WHY DEVORE? DEVORE DOES BETTER THAN OTHER INLAND AGENCIES ON ADOPTIONS/RETURN TO OWNER RATES

According to the Annual Reports of Local Rabies Control Activities, Devore is #4 in the county for positive live releases. The figures for the County include the three shelters either owned or partially operated by the County, Devore, Big Bear, and Dog Days Inn. The three ahead of Devore are the more affluent communities in San Bernardino. Where there is money, there is more spay/neuter, more responsible pet owners. Considering what Devore works with, a 15% unemployment rate, this is actually amazing.

The City of San Bernardino, WHICH HAS AN ANIMAL COMMISSION, THE ONLY CITY IN THE COUNTY TO HAVE ONE, has a 25% live release rate whereas Devore has a 53+% live release rate. Now can you see that the activists have personal vendettas against Devore because otherwise they would be parked on the worse offender's doorstep, the City of San Bernardino. If they truly cared, which shelter should they choose to demonstrate at?

The City of San Bernardino euthanizes 75% of their incoming animals, don't they deserve the activists attention? Why Devore? Just ask yourself, why Devore? Why not the city and all the other agencies with lower release rates?

WHY DEVORE? ASK THE QUESTION, GET AN ANSWER

DEVORE SHELTER IN RUNNING FOR 2012 AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS RACHAEL RAYS' $100K CHALLENGE

http://www.pe.com/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20120327-two-inland-animal-shelters-competing-in-national-challenge.ece

The 108 contenders must get their supporters to vote for them online from April 5-16, and the top 50 shelters will go on to compete for more than $500,000 in prize grants, including a grand prize of $100,000.

Among the competitors are San Bernardino County Animal Care and Control in San Bernardino and Animal Friends of the Valleys in Wildomar.

Supporters can vote for their favorite shelter daily from noon Eastern Time April 5 until midnight ET on April 16.

The 50 shelters selected must then save the lives of at least 300 more cats and dogs during August, September and October 2012 than they did during the same period in 2011. The ASPCA and Rachael Ray will award a $100,000 grand prize to the shelter that achieves the greatest increase during the three-month period.

PRESS RELEASE: http://co.san-bernardino.ca.us/uploads/CAO/pressreleases/content/Animal_Adoption_PR_3-27-12.pdf

“This event assists in meeting the health and social services needs of the County’s

population and supports the Countywide Vision where all sectors work collaboratively to reach

shared goals,” said Brian Cronin, Division Chief Animal Care and Control. “The event will do

this by building new and expanding existing partnerships among public agencies, businesses,

and non-profit and faith-based organizations.”

To become one of the fifty competing shelters, the agency will earn their spot by

getting the most online votes. Individuals can vote once per day during the voting period. To

vote for San Bernardino County, go to ACC’s website at www.sbcounty.gov/acc and follow the

links, or go directly to www.votetosavelives.org/. Voting begins April 5th and will continue

through April 16th. Tell your friends and family; get the word out, vote every day.

MORE SCARE TACTICS BY ACTIVISTS TO PUSH THE PUBLIC AWAY SO EUTHANASIA GOES UP

More scare tactics being used by the activists to make euthanasia go up at Devore. The things they are willing to do, the animals they are willing to sacrifice for their agenda are so immoral.

Facebook pages are reporting outbreaks of parvo at the shelter. Not only does this push the public away, but it keeps rescues from pulling from Devore, a double whammy.

ATTENTION: Friends of Devore Shelter Dogs reports their FIFTH (5!!!) case of parvo in less than 2 weeks. If you have adopted or rescued from Devore recently, please consider isolating animal and making sure they are clear. We just want everyone to have a heads-up that things seems to be worse than usual....

AND ONCE AGAIN, IT AIN'T TRUE!! There is no outbreak of parvo, just the usual run of the mill.

According to Devore:

We had one dog what went to Petfair diagnosed and another that tested positive today in the kennel.

We have had 2 pups brought in over the counter within the last couple of weeks that have tested positive, but they were tested upon intake and were not placed in the kennel with other animals.

Dogs that develop the disease show symptoms of the illness within 3 to 10 days.Untreated cases of CPV2 have a mortality rate approaching 91%. With aggressive therapy, survival rates may approach 80-95%. Parvo is a disease that is hard to prevent in shelters since dogs can be brought in without any symptoms.

NO FROSTBITE FOR DOGS IN DEVORE, JUST A FAIRYTALE

This came in as a comment but it deserved a post of it's own. As we all know, the activists are going somewhat nuts with Derry announcing the possible formation of an animal commission. They are renewing the old, depleted rumors about frostbite. One even tried to pass off the poor treatment of a dog during a transport as Devore's fault. If that dog had been that bad, why would any reputable rescue put it on a transport instead of taking it right away to a vet? Because it didn't get on the transport that way, and if it was put on a transport that way then someone else needs to pay, the transporting parties.

(Quoting)Here is another one the "activist" got wrong. Here you go: As seen posted on many facebook pages and taken to be gospel. "PLEASE SHARE AND NETWORK!! This is an atrocity. Let everyone know what's going on in this hellhole disguised as a shelter called DEVORE! FROM A POTENTIAL ADOPTER - no name disclosed. This is sickening. "By the time I got there, it was about 34 degrees. Freezing temperatures. The dogs are in these indoor/outdoor kennels, which are in essence...all outdoors because there is a half wall dividing the two and the air just blows in freely. There are no blankets, no towels and no beds for the dogs to lie on. There were two men there, hosing down the runs with the dogs in them. So now they are lying down on freezing cold wet floors (soon to be ice). The ones that were together, were luckier (small ones and puppies) because they could huddle together, which they were doing. But some of the others were shaking like a leaf. The sick ones will not make it more than a few days at the very most (some were coughing, others frail and with mange...). It was Auschwitz for me. They were behind bars, freezing, being hosed down and waiting to be exterminated the next day. How can this be humane I ask? This is animal cruelty. And..the turnover is crazy. They take 30-40 dogs a day they told me which means that they can exterminate (it is a more realistic word than euthanize) that many daily too. So the dogs have no real wait time to be (11 days max) adopted. They have to be held UNAVAILABLE for the required 10 days in most cases (to find owner) and then they can kill it the next available day before it has a chance to be adopted (if they feel like it or if more dogs come in). How can this be okay? There should be a reasonable hold time for ALL dogs after the Hold Time. But they even told me that most dogs won't make it out (like the one I was talking about) because they will get sick and die. They are ALL better off on the streets (like in Europe) in that case....they have a better chance of the owner being found, being adopted or...if they die on the streets it would be with dignity and not at that torturous Auschwitz of a place. I did not sleep last night thinking of those dogs freezing. I want to close this place down or change EVERYTHING about it...Including the nightmare of a woman who was at the front desk. (End Quoting)

Here is the problem. The latest the shelter would be open would be on a Wednesday and that would be 7:00 PM. Now if you look at accuweather, (www.accuweather.com) and type in Devore Heights, CA (which is where the Devore Animal Shelter is located), the overnight low (which means the lowest temperature for that night and this normally occurs around 4:00AM) was: Now this is where it gets fun. Water freezes at 32 degrees (3rd grade science and I should know, I teach 3rd grade). Here is the temperature listing. Do you see any listed 'overnight low temperature' at 32 degrees or below??? And don't forget to look at how much snow fell for that area.

High Low Snow(in)

3/1/2012 61° 47° 0.0

3/2/2012 69° 43° 0.0

3/3/2012 78° 46° 0.0

3/4/2012 85° 48° 0.0

3/5/2012 82° 54° 0.0

3/6/2012 62° 45° 0.0

3/7/2012 61° 44° 0.0

3/8/2012 75° 46° 0.0

3/9/2012 81° 49° 0.0

3/10/2012 77° 48° 0.0

3/11/2012 69° 49° 0.0

3/12/2012 68° 49° 0.0

3/13/2012 66° 48° 0.0

3/14/2012 70° 48° 0.0

3/15/2012 71° 51° 0.0

3/16/2012 63° 52° 0.0

3/17/2012 58° 42° 0.0

3/18/2012 49° 42° 0.0

3/19/2012 58° 41° 0.0

3/20/2012 70° 44° 0.0

3/21/2012 78° 48° 0.0

3/22/2012 79° 48° 0.0

3/23/2012 68° 50° 0.0

3/24/2012 70° 49° 0.0

3/25/2012 61° 45° 0.0

I don't know about you, but it looks like someone wrote a fairy tale and sent it as an email to themselves, then posted it as if it were true.

I do believe that this one gets it. Frostbite indeed. Maybe some of these activists do suffer from brain freeze.

RANTINGS ABOUT A LAWSUIT CONCERNING DEVORE ARE LIES

I came across this on Wikipedia. Course we all know that anyone can put anything on Wiki and anyone can edit it as well.

In 2007, Petitioner Jacie Conaway, represented by California attorney, and Animal Rights and Hayden Act expert, Okorie Okorocha,^[3] filed a similar action against San Bernardino County, California.^[4] The lawsuit later resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.

"Resolved to the satisfaction of all parties" is quite deceiving. It gives the appearance that the petitioner won the case. Wrong, didn't happen. In fact the attorney for Conaway basically walked away from the case. Thousands of public records were pulled and nothing was found, no evidence to support the accusations made in the lawsuit.

Here is a link to the SB Sun about this: http://haydenact.com/sbfrontpage.pdf

"A lawsuit against the agency alleging improperly hurried euthanasia appeared ready to be withdrawn by the filing attorney."

Why do they keep beating a dead horse? Investigation after investigation by everyone and nothing has come of any of them. Why do these activists want to waste taxpayer money, money that could go toward improving Devore but instead staff time is taken pulling records over and over. Taking staff time only hurts the shelter animals. How many investigations will it take to satisfy these activists and convince them that they are the ones doing the most harm to the Devore animals?

IRRESPONSIBLE REPORTING PLUS MISGUIDED ACTIVISTS = MORE PETS DIE

Why do they do it? Anyone knows that you don't get people to buy with negative ads and the same applies with shelters. I have my own opinions as to why these activists are determined to kill the Devore shelter pets, I think they have hidden agendas.

This article pretty well sums it up. First an article by a man with absolutely no credentials in the humane community just takes the word of an activist, doesn't research, doesn't try to get the other side, just put his poisoned pen to the paper and wrote all the untruths.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/animal-rights/media-responsible-shelter-animals-dying

Is Media Responsible for Shelter Animals Dying?

What is the role of media when it comes to animal shelters?

We know what that role should be. That role should be to support shelters rather than print stories that drive the public away. We think sensationalizing stories is American in nature. But what does it accomplish when it comes to animal shelters?

Recently a case came to light concerning an open door animal shelter that is being attacked unjustly. Rather than refer to the attackers as activists, which is a positive term, these attackers fall into the realm of terrorists instead. Their bullets are unfounded, false and fabricated accusations.

This particular shelter will be the example of how the media and these terrorists have been responsible for shelter pets having to die for their personal agendas. The Devore shelter is the only shelter owned by the County of San Bernardino, California. The Devore shelter serves an area that has been hard hit by the economy because it was already served a low income community.

In the County, there are 16 different animal control agencies other than San Bernardino County Animal Care and Control, SBACC. The numbers from Devore compare the same or better with these other agencies as well as the neighboring county of Riverside. Devore has been very fortunate over the years in that the Board of Supervisors have seen fit to accommodate the animal control budget, not forcing layoffs of valued animal control officers, not putting the community in jeopardy with losing those officers, and actually have increased the budget for Devore over the years. Economic factors do figure in when it comes to shelters.

Those in low income areas will have more impounds and fewer adoptions and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Devore does have over 90 approved rescues pulling animals out, and the key word is approved. Not all "rescues" flying the banner of "No Kill" are what they appear to be. A cat sanctuary in Florida just proved that case last week when over 500 cats were removed after a PETA covert operation was done. These cats were in horrible condition with many having to be euthanized to relieve their suffering. Many were found dead.

This is not an exception either.

Every week there are reports of private shelters, sanctuaries, and rescues being charged with animal cruelty and each one is flying the "No Kill" banner. http://origin.www.peta.org/features/caboodle-cat-ranch.aspx Devore has undergone several investigations based on these unfounded accusations and in each case, the end result supported that these were indeed unfounded. The Grand Jury has investigated more than once and it ended with Devore getting praised. A television reporter came unexpectedly at the request of these terrorists. This reporter ended up remarking that the kennels were warmer than his house and that Devore was one of the cleanest shelters he had ever encountered. An accusation of a dog receiving frostbite prompted this reporter to come to Devore. Devore has heated kennel floors, impossible for a dog to receive frostbite. The accusers have been repeatedly asked to provide proof of their accusations and as of this writing, none has been provided except for pictures taken by the accusers. No vet report of tests done to determine a diagnosis of frostbite. One vet has already said that it was not frostbite and he examined the dog. Now how does the media play into this at this point? An article by a person whose bio shows no experience in the humane community has been picked up by yet another publication, Pet Press. http://technorati.com/business/article/no-oscar-for-devore-in-san1/ Did the author of this piece take the time to research before writing an article that can mean animals dying? Doesn't look like it.

Then to have a publication that can reach the public and the humane community to print it without again researching, is even more disgusting. Spreading false rumors only mean more deaths in Devore or any shelter, something that is not the fault of Devore or those other shelters either. The media has to recognize that what they write can mean either a happy home or a needle for the shelter animals.

No man would place his family in a position to see cruelty, barrels of dead animals, instead he will bypass a shelter and go into the waiting arms of those very ones condemning the shelters. Could there be hidden agendas to these activists condemning Devore? It makes for more donations to have a story behind a pet, especially a bad story. Could there be hidden agendas with these attacks on shelters? Ask the question why aren't these attackers doing more to save lives instead?

The media can make or break a shelter. The media can either help to bring adopters to the shelter or they can push the public away from adopting at a shelter. It is a responsibility that the media needs to take very seriously before printing a story, especially one not researched prior to publication. We all know that sex and violence sells papers. In the case of animal shelters, negativity kills animals.

Research before publication, remember that at the end of the pen and paper, lives are at stake. Be part of the solution instead of making yourselves part of the problem. To learn the truth about Devore please take a moment to read this blog: www.DevoreShelterFriends.blogspot.com

THE EXAMPLE OF BUDDY OR HOW ONCE AGAIN DEVORE DOESN'T NOT FIT THE ACTIVISTS DESCRIPTION

Earlier there was a post written about community safety, something the activists seem to forget is the priority of any public shelter owned by the taxpayers. http://devoreshelterfriends.blogspot.com/2012/02/buddy-pretty-girl-and-community-safety.html

Let's look at the singular issue of Buddy. I want to point out some highlights included on the trainer's blog about her experience with the day that the ACO's brought Buddy to her. First let's talk about that period. One has to ask, how do you get personalized service of two ACO's bringing out a stray dog, across county lines, to you? Never happened for me. Let's see if we can figure it out. Claudia was an employee of the County of San Bernardino's District Attorney at the time, not that I am inferring anything here. And Lori was an employee of the Sheriff's department, if I am not mistaken, again not inferring anything (twice I've had to say that).

Besides that information, Claudia and Lori called upon the Hayden Bill to get their way, forcing Devore to release Buddy despite Buddy being classified as dangerous by everyone including the veterinarian. Can you see how the Hayden can put the community in jeopardy now? Whether Buddy had a vicious bone in his body isn't the question, he was fearful and remained on a fear level the entire time. We all know that fear causes dogs to bite, even attack if cornered. But Buddy had to be saved. While reading keep in mind that Claudia tried for several weeks to catch Buddy herself, tempting him with food would be an assumption, etc. She was unsuccessful.

This is the link that I will pull examples from: http://www.saving88.blogspot.com/

Claudia and Lori called upon an activist against Devore to take Buddy out under the Hayden. This is a blog about that particular activist. http://ranchocats-meow.blogspot.com/ While there, the activist found another little dog she wanted to take out. The dog had trouble walking and the comment was made that probably Devore would make the dog walk to the car. This was the response: We asked her if they had made him walk out to her, and she said, "No, I asked the officer if she could carry him, and she carried him right out to my car." We were both relieved to hear

that.

According to the trainer:

Jenifer said, "Well, I have to be honest with you. On a scale of 1-10, this dog is probably a 10 as far as the need for rehab. He is the worst case I've seen.

The trainer goes further to say (being a part of the Cesar Millan group) that Cesar would want the dog for a minimum of 90 days. Now, this is just one dog. Is Devore actually expect to give this type of treatment for any others that need it, where does the budget come from for this? I'm quite sure Cesar doesn't come cheap. The response to what the trainer said was:

Wow, we had no idea he was that bad.

These are excerpts from the chosen trainer for Buddy who has been renamed Noah: http://www.createbalancewithattheendofyourleash.blogspot.com/

Now, remember when I talked about things turning out the way they do for a reason? Remember me being so thankful that Greg at the Devore Shelter brought Buddy out to me? As Emma is telling us all about this rescue, all I could think of was, “Thank you Greg! Thank you Animal Control Officer! Thank you Devore Shelter! Thank you for transporting this doggy out to me! Thank you!”

Let me say this again,.. Thank You Greg Beck! Here is my reminder to everyone: Be careful about judging a situation too soon. The Universe may foresee a better way. Trust that everything happens for a really good reason!

See how this unbiased, untainted trainer paints a much different picture of Greg Beck than the activists do.

How did this story turn out? The story ends abruptly.

Today, Claudia and I were going to meet with Jenifer to do a 3-hour consultation at Claudia’s house. I arrived at Claudia’s at 3:45, and as I pulled up, my cell phone rang. I answered it and it was Jenifer. She told me she had been busy all day “breaking Noah from jumping the fence”. She said he started jumping the fence the day before, so she had stayed home all day and worked with him, trying to break him of it. I asked her if this meant she wasn’t coming out to meet with us, and she replied, “Yeah, I want you and Claudia to come here instead.” (Was this the end of Buddy's story or.........?

Also there is a request for donations for the medical bills accumulated on Buddy/Noah. Now first we have taxpayers paying for a private transport, which is fine by me because it pertained to the safety of others, then two women with good paying jobs are asking people to pay for their decision, they aren't rescues. One intended to keep Buddy/Noah as a personal pet.

Once you read these blogs, you can see that it is totally beyond reason to expect Devore or any shelter, other than a private one, to go to these extremes for one dog. Yet that is what is expected from Devore by the activists. They fail to recognize the positive traits and put those before the public. The positive will get animals adopted, the negative spewed by the activists only cause more death.