content_id=586