UPDATE 1/27/08 on the 19 Seeley Collies Rescued in Upstate NY
Statement by AWCA President Jean Levitt
100 Days
It is now over 100 days since the Seeley Collies have been eligible for adoption. Why are they still held in crates and cages at the SPCA of Upstate NY in Queensbury? It is unclear why the Executive Director of the SPCA refuses to allow most of these Collies to be adopted or, indeed, to receive any kind of rehabilitation.
One of the peculiar exceptions to the refusal to allow adoption is a little female Collie diagnosed with pneumonia. For three weeks AWCA volunteers reported to the SPCA staff that she had a worrying nasal discharge, and was withdrawn. AWCA had repeatedly offered to pay for any additional medical expenses, including medical boarding. On the fourth week the president of the SPCA board stated the Collie had been discovered with labored breathing and examined by a veterinarian, who diagnosed her with pneumonia and put her on medication. On the fifth week, when AWCA volunteers arrived at the SPCA, the staff told them the little pneumonia Collie had been adopted.
Why must the Seeley Collies continue living in crates and cages for over 100 days when they were rescued from crates? The Seeley home was deplorably filled with fecal material; there is no question about conditions there. The question is why are the Seeley Collies forced to continue living in crates and cages at the SPCA. During the three months AWCA volunteered, we were told they got out only on weekends when we were there. Homes and offers for rehabilitation await them.
For the three months AWCA volunteers worked at the SPCA many of the collies were held in a crowded, cluttered storage room on the top floor of the building. This forced the volunteers to carry some of the weaker Collies down (and up) a narrow flight of stairs without railings, to reach an exercise area, to give the Collies at least a little opportunity for badly needed free movement and play.
Two rehabilitation facilities have offered help with these Collies free of charge. We now have 3 offers to adopt the “old gentleman,” all from experienced Collie people. Back in November he could have begun rehabilitation under the guidance of the SPCA veterinarian. Instead, this 11-1/2 year old gentleman has been languishing in a crate at the SPCA for the more than 100 days he has been eligible for adoption.
AWCA will NOT abandon these Collies. Neither will the Collie community continue to enable the SPCA to hold them. There will be no more money and supplies for the Collies from us because it has not helped them. The Collie community has donated thousands of dollars, cleaning supplies, offers of premium food (which were declined), and collars and leashes (which the volunteers were not allowed to use). They donated boxes of toys, which the Collies were not given, but which, according to the president of the SPCA board, were distributed among the other dog population. These donations and many volunteer hours have enabled the SPCA to continue holding the Collies for over 100 days when they have been eligible for adoption and deserve to be in their forever homes.
AWCA disinfected and cleaned the Collie areas. We chipped ice to release the gate on the unused outdoor exercise pen so that the Collies could exercise. We mopped up the slurry of urine and feces under the crates on the top floor to prevent it from dripping through the ceiling cracks through which one could see the floor below (and got bawled out for discovering the filth). We enabled the SPCA to pass inspection, to pay salaries, and to hold the Collies in crates and cages for over 100 days.
It’s over. No more enabling. The question is why has this situation been allowed to continue for so long?
Calmly,
Jean Levitt
I will politely continue to decline media interviews. However, the media is welcome to quote from the AWCA website.
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