In Hillsborough County, Florida, not all dogs are equal. Some homeless dogs are flown in on planes to be adopted while other homeless dogs are killed in the county shelter.
Over 10,000 dogs and cats were euthanized at the county shelter between 2013 and 2015. Yet during that same time period, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay (HSTB) imported almost 6,000 dogs from outside Florida according to Sherry Silk, the CEO of the humane society.
The shelter volunteers and local animal rescuers are furious that puppies and cats are being imported into the county when so many local animals are dying because the shelter can’t hold
them all. “It’s easy to adopt out puppies,” a volunteer from Rescue Me Tampa said. “It’s easy to be no-kill when you send the unwanted dogs to the county shelter to be killed.”
A Tampa resident informed me that in July of last year, she found a 10-month old pit bull/lab puppy that had been dumped in her community. The county shelter’s intake hours were limited then, so she took the puppy to the humane society. They told her that if she made a donation, they would keep the puppy and put him up for adoption. She made a $200 donation and was happy to do it because they save dogs. She was shocked when, less than a week later, she saw that the puppy had been transferred to the county shelter. She wrote, “I (could) only imagine it was because the dog was heartworm positive.” That puppy’s story has a happy ending. No thanks to the humane society, though. He was adopted from the shelter. “It left a seriously bad taste in my mouth,” she said. “They didn’t even tell me they were transferring the dog to (the shelter) or I would have come and got him.” The humane society took her money after promising to keep the puppy safe. They lied.
In May of this year, a one-year-old dog named Pluto was surrendered to the county shelter for being “too active.” On the shelter notes it stated “Adopted from HSTB 2 mos ago. They won’t take it back.”
The facts are that the dog had been adopted two months previously from the humane society. It ended up at the county shelter. After Rescue Me Tampa publicized this fact on their Facebook page, the humane society took Pluto back.
While the volunteers at Rescue Me Tampa say that the imported puppies that the humane society adopts out grow into adults that end up at the county shelter, Silk vigorously disagrees. Regarding the statement on Pluto’s shelter notes stating that “They (the humane society) won’t take it back,” she says, “That’s a lie.”
A few of the 43 dogs flown into the county last month
A Rescue Me Tampa volunteer noted that on the same August day that the humane society flew in 43 dogs from out of state, the county shelter killed seven dogs because they ran out of space. The conclusion appears obvious — if fewer dogs are brought into Hillsborough County from other places, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay would have more room to help the animals who actually live (and die) in Hillsborough County.
“That’s not true,” insisted Silk. “If a family wants to adopt a puppy and the shelter doesn’t have one, they will go down the road and buy one from a pet store. We are saving lives by bringing in puppies. We would love to take in more large dogs, but we only have 44 dog runs,” Silk stated during a phone conversation. “We have 150 cages for smaller dogs.” But the humane society don’t appear to want those runs filled with pit bulls
During a county meeting, the Director of Shelter Operations for the humane society stated that in 2015, 1795 stray animals were brought into the humane society. Of those, 223 were sent to the county shelter. She went on to state that 90% of the 223 dogs sent to the county shelter from the humane society were pit bulls. She then immediately said, “I don’t know about anyone in this room, but I personally cannot manufacture an interest in a pit bull. Can you?” The implication in that statement is that pit bulls are harder to place, so the humane society doesn’t want to keep them.
Facebook comment
And while the humane society claims that the reason they send dogs to the county shelter is that they have limited space for big dogs, their own Facebook thread shows that one of the dogs they imported from out-of-state last month is a large dog. Yet in that same Facebook post there are several heartbreaking pictures posted by commenters of dogs sent to the county shelter by HSTB because they were large dogs — some of whom were killed at the county shelter.
A practice that the humane society seems to encourage (as does the county shelter) is the rehoming of dogs. If adopters do not want their adopted pets any longer, they are welcome to try to find it another home or give it away by any means. “Of course we let people find homes for their animals.” She went on to clarify, “If you cannot find an animal a home, we will take it back.”
Local rescuers have found that the practice of allowing adopters to rehome their unwanted dogs results in shelter dogs returning to the shelter later as strays. Upon investigation (usually by the volunteers at Rescue Me Tampa, who often recognize the dogs), the adopter says that they gave the dog away and don’t know what happened to it. Dogs given away “free to good home” on websites like Craigslist often end up in terrible situations, being used in dog fighting either as a fighter or as bait.
A claim that the humane society got rid of many larger kennels
So the end result is that the Humane Society of Tampa Bay is bringing in carloads and planeloads of puppies and cats from surrounding states and adopting them out. Then, if the adopter doesn’t want the animal anymore, there is no responsibility to return that animal back to the humane society. The adopters can basically do whatever they want with the cat or dog.
So while the humane society piously proclaims that they pull many dogs from the county shelter and take in strays directly from the public, what they don’t state, but what is clear, is that they pull the cute little dogs and dump the older, larger, harder-to-adopt dogs. Is that what a truly humane humane society should be about?
Readers, please feel free to weigh in. Do you agree that there is a problem bringing in cute puppies for adoption when the local county shelter is overflowing with dogs and euthanizing for space? Should the county shelter be doing the dirty work for the humane society by killing the dogs the humane society won’t or can’t adopt out so that the humane society can claim they are no-kill? With a budget of seven million dollars, couldn’t the humane society build a few more runs for larger dogs — the dogs that they are sending to their deaths at the county shelter?
Please recognize Bailey in your photo montage. Her picture is the only one without a name. She should be honored like the rest. Thank you
Thank you. I didn’t have her name. It has been added! There were too many dogs to add them all. Tragic.
So this is a tough conversation, i do believe in the humane society. I have adopted wonderful pets through them, they come healthy with all their shot, spayed or neutered for 50 dollars. I recently surrender a litter of kittens there because it felt safe than trusting strangers. Ive vistied spca shelters especially in currituck county NC. I was a no kill shelter, most disgusting place i ever stepped foot in. Every animal was sick. Really sick. They would be better off dead than at that shelter suffering. Sorry just an opinion, every shelter is different.
This is sickening. I want to help in making a positive change. What can I do?
Pamela, the following statement: “Dogs given away “free to good home” on websites like Craigslist often end up in terrible situations, being used in dog fighting either as a fighter or as bait.” Do you know this as fact?
This is a truth across the country. Dogs given away for free are used as bait dogs, guard dogs, and worse. Not every time, but even once is too much.
Yes, on a moral level, I agree with you that once is too much. However, is the media doing a disservice to these potentially adoptable mixed breeds by making blanket statements like “dogs given away free to a good home often end up in terrible situations…”? The availability or information cascade of media coverage, as defined by two scholars (Cass Sunstein and Timur Kuran) is a “self-reinforcing process of collective belief formation by which an expressed perception triggers a reaction that gives the perception increasing plausibility through its rising availability in public discourse.” In other words, the more we hear about an idea, the more we believe that it’s true, whether or not the belief is supported by credible evidence.
By simply stating that there is an adoption fee, even a small one, those who are really interested in the animal will still inquire about it. Many don’t value what they get for free and will not spend money on vet bills if “it was just a free dog.” People tend to care for that which they consider valuable — what they have paid money for. Some people state that there is an adoption fee, and then when they find a good family, they waive the fee. In Hillsborough County, where dogs can be adopted for only $20, hog hunters adopt two at a time, keep them for the season, and then dump them on the streets or even resell them for a profit as “hunting dogs.” This is a fact.
Here are some things to do to help the taxpayers and the companion animals of Hillsborough county:
-no tax dollars to be given to the Humane Society
-no sale of any animal at any store in the county
-no importation of any animal
-mandatory spay/neuter, vaccination, chipping and licensing
-a plain language explanation by an independent auditor to be published annually of the entire and exact cost to the county taxpayer of the shelter/animal control system
The current system is cruel to animals and abusive of taxpayers.
They need to build more runs and help promote the shelter dogs all the ones in those pictures were needlessly killed and would have made loving pets.
When I learned that the Humane Society was turning dogs over to the Pet Resource Center, I stopped making any donations and I was making them almost yearly as well as dropping food off whenever I could. I was supporting a non-kill shelter and turning any dog over to HIllsborough County was almost always a death sentence, particularly for a pittie! The practice of importing dogs is offensive to me because I believe in working to help the dogs and cats in our community first. That is what our local Humane Society should also espouse. Of course they should build some larger runs for larger dogs. They have simply chosen not to because small dogs are more popular for most people and by not having them, they have an excuse to not save larger dogs as well. In my case, I prefer large dogs to small dogs. So they are the ones I would be looking at only. Jean Dixon’s list of things to be done is a common sense approach to correct some of the deficiencies at the Hillsborough County shelter as long as the audit is aware of and sees through the manager’s fancy footwork of how he determines whether a euthanasia counts or does not count. A returning dog is counted as a stray, therefore the count is not in the euthanasia count of dogs they could not place or a dog that comes in and is evaluated as a behavior problem because it is scared (and what dog isn’t when faced with all the noise and smells there?) and snaps at a handler and is sentenced to die – this is not added to the count either. This way, he keeps his euth count looking really good while all the time he is killing dogs and cats left and right with impugnity and no accountability. The BOCC seem to buy everything he tells them and we are all frustrated. But I digress. The end reply is that we already are overpopulated and do not want or need to bring in more dogs from other states!
Amen to that! Thank you for your intelligent comment from someone who is local.
Choosing which dogs to keep or which “go” (either euthanized or passed on to another shelter) should not fall under a HUMANE SOCIETY’S purview. Leave that to local rescues that are breed specific. A Humane Society should be taking in any animal brought to them, with efforts to educate the owners (previous and future) and rehabilitate the animals if needed.
This is the reality of a “no kill” shelter -cherry-picking adoptable animals, as opposed to an open door shelter, which takes every animal and is then forced into euthanasia. I volunteer at a country shelter. Please support your local open door shelter.