Let me start out by saying that the Tallahassee shelter has been euthanizing hundreds of animals a month for over two years now, rather than working with rescues.

The rescues in Tallahassee have been in a constant battle with the local animal shelter for these 2 years, trying to get an acceptable transfer document drafted.  The one that the shelter manager currently insists on using has been looked at by attorneys and rescues, including Florida Boxer Rescue and other regional groups, as well as other shelter management staff around the state who agree that the policy as it is currently written is completely unacceptable. 

We have been through numerous meetings and even arbitration, trying to get the situation resolved, have met with higher city officials when talks with the shelter management broke down and have now gone even higher to the city and county commissioners.  In the meantime, the shelter manager has told us TO OUR FACES that he WILL NOT release purebreds to us.  Instead, he wants complete control over which animals are released to rescues. 

Two rescues in Tallahassee have signed the contract, and in the past two years, the shelter manager has authorized less than 20 animals to be offered to them for placement in their programs, despite them telling him that they could take many more.   They are not allowed to go into the shelter and choose which animals they would like to take, either.  The shelter manager makes that decision.   He also refuses to release ownership of the animals to the rescues. 

Example - within the last month, Florida Boxer Rescue found out about a sick boxer at the Tallahassee shelter.  Their local representative, the regional foster coordinator, attempted to get this animal released to the! m, but t he shelter manager refused and, instead let the dog die in its kennel.  Let me also note that over 60% of the animals that this shelter adopts out to the public are released unaltered with no follow up to assure that the animal is spayed/neutered. 

The situation at the shelter here in Tallahassee is an agonizing one for those of us who live here, and we continue to attempt to resolve this issue.  However, we are convinced that it will not happen as long as the current management staff is in place, and we are encouraged by information we have received in recent weeks that they may not be there much longer.    

The city and county have been told that the local rescues and members of the Big Bend Animal Welfare Coalition stand ready to assist once the current management staff is  gone and an acceptable transfer policy is put in place.  In the meantime, we stay busy by helping other shelters around the state, Georgia and Alabama.  If anyone would like more particular details on this issue,  please feel free to email me privately. 

Email: bluesmail@yahoo.com  

Leann   Leann and the Canine Crew -  Alex and Polo and Dallas at the Rainbow Bridge - 2/9/04 Gulf Coast Shih Tzu Rescue, Inc. Havana, FL 850- 443- 4905 http://www.gcstr.com http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/FL428.html