The SPCA has gotten a $400k grant, acknowledging the success of their transition to being a no-kill shelter. Disclosure: CASPCA is awesome. #
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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I really don’t know much about the local shelter, except that I got my cats from there 10 years ago plus, and the people I dealt with were perfectly nice. But I keep hearing rumors that it’s really a not-so-good place, and I have no idea what some people’s beef is with it. Something about the full time people or the development people, or whatever, having cushy offices upstairs, and the people who work with the animals get treated like second class citizens… Something about it’s not really NO kill, as in zero zippo doughnut, but that they do euthanize ‘violent’ dogs and that this definition is sometimes debatable… And sometimes they supposedly don’t take animals if you try to bring in an animal that you found, like a stray, although that doesn’t really make sense… Anyway, so I hear this scuttlebutt, and I usually dismiss it all as just probably having come from some disgruntled person or people. But, I don’t really know where to go do get these rumors debunked. I can’t just walk in to the CASPCA and read them this litany of rumors and ask them to explain. And I don’t like to rebroadcast these potentially totally unfounded rumors here, but I know that you and the cvillenews readers will probably know where this stuff came from and will probably be able to explain it away. So there you go. Wherefore the negative murmurings about the CASPCA, and what’s the real story about that place? Thanks!
I wish they had cushy office upstairs. They need a place for people to work that isn’t full of animals. But animals need a place to stay, and offices keep turning into animal rooms. Which is too bad, because, really, work’s got to get done. And, yes, as of their last annual report, they said that they still have some tiny kill rate of violent dogs though, to be fair, I really have no idea of what else is to be done with such a creature.
My involvement with the SPCA is only as occasional visitor and occasional fosterer of critters. But in that limited interaction, volunteers seem very happy, the place seems happily chaotic, and even the most unpleasant-seeming of dogs seem to live there for months, awaiting a home. As a volunteer myself, in a very limited capacity, I feel nothing but good vibes from the crew there. Your comments are, honestly, the first negative comments that I’ve ever heard about the CASPCA.
Being dog lovers, my wife and I have visited many shelters around Charlottesville, in West Virginia, and in Texas (where we adopted a puppy). My wife goes to shelters quite a lot just to walk the dogs. Nothing even comes close to the CASPCA, where we’ve adopted two dogs. They take EXTRAORDINARILY good care of their animals, and I’ve never had an interaction with the staff that was anything less than satisfying. “Happily chaotic” is a great description of the culture and atmosphere there. I’ve never heard of them turning away stray or injured animals. In fact, many times we’ve visited and seen animals for adoption that have obviously had pretty major surgery at the shelter’s expense prior to being made available – something that seems pretty rare for a shelter. Being in a shelter has to be stressful and toxic for the animals, and CASPCA does a great job making their stay as tolerable as possible. Kudos to them all!
I’m a CASPCA volunteer, work with the cats and know some of the staff. I got my two cats from there. I think the CASPCA is a wonderful organization, and I love volunteering for them. I don’t know how they define “violent” in dogs, but they aren’t shy about the fact that yes, they do euthanize animals with extreme behavior problems or terminal illness. As I recall from the newsletter they sent out last week, though, the “kill” rate is in the low single digits. Which is why when you go there, you may notice cages all over the place, and some of the cats are not exactly the friendliest creatures I’ve ever encountered. But somehow they find homes eventually. They even have a barn cat program for cats who wouldn’t make good pets.
I think the staff who work with the animals work long hours and don’t make a ton of money. But I’ve never heard that they’re treated like “second class citizens.” I would suspect that complaint probably originated from a staffer who had worked a long, hard day and wanted to vent.
Every volunteer that I’ve ever interacted with there — probably a couple of dozen, over time — has been friendly, helpful, and nearly always cheerful. (Some of the tasks that must be performed in the care of hundreds of animals prevent cheer, at least for the duration of performing said tasks.)
>>>Your comments are, honestly, the first negative comments that I’ve ever heard about the CASPCA.
Well, that’s actually what I was hoping to hear. The complainer was indeed probably either having a bad day, or an extremely negative person, or a bit of a crazy, or all of the above.
Thanks for debunking this rumor. I’m glad and relieved to know that reliable sources have only positive things to say. This was really helpful to me. Thanks so much, Waldo, and Meg and Big Al.
There was, for a time, on Craig`s List, about three months ago,when there were 4-5 negative comments re the SPCA – most of which were directed at “management”. Credence level?. I don`t know.Some personal vendetta? Perhaps. I have walked a dog or two there and found nothing amiss.
It’s nice to see that the CASPCA is still an organization that Sally Mead would be proud of. She was a great lady, and gave that shelter a heart.
Agreed. Sally could “talk to the animals” and did a lot with very little.