# Ex-Volunteer at ACC speaks out



## Kaiser (May 10, 2012)

I found this on FB and thought I'd share here. 

NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND Volume 15 – Life After Volunteer Death | shelterreform.org Blog

After reading through that post, I really feel disgusted at ACC and I honestly think something should be done against them. I can't believe some of my tax money goes to these MURDERERS to fund their inhumane treatment of dogs. 

For those with more experience with rescues and/or protesting, what would you suggest is the best way to get this place shut down/reformed? Where can you start a petition against this garbage place? Or would it be better to write a letter to Bloomberg (which I doubt would make a difference but anything is worth a try) and make him realize how awful ACC is?


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## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

Yes, that's the ACC here in NYC that I know and abhor. Never a good thing to say about them and God help the animals who land there. Complaints always seem to fall on deaf ears and any volunteers I've known have left out of total frustration. It's sickening


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## CorkieYorkie (Apr 10, 2012)

Thanks for sharing this, I shared on my FB.


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## lmillette (Apr 23, 2012)

Naz, I haven't read the link yet, but will, I just wanted to send a quick reply. Probably the first thing to do is start a petition on Change.org and maybe go from there. Not even reading this link, I already knew this place is awful just from other things I've heard and seen!! I will read this and look into other things too.


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## Kaiser (May 10, 2012)

Thanks for the suggestion, Lindsay. I was about to make a petition on Charge.org but I'm glad I did a search first and found that someone already started one against ACC. I made a thread about it for those who'd like to sign.

http://spoiledmaltese.com/forum/49-anything-goes/120284-please-sign-petition.html


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## michellerobison (Dec 17, 2009)

OMG ,I never knew.I don't understand how they keep the staff and admin running it? It's a lot like what our shelter was like.. In fact I volunteered there for months and watched as new hires would quit,some never even seeing PTS day.

I applied for hire ,after volunteering over a year and was passed over for hire for a young girl in veteranary assistant training,someone the admin knew.....Sure she would eventually be more qualified since all I was doing was going through nursing school. 

Well her first day, after cleaning and so on, they had to euthanize some sick kittens, she left for lunch and never came back....

Later they hired me,afterwards, believe it or not ,after other interviews of people with no medical backgrounds,not that one was required... But they still kept delaying me..I still volunteered free time for other shelter needs. I guess they figured why buy the cow when you're getting the milk for free...

A little over a year later,I found I had a fibroid and needed surgery...

I had a fibroid and was bleeding heavily ,was scheduled for surgery in two weeks so I planned on working right up to the day before but I hemoraged at work and had emergency surgery the next day. Then they screwed it up, tied off my kidney and I nearly lost it and had a series or surgeries to follow for nearly 6 months.

In the meantime I worked doing light duty but they let me go.I still volunteered because the place was sooo badly run... I think they also "let me go" because we had a vet on our board, one who's only free service was blood draws for heartworm tests and his staff would kvetch everytime we'd bring in a "shelter dog".blah,blah. 

One evening my Buffy got sick and I couldn't get her into teh office until morning,she acted like she had heat stroke, she had been playing in a fenced in area while my husband and son were working on our outbuilding, she must have gotten overheated,even in the shade...I took her in, they acted very cold,palpated her abdomen. I told them I'd tried to cool her with a cool bath and watched her all night and no change. All they did was palpate her and did a blood draw for heartworm and told me to get her some aspirin. I told them they had "carte blanche" money was no object,do tests for heat stroke,they insisted it wasn't heat stroke,but heat exhaustion?

So I took her home, gave her an aspirin and had her lay on the cool tiles in the kitchen,I went to the bathroom,came back and she was dead...
I called the vet, and told them she passed, they said "well go back to the shelter and tell them and get a refund", I told them she wasn't a shelter dog,even if she was she deserved better than them! I told them to forget the blood test now, she's dead!

I called my friend who worked there, she said she went to another vet,pretty much for the same reason..I took her there and they did a necropsy and sure enough it was heat stroke, a simple injection to reduce the brain swelling would have saved her.. Plus he was available on emergency...

After that when people would come to the shelter and adopt they'd for a recommendation. All adoptees got a free office call from that vet. Many would come back after that visit saying they thought the staff was rude and ask us again, so we'd tell them another vet, with no explaination of what we went through..

It got back to that vet as they would call adoptees and follow up on why they hadn't come back,they'd tell them we recommended another vet... So they brought me in front of the board threatened to fire me. Tehy told me I said I didnt' have th emoney to spend,I told them that was crap,I spend money at Pondview on stray cats and dogs all the time! They backed off after I told them I had a necropsy done on my beloved Buffy! 

They told all of us we couldn't recommend a vet to any one..even outside of the shelter...if we did we'd be sued.. So we'd just tell them try it, if you like them fine, if not use the Yellow pages as we weren't allowed to give recommendations..we weren't even allowed to tell people that we didn't use that vet... but I'm sure they could tell by our faces...


Later we moved to Florida, but when we came back to take care of relatives, I still came back to volunteer. By then it was under new management, that vet sold his practice and moved on.

This is a small town but hard to get anywhere unless you're connected.I wasn't the driving force for change, it was old establishment moving on and keeping the shelter in the news ,so to speak and get people who cared in there.

For ACC it's probably going to take a campaign blitz and hopefully a celeb or person of influence to get things to change...


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## lmillette (Apr 23, 2012)

Well things definitely need to change in this shelter and in NY! 

Thanks for sharing your story Michelle! You are so loyal to animals, it is amazing!


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## michellerobison (Dec 17, 2009)

It really started with my step son working there and telling me about all the animals, the conditions and the PTS..

Animals have been the one constant in my life that has given me joy without regret.

My hubby Al and my critters...always make me happy..


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## lmillette (Apr 23, 2012)

That is so wonderful Michelle!!

I also wanted to add that this ex-volunteer is right that someone is reviewing the "Urgent Dog "FB page for things because during the Vicky ordeal someone posted something about Julie Banks and within seconds it was gone!! I even feel like that page truly doesn't want to help save the dogs. It is so sad and things NEED to change.


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## michellerobison (Dec 17, 2009)

I wondered because I posted about a poodle mix that was on the list to die the next morning and someone posted that she wasn't wrong and chastised me for putting up erronious information. She really was on the list and I pointed that out.

The list is almost useless Is almost useless, I wonder. It comes out a day or two at the most before they PTS! What good is that? 

Plus they have to be pulled by a rescue, an ordinary citizen looking to adopt can't go and adopt them!
That info was sent to me by a poster..probably working for the ACC.
Several animals on the list have had people on the way,that have called and were told the animal wasn't going to be PTS and it was any way!

One woman drove from PA to save one,I think it was to save Vicky...

I can't believe people play with living things the way they do.


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## lmillette (Apr 23, 2012)

The post that was taken down about Julie Banks was something along the lines that Julie Banks says god tells her which animals to kill. I read that and was astonished! And then a second later the post was gone. 

I don't know why they even bother with the list because it does seem that people would adopt and the place won't let them or a rescue is trying to pull and then the dog is PTS anyway. It is all a horror show!!


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## sophie (Jul 9, 2006)

It is horrible. The NYCACC was having their Board meeting this morning and 10:00 a.m. and I know there was a real push to get people to attend and have their voices heard to stop the slaughter. I don't know what happened, though. Will have to check when I get home from work. I will NEVER forget Vicki!

Linda


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