The story in the April 25 issue of The Telegraph about the 100 plus dogs seized from the horrific conditions at a kennel in Jersey County was too tragic for words.

The state and county enforcement agencies, together with the area animal humane organizations, deserve high praise for coordinating their efforts to achieve one goal: the rescue, medical treatment, and eventual adoption of the dogs. Not an easy task, considering the condition of the kennel and the number of dogs involved.

Too bad our area humane organizations can’t work as well together all the time, whether it involves one animal or 100.

Maybe it’s because they are vying for the same piece of the pie, donations. Operating a nonprofit agency is difficult at best and probably even harder when it involves animal welfare, which, to some people, is low on their priorities when compared to human heart disease or cancer. The need for the donation of money and other items never goes away.

Whatever the reason, the community as a whole suffers when different organizations in the same business, trying to accomplish the same thing, adopt an “us vs. them” attitude with each other. After a while the jabbing, finger pointing and allegations take on a life of their own, the issues become personal, and the drama of the personal issues becomes more important than the reason the organizations exists. The result is the credibility and reputation of the organizations suffer. Much like politics, the public gets weary of chest thumping and a negative campaign. The potential exists of turning off valuable potential volunteers and donations.

Credibility is achieved by maintaining an open, honest, and most of all, modest relationship with other organizations, agencies, and the public. Once credibility is established, the donations should be easier to obtain.

The Telegraph community needs every one of its humane organizations. Until all the kennels like the one in Jersey County are put out of business, people stop abusing and abandoning animals, and the majority of people start to spay and neuter their pets, that need will never go away. They could best serve the public by maintaining an open dialogue with one another and helping each other out along the way.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 11:31 am and is filed under Animal Crackers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.