Mar 11 2010
Why Won’t HSUS Do This for Free?
In December The Dallas Morning News reported that HSUS would be performing an "independent review" of the municipal animal shelter run by the city of Dallas:
Assistant City Manager Forest Turner, who oversees the animal services department, said he welcomes the review as an opportunity to learn what the city is doing right and where it can improve.
"We're encouraged by the fact somebody would come in and evaluate the operations and give us recommendations," he said.
The $25,000 cost of the review will be covered by the Metroplex Animal Coalition and not City Hall.
This expensive report card is moving forward. HSUS is already soliciting comments from people who have experiences with the Dallas Animal Services apparatus.
But it's that third paragraph above that gets us. HSUS expects animal shelters to pay $25,000 for an assessment of their operations? Shouldn't that be something HSUS does as part of its own operations?
There are just so many things wrong with this.
HSUS is super-rich. It's sitting on $162 million in assets. The group is usually happy to spend money reinforcing the widely-believed public illusion that it's an umbrella group for local humane societies.
Dallas' Metroplex Animal Coalition (MAC), by comparison, is made up of 50 small groups, many of which don't have two nickels to rub together. But what MAC does have is someone from HSUS on its Advisory Board. That would be Lou Guyton, HSUS's Southwest Regional Director.
And MAC's Secretary/Treasurer, Skip Trimble, is on the Host Committee for an upcoming HSUS fundraising gala in Dallas.
Trimble is the ultimate Dallas animal-activist gadfly:
- Retired Board Member, Animal Legal Defense Fund
- Retired Board Member, Animal Protection Institute
- Secretary/Treasurer of the Texas Humane Legislation Network
- Co-founder, Texas State Bar Association Animal Law Section
- Big-bucks donor to HSUS's "Humane USA" Political Action Committee
- and an activist award from PETA just to round it out.
Skip Trimble was also the Chairman of the Dallas Animal Shelter Commission until recently. Hey, wait a minute! That's the same city commission that awarded the $25,000 contract to HSUS.
It sure looks to us like Skip Trimble used chairmanship on a city board to steer a lucrative contract to his friends at HSUS—a contract that HSUS is wealthy enough to fulfill (and should) at no cost. And then he helped organize a Dallas gala to raise even more money for HSUS. So HSUS won't just break even on this deal. It's going to make money.
It's too bad that when actual animals are on the line, an HSUS price list suddenly appears. But it may work out okay for Skip. We hear he's gunning for next year's HSUS Lifetime Achievement Award.
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What makes this review cost $25k? That number is ridiculous! 2-3 days of work is going to cost (I would bet) more than half the yearly salary of the person doing the inspection. HSUS doesn’t even have to expend any resources on this, do they? Why does it cost so much?
I read a description of the HSUS $25K “review” as: a fund raiser for HSUS and a rubber-stamp of approval for the shelter, bought and paid for. Don’t remember where I read that, it might have been here on HumaneWatch! 
But regardless, I’ll bet Dallas could hire Nathan Winograd for a REAL review for a lot less money that would result in some honest recommendations that would actually work to reduce shelter killing.
But wait, that would make too much sense. And it would mean that the powers that be would be told they need to *gasp* change their ways.
OK…Lou isn’t with HSUS any more (I think she left them in late July, along with Jay Sabatucci (went to work for Arlington Shelter!) but Lou is now with ASPCA (OOPS, kept quiet) both of them used to be on the advisory board at THLN (Skippy runs it from the Treas. job now..hmm?) Skippy has been on ALL positions (or near) at ALDF and has been Treas for a good while (HMM?) and he is a dyed-in-the-wool AR with HSUS (although he’s received awards from both PETA and HSUS)...he is technically not CHAIR of Dallas Shelter Board right now (unseated by his appointer but another picked him up) but he’s ACTING (?) as Chair for it now…strange, he loves TREAS jobs in other groups. His WIFE is on the board at BORN FREE and other local Dallas groups (or METROPLEX groups)....
NOW….in (I believe) 2001 HSUS did a study for Dallas too? Hmmm?
Yes.. Mary Lou that is interesting I read in 2001 The Human Society of US did another shelter evaluation at the same shelter! I have the news article. The paid report 2001 HSUS concluded the Dallas shelter needed a new adoption center etc. I also read that last year the HSUS sold 19 evaluation reports to shelters last year! Seems like a profitable consulting business for the HSUS… Of, course one would think these shelter services should be Free!
On February 19th, Skippy was listed as the Chair for the upcoming Feb. 25, 2010 DAS Commission meeting. Are you sure he retired from that?
http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/cso/meetings/Animal_0225.pdf
Someone please explain to me why an organization that doesn’t own/operate a single shelter anywhere can proclaim itself to be an “expert” on sheltering. Based on that criteria, I think I’ll start proclaiming myself to be an “expert” on nuclear physics (or, if you’re a recent leader of the free world: nucular physics).
The HSUS also proudly claims its been in business for over 5 decades and busy the whole time working to ‘save’ animals and ‘improve’ sheltering. Given that US shelters currently kill 4 million adoptable pets a year, how’s that workin’ out, exactly?
So, they don’t operate a shelter and have a track record of fifty years of failure and they’re not even a tiny bit ashamed to charge $25K for their advice?
Apparently, Dallas has some spare cash they can afford to flush down the crapper. If they wanted a REAL shelter assessment from someone who’s been in the trenches for decades and has a proven track record, they should have called Nathan Winograd instead.
For PJBoosinger’s question….
He LOST his old Chairmanship when his Appointer did not REAPPOINT him this last time. Another Member of the Council “picked him back up” but they then had no Chairman….I’m sure that he “just took over”, I do see he shows as Chair on that Agenda, and I see NOWHERE that he has been “re-elected” position but I don’t see where any MINUTES really are EITHER. I did look at the list of the “membership” and it did not reflect he was CHAIR again but of course that doesn’t really matter on that Committee….they are going to put him back in that job ANYHOW <G> you see the committee is more than HALF AR even with a few that still don’t understand that!
Right, Eden Springs, SPIN is alive and well!
I’m with Eden Springs. HSUS has no expertise to render an opinion. They don’t run shelters. They don’t oversee them. They are simply NOT animal experts. HSUS is about attorneys and lobbying and fundraising…and severing the human - animal bond.
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Good question. And why would payment need to be made by yet another organization<MetroPlex> after they solicted donations from the unsuspecting community members of Dallas? Yet another little game for IRS to review.