Give me answers about animal shelter

GUILDERLAND — The arguments between Town Hall and Guilderhaven have been mute for the past two years, but the organization’s members now want answers.

The expanded and upgraded Guilderland Animal Shelter was made possible largely through donations in 2004 and 2005 collected by the not-for-profit animal organization, Guilderhaven. Since the new facility opened, Guilderhaven volunteers have not been allowed to work at the shelter.

Guilderhaven members say they feel they have been left out in the cold and they suspect the shelter is rarely used. They say they continue to find homes for more than a dozen animals a month.
"That shelter is completely useless right now," said Guilderhaven treasurer, Susan Green. "And it has been for a year-and-a-half now."

Supervisor Kenneth Runion and Animal Control Officer Richard Savage say that liability insurance and large deductibles are the reasons volunteers aren’t allowed.

However, Runion told The Enterprise yesterday that because of a decrease in the town’s liability in 2008, this may change in the near future.
"This year, we do anticipate to see some decrease in our liability insurance costs," Runion said. "That"will allow us to do more things. I want to make it clear that these things are always in a state of flux."

Runion said that, prior to 2001, the town did not have a deductible for its liability insurance and now it has a $25,000 deductible. The supervisor said insurance costs have skyrocketed since Sept. 11, 2001, and that volunteers at the animal shelter would pose a financial risk.

Currently, the supervisor said, there are no volunteers at the shelter and there are no town employee volunteers either.
"We used to have applications for the volunteers, but we just don’t need them right now," Savage said. "If the insurance situation changes maybe it will be different, but right now, we’re not having any."

Looking for answers

In November of 2004, Runion suggested changing the policy at the town-owned animal shelter, so that dogs who are not adopted in a certain period of time would be sent to another shelter, where they could have been killed.

Guilderhaven volunteers were angry, their spokesperson Sue Green said in January of 2005, after negotiations with the town broke down. Green said they spent months raising $100,000 — in cash and donated services — for renovations to the shelter on the premise that Guilderland would run a no-kill shelter.

Runion responded at the time that the new policy would save taxpayers money and would be more fair to the abandoned animals at the shelter. Dogs would have had 90 days to be adopted under Runion’s original policy suggestion, before they were sent to a kill shelter. This, Runion said, was more humane then having an animal live alone in a cage for years.

A week after the Enterprise story ran, residents packed a town board meeting, speaking out against the policy. But Runion began the meeting by saying he had rescinded the kill policy. He was trying to do what was best for the town’s dogs, he said at the time.

Under the town’s current policy, if a dog’s owner can’t be located and a rescue organization does not want the animal, the dog will be evaluated by an animal behaviorist and possibly trained.

Guilderhaven says now, it just wants answers.
In her regular column, "Guilderhaven News," about the organizations events and animals to adopt, Green wrote in the Sept. 27 Enterprise, "On Oct. 16, Guilderhaven will be attending the Guilderland Town Board meeting in an effort to get clarifications of the Guilderland Animal Shelter policies (operating hours and staffing, clinics and adoptions, animal surrenders and volunteer opportunities).
"Many residents have called Guilderhaven board members, expressing confusion and frustration over these matters."

However, Guilderhaven never sent a letter to Town Hall and never requested to be placed on the agenda to discuss concerns with the town board, according to Runion.
"I called Bonnie Quay when I was made aware of the notice in the paper," Runion said of contacting Guilderhaven’s president.

Quay said Runion told her that Guilderhaven couldn’t be on the agenda until November or December.
"He said the agenda was full and that there were two public hearings that night," Quay said of Oct. 16. "Guilderhaven just wanted to go and find out what was going on with the shelter."

There are public hearings concerning local laws scheduled for 7:30 and 7:45 p.m. for next Tuesday’s board meeting. The local laws deal with illicit discharges to the town’s storm water system and storm-water management.

Quay said that she is not planning on going to the meeting that evening, but is still looking to get on the agenda for later in the fall.
Members of Guilderhaven could speak during the public-comment period before a board meeting, Runion said, but it would only be for the record and could not be "a discussion" or a "question-and-answer" forum.
"We don’t allow for a question and answer period," Runion said of the public comment portion of town meetings. "It looked like they were looking at having an open discussion on different aspects of the animal shelter."

Runion suggested that the organization speak with Deputy Police Chief Carol Lawlor who is in charge of the shelter or a town board liaison to get some questions answered before arranging a meeting with the town board.

Green said she still plans on attending the Oct. 16 board meeting, even if she doesn’t speak at it.
"We have been shut out of the loop completely," Green said, who added that she still helps find homes for dozens of animals without the help of the shelter. "I don’t understand why, because our goal has always been for the betterment of the animals."
She said that she has heard complaints from residents who say they can’t reach animal control officers or they are told, when they find a stray animal, to "keep it." She also said that the animal shelter is reluctant to take cats.

Runion responded through The Enterprise by saying it is common practice for a shelter to refuse feral cats because of the possibility of a disease outbreak, similar to the one in the Mohawk and Hudson River Human Society where hundreds of cats had to be euthanized.

Green said that she would never send or allow other people to send a feral cat to the shelter and that often, the animal shelter is locked.

Savage, who runs the shelter, said he would never turn down an animal that wasn’t sick and it is only locked when officers are on call.
"We do whatever we can for the animals," Savage said. "When I have to leave the shelter, I put a paper clock on the door saying when I will return, and it’s never more then 10 or 15 minutes than when I said when I get back."
He said that he tries to keep the doors of the shelter open as much as possible, but concluded, "It’s a big town and you can’t be at two places at once."