"Euthanasias"

The current shelter management has admitted to putting down about 50 cats in a six-week period—more cats in six weeks than the yearly totals in the past three years. We believe financial reasons were the motivation behind most of these, not quality of life. This is a violation of one of the stated missions of the shelter.

It is still unclear how many are gone, but believe the number to be higher than was reported and is ongoing at a record rate.

Identification Issues

There was no transition in medical care when vet services changed. Any cats in the process of medical treatment, assessment, or diagnostics got lost in the shuffle. By June 5 there were no medical staff left who could identify all the cats to administer medications. There were 80 medications dispensed daily. We don’t know how many cats did not receive those daily medications or what complications resulted because of it.

Identification problems still seem to be an issue almost two months later.

Feral Cats

We believe the mission of the shelter was violated by the euthanasia of the feral cats already at the shelter. The public needs to know many of these ferals had become semi-socialized. Many volunteers were able to feed and pet these shy creatures. The former medical staff was also able to handle medicating some of these ferals.

While not highly adoptable, there are potential adopters that are very comfortable with providing a home for these unique pets. The remaining ferals have been at the shelter for 5+ years. They are in a safe protected indoor/outdoor environment at the shelter. It would be cruel and inhumane to relocate them to a strictly outdoor environment as part of a TNR program or barn relocation program. These are both excellent programs designed for ferals already living outdoors. They were not intended for cats already living for a long period of time indoors.

Note: Since this article was posted yesterday, the lead vet tech's description of the incident has been pulled from his personal blog, but we have posted a link to a copy at the end of this article. The Hermitage has also removed the text from its homepage indicating where to click to read their official blog articles on the incident, whose most recent headline read "Cat Death at the Shelter." However, you can still get to their blog by clicking here, or on the cat in the tophat underneath the list of links on the left-hand side of their homepage. And since I'm sure they'll take that down as soon as they figure out removing a title is not the same thing as removing a link, I'll go ahead and post MS Word copies of their own articles here.

Mike, a lead vet tech at the Hermitage, has a personal blog in which he has written first-hand about how Abe the FIV cat was mauled to death by two dogs at the Hermitage. It is not the sanitized version printed on the Hermitage's official blog, or released to the press. It is distressing reading for anyone who loves animals, especially those who knew Abe "personally", and there are in addition greater social concerns about why 8 year-old boys would commit such an act. Indeed, when I worked at the Hermitage, there was a poster on the wall in the very room where the attack occured, on the connection between violence against animals, and how it progresses to violence against humans.

I bring up this sad event here, because there is an important question that has not been asked publicly in all the Hermitage official blogs, memorial articles, and news coverage. It is this: how were two fairly young children able to just walk into the Hermitage when it was closed, with two dogs, go all the way back to the FIV area, prop open doors, and in addition to turning the dogs loose, beat the cats with sticks (this was in another article), without setting off any alarms, or having to break windows or doors to gain access? The Hermitage closes at 4 PM. Mike says he was the last staff person to leave, and that Mary Jo Spring, the Executive Director, and Dick Blanchard, a volunteer, and now a member of the board, were the only ones there. The Executive Director's office is in a building separate from the cats, and she does not go over there to provide animal care, so why weren't the animal areas locked and alarmed? It is clear from Mike's blog that it was common practice for the shelter to be left unsecured after closing. In order for the children to gain access, multiple locks and alarms were not set, even though it was more than 2 hours after closing, on a Friday night, and since it was after 6 PM in January, presumably dark. There were multiple levels of security that should have been in place to protect the cats, and just one of them would have been sufficient to prevent this tragedy, but the Executive Director didn't use any.

Ms. Spring did not cause the two 8 year-olds to seek out helpless targets for their anger, but better decision making on her part would have prevented the tragedy. But she dropped the security ball, Abe paid for her mistake with his life, and no one is acknowledging this. I think this is another consequence of having an Executive Director whose background is in fundraising, not animal care. Anyone who has worked in a shelter environment will tell you all animal shelters are sadly targets for this type of behavior by disturbed persons, and therefore security is a special issue that becomes second nature. When I worked at the Hermitage, we kept the front door locked all the time, to make certain we knew when we had visitors, and visitors were always accompanied by a staff person. And the Hermitage is a unique place in that the cats are uncaged, and allowed to go between rooms, so locking the door to prevent cat escapes is paramount in a way that is not true at PACC or the Humane Society. But even there, I can guarantee you that when the head of the Humane Society, or PACC works late after their shelter is closed, they do not leave entry doors unlocked, or the entrances to animal care areas unalarmed. Ms. Spring's learning curve is too steep.

Since I'm sure they'll try to pull his article off the internet once they read this, here's a pdf copy.

One of the things the executive director (Mary Jo Spring) has touted as an improvement at the Hermitage has been the bringing in of commercial cleaners and virtually eliminating general staff.

The first group that came in were dressed like a hazmat team—rubber gloves, masks, and foot coverings. However, after a couple of weeks, they were replaced by a group that used no protective gear.

Both groups use "891 Husky Arena Disinfectant". The label explicitly states that animals are to be removed from the area until the chemical has completely dried. It also warns that the product is “corrosive” and “may be fatal if absorbed through skin.”

Click here to view the label

In actuality, the shelter staff would start putting down the cats' canned food as soon as the cleaners were done with an area. Canned food feedings consist of putting the food on paper plates. These were frequently placed on floors still wet with this cleaner. Since canned food is something of a treat (and for some cats, the only thing they can/will eat), not only was this risking contamination of the food, but functionally luring cats into the area.

Below are links to pictures showing puddles of disinfectant and cat food left near such a puddle (with food trailing into it).

FeLV
Renal
Village
Food/Disinfectant

A volunteer sent an e-mail to the shelter's official address with concerns about this disinfectant. The response stated that they did not use such a cleaner. It also stated that the shelter wouldn't be using volunteers over the next few weeks and that he would be contacted when he could come back. This last statement is known to be untrue. The only change following this exchange was that the volunteer's name was crossed off the “Allowed” list and added to the banned list. Both e-mails are linked below.

Initial e-mail
Shelter response

Since the cleaners were not following protocol, a complaint was filed with the Industrial Commission of Arizona/AZ Department of Occupational Safety & Health (complaint #206582629).

In responding to the complaint, the Hermitage's executive director stated:
"The chemist [for the disinfectant manufacturer] went on to explain that there was no special protective equipment needed because it does not cause harmful fumes or does not cause skin problems. I was assured if cats got product on their paws and licked them they would not get sick."

Full copy of the response

Finding it hard to believe that a representative of the company would have blatantly stated that the product could be used in a manner so contradictory to its label, the manufacturer (Canberra Corporation) was contacted, asking for clarification.

A response from the VP of Research & Development was received stating:
"We field many questions regarding use of our products and our standard procedure is to refer the end user to label directions, especially in the case of disinfectants which are regulated and label wording reviewed by the U.S. EPA. As misuse of these products are considered a violation of FIFRA, we again, as standard procedure, do not recommend off-label direction or applications."

Full copy of the company's response

Dr. Karter Neal, veterinarian at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona (and the Hermitage's vet since June) recently sent a message to the "Save the Hermitage Coalition". In that message she states:
"Because their stomatitis seems more a result of calicivirus then from auto-immune disease related to plaque on the teeth; our attempts at doing full mouth extractions have not been able to clear the stomatitis in several of these cats."

She also talks about feral cats having "open ulcers on their mouths".

Full copy of Dr. Neal's message (certain sections highlighted and paragraph breaks added, but otherwise unedited)

The above statements shed new light on the "stomatitis" outbreak.

The four active ingredients of the Husky Arena Disinfectant are known as "quaternary ammonium compounds". Exposure to these chemicals are known to cause oral ulcers and is known to potentially be misidentified as feline calicivirus.

Below is an excerpt from an information sheet available at UC Davis' Shelter Health Portal (http://www.sheltermedicine.com/portal/is_vsfcv.shtml) showing the similarity of lesions caused by feline calicivirus and quaternary ammonium exposure.

Excerpt from article

Based on this evidence, we have to wonder how many of those cats put down because of "stomatitis" allegedly as a result of calicivirus may have been suffering from exposure to toxic chemicals. The tragic twist to the story is that the previous shelter care is blamed for the deaths of cats that may actually be a direct result of the new management's policies.

The above information has been turned over to Pima Animal Care Center.

After unsuccessfully suing me for slander and failing to convince a judge to shut down this blog, Executive Director Mary Jo Spring left the Hermitage to "further her career" elsewhere, and the Hermitage Board paid out thousands of dollars in legal fees and eventually forked over thousands more in a financial settlement to me. This was all reported in both the daily and weekly papers. You would think that this would have made the board take a long, hard look at their behavior and make some changes. And you would be wrong.

I was contacted this week by Martha Price, a retiree who had joined the Hermitage as a volunteer this past August. Ms. Price had found the Hermitage on the internet, and was unfamiliar with the great unpleasantness of the previous year and a half. During her time at the Hermitage, Ms. Price served in a variety of capacities: she did laundry on Monday afternoons, fostered kittens, staffed the table at adoption events, put cat information on Craig's List, and helped in the office on occasion. Prior to her departure, she was scheduled to take over the coordination of the volunteer program at Petco and the Foster Parents Program. Given that, I would tend to think that she had as good a view of the overall organization as a volunteer would get, and the management must have felt she was a trustworthy individual.

In her five months with the Hermitage, Ms. Price never saw a board member, and only one other steady volunteer. The second volunteer felt that Debbie Brice, the shelter manager, was "a fake and not truthful", and stopped volunteering. Ms. Price said Monica St. Claire (the Development Director) had dropped her duties at Petco and with the volunteers according to Debbie Brice. Debbie herself wore many hats and was eager to be delegate some of those jobs. Martha did not know if this was being done at the direction of the board, or was the management staff's idea. Coordination was poor across the board, indeed, the last time Ms. Price showed up at PetCo to staff the adoption desk, no one brought any cats.

The Hermitage continues to adopt official policies more and more in line with kill shelters like the Humane Society, which is not surprising. There is now a $35 (??) drop-off fee for a cat, and there are no home checks (so yes, if they want to do one on you, you ARE being targeted). The most disturbing information Ms. Price gave me was that cats are now being put down for ringworm. She felt that the shelter manager twisted the meaning of no-kill by stating "We only euthanize animals with no quality of life, or for whom the treatment is worse than the disease", but in fact, put cats down for highly treatable illnesses.

I'm not surprised by any of this. PACC and the Humane Society put down thousands of animals with highly treatable illnesses in Pima County every year. They do it on a cost basis. But they do not claim to be no-kill, and the Hermitage still does.

As mentioned in the previous post, at the start of 2009, the Hermitage claimed to have approximately 120 cats. I've seen a copy of a letter from Debbie Brice to the volunteers, claiming that in 2009, the Hermitage took in 426 cats, and adopted out 348. That means the population of the Hermitage should have increased by 78. So that would bring the current total to almost 200. Ms. Price did a walk-through of the entire shelter on January 4th, and counted 85-90 cats. She also told me that in even the short time she had been there, the number of feral cats seemed to be declining, and that cats not listed on the "Rainbow Bridge" board disappeared; mind you, this is AFTER the great purge initiated by Mary Jo Spring. So, where are all those cats?

Every other animal rescue and shelter I know is bursting at the seams with kittens, I'd guess they make up 50% of the population waiting for adoption. Mary Jo Spring's welcoming letter on the Who's Who page of the Hermitage website states "The shelter is also rescuing cats from Pima County Animal Care Center and is working with animal rescue groups."
Earlier this spring the Hermitage made a big deal out of hosting a workshop on fostering kittens. And there is a sign at the front of the Hermitage stating they are at capacity. So where are all the Hermitage kittens? When you click on the "KIttens" link on their webpages, it takes you to a link-up with Petfinder specifically for the Hermitage listings. And you follow the directions, select "Baby" and click on "Go", there are no entries. Weirder still, if you select All Ages, only 49 total cats come up, and that includes sanctuary cats. Where are the kittens?

I received the following letter Monday from Scott Cerreta and Katherine Glaser. I have edited nothing.

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I can’t help feeling sad and depressed of late. With all the recent turmoil surrounding the Hermitage, my wife and I decided to visit. This was in response to a letter we received from the Hermitage explaining their position against the false claims made by the “Save the Hermitage” group.

When arriving at the Hermitage, we were greeted at a locked security door. We stated that we came to visit Ritmo. No one seemed to know who Ritmo was. Then a call came from a person in the back saying, “Ritmo is dead.” The harsh phrase still rings in my ears.

Ritmo was a precious feral kitten living under the house of my father-in-law in Strawberry, Arizona. When my wife and I made our way up to visit, the clan of five kittens had been dwindled down to two, likely falling prey to coyotes in the area. On that trip, after an hour of befriending the kittens and scratches that ran up and down both my arms, we only managed to capture one kitten, Ritmo. A one-week follow-up report revealed that the mother and remaining kitten were no longer to be found alive.

We were fortunate to save this beautiful silver, tan and white Manx (tailless) kitten from the fate of her littermates. However, our first pet turned out to be more than we bargained for. She made great progress in becoming friendly, but she would not take to the litter box. After a weeks time, I affectionately named her “shitty-kitty.” Her favorite activity of the day was smearing poop all over the house walls and my leg, as she rubbed affection with a present all over me.


We sought help from two vets. The second vet recognized that Ritmo had the Manx syndrome. Manx cats do not have tails. Sometimes, as a result they are born without nerves that control the bladder or rectum. Ritmo suffered from both fecal and urinary incontinence. As one can imagine, Ritmo was too much for us to handle as a first pet.

We explored our options. The Humane Society would certainly dispose of Ritmo, and this was not an option for us. We happened upon the Hermitage at a time when the cat population was around 400. Obviously they were not accepting new residents. However, because of Ritmo’s condition they made an exception. Ritmo became a resident of the Shysters. As we understood it, Shysters is a special place for unadoptable cats, a sanctuary for adorable cats with medical conditions. Ritmo was placed on a special diet and had to be manually expressed of feces and urine several times per day.

During our visits, we also met Panda, another Manx cat that suffered the same condition as Ritmo. We felt relieved that Ritmo found a proper home. In return, we sponsored Ritmo with contributions given to the Hermitage. We also adopted two healthy young cats during that visit, Hobbs and Maynard. We changed their names to Proximo (Spanish for Next) and Neko (Japanese for Cat). A year later we returned to the hermitage during another visit with Ritmo and adopted two young brothers, Paws and Spot. We also changed those names to Mir and Voyna (Russian for Peace and War).

The Hermitage is a unique cat shelter that offers the residents of Tucson an alternative to the Humane Society. We chose the Hermitage over the Humane Society for its mission and vision as seen by its creator, a Russian Nun, Sister Seraphim, in 1965. It is a sanctuary for difficult cats, like Ritmo. We loved her, but could not offer her the care she required. We enjoyed visiting and sponsoring Ritmo. We were grateful to have the Hermitage here in Tucson.

Now, Ritmo is dead. When we asked about the circumstances surrounding her death, we were told only that she had serious health problems. There was no elaboration. However, when we had asked about a month earlier about renewing our sponsorship of Ritmo, we were told that she was doing great. Though we would like to believe that the current management provides the best care possible for its wards, the contradiction between a cat which is thriving and then too ill to live one month later drives us to question that care. We could only conclude that either the first response reflected that the cat was not known and was ill or that the cat was generally in the same condition, but too feral or too poorly cared for in the turmoil, therefore more ill than she had previously been. Either explanation saddens us greatly, and we feel disappointed and troubled that we did not intervene sooner.

It is clear that the Hermitage is not the sanctuary that it once was.

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Curious and bright-eyed
Always getting into things
Tenacious children that know no limits
Sailing gracefully off of the counter

Ostentatious and brazen
Vanquishing the evil ‘roaches
Ever the mighty hunter
Relinquishing ground to no bug

Terrors of the house
Hissing and spitting at one another
Eventually whacking rumps
Rambunctious and full of life

Always there with a purr or a nudge
Insisting on immediate head scratches
Never sharing their “pet’s” attentions
But perfectly willing to groom one another
Obvious rulers of the house
Whenever humans aren’t around

Beautiful in all aspects
Regardless of age
Indomitable in spirit
Despite all attempts of control
Gatos eterno sobre el puente del arco iris
Eternal cats over the Rainbow Bridge