Council will set up new animal shelter
By GAY ABBATE
Toronto City Council agreed yesterday to set up a new animal
shelter, although
the Toronto Humane Society says it can do the job cheaper.
The shelter, to serve the downtown area, will be housed in part
of the Horse
Palace on the grounds of city-owned Exhibition Place.
The society said it could shelter the city's stray animals for
$500,000 a year.
The city will have to spend $825,000 to renovate the facility,
but will turn a
$1-million-a-year profit after a decade.
Instead of killing unadopted animals, it will send them to the
shelter for a
second chance at finding a home.
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While cages at the Toronto Humane Society's River St. headquarters sat half-empty, it was all cats and dogs at the annual meeting upstairs.
After an eight-month power struggle, members voted Monday night to reshuffle the agency's board of directors, replacing president Jeannie Butler and six others on the 11-member board.
The new directors include past-president Tim Trow, who had resigned when the board was plagued by internal strife in the mid-1980s. Trow becomes the new president.
"I feel like Custer at Little Big Horn," said ousted treasurer Ernest Royden. "A boot in one cheek and a bite in the other."
But dissatisfied members say the real bite had come out of the society's historic mandate to care for the city's animals. After 114 years of taking in strays, the city decided not to renew its contract with the organization earlier this year, leaving dogs and cats in bustling city pounds while the society's shelter remained sparsely populated. Of the 11,000 animals the shelter took in last year, 7,800 were strays.
Butler insisted the society just wanted a break-even deal from the city - it couldn't afford a lopsided arrangement that left the society footing much of the bill for taking care of the animals. The city ended up backing away from the society's request for a 35 per cent fee increase.
"We've asked the city to pay just enough money to cover the cost of the services we're providing," Butler said.
Despite the rift with the city, Butler characterized the society as "better, stronger and healthier than we've ever been before.
"We are on the path to a new relationship with the city - a new and fair and equitable and responsible relationship."
But members elected to take a different path, with new directors at the helm.
Former directors were derided for many of the recent ills that had befallen the charity organization, including losing the city contract and the prolonged, costly and distracting internal struggle. Several complained about being "telemarketed" for their votes by both sides; others raised the spectre of document shredding and mismanaged funds.
"I've experienced the full gamut of emotions ranging from anger to frustration," Butler said. "Good intentions have been twisted every step of the way."
The real victims of the struggle, she added, are the animals. "In our care, they should never be used as pawns in pursuit of power."
Much of the society's woes erupted earlier this year, when the board tried to take away the voting rights of the bulk of its membership. Policy decisions would then be left in the hands of directors. But a court blocked the move.
According to Heather Ferguson, who also lost her position, that would have spelled a more efficient organization.
People, she said, are getting "picky" about which charitable organizations they support, preferring to get the most out of their contribution.
"You better be fiscally well-managed and you better be well-governed," she said. "This is not a mom-and-pop operation. This is an eight- to nine-million-dollar organization."
For the new directors that means repairing relations with the city.
"We've got to get to work. We've got to normalize relations with the city and the Ontario Humane Society and we've got to make the place alive like it's never been before," Trow said.
He's also confident the city will opt to work with the society again. "They put $1 million into this building. Do they really want to put $2 million into another building?"
The feud has cost the society around $500,000 in legal costs. Much of its funding comes from philanthropists like the late pianist Glenn Gould and media magnate Ken Thomson. Last year, that largesse amounted to $1.1 million. Fundraising, donations and membership fees amounted to another $5.6 million.
For those who were members in 1983, the eight-month-long squabble must
seem like deacute;javu all over again. That's when the board split over
alleged mismanagement, which included poor record-keeping and organizational
skills. Distrust and paranoia would later culminate in a 1987 court battle
over board restructuring.
By LAURA BOBAK, TORONTO SUN
The new top dogs at the Toronto Humane Society have launched an
internal probe of the beleaguered charity's financial affairs.
"We're going to look everywhere," said Bob Hambly, the new
secretary-treasurer.
"We're going to do our own review and, based on our review, we'll
decide whether to do a forensic audit."
Hambly said the former board, which was ousted by rank-and-file
members at an annual general meeting earlier this week, kept the
society's numbers shrouded in secrecy for the past 10 months.
One expenditure that has irked the new board was a secret $2,000
wedding gift to CEO Jack Slibar.
The gift was not approved by the board, but was made by the
board's executive committee.
"It's completely improper," said Hambly, adding the directors should
have anted up out of their own wallets for the gift.
"You don't dip into a charity because you like someone. It was done
without consultation."
The new board will also review the Humane Society's legal bills.
Hambly said financial records he obtained for the first time
yesterday show the former board spent about $700,000 on a court
battle, in which the board unsuccessfully fought to defend its right to
strip the society's membership of their voting rights.
Hambly said the former board also used lawyers to conduct talks
between the society and the city, as well as the Ontario Humane
Society.
Ernie Royden, a former board member, said executive members felt
the $2,000 gift, which was taxable, was such a "small" amount that
they did not seek board approval.
"You didn't really need to bring it to a whole board," he said.
Society members were also angry that the former board lost the
contract with the city to provide pound services.
City officials have said the city won't restore the contract with the
Humane Society, but charity staff have said negotiations are under
way for the society to provide some adoption services for surplus
strays collected by the city.
Rarely has a volunteer board of directors taken such a
shellacking as the one delivered by members at the
Toronto Humane Society's annual meeting this week.
The whole bunch of them got turfed out.
Not only were the seven incumbents standing for
re-election to the 16-member board ousted, including President
Jeannie Butler, but the eight candidates the old board nominated
also bit the dust - including former police chief Jack Marks and Mr.
Justice Joe Potts of the Ontario Superior Court.
Elected by close to an 80% margin was the so-called "Members
Choice" slate, headed by former (and now the new) THS president,
Tim Trow, a retired lawyer in the attorney general's department.
Until the moment of the vote, Trow and his slate were disparaged by
the old THS board, whose campaign bumpf insisted there was "no
evidence that his (Trow's) group represents the views of the
membership."
I'd argue 80% is fairly conclusive "evidence."
Ousted president Butler was bitter, saying her emotions ran from
sad to angry. To grimaces from the membership, she said the THS
was "better, stronger, healthier than ever before" and that the animal
control contract with Toronto ended "because the society should not
be subsidizing the city from donor contributions."
This is a strange attitude. Granted, it would be nice if the city
boosted its annual $750,000 to a break-even $1 million, but by
giving an ultimatum, to come across or else, the old board was
betraying Toronto animals. The new board hopes to renew the
animal control contract.
Those who've read my outpourings over the summer, know I've been
less than impressed with the THS board - especially when it
manipulated last year's annual meeting to disenfranchise the
membership and make only the 12-member board voting members.
That was the spark that ignited outrage among members and
resulted in the courts revoking a new bylaw and ordering the board
be returned to 16 rather than 12 members. The city's rep, who'd
been kicked off the board, was ordered reinstated.
To be generous, ousted board members were more silly than
sinister - including allotting themselves and opponents (who refused
the money) up to $50,000 in campaign expenses to get elected.
Questionable, too, was giving $2,000 of THS money to CEO Jack
Slibar as a wedding gift.
At the annual meeting, a succession of members stood up to scold,
and blame themselves for not paying sufficient attention to what was
going on until it was too late. Individually, they pledged to pay
greater attention in the future.
To a question, the THS veterinarian said admission of dogs to the
shelter was down by 60% and cats by 50%, despite accepting
strays from other centres in Ontario, but not Toronto.
Butler complained that THS lawyer fees ran to around $500,000 to
fight Tim Trow's complaints about management (which the courts
mostly upheld). If that cost is accurate, I suggest it's sufficient reason
to consider changing law firms.
The new board is a mixture of experience and newcomers - three
are dissident members of the old board - the indomitable Betty
John, Shelley Shields, Dr. Howard Seiden. Former THS treasurer
Bob Hambley, an accountant, is now secretary-treasurer and it's a
fair bet he'll be examining the books for any expensive lunches and
frills that may be inappropriate for a non-profit charity that gets $1
million a year in bequests and over $5.5 from fundraising,
donations, membership fees, investments.
Next week, meetings will be held with the Ontario Humane Society
(OHS) which was slated to disaffiliate the THS on Nov. 24 for its
"lack of co-operation and apparent lack of response to cruelty
complaints ... " (No animal abuse charges were laid in Toronto last
year).
The "new" THS board says it will be more aggressive about animal
abuse, and seems eager to restore friendly relations with the city,
which were acrimonious under CEO Slibar, now on paternity leave.
If I were Slibar, I'd be updating my resume ...
The spotlight now shifts to the new board.
If it goes off the rails, members and others will be watching. But for
the moment, it's a refreshing change from the past and renewed
hope for Toronto animals in the future.
Finally, for what it's worth, Chief Marks and Judge Potts should
thank their lucky stars they weren't elected. No matter their past
experiences, it's doubtful either has encountered snapping and
clawing like that that sometimes surfaces in the zany world of animal
crackers.
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September 15, 2001
Tough times at Humane Society
Members win lawsuit: Toronto institution faces life without city
pound contract
Peter Kuitenbrouwer
National Post
In the wildlife room there are young skunks in a cage, a blind
turtle in a fish tank, a possum
in a milk crate and a pair of baby red squirrels in a Kleenex
box. A humidifier spews
eucalyptus-scented steam in the surgery waiting room, where cats
snooze to Billy Joel on
EZ-Rock 97.3. In the main kennel, pandemonium erupts among the
dogs as visitors walk
through, looking for a new pet.
It looks like business as usual at the Toronto Humane Society,
the venerable organization on
River Street that, for 114 years, has cared for unwanted, lost,
abused and injured animals.
Looks, however, can deceive.
A year of turmoil has seen the society stripped of its more than
century-old role as the city
pound and engulfed in a dispute with a vocal group of long-time
supporters.
The supporters sued the society in the spring, saying the THS
had tricked members into
supporting a rule change that stripped more than 1,000 members
of their voting power. This
week, Mr. Justice Paul Rivard of the Ontario Superior Court of
Justice ruled in favour of the
members and ordered the THS to pay their court costs.
"It is declared that By-Law 2 is invalid due to lack of material
disclosure to members of the
Society," the judge wrote in an endorsement, noting that members
did not know they were
"being asked to support a by-law which would ultimately take
away [their] right to vote.
"The right to vote for members of the society is restored."
The ruling reinstates the previous structure of the Humane Society,
including a 16-member
board with one seat reserved for a Toronto city councillor. The
victorious members say they
now seek to force the Humane Society to patch up its differences
with the city and resume its
role as first stop for 10,000 of the strays picked up each year.
If that effort fails, overburdened Toronto taxpayers could face
up to $2-million in costs to
build a new pound for central Toronto.
"The city of Toronto put $1-million into that pound [the Humane
Society headquarters on
River Street] in 1980," says Tim Trow, who has belonged to the
Humane Society his "entire
adult life" and served as its president in the early 1980s. "To
spend $3-million to have two
buildings is ludicrous."
Amy White, the long-time spokeswoman for the THS, says the controversy
has served no
purpose other than to take her group away from its central mission.
"We have better things to do than fight in court, like take care
of animals," she says.
"Unfortunately, there are those few who want to take us away
from our job."
The THS is a magnet for controversy: its human supporters get
along fine with animals but
rarely with each other.
In 1985, the city, in dismay over infighting at the society, took away its role as dog catcher.
Then, in 1997, a judge restricted THS membership to those living
in a 30-mile radius from the
River Street facility, after animal-rights activists signed up
members from as far away as
Scandinavia and gained control of the group.
The current turmoil began last November, when the THS sent its
members copies of a
proposed new by-law. A covering letter described it as "standard."
At its December annual meeting, THS members approved the changes,
including a clause that
says only "active members" can vote to elect the THS board. The
THS board then immediately
confirmed just 12 people -- the board itself -- as "active members."
When they learned they'd lost their votes, a group of members
confronted the board, without
success. In April, they sued.
Sitting in her office at the Humane Society with her three dogs,
(and one hairless Mexican she
is babysitting), Ms. White defends the voting changes as "common
in many charities."
In the midst of all the THS turmoil, this spring the City of Toronto
ended its more than
century-old contract, for which it paid the THS $776,000 last
year, to drop off stray pets at
the Humane Society.
Humane Society members accuse the THS of deliberately walking
away from the contract, and
Judge Rivard voiced some support for that view.
"The contract was not renewed because of a lack of communication
between the city and
board," he ruled. "That lack of communication may have been caused
by THS staff failure to
provide the board with details of the city's position."
Mr. Trow, a retired employee of the provincial attorney-general's
office, said sheltering the
city's stray and lost animals is at the core of the THS raison
d'être.
"I think the board got completely lost and went down the wrong
street," he says. "We want
to try and get our vote back so we can go to the city and say,
'We want your business.' "
He worries that, absent its role as city pound, the THS will have trouble raising money.
"Why do people give money? Because the Humane Society looks after
animals who have
nobody else to look after them."
Jack Slibar, chief executive of the Humane Society, declined to
speak to a reporter. On
Thursday, he released a written response to the court ruling,
which reads in part, "We
acknowledge that the by-law at issue -- By-law No. 2 -- was well-intentioned
but obviously
neither well-explained nor was it well enough understood by our
members.
"Our goal is for people to understand that all our actions are
driven by a deep and
passionate commitment to the Society and to helping the animals
in our care," he added. The
statement gives no indication of the society's next move.
Eletta Purdy, city-wide manager for Toronto Animal Services, says
Toronto is coping well with
five city pounds in Scarborough, North York, York, East York
and Etobicoke, and is finding new homes for strays with help from
three pet-store chains: Petsmart, Pet Valu and Pet Etc.
She blasted the Humane Society, saying it declined to register
pets when giving them up for
adoption, depriving the city of a source of revenue.
"It was a very difficult contract to manage," Ms. Purdy says.
"It is really hard to entertain that
the city would want to be involved [with the THS] again."
Ms. White said the society has no plans to rekindle its relationship
with the city. And she says
even without that business, the THS, with a budget of $8-million,
is strong.
The Toronto Humane Society now goes to pounds in Fort Erie, Niagara
Falls and St.
Catharines to pick up strays that are bound for death, which
it offers up as pets in Toronto,
says Ms. White.
"The THS has a role to play," she says. "We have a wonderful facility,
just over 100 staff, and
1,000 volunteers. We are certainly finding our niche in the animal-control
world."
Humane Society gets new leader
By GRAEME SMITH
Wednesday, November 14, 2001 – Print Edition, Page A26
The Toronto Humane Society has a new top dog.
Tim Trow led a revolution within the venerable animal shelter
this week,
overthrowing the old board of directors and taking the president's
job.
It was a hard-earned victory for the 55-year-old animal lover,
whose group
of disgruntled society members recently fought a court battle
for their right to
vote for new leadership.
A Superior Court judge decided in the rebels' favour in September.
At the
society's annual general meeting on Monday, about 450 society
members
voted for Mr. Trow and a new board.
"This was really a David and Goliath story," said newly minted
board
member Terry Leeke.
Mr. Trow, who served as president of the society in 1982 and 1983,
inherits
many of the problems that led to member dissatisfaction.
Relations have deteriorated with organizations such as the Ontario
Humane
Society. The Toronto group also lost its municipal contract to
collect stray
animals this year, breaking more than a century of tradition
and cutting its
shelter business in half after it helped about 11,000 animals
last year.
"We have to talk to the city about what role we can play," Mr.
Trow said.
"Hopefully, we can refill the shelter with animals. It would
be unthinkable
after 115 years with a partnership with the city to spend the
next 115 years
without one."
But Councillor Joe Mihevc, chairman of the Toronto Board of Health,
says
the board has already put money into cages and facilities for
its new
city-operated animal services. "We've already invested so much,"
Mr.
Mihevc said. "We can't tear a piece out of our system to give
to any one
operator."
Humane Society members have said they're hoping to win back the
city
contract because municipal pounds treat animals poorly and euthanize
strays
more frequently. But Mr. Mihevc said euthanization rates haven't
increased.
"The people who work with animals for the city love animals just
like the
people from the Humane Society," Mr. Mihevc said.
Ousted president Jeannie Butler said she has doubts about the
new leaders'
ability to improve the organization because of their reputation
as radicals.
She also said she's disappointed that the infighting cost the
society $500,000
in legal fees.