Summary:

Help us to encourage the Board of the Westmoreland Humane Society to make structural changes to governance to address a loss of public trust, operational issues, and lack of transparency. Encourage them to expand engagement to ensure the shelter excels in its mission to save animals.  Let the community help with solutions! We are in it together.    

Case for Change

According to American Pet Products Association, Pet ownership in America has increased significantly over the past three decades. In 2024, 66% of households own a pet up from 56% in 1988. Pets are a vital part of our lives providing love and fun as well as increasing overall happiness and well-being.

Since 1992, the Humane Society of Westmoreland County has been there supporting this rise in pet ownership with the stated mission “to protect and care for animal lives through rescue, shelter and adoption without regard to age, appearance or physical needs. It is, also, our goal to provide community programs to assist pet owners in accomplishing the same mission. “ 

Just like the trends in pet ownership has changed, the landscape facing shelters has changed as well.  The Humane Society of Westmoreland County is facing a change in business practices, operations, and community expectations. These changes have hit our beloved shelter hard as programs like humane investigations have been eliminated and other engagement activities have been curtailed due to resource issues. 

Beyond the challenges of running a not-for-profit shelter, the organization has also been plagued by accusations and issues that erode the confidence of the community, compound challenges, and jeopardize the mission. 

These adverse accusations include: 

• Toxic work environment and ineffective oversight leading to excess employee turnover increasing costs to acquire and train talent as well as disrupting care and routines for animals that are already stressed. (Reviews on Indeed)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Perceptions of poor service and lack of availability to adopt pets including not resuming viewing hours after COVID impacting opportunities for adoptions.  (Google reviews)

Went to go look at dogs to possibly adopt. They used to be walk in and look around if you were interested in one they would let it out of it cage to play with and to see if it was a good match before any application. Now you have to have a appointment to see a animal. They don't have much staff there from what I saw. I would rather meet and see the animals and not have to shop online to look at one. The appointment I understand if you wanted to add the specific one. I go by personality towards me not towards what others say about the dog. I wish they would stop being stiff and let people go in and see the dogs. What is there to hide? They are also supposed to have a volunteer program. I asked about it and I was told they don't have it anymore right now because each time they try it falls through and just doesn't happen

This place might as well just close down since they don't seem to do anything for anybody, all of the reviews from recently have the same issue I do for the most part, literally no way to get in contact with absolutely anybody. Literally missed a call by 3 minutes and when I call back I have to leave a voicemail and start all over again! Been playing phone tag with somebody for about a week now, how can you run an operation at all if you don't have one person that can answer the phone at all during a normal business hour? I guess we all have to sit by our phones and just wait and stare at it and hope they call us so we can immediately answer it.

All I can say is FRUSTRATING! Very poor communication with this place. My wife and I fill out a application for a kitten we seen on pet finder. They called me and left a message saying we are approved only 2 days later. She wanted me to call back to set up a appointment to meet him. This is where the frustration starts.....I called her back within 10 minutes of her leaving me the message.......but COULDN'T GET A HOLD OF ANYONE. Their call center sucks, it literally hangs up on you after the recording for adoption. They also have a option to leave a message or press * to talk to someone, I pressed the * for 5 minutes and it kept replaying the same recording so I finally just left a message, a half hour goes by and she calls me back.

•  But most concerning is the serious accusation that management is manipulating information to deem animals with a lower chance of adoptability as a threat to worker safety so they can be terminated to open space. Investigations associated with incidents are allegedly done without transparency and have been characterized as incomplete, arbitrary, and unprofessional. Employees consider they are not engaged, and input is only considered from individuals who will convey events that support the desired outcomes, ignoring the input of direct witnesses and longer-term employees with extensive experience with the animals. This has led to individuals resigning employment and volunteers leaving. These employees are willing to impact their sources of income as a protest to violating the “No Kill” mission. This accusation is damning and a lack of transparency and engagement channels makes it impossible to adjudicate. This fuels the cycle of hard ship for the organization. 

UPDATE: Unconfirmed reports indicate that an animal scheduled to be put down has been sparred.  I have removed his picture until this is confirmed.  I consider this to be fair if this was reconsidered by leadership and is a positive step.  

 

Call to Action: Solutions Not Problems

This petition is not to further indict or hurl accusations as the value of a strong, ethical, and prosperous Westmoreland County Humane Society is good for our overall community. Low cost pet services directly support our community and ease the burden for many families. Further, the shelter contributes directly and indirectly to the local economy by employing residents, consuming local goods and services and promoting local businesses. Our shelter provides an invaluable service to the community, and it is concerning to question its motives and long-term viability due to the lack of modernization and transparency. 

To ensure that our shelter is able to not only remain viable, but thrive well into the future, we call on the Board of Directors to make changes to combat current challenges and build a framework that drives future growth and transparency.  

The current operation of the of the shelter hinders transparency, discourages employee engagement, limits the adoption rates, contributes to customer service issues, negatively impacts public perception limiting donations, and shrinks the volunteer network. That is quite a list.  As a result, our shelter is unable to thrive and struggles to fulfill its noble mission. It needs help!

The opportunity is real! According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, shelters that encourage employee and volunteer engagement tend to have higher pet adoption rates (ASPCA, 2019). Furthermore, a study by the Nonprofit Management and Leadership journal found that transparency in nonprofit organizations correlates significantly with increased donations (Voluntas, 2016). 

Look no further than our sister organization at Washington Area Humane Society who has committed to the highest levels of engagement and transparency. 

 

 

Their commitment to engagement and transparency (codified in their bylaws) allows Washington Area Humane Society to achieve outstanding results evidenced below.  

Washington Area Humane Society - 2023 Key Performance Indicators

 

 

 

 

WOW! What an impact!

Westmoreland County Humane Society can produce the same results, and we have many members of the community that would be willing to assist in driving this change if they are allowed to engage.

Hence, we urge the Board of the Westmoreland County Humane Society to modernize their bylaws to encourage transparency, increase employee engagement, an expand their volunteer network. This will ultimately lead to more successful pet adoptions. We encourage expanding the board memberships by publicly requesting nominations. We encourage them to maintain clear separation of duties and preclude conflicts of interest by barring employees from the board. We urge them to follow the lead of the most respected charitable organizations by establishing standing committees to cover board nominations and elections, employee relations, euthanasia, and public relations. We also encourage annual meetings covering key facts, figures, and operational KPIs. A meeting where employees, volunteers, donors, can engage building trust. These reformed bylaws should be publicly disclosed along with board minutes so we can reclaim our reputational standing. It is time we not only care for our animals but also ensure the structure and policy of our shelter supports their well-being and adoption. Together, let's provide a loving home for these animals. Please sign this petition so we can show their directors that they are not alone and let us help them make a difference.

Let us help!