A few weeks ago, Monica St. Clare, the development director at the Hermitage, contacted reporter Tim Vanderpool at the Tucson Weekly, wanting to "touch base" (his words). Now, the last time Tim talked in the flesh to a Hermitage official, it was with Tom Tulowitzski who said the financials were great, former board members were liars, and no, the press couldn't see the financials and board meetings were private, so this was quite a switch. When Tim interviewed me for my take, he said Ms. St. Clare had been welcoming and open, and he did not feel she was hiding anything. He said they told him they were going in a new direction. And then he interviewed Board president Taylor Heidenheim, who essentially contradicted everything that his director had said, was rude to the people she was trying to do outreach to, snapped that they weren't required to have open meetings, and generally came off rather poorly. Tom Tulowitzski just refused to answer the phone. My British friends would say rather poor form.

So, what do you believe? It's been my experience in life that when what a person says is in conflict with what a person does, that their actions will tell you what they truly believe.

While there are volunteers, staff members and board members who say they are going in a new direction, and may truly want to, this is what the official Hermitage is actually doing:

--the promised information on when board meetings are held still does not appear on the website
--there is a letter of limited apology on the front of the website responding to the TW article, but no link to it
--the letter encourages people to contact the board, but there is no email address, and the links are all blacked out on the top (at least in Firefox)
--their letter encourages people to sign up for the newsletter, but there hasn't been a new one since April of last year
--the letter apologizes for management and communication mistakes; there is no apology for any behavior by the board
--to my knowledge, not a single individual person has yet received a personal apology from the board
--there is still no acknowledgment that cats were unjustifiably put down and most importantly, the two people who led the board into dysfunction remain on the board in the two positions of greatest power -- president and treasurer.

The Hermitage contacted the TW, inviting a visit, so they should have had all their ducks in a row when the reporter called asking to speak to the president. If Taylor's snarling "outreach" is the best the Hermitage has to offer in terms of leadership, then they are doomed by their own hand.

Tim Vanderpool wrote a follow-up article on the Hermitage, Open and Shut, for this week's edition. I don't think that you're going to be seeing a link to it from the Hermitage's "News" link on its own, though. The real irony of this is that they contacted him, "wanting to touch base"'.

My commentary tomorrow.

Tucson Weeky's report on Mary Jo Spring's departure, entitled Resignation Blues, from The Skinny section.

Here's a link to the Tucson Weekly article, "Tables Turned", subtitled "The legal crusade by the Hermitage Cat Shelter's executive director backfires"

If the very recently departed bookkeeper or vet tech would like to talk to me, please email the webmaster.

The local media is starting to weigh in. This was written by Kim Smith of the Arizona Daily Star, appearing this morning.

"Judge rejects effort to silence Hermitage criticism"

On Thursday, July 2, Tim Vanderpool will have another article in his series on the Hermitage, this one focusing primarily on the hearing this past week. If you'll be heading to cooler climes then, you can still check out his take on it by going to their website at www.tucsonweekly.com Oddly, that will be the same holiday weekend last year over which the story broke in the print media, and Ms. Spring called her now infamous press conference.

I called the clerk of court today to see when transcripts would be available, and was told it would take several days, and due to the length of the hearing (3 hours), the cost would be in the neighborhood of $350. I've also been getting calls and emails from folks who are asking how they can help. Thus far everything has been out of my own pocket, but I've decided that I'll open the transcript purchase up to public. So if there is anyone who would like to contribute to getting those so I can put them on the blog, just click on the contact us button, send me an email, and I'll get you the address. I know there are a lot of folks out there who are monetarily having a hard time, so if you just want to send a penny, that's fine, or if you want to cover the entire amount, that's lovely too. I want lots of people to be able to enjoy the symbolism of being able to participate in making public what has been behind closed doors for so long. Believe me, it will be money well spent. If there is any overage, I will donate it to Casa de los Gatos, I will not use any of it for myself.

In an interview with Ryn Gargulinski of the Tucson Citizen in July of last year, the Hermitage's Executive Director Mary Jo Spring described some of the wonderful programs the Hermitage had to encourage people to adopt. One statement in the article particularly caught my eye:

Free vet care for life entices others to consider adopting cats plagued with feline diseases.

Ms. Spring did a fantastic job of keeping the announcement of this program a surprise, and none of the staff or volunteers heard anything about it until they read it in the paper. Unfortunately, for some reason, details have not emerged. In the 10 months since the article was published, there has been no mention of the Free Vet Care for Life Program on their official website's Programs page, whose header reads "The Hermitage offers programs that help our precious animals live long and healthy lives." There has been no mention of the Free Vet Care for Life Program on their Hermitage Cats blog, whose purpose is "to inform our sponsors, donors and adopters of the ongoing activities and programs of the Hermitage Cat Shelter in Tucson, Arizona." Certainly none of the people I know who have adopted cats from the Hermitage over the last 10 months have been told about this measure, and I'm certain in this economic climate, if people knew they could adopt an animal without worrying about vet bills, there would be many more adopters.

I don't understand why Ms. Spring hasn't announced this offering during her TV appearances on KVOA Channel 4's noontime Kitty Corner and Channel 12's Pet Connection. These programs are all about connecting potential adopters with local shelters, I'm sure the Hermitage would have 10 phone calls before Ms. Spring even returned from the studio. I hope someone like Martha Vazquez or Terry Quinn will ask Ms. Spring for some specific details, including how many special needs cats have been adopted out using this program, averge yearly and lifetime cost savings to the adopter and how funding was secured. I'm sure the Hermitage will be getting phone calls from other shelters all over the country who want to start a similar program in their own community.

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=122804

http://www.kvoa.com/global/story.asp?s=8632158

In this report, Mary Jo Spring, Executive Director of the Hermitage Cat Shelter, accuses the former cat care manager of animal abuse and neglect, and the former vet clinic and volunteer veterinarian of failure to report abuse and neglect. She claims that cats were being hidden. She claims that due to the neglect, dozens of cats got so sick, they had to be euthanized. When asked during the Channel 4 interview "why it took so long for this situation to come to the attention of Hermitage officials, and why only one person is being held accountable.", her reply was "It's being investigated, not just the one person, but that is a good question. That should've been brought to light, but it wasn't."

Mary Jo Spring does actually work at the shelter, has been there for over a year-and-a-half, and if there were any kind of inappropriate behavior going on, she is the one who should've brought it to light. If there was abuse or neglect, why did it take her over a year-and-a-half to find out? If there were truly dozens of cats so sick they needed to be euthanized, sitting mere feet from her office, how could she possibly miss that? In the newspaper article over the holiday, refering to former staff and volunteers, she states "I got wind they were going to scoop up all the cats so I put a moratorium on adoptions to them."

We are talking about a cat shelter, founded by a nun, as a sanctuary for unwanted pets, not an Oliver Stone movie.

The Save the Hermitage Coalition, to which I belong, strongly encourages the public to adopt from the Hermitage. I think there will be a large number of people who read the Citizen article over the holiday about the euthanasia numbers at the shelter, drew their own conclusions, and decided it was time to adopt. I would especially encourage retirees, those with veterinary training, and others with extra time or abilities to consider adopting special needs cats.

The Daily Star has an article today on changes at the Hermitage. It contains three points I want to clarify and supplement. I am also surprised that while the article is primarily couched as being about the blog, it does not bother to include the blog address.

The tone and content of the article, Hermitage ex-staffers air gripes on Web tends to support Mary Jo Spring's contention that the problems at the shelter are due to disgruntled former personnel. In fact, I am only one of over 50 people in a coalition concerned about the shelter; I just happen to be the one with a blog, which existed long before the current situation at the shelter, and will hopefully continue long after. The former staff comprise a minority of this group, the majority are actually former volunteers, sponors and donors. Former staffers have letters on the blog, yes, but so do volunteers, sponsors and donors. I emphasized this to Mr. Brodesky, and gave him the direct contact information for 4 other people, non-staffers who had been involved in the shelter in a variety of roles, and invited him to a meeting where all 50 would be in attendance. He did not contact anyone else from the coalition, nor did he attend the meeting.

Lastly, adoptions: the shelter's claim that people are upset because cats were adopted out is completely, totally, utterly false. This is a gross insult to the many volunteers who spent endless hours giving adoption tours, and the staff's special efforts working with the adopters of special needs cats to ensure smooth and successful transitions. And the claim that there are now record adoptions is false. What people are upset about is that the sanctuary side of the shelter is being pushed aside in favor of adoption.

Mr. Brodesky states that I have made debatable claims on the blog. Yes, I do make some points which are a matter of opinion, I would agree, and that's largely what editorial-type articles like blogs are for. In terms of facts, I offered to provide the reporter with written documention, tapes and eyewitnesses to support my claims. He did not ask to see any of my materials, or for contact information of any witnesses, and he does reporting for a living, so I feel safe in assuming that when he said debatable, he meant opinionated.

Yes, as the article states, The Hermitage has served more as a sanctuary than as an adoption shelter. It is beyond belief to me that this is now being cited as a flaw. A sanctuary was Sister Seraphim's founding vision, a place dedicated to meeting the needs of animals who could not live in regular homes. That is what made the Hermitage one of three or four unique animal care facilities in the country. The home-like atmosphere is why people went there to adopt, so they could see uncaged cats freely interacting with other people and animals. A Hermitage is a place of retreat, and I would like to the shelter return to that goal, rather than becoming just a branch of the Humane Society.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/breakingnews/90133.php

I am printing below the text of the article that ran in the Tucson Citizen this weekend. I am putting my own comments alongside in italics, so it is clear which voice is mine. The use of bold characters is also mine, to emphasize particular points.

Euthansia now an option
Cat shelter undergoes major changes

RYN GARGULINSKI
Tucson Citizen

The longstanding Hermitage Cat Shelter has undergone cataclysmic changes.

A 100 percent turnover in staff, the switch to new veterinarian services and the euthanasia of about 40 felines were part of the overhaul.

The most dramatic change was a shift in philosophy. The no-kill shelter, 5278 E. 21st St., was set up by a Russian Orthodox nun in 1965 as purely a sanctuary for unwanted cats. But the Hermitage's main mission now is to find the animals permanent homes.

I have no problem whatsoever with the board of directors wanting to follow a different mission than was set out by Sister Seraphim, and all the people who contributed money, time and effort to the shelter. They just need to do it with their own money, time and effort, and quit attempting to achieve a short-cut to their goal by hijacking a perfectly lovely, unique and practical organization.

Not everyone is happy about the changes, especially the group of about 50 folks who formed the Coalition to Save the Hermitage Cat Shelter. Coalition member Katy Heck, who quit working at the shelter about two years ago for personal reasons, said the coalition has sent letters to donors and supporters letting them know about the changes.

The reporter made a factual error here. I was employed at the shelter for over two years, and left in September 2007.

Heck, who runs a pet-sitting business and employs at least three former shelter workers, said Hermitage's board of directors and new management are not disclosing what's being done at the 43-year-old shelter.

"Things change," said Mary Jo Spring, who has a 15-year background in nonprofits and was hired as executive director about two years ago to revamp the shelter.
"The shelter will always continue to be a lifelong refuge for those kitties who will not be adopted, but the new emphasis has been to find forever homes for our cats."

Even cats with special needs - those with spraying problems, ailments or disease - have been finding homes.
"People sometimes come in looking specifically for special needs cats," Spring said.

This has always been true, nothing new there. In fact, Gypsy, the cat featured in the photo accompanying the article, had been adopted out from the shelter on two previous occasions before Mary Jo Spring joined the shelter, and was returned both times for spraying, even thought the adopters went to great lengths and tried many different ways to alter her behavior.

Adoptions have jumped from an average of six per month to 30 in June alone, she said. Ten were cats with special needs.

This entire statement is grossly midleading. The entire time I was at the shelter, adoptions ranged from 12 to 27 per month. When I left there were about 17 per month, so if it went down to 6 per month on average, that happened under Mary Jo Spring's tutelage. In previous years, especially at Christmas holidays, adoptions have approached 50 per month. The sweeping changes over the past 6 weeks have not resulted in any significant change in adoption rate. And the shelter has always adopted out special needs cats.

New veterinarian services have also been brought in from the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, which saves the shelter thousands of dollars, Spring said. Services are provided by Humane Society vet Karter Neal, who has a vast background with shelter animals, she said.

I have never met Dr. Neal, and have no personal animosity whatsoever towards her. However, she is a Humane Society vet, and everyone knows that the Humane Society has a different philosophy and vision than the Hermitage. And a shelter background does not equal a no-kill background, and neither of those is the same as a sanctuary. The Humane Society is not a sanctuary. The Humane Society uses euthanization to control the size of its animal population. The two group's values are in conflict in this area.

The shelter's 200-plus cats are in the process of getting exams, which led to the euthanasia of 40 cats in the last several months.

Using the numbers that Mary Jo has provided herself, these are the statistics that say everything to me:
Adoption rate - 7.5 cats per week
Euthanasia rate - 6.7 cats per week

"People say, how can you kill cats if you are a no-kill shelter," Spring said.
If a cat is suffering or has no hope for treatment, it is only humane to have them euthanized, she said.

This statement it so glib, it is easy to slip by. Everyone agrees that if an animal is suffering, you put it down. But what if it has a chronic condition, like FIV, which cannot be treated, but is not suffering? This is the kind of animal that sanctuaries are for; and this is the kind of cat that comprises a large portion of the Hermitage population; cats with FeLV+, FIV+, early renal failure, epilepsy, and the like.

"Like you would do for a pet," she added.

Wow, do I have a lot of clients that would disagree with this statement. I know plenty of people who have pets that are approaching the end of their lives that require special care, sometimes very expensive care, and as long as the pet has a good quality of life, the owners choose to continue with that.

The staff of at least 12 who were in place before Spring's hire are gone. The employees either quit or were fired, most within the past several months. Longtime volunteers have been told they were no longer welcome. "When I came here, staff and volunteers ran the shelter," Spring said. "And here comes this executive director. People got mad, mad because we had policies and volunteers were not making the decisions."

No, people did not get mad because there were policies. The Hermitage is a nonprofit with over a 40-year history, a half-million dollar a year budget, and over a million dollars in resources. It had a lot of policies in place, true to Sister Seraphim's original vision, and those were what made the shelter unique. People came to the shelter with their time and money because it's a sanctuary. If they wanted to be part of a large-scale adoption organization, there are plenty of other places that meet that need. People took great pride in the sanctuary, that was why the shelter was known nation-wide. Mary Jo Spring has been at the Hermitage for over a year and a half, and she still doesn't get that. People did not get mad because of change, people got mad because change was made from the basic foundation of the organization, without consultation, explanation or even informing people what was being done.

She said some were also distraught when longtime cats, formerly deemed unadoptable, found permanent homes.

Patently untrue.

"They were upset because their buddies were gone," Spring said. "We don't deem animals unadoptable anymore."

No animal at the shelter was ever deemed unadoptable, and to imply that was the case is disingenuous. Some animals were deemed to be adoptable only to specific types of homes. Cats with feline leukemia could not go to any home, they could only go to homes with no other cats, or cats that already had leukemia. Same situation with FIV+ cats. Some cats had special medical needs, such as diabetes, and could only be adopted to people with previous medical or veterinary experience. There were very good reasons why some of those cats had been placed in a sanctuary setting. And all the cats in the shelter were regularly reviewed to see if they could be moved into the prime adoption area of the shelter.

A "Piddle Program" helps place cats that tend to spray all over, breaking their habits with special litter and a holistic flower extract.

The Piddle Program, which Mary Jo trots out as an example of the great new thinking at the Hermitage, was the brainchild of Joleen Snowden, one of the workers that Mary Jo fired.

Free vet care for life entices others to consider adopting cats plagued with feline diseases.

No current or former staff or volunteer I have talked to has heard anything about this "free vet care for life" program. How exactly is this being financed, and when did it start? Were the adopters of the 10 special needs cats told about this wonderful program?

Other programs have been established to work with Pima Animal Care Center, helping to rescue its overflow of cats and kittens.

If the shelter is opening its doors to PACC animals and patting itself on the back for saving them, why it is turning away at the door equally needy animals? Where do they think people take those cats if the Hermitage doesn't take them in?

Former employees and volunteers, however, have been denied adoption privileges.
"I got wind they were going to scoop up all the cats so I put a moratorium on adoptions to them," Spring said.

An adoption center that denies adoption to those best knowing the cats, including vet techs and volunteers entrusted to perform home checks. Brilliant.

She said dissenters or bad feelings aside, the foremost concern should be caring for the cats.
"Does that seem like a way to care for the cats?" she asked.

Indeed.

For more information on the shelter or its programs, call 571-7839.

For more information on the Save the Hermitage Coalition, call 256-1914.