You can see news pieces from the press event here and here.
James Rogers, the new interim director “says he plans to have his goals at the animal shelter met within 60 to 90 days.” I like this. A lot. It says action. And action is needed. While the specific goals haven’t been shared with the public, I’m sure many of us have certain ideas in mind of what the goals might be.
To my mind, a shelter is a complex weave of pets in need, staff, volunteers and the public. There are essential programs which must be in place in order to achieve sustainable success and various policies, procedures and protocols which form the foundation for that success. The structure building is important but there is also a bottom line. To my mind, the bottom line for any shelter is lifesaving. Pets can not be put on hold or ignored while infrastructure is repaired. It is a matter of nothing less important than life itself. And so within the next 60 to 90 days, I will be looking at the live release rate at MAS as a means to measure success – the same as always. Because there is no such thing as a successful shelter where healthy/treatable pets are being killed. Any improvements made absolutely must be reflected in the live release rate because if they don’t save lives, they aren’t improvements.
What will you be looking at within the next 60 to 90 days to help gauge the changes that are supposed to be forthcoming at MAS?