SPCA/Tampa Bay once enjoyed the respect of the animal welfare community. Dedicated volunteers, quality programs, a talented staff and a genuine spirit of caring characterized the organization.
That was before Martha Boden became CEO in July, 2011.
Just as she did at the Humane Society of Indianapolis, Boden initially ingratiated herself with the board of directors and the community. Shortly thereafter, those caring volunteers and staff members who contributed so much to the organization saw it begin to disintegrate. The behaviorist with 20 years of experience was forced to retire. Appointments were required to surrender an animal. The programs that helped dogs get adopted were eliminated one by one.
Many of those volunteers and staff members, subsequently dismissed because they put the welfare of the animals first, provided this timeline of events.
2012
Early in 2012, an experienced trainer/behaviorist interviewed for a position at SPCA/TB. When asked by SPCA’s veterinarian Rizal Lopez how he felt about “euthanasia,” the applicant responded that he was fine with it as long as it was used appropriately. Dr. Lopez replied that they would no longer be rehabilitating dogs and the dogs would be “euthanized” instead.
Needless to say, this applicant’s moral compass did not synch with the agency.
The trainer/behaviorist position was subsequently filled by an inexperienced “trainer/evaluator” who was a perfect fit for the SPCA/TB’s non-rehab/pro-kill protocol. This was the “writing on the wall” signaling the end for 20-year veteran Donna Bainter, whose experience and compassionate service had long benefitted the dogs at SPCA/TB. Going forward, if a dog “failed” its evaluation by this novice evaluator, the dog was killed. No second chances.
Dogs have “failed” evaluations after being deliberately annoyed with the assessment tool, “assess-a-hand”. A volunteer reported witnessing a dog being dragged down the hallway with legs splayed out behind them because they wouldn’t cooperate and walk willingly.
This is fear.
There’s nothing wrong with inexperience. But a position that requires the evaluator to make life and death determinations is not the place for a beginner. The inexperienced person should be apprenticing under a seasoned evaluator.
Of course, if the agency’s agenda is to kill dogs, experience doesn’t matter.
In the spring, some 20 volunteers either were told their services were no longer needed, or left because they could not support the mistreatment of the animals. Volunteers who inquired about the well-being of the dogs were asked to take time off because of “compassion fatigue”, or simply told not to return.
By summer, the Family Dog Training program was dismantled. This popular and comprehensive program had been designed and implemented by Bainter. A team of 30 to 40 trained volunteers got the dogs outside three or four times a day and provided rehabilitative enrichment.
Then Canine Good Citizen training was terminated. Therapeutic playgroups came to an end. Stress-relieving toys provided by volunteers were disappearing from the kennels. Dogs were not being walked.
Boden and the newly hired trainer/evaluator became so frustrated with the volunteers’ concern about the animals that in a staff meeting, “she said she would show us by locking the kennel doors and none of the dogs would get walked.”
2013
Bainter was reprimanded and forced to retire for insubordination. What was her insubordination? Re-evaluating dogs scheduled to be killed because of an inferior temperament evaluation and finding them suitable for adoption. And taking home a 10-month-old adoptable Bichon, Merlin, destined to be killed, fostering him and finding him a home.
Her ultimate sin was not only re-evaluating a dog, but taking him to a groomer to improve his adoption chances.
Staff commented that the animals would be better off on the streets than coming to the shelter. Not all dogs were recorded when they were brought in; some were just eliminated immediately. (Violation of Pinellas County Code of Ordinances Section 14-48)
The trainer/evaluator pulled three dogs, Cash, Dixie and Guido, who had been at the facility a month, and declared they failed their evaluation and were to be killed. The day shift vet techs refused. The three dogs were killed when the night shift came on.
Terminated staff members have witnessed the evaluator failing dogs just by looking at them in their kennels, not even taking them out to evaluate them.
One former volunteer asked an acquaintance who owns a pet-related business what other people in the dog community think about SPCA/TB. More than 20 had no idea who was CEO, since Boden is not involved with the animal community. One characterized SPCA/TB as “a run-down pit-bull-killing factory.” Another simply said the place was a joke.
2014
Another long-time volunteer was dismissed because she aired her concerns regarding the treatment of animals to TV reporter Cynthia Smoot. That story is enlightening.
It took only 2 ½ years for this CEO’s policies to destroy SPCA/TB’s reputation in the animal welfare community. We hope the board of directors is paying attention.