Two board members of the Michigan Humane Society have resigned over questions about the number of animals the agency euthanizes.
The Detroit News reports that Cheryl Phillips of Northville and Lee Lein of Ann Arbor resigned Monday questioning whether the Michigan Humane Society is doing enough to prevent stray animals from being euthanized.
From the Detroit News:
The society's kill rate was about 70 percent in 2010... with locations in Detroit, Rochester Hills and Westland, the Michigan Humane Society is among the largest in the nation. It operates with a $12 millionbudget and took in more than 29,000 animals last year, Vice President Mike Robbins said, with about 51 percent of the animals coming from Detroit.
The News reports that Phillips said the society wasn't clearly revealing how many animals were being killed, and she wanted a third party to review the agency's practices, but her proposal was rejected.
At Monday's board meeting she resigned and released a statement that read, in part:
"I doubt that our funders would be happy with a '100 percent healthy adoption rate' if they knew that behind the scenes, fewer than 7,000 of the 24,000 total intakes were actually adopted, and more than 17,000 animals were 'classified' as untreatable by MHS management … and were killed,"
The Michigan Humane Society's director of operations and its chief veterinarian defended the agency's kill rate. From the Detroit Free Press:
C.J. Bentley, director of operations, said the numbers are high because the facility accepts animals regardless of origin or condition. Dr. Robert Fisher, the humane society's chief veterinarian, said animals with terminal or major medical issues are often not adoptable and that "what the public is willing to accept in their homes" helps determine an animal's fate.
The Freep reports that in 2010 the Michigan Humane Society took in 13,725 cats and kittens - 70% were euthanized. And in 2010 the agency took in 11,191 dogs and puppies - 68% were euthanized.
