Rescuers and animal advocates protest against Riverside County's $2.45 million boondoggle

This is a story concerning America from that great animal advocate, Nathan Winograd. It's about animal rescue in Riverside County, California, USA which is located in the southern portion of this US state. What is a boondoggle? I looked it up! It means spending money or time on unnecessary, wasteful or fraudulent projects.

Cancel the contract protest by animal advocates. Photo: Nathan Winograd.

Animal advocates are protesting in Riverside County about a boondoggle which in this instance means spending $2.45 million of taxpayers money to pay a woman, Kristen Hassen, who according to Nathan Winograd has a dodgy record to be a consultant on animal rescue at Riverside County's pound after the removal of Erin Gettis, Riverside County's former pound director after a lawsuit charged her with ethical and legal misconduct.

According to Nathan Winograd, Hassen was one of the chief architects and promoters of Human Animal Support Services (HASS). This method urged shelters to make Covid-era closures permanent by turning away stray animals. And according to him, she also sat on the National Animal Control Association board which encouraged shelters to re-abandon animals people had found on the streets.

The policy manipulated the intake and placement rates by abandoning the whole idea of an animal shelter. The policy put the animals back on the street to be cared for by the community. They were no longer sheltered. According to Nathan Winograd, under HASS, "Intakes of healthy strays and owner surrenders don't exist any more". The conventional shelter model appears to have been disbanded under this policy and instead the community is expected to pick up the slack.

This, according Nathan can lead to animals dying on the streets. He refers to a dog called Nesa was turned away from a shelter under a program hatched up by Hassen and her colleagues. The dog was subsequently found dead in an alley. He argues that her policies can sometimes prove fatal to unwanted companion animals.

HASS results in the fate of unwanted animals to be left to chance. People who find them are told to take them into their own homes until their families are located. Or they should leave them on the street where they found them. According to HASS, the idea is that the animals will find their way home. That's what is hoped for but Winograd says that "Such hope is misplaced. Indeed, for many animals, it proves fatal."

And while Hassen was at Austin Pets Alive, it's alleged that she promoted or defended abusive pound directors and help formed a committee to shield directors from public accountability. It is also alleged that she defended the killing of healthy and treatable dogs and cats and promoted authors and their books that disparage rescuers and shelter volunteers.

Hassen praised Gettis despite the fact that it is alleged that she killed at her facility more animals than any other reporting shelter in United States.

I think that I have had enough. The animal advocates and citizens who are concerned about animal welfare in Riverside County are up in arms about this large consultancy fee payable to a person who is alleged has a very poor track record on shelter animal welfare. They appear to know this whereas the administrators of the county don't or are not bothered about it.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.