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Humane Society is on the mend

The Pinellas Humane Society got a new executive director this week and an opportunity to cleanse itself of the bitterness and infighting that have characterized the past several months.

Barbara Snow has broad experience working with animals and with people who care about animals. Most important, she has managed animal shelter operations in North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Florida and surely has tackled at least some of the challenges she will confront at the troubled Pinellas shelter.

The staff and volunteers of the Pinellas Humane Society were splintered by the abrupt resignation of director Rick Chaboudy after 20 years. The ranks quickly divided into those "for Rick" and "against Rick."

Bill Mazurek, a Humane Society board member who already had a full-time job, volunteered to act as interim director in this difficult environment, but some did not appreciate the changes he instituted. Some volunteers and staff members resigned as rumors circulated that animal care at the shelter was declining and volunteers were being treated rudely. Other staffers and volunteers said the rumors were lies circulated by angry former staffers and argued that Mazurek was making long-needed improvements to the shelter.

All that sniping should be shelved now, and both staff members and volunteers should welcome Snow and give her a chance to show what she can do for the shelter and the animals there.

Snow will need the community's support. The reputation of the Pinellas Humane Society has suffered because of the months of staff turnover and bad publicity. It may take more than months for Snow to re-establish the shelter's image and the flow of donor dollars on which the private nonprofit shelter depends.

The staff also must be rebuilt, and the shelter building needs substantial work to ensure that the animals are maintained in safe and sanitary conditions.

A particularly important task for Snow will be to examine the shelter's financial records for problems, and to write policies to govern shelter operations and staff procedures. Chaboudy's resignation and the resulting upheaval exposed the need for more professionalism in shelter operations and recordkeeping.

The Humane Society's board of directors, which had been a caretaker board under Chaboudy, seems to have learned it needs to be more hands-on.

It is a promising sign that the board has voted to have an independent auditor review the shelter's books and also has invited the Humane Society of the United States to offer a plan for improving the shelter.

With that outside assistance and an experienced director, conditions should soon improve for animals and staffers at the Humane Society.

[Last modified September 20, 2006, 06:32:16]