In this morning’s Reading Eagle was an article stating the Animal Rescue League of Berks County’s cat room will reopen after being closed for several days. A kitten had died showing no symptoms of any disease. Because of this factor, their cat room was closed to the public. They wanted to see if other cats or kittens would get sick and/or die as the kitten did.
Fortunately, a veterinarian gave the ok yesterday to reopen this section stating the other cats would be displaying symptoms by now if they were sick.
This is certainly good news but not unprecedented at the League. According to ARL’s Executive Director, Harry Brown, he said the following:
“In the 24 years he’s been with the organization, the cat-holding area was closed to the public twice before. Both cases stemmed from a single cat showing signs of an illness, and none of the other cats had to be euthanized.”
The above statement is not accurate. When I worked in the capacity as their Media Relations coordinator, there was a time, as Brown stated, that the cat room was indeed closed to the public. I remember it quite well and vividly.
The cat room was closed to the public because of a cat who became ill and died. A veterinarian was called. That veterinarian said all cats must be euthanized and the entire cat room had to be disinfected before allowing any other cats in that room.
One by one, each cat from that room was taken to the euthanasia area and destroyed. When the task was completed, I have no memory lapses of seeing for the first time, an empty cat room.
No cats. No meowing. Silence as many of us wandered into the room. It was a somber and sobering moment for so many. I stood their in silence as other employees came in to peer into the empty cages and cat colonies. The pain and emotions were obvious by looking into their faces.
I fought back tears as I stood in front of the cat colonies. I loved to say hi to the cats and kittens waiting to be adopted. I was the one who took lots of pictures for their website. I was the one who put them on the tv for the first time. I was the one who first introduced them to tv viewers as the host on their tv show. I created their tv program with the main goal of getting the the animals adopted. This had a profound impact on me as much as the others who worked directly with them.
I couldn’t take the unbearable silence and the emptiness knowing all had perished.
I stood in the hallway and started crying. It was too much for me to comprehend. Too much for me to feel. My husband also remembers that day when I arrived home from work. I was still overcome by my emotions.
How could anyone forget that all of the cats died?
I was there. It is fact. All of the cats were euthanized. I will never forget that time It is etched in my mind forever. One can never forget an empty cat room especially when a shelter received at least 500 cats per month at that time.
We live in a world of political correctness and putting a positive spin on sad or tragic events. I would say this goes beyond that. To say no cats were ever euthanized due to a similar incident as the League’s lastest kitten’s death is like deleting a post on FB. Just because it isn’t there, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
When facts become fiction, when reality is glossed over, I have just one question: Is this a case of amnesia?
That sounds horrible to see all the cats perish at one time. I never knew it.
wow..I saw that article. That’s shocking to hear Brown didn’t remember what you wrote. Strange.
I remember that. They don’t want the public to know they killed all them cats. It was never in the news and it’s obvious they’re still protecting themselves through this lie. The place never changes. Sounds like another shelter I know. Sickening when you can’t even trust the people in charge. I wish people could know the whole truth about some of these shelters and rescues. This is a prime example. Lying about a major event shows you the character of the person.
This place used to be shelter that so many loved. It has changed drastically because of their past board president. He wrecked it. Then you have people who continue to perpetuate lies about the place. Man, I wish for days gone by when people really cared about the welfare of the animals and not pretending you’re something you’re not!
How can the executive director forget an entire cat room being cleared out? I guess it’s time for him to retire in January. Senility or purposeful forgetfulness. I believe the latter.
That’s a quite huge loss to forget. He needs to retire if he can’t remember that.
Alot of shelters have become more about their status than about the animals. They hardly pay people who work in this field to start. It’s a dirty job cleaning up after other people’s messes. They have to dress up the situation so not to dissuade people from adopting. I don’t think it would have sounded good if told the truth. Just sayin.
Hmmm..interesting. How does one forget? That’s a good question. I wonder if he can answer it. I would hope there is a good explanation.
He’s afraid of the truth, for some reason. Only he knows. It’s sad when you can’t trust your local shelter. Then again, I’ve heard so many stories of rescues who lie to get money, scam people and worse. I’s a tough business no matter how you look at it.
The ARL does a good job helping the animals. Perhaps, he’s so busy, he lost sight of what happened in the past. Glad no other cats had to die.
I believe that Harry Brown was misquoted. He has had to shut down the cat room, and this time no cat was put to sleep. The last time it was closed down I was lucky to get a little fellow from the holding area to foster, and that is the day they had an illness spread through and all cats in that room had to be put to sleep. No one hid that then, and if you talk to Harry now he will tell you how terrible it was. It was a horrible time for all the employees and volunteers. They had to completely wash the entire room and sterilize it. At that time the cat room was closed for two weeks. I believe that they were able to save many who were taken in by placing them in the “sick area”. Harry would not deliberately lie about this, he is not like that. His main concern is the animals in his care, and the establishment that he has devoted his life to.
Mary, As I said to Linda Arner, may I suggest you contact the reporter who wrote the article? If there is a retraction or correction, I would gladly make a correction on this site.
Tina, I did call Harry Brown as soon as I read this. He indeed was misquoted or misunderstood. He has a call in for the reporter. That was a horrible time in his life, he tries his best to keep animals alive and get them adopted. He would not deliberately lie or mislead anyone about this, it was painful for him. And, at the time, it was obvious to anyone who visited the shelter that there was a huge problem since the room was empty. He was so pleased that no cat had to be put to sleep this time. You know first hand how badly that hurt all of us that care about the facility and the animals. I love that you are out there speaking up for the animals, their voices need to be heard. I also love that there is a Harry Brown at the ARL, and that there is an ARL. The people all try so hard to save and foster and adopt animals into good homes. Thanks Tina
Tina told the truth then. I don’t understand the dispute.
Mary, I’m glad you contacted Harry so he can set the record straight. He is free to comment on here or to contact me to set the record straight.
Yes, it was a bad time, not only for Harry, but for all, as you clearly stated.
Mary, thank you for your constructive input.
This is a VICIOUS attack from a BITTER FORMER employee. Tina, you really SHOULD have spoken to the parties involved PRIOR to creating this article. Rather than verify information, you have chosen to take the words of someone who clearly does NOT have the facts! All you have done is cause MISTRUST within the community for a shelter who has ALWAYS gone above and beyond to honor their mission-helping the animals who have no voice!
Linda, I resigned from the ARL because I was no longer fulfilled in that position. Since then, I’ve worked with and help national and international organizations. I’m quite happy with what I do.
May I make a suggestion? If you think the original article, which I did not write, is incorrect with the facts, please contact that reporter. You felt free to voice your opinion of which you’re entitled, but I didn’t write that quote. If Harry didn’t say it, I would even suggest he contact the paper to set the record straight.
If there is a retraction or correction, I would gladly correct my article.
As misguided as you are about me since I don’t know you and have never met you, I wish no ill will toward the ARL. I saw an article and saw a “quote” that wasn’t accurate.
I wrote about this because I have (past) first-hand experience with this particular case. If you read what I write, I have rarely written about the ARL because I deal with other issues. Thank you.
Linda, you don’t even know Tina. Tina isn’t a bitter, former employee. She quit because she wanted to do more. Tina is a fair person. Attacking her only makes you look like the fool. She didn’t write the original article but you try to bash her while I’m sure you didn’t contact the reporter. I didn’t see you comment on the original article. From your other comments ,it seems like your the bitter person. No one wants to see the ARL fail. You, yourself, put down, the powers that be. Check yourself first before you attack others!
Why don’t you get your facts straight, Linda? Oh my God, Tina has moved way past the ARL. Geez,woman, she left there years ago. Deal with the present before you write fiction yourself. You don’t even know Tina. She did a great job for the ARL but she does a fantastic job for other organizations on a much larger scale. get real. She has moved on. I suggest you do the same.
Also, if you read what Mary Loder wrote, she backed Tina’s account of what happened. She had her facts correct. The article had it wrong. You’re wrongfully attacking Tina for no good reason. She spoke the truth. Seems you don’t want to hear the truth.
How is this a vicious attack if Tina told the truth. There is a Mary Loder who agrees with what happened. Tina has the facts and yet you’re angry with her for telling the truth. Your argument makes no sense to me. Tia didn’t lie nor was she the one quoted or misquoted. She read what a reportr wrote and knew it wasn’t true. Why are you so upset with the truth, Linda? It sounds like you don’t want the public to know about the truth.
She aslo didn’t attack the ARL. She said how it affected the workers. Your problem isn’t with Iina since she didn’t get anything wrong. Your problem is the truth is out there. The truth!
“This is a VICIOUS attack from a BITTER FORMER employee. Tina, you really SHOULD have spoken to the parties involved PRIOR to creating this article. Rather than verify information, you have chosen to take the words of someone who clearly does NOT have the facts!”
vicious? NO bitter NO, and Tina did have the facts. You/re projecting your anger about the truth to the person who delivered the truth. Your truth doesn’t exist except in your mind. I was there and you’re clearly in denial. I wish Tina would get more of the real truth out there so people would know how badly this place is run and has been for a long time. I know you’re afraid of the truth because of your bashing of Tina. It was a sad, transparent way of displacing your anger onto her.
Hey anonymous-you’re another who needs to get your facts straight! Harry Brown IS and has ALWAYS been the heart and soul of this shelter. You really should try to keep your ignorance and lack of knowledge to yourself!
Hey Linda, the heart and soul belong to the majority of the people who have worked and continue to work there over the years. Many gave/give their time, energy and their own money to help these abandoned animals. It wasn’t one person who sticks out but the combination of all of these dedicated people who have been there to help them. You lack knowledge there yourself, sweetie.
For those of you who are on a bashing trip about the Director-let me just say this…Harry Brown is FAR from senile, forgetful, or any of the other vile things you clueless individuals are posting about him. Harry is retiring, sad but true. What NONE of you are considering or even KNOW is WHY Harry is retiring and unless you know him personally, like I do, you can’t consider yourself privy to the facts involved in his decision to retire. Let me just assure you that Harry struggled with his decision and his decision came about as a direct result of the actions of others who shall remain nameless-NOT senility or general forgetfulness. When you have power hungry individuals who insist on being involved where they shouldn’t be involved, things change and not for the better…..enough said!
Sounds like you’re trying to point fingers at someone else. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what you’re saying. Ok?
OK -just so I have this straight- I am the one who should be contacting the reporter who wrote the original article? It would seem to me that a phone call to Harry OR the ORIGINAL reporter BEFORE this nonsense was published in the paper would have been in order!
Tina may have moved on and I commend her for whatever good she is doing but in this case she really should have verified the facts BEFORE this article was written and published! Harry was CLEARLY misquoted but no one wants to recognize that this article could have been presented fairly! i.e. get the facts BEFORE you publish! It’s not MY job to contact the original reporter, Tina. It’s YOUR job to have the facts straight BEFORE you publish the article! In addition, the information should have been verified with the person being called senile-Harry Brown!
Linda,
According to the reporter who wrote the original article, Harry was directly quoted. A direct quote means the following:
A report of the exact words of an author or speaker. Unlike an indirect quotation, a direct quotation is placed inside quotation marks.
I stated the truth/facts about the past situation because I was there. Nothing I said about the past is false. As I said previously, you’r entitled to your opinion.
Thank you.
The reporter quoted Harry. Why should anyone think the reporter got it wrong? It seems, Linda, that you don’t want anyone to know the truth. Tina did nothing wrong. That’s the bottomline. So she stated the truth and you’re so bitter and angry over the truth. WHY?? She didn’t lie. You didn’t want the truth out there. It doesn’t appear that she’s out to get the league either. I’m a regular reader of hers and I don’t even remember when she ever really wrote about them except for this article. Please calm yourself. The truth is this shelter euthanized alot of cats because a cat was ill. FACT! Deal with it and get over it.
So let me get this straight. You’re responsible for what a reporter failed to do. People cease to amaze me.
Thank you, Amber, for telling the truth about this place! Anyone who knows this place imtimately knows the truth? Thanks for being brave enough to state it! They don’t want the truth out there. This is not a good place and is not well run. It is time for Harry to leave for the reasons you provided. For the others who stick up for him, they’re in denial. I don’t care about them. I care about the animals and they need so much better leadership which has been missing for a very long time. It’s disgusting what happens there. You’d think they would be ashamed of themselves but they’re not. Harry will only ignore you. He doesn’t care about the animals. There have been dedicated employees but it seems all of those good people have been run out or fired. You either go along with the program or you’re out. The animals are the ones who suffer and die. I sure am glad the board president is out which is what Linda Arner was alluding to. Harry also needs to go. Hear and soul…don’t think so. In your dreams, maybe. The good people that are gone are the heart and soul. They don’t have much heart and soul left at that place. May God be merciful and get good people to save the animals!
All i should mention is to congratulate you vastly for bringing up this complicated issue to open analysis and coping with it so greatly. Interesting view necessitates at least one more visit to your webblog!
I too worked for the ARL. I quit about two months ago because I could no longer bare what was going on in there. When I got the job I was so thrilled, I thought I had found the perfect job for me. I worked in the cat room with two really great co workers who couldn’t have cared more about the cats. They ate, slept and breathed the ARL and us three made a hell of a team! They were both later wrongfully fired because they tried to make the ARL a better place. Other employees weren’t properly cleaning or medicating and always talking behind others backs creating pointless drama. They made it impossible for us to go into work each day. Harry wouldn’t talk to us and he would refuse to even look at us when passing us in the hall. All because we asked for things to be properly done. They are all so set in their ways and don’t want to change. They make community service do the work they should be doing while they sit in the break room and chat and eat. I have heard Harry say himself that it’s just another cat and that another one just like it will come through the door tomorrow. Maybe he used to care more but he certainly doesn’t anymore. He treats his employees unfair. From the day I first walked in there the staff was nasty to me and they even admitted it to me. The ARL should have employees that care about the animals.. Not who is dating who and who said what. It’s a huge drama fest in there every day. I have witnesses an employees give cats hot water. I’ve heard this same employee say “well that’s 11 cats down today, I don’t like odd numbers lets make it even.” I also heard this person say that a dog deserves “the pink stick.” And I have went to management about it and nothing was done.
Tina is stating facts and no one can be mad at her for that. The ARL has been caught in a lie and they can’t handle the fact that the public knows they aren’t true to the animals the way they claim. To say that not one cat was affected by the cat room being shut down is a down right lie. They are covering up a huge secret and it will eventually leak out. They don’t just shut down a cat room for one cat.. I know.. I’ve worked there and seen the way things are handled. Everything is too secret in there because they don’t want their vet to find out the truth because they know he will pull his license from the shelter.
My experience working there was horrible. The staff is terrible. They act like middle schoolers. They neglect the cats. I recall having a weekend off with my co worker and getting a phone call from her crying her eyes out because they had put a cat to sleep that she planned on adopting.. That cat was the only cat they put down from the adoption floor that day. It was spiteful. & that person knows they are disgusting for stooping so low.. All because we didnt have time the Friday before to prep everything for the weekend the way we usually do. The people are lazy in there! I along with many others would also smell weed in the building all the time. I was on call once and found a black thong in the back of the ARL van. I could go on about this place! It’s dirty and it needs new management and staff! Call me what you want but I voluntarily left because it was just too overwhelming and heart breaking working there. Something needs to be done! I never want anyone to stop adopting because those cats need a good home! But something needs to be done about this place!
Really Amber? I think you need to get your facts together. Everything I just read by you was a complete and total lie. You and your two “awesome coworkers” can keep trying to spread lies and rumors all you want but the shelter is loved by many and staffed by people who truly love what they do. There is a reason the two “superstars” were fired and you quit right after by not showing up to work.
I see there was no correction. Did you hear that Linda?