I’m getting a bit sick of “non-profit” organizations (NPOs) who get a pass on the rules of life while simultaneously thieving other people’s property which is what I see in so many of these animal rights activists (ARAs) and their NPOs. Here’s some icing on that cake.
The Galveston Island Humane Society (GIHS) has received an eviction notice and they are appealing to the public for sympathy. But wait, before you jump on that sympathy wagon, let’s see how they got to this point.
First I’m wondering how many animals are in danger because of this eviction; the animals DO come first in my book. Let’s see… On Wednesday, “More than 75 dogs and cats…” and “More than 75 dogs and cats might get tossed out…” and, on Thursday, “More than 100 animals… 140 animals” and “home to roughly 150 animals…”. So, did they spend Thursday going around snatching up animals to up the count and make it sound more pathetic, are all the animals at risk or only some, or can they simply NOT COUNT??? WTF??? How grossly irresponsible would it be to take in animals AFTER getting an eviction notice?
The building that the GIHS is using started out as a National Guard armory and it belongs to the federal government (you know, all of us, and that means we're partially paying for this debacle). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the lease of it to the City of Galveston. The City of Galveston leased the building for use as a police substation and that was “specified in the lease from June 1995”. It certainly appears that the City of Galveston entered into a 20 year lease with specific restrictions and requirements and then quickly proceeded to breach the lease. It appears they moved out of the building, used it for storage, failed to do the repairs they agreed to do and then, AND THEN, without the building owner’s consent, proceeded to let the GIHS use the building and then Hurricane Ike hit the island. It was to be temporary and now it’s 18 months later and the Feds are fed up. Can’t say I blame them.
“The city never repaired the building… because it lacked the money to do so…” OK, so the City admits it didn’t comply with the lease but cries poor. POOR? SO WHAT? You don’t let residents cry poor as an excuse! In fact, even since the hurricane, the local governments have been quite harsh to those unable to get back up to speed and in compliance. So, City of Galveston, BITE ME. Suck it up just like you tell everyone else to do. Why did you sign a 20 year contract when you didn’t need it for more than a few years? Did you also spend tax money to pay the lease while the GIHS was using the building? Maybe you should put your house in order down there on the island.
“The humane society has spruced up the place since it moved in, however, including laying new tile, painting the walls and installing new appliances, such as sinks, washers and dryers… The humane society is using every inch of space in the building, Dorsett said. Volunteers transformed a shower into a laundry room and a garage into a kennel for large dogs.” Let me guess, those aren’t the repairs the City agreed to do in the lease. In fact, I’ll bet those “improvements” actually mean the Feds (at OUR cost) will have to do even more work to rehab the building because all of it will have to be torn out.
It isn’t as though they ended up in the building AFTER Hurricane Ike, the City had agreed to let them use it BEFORE that. The City was already in breach and this was just a great big blatant add on BREACH and housing animals in a building does indeed come with some consequences, including smells that permeate buildings and can last for years after the animals are removed. (Stinky smell, you know, that’s what the ARAs are always ranting about when they snatch up other people’s animals. But they want to act like their “s*** don’t stink” as we used to say. I’ll be coming back to that topic but that’s ‘nough said for here.)
“The city has been asking the corps to reconsider the eviction since late February, but so far, the corps has been unwilling to relent… has demanded it be vacated by May 1” "We're in the process of building a new shelter and we hope to have it ready in 6 to 9 months, of course that depends on weather and things, but apparently within the last week the core decided that they absolutely wanted us out of here by May 1st," Dorsett said. “The humane society’s new building is under construction but won’t be finished for nine months to a year.” OK, so they got at least 2 months notice (and we all know the standard is 30 days for evictions). The new shelter will be ready in 6 months, 9 months, a year, well someday… We know that they have no real idea when their new shelter will be ready.
“If only they’d let us stay just for another six months,” she said. Let me guess: You’ve been saying that for 18 months and you have no idea when the new place will be ready. How the heck does another 6 months help under these circumstances??? While individuals who have lost their homes have to beg and plead, pack and unpack every few months while the Feds threaten to come get the crappy travel trailers they've had to live in for over a year, the ones it took months to get in the first place... Why should you get such EXTRAORDINARY consideration while animal owners around the state are battling to keep their animals after suffering through similar tragedies only to have them snatched up by authorities???
“Please, please, ANOTHER 6 months.” Bet they rolled on the floor laughing at that.
“The organization cannot obtain another facility that is both financially feasible and operationally suitable for the needs of an animal shelter. Dorsett said the members of the humane society board have been unable to find an affordable building zoned to allow an animal shelter. It would strain the society’s finances to move a shelter into a new facility, which would have to be redesigned for animals and retrofitted with the shelter’s phone and data lines, only for a few months until the new shelter is finished.” Aw, poor babies, welcome to the real world you and your ARA buddies helped to create! ( "for a few months" HAHAHA)
Here’s what else I see about GIHS. After Ike, you shipped animals to Houston SPCA and, while people were displaced, without electricity, roads were blocked and grid locked, owners got 10 days, 10 FREAKING DAYS, to find and identify their animals. “After that point, the animals will be eligible for adoption.” Hell, you didn’t even break ground on your new facility until a YEAR after Ike. But YOU want over 2 years to pull yourselves up to speed; you've gotten over 2 months notice of this and probably 16 months more than that; and all after you gave owners 10 f'ing days to find their animals after the hurricane!
You encourage people to report even “questionable care” as animal cruelty. You include your “adoption” (sales) prices on your website. “The humane society, which cares for abandoned animals and those picked up by the city…” And yet there is NO information on the GIHS website about dropping off or surrendering animals which leads me to think you may be participating in forfeitures (or other forms of theft) to obtain your inventory and to help the City of Glaveston duck the holding time requirements; avoid even attempting to reunite pets with their true owners.
“We’re making the best of a bad situation,” she [humane society Director Caroline Dorsett] said. Hooey. You don’t know what making the best of a bad situation is! While you got $25,000 from ASPCA for post Ike repairs and were selling off people’s pets just days after Hurricane Ike, the true owners of those animals were roughing it, scrambling to find shelter, food, water. While you’ve been virtually gifted 18 months of support, individuals are still struggling to recover and most don’t have the advantage of being able to tap the media begging for donations to do so.
Sounds to me like this eviction is just a tiny bit of Karma biting back and I think you likely deserve it and so much more. Why don’t you call your good HSUS buddies for help? Shoot, seems they claim to have done the heavy lifting for Galveston pets after Hurricane Ike anyway. Surely they wouldn’t mind pitching in to polish things off; cough up some money to GIHS. Right?
Suck it up GIHS. If the rest of us have to, so should you! There should be no more tolerance for lower standards or different rules for ARA NPOs than for individual owners.