Santa Maria Sun / News

Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society bites back

BY NICHOLAS WALTER

On June 19, former volunteers of the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society held a protest rally in Buellton to voice their concerns with shelter staff, the shelter’s euthanization policy, the discontinuation of the dog volunteer program, and how the shelter’s run in general.

In a statement detailing the shelter’s response, Laurie Owens, the president of the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society Board of Directors, listed the following information:

“The adoption rates at our shelter have steadily risen from 69 in 2004 to 250 in 2009. So far this year, 148 animals have found homes because of our efforts. Every adoption is a life saved,” she said.

She added that the shelter’s euthanasia rate has dropped dramatically in recent years to 1 percent this year, and adoptions have been more successful than ever with a return rate steadily declining to 9 percent so far for 2010, from more than 17 percent five years ago.

“We are continuing our volunteer canine programs in the near future but are updating them to reflect other successful programs in California,” Owens continued in the release. “Our staff [members] are qualified, well-educated, compassionate individuals that have dedicated their lives to saving animals and we stand behind them 100 percent.

“Our policies protect both the animals and the public. Individuals [who can’t] adhere to those rules not only put those around them in danger, but also risk the continued operation of our shelter,” she said. “It is our animals that always come first.”