[ SHOWGSD-L ] The Times-Picayune/New Orleans, LA-Humane Society spending p...
- From: RihadinK9@xxxxxxx
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 00:55:45 EST
Humane Society spending probed Group's head denies any wrongdoing
Saturday, March 18, 2006 By Robert Travis Scott
Capital bureau
BATON ROUGE -- Louisiana's attorney general has begun an inquiry of the
Humane Society's financial activities related to the national organization's
disaster assistance programs after Hurricane Katrina, the group's top official
said Thursday.
Wayne Pacelle, president and executive director of the Humane Society
of the United States, said the nonprofit charity has done nothing wrong and
is cooperating fully. Pacelle said he did not know the intent of the inquiry
but thought it might have been initiated by rumors circulating on the Internet
about alleged inappropriate spending by the society.
"We don't think there's any issue," Pacelle said.
Attorney General Charles Foti is looking at fund-raising issues involving a
charity that dealt with pets and reuniting pets with owners after the storms,
Foti's spokeswoman Kris Wartelle said. She called it a "basic beginning of an
inquiry" and declined to give more details. She said Foti has made no
accusations of wrongdoing.
Donations to the Humane Society after Katrina were generous beyond
expectations, Pacelle said. The group received $30 million toward relief
efforts for
pets and other animals after the storm seven months ago. The organization has
already spent or has pledged to spend $25 million of that amount toward
"recovery from Katrina and other disasters last year," and will eventually
spend all
the money, according to a society statement released this week.
"Only a small percentage of the money was specifically earmarked for the
Katrina response, though we've spent the bulk of the money in the Gulf Coast,"
the statement said.
The society sent people to Pakistan and India in October to help after a
major earthquake. It also assisted in Mexico and Florida after Hurricane Wilma.
The estimated cost for the society's "non-Katrina disaster work" for 2005 was
$500,000, the statement said.
"We're careful not to liquidate these donations in very short order,"
Pacelle said. The society will be dealing with the impact of Katrina for
several
years, and wants to use the money toward a sustained rebuilding effort, he
said.
Many animals victimized by the storm still need shelter and care.
The society has not used the money for staff bonuses, a "complete
fabrication" that has made the rumor mill, Pacelle said.
Created in 1954, the society is based in Washington, D.C., and has regional
offices around the country.
Within days after Katrina, the group provided personnel, equipment and
financial support to local animal assistance and shelter groups along the Gulf
Coast and participated in the direct rescue and care of more than 10,000
abandoned or lost animals. It also worked to reunite pets with owners.
The society reassigned more than 200 of its staff to respond to the crisis
and coordinated and covered the field expenses for thousands of volunteers and
animal-care professionals in the stricken areas.
Among the costs for Katrina, it spent $5.5 million on direct operations, $7
million in reconstruction grants to local organizations in the Gulf Coast,
made $1.3 million in reimbursement grants to humane societies and rescue groups
throughout the country that assisted relief efforts, and sent teams of
professional trappers to the storm zones.
The group has committed $500,000 in partnership with Louisiana State
University and the Dixon Correctional Institute toward an assessment for a
permanent
facility for animal care and sheltering. The society worked with the prison
after the storm to run a temporary care center staffed by inmates.
The group worked in cooperation with the Louisiana Society for Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals to run a post-storm animal rescue center in Gonzales, and
is spending $4.5 million to help get the LSPCA back on its feet.
Laura Maloney, head of the Louisiana SPCA, said her organization would be
financially devastated were it not for the support of the Humane Society and
the American SPCA, a national animal advocacy group not directly affiliated
with
the Louisiana society.
"We would have been in deep trouble if they hadn't come in with funding,"
said Maloney, whose local donor base was scattered by the storm.
The Louisiana SPCA, which handles animal control, sheltering and
sterilization in New Orleans, saw its facilities wiped out by Katrina and lost
nearly
half its staff. It is operating out of a temporary warehouse in Algiers and is
planning a new permanent home, Maloney said.
Maloney said she was not privy to the reasons for the attorney general
inquiry. Under crisis conditions after the hurricane, the animal relief effort
in
many ways worked well but encountered logistical snafus and coordination
problems between animal care groups and state agencies, she said. That was the
extent of any problems Maloney said the Humane Society might have had with its
operations in Louisiana.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-3/114266952031840.xm
l
Ginger Cleary
Rome, GA http://www.rihadin.com/
George Orwell was an optimist.
============================================================================
POST is Copyrighted 2006. All material remains the property of the original
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind
are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE
PROSECUTED.
For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx
VISIT OUR WEBSITE - URL temporarily deleted due to AOL issues
============================================================================
Other related posts:
- » [ SHOWGSD-L ] The Times-Picayune/New Orleans, LA-Humane Society spending p...
