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Allegations that Associated Humane Society [AHS] volunteers at the Tinton Falls location were responsible for the death and injuries of animals in their care are being met with an organized protest.

Volunteers now banned from the Shafto Road premises say they will protest from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the animal shelter.

“AHS is spreading false information about the volunteer program,” volunteer Jeffrey Seeds of Asbury Park said. “We are trying to set the record straight.”

Seeds said over 100 volunteers were suspended but of the 21 suspended volunteers who signed the protest letter below, six are Asbury Park residents, including Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn, a volunteer since 2011.

Quinn on Tuesday said the city pays AHS over $50,000 a year to serve as its animal rescue agency but the City Council will vet their options in finding a better-suited animal rescue agency.

“I think the community needs to ask ourselves for not only the strays but for Asbury Park’s animals as a whole,” Quinn said. “They are not providing the type of care I’m comfortable with and I think the council needs to evaluate if we have any other options.”

From 2012 to 2014, over 1,300 of Asbury Park’s dogs, cats, birds, and wildlife were taken in by the humaine society, according to the Asbury Park Police Department.

Quinn said she is disappointed the AHS chose to eliminate the volunteer program without a proper plan in place.

“It was, for me, another example of impulsive mismanagement of AHS that I’ve witnessed over the years, she said.

Quinn said she is not only concerned  about a regulated walking schedule for the dogs but also for how proper socialization and care for all the animals will occur without the volunteers.

“Socialization of the dogs has mainly been done by the volunteers,” Quinn said. “Without the volunteers the dogs would be stuck in their kennels all day.”

In a Sunday morning statement on their Facebook page, AHS officials wrote, “Due to an unfortunate chain of events that took place within the volunteer program at our AHS Tinton Falls facility, we have decided to temporarily pause all volunteer activities while we restructure our program.”

AHS said their decision to suspend the volunteer program was based on the following:

-Volunteers solicited funds to be collected as donations for Associated Humane Societies, yet they were never turned in.

– AHS Volunteer Protocol for the volunteers was continuously ignored and not adhered to.

– Volunteers caused a cat to be killed when they were cat-testing a dog.

– A volunteer at an outreach allowed an AHS dog to maul an owned puppy which was gravely wounded, and needed emergency medical treatment at Red Bank Vet Hospital, which cost AHS several thousand dollars.

– Another one of our dogs was severely bitten in the rear area by a dog when two volunteers were walking them, and ignoring our “walk dogs separately” policy. This incident also cost several thousand dollars for emergency medical treatment at Red Bank Vet Hospital.

 In response, the volunteers released the following letter Tuesday morning:

To whom it may concern:

We the undersigned are former volunteers at the Tinton Falls Associated Humane Society as of Friday, April 10, 2015.

The allegations against us put forth to media outlets are not only false, but heartbreaking and infuriating to a group of people who freely gave up their time, money, and emotional energy to help better the lives of animals in that shelter. This letter is intended to address some of the specific allegations made against us. We hope that clarifying these misconceptions will focus attention on the real issue— improving the lives of over 100 animals currently living at Tinton Falls Associated Humane Society.

All Tinton Falls Associated Humane Society volunteers were told that we are unilaterally banned from the premises. We did not see it coming. Upon further inquiry, we were alarmed to learn that this took place with no additional staffing or plan set forth by Associated Humane Society to replace even a portion of our daily interaction with the animals. No volunteers are allowed to do the services that we alone provided: make sure each dog is walked, socialize each cat and dog daily, take animals to outreaches, provide dogs with playgroups monitored by at least two volunteers, give each animal daily interaction that isn’t purely utilitarian.

Because of high turnover and too few people doing too much work, the Humane Society staff at Tinton Falls relied on the support of the volunteers and their knowledge of the dogs and cats at that shelter. All of this information was gathered and then updated on the volunteer-run Facebook page and in spreadsheets, which the staff would access in the event they were asked a specific question and were not sure of the answer. The staff would also direct adopters and potential adopters to the volunteer-run Facebook page for current pictures, bios, and other information on the available animals at the shelter.

If the volunteer started, run, and administrated Facebook page hadn’t been taken down by Associated Humane Society there would still be 8000+ followers who were sharing, commenting, and supporting the animals at Humane and their volunteers. The now-defunct Facebook page (facebook.com/FoAHSTF) was the primary means of exposure for the shelter animals and was deleted without the knowledge or participation of the volunteer administrators. We believe this is an example of bad judgement by the executive team at Associated Humane Society (AHS)— especially when the volunteers allowed them to have administrative access to the Facebook page in a show of transparency and solidarity.

To add insult to injury, the Popcorn Park, Associated Humane Society facility, on behalf of their three facilities chose to wage a false PR campaign against the volunteers at Tinton Falls. We would like to reply to each allegation:

Volunteers solicited funds to be collected as donations for Associated Humane Societies, yet they were never turned in. – If this were true, charges should have been brought against the offending individual(s) instead of wholesale ending of the entire program. In fact, the allegations were investigated by the AHS lawyer and no charges were brought against anyone. Based on AHS’s other claims that volunteers know to be false or misleading, this seems to be another attempt to discredit the volunteers in the program and justify what AHS management knew would be an unpopular decision.

AHS Volunteer Protocol for the volunteers was continuously ignored and not adhered to. – There is no written protocol for AHS volunteers. Whenever we were told “Newark says you have to do XYZ,” we followed the new set of rules. Additionally, the volunteer program had its own set of rules that gradually introduce new volunteers to animals in a careful, controlled manner.

Volunteers caused a cat to be killed when they were cat-testing a dog. – This incident occurred during a cat/dog test performed by staff members 3 years ago. Volunteers were not involved.

A volunteer at an outreach allowed an AHS dog to maul an owned puppy which was gravely wounded, and needed emergency medical treatment at Red Bank Vet Hospital, which cost AHS several thousand dollars. – This was an unfortunate incident, but the mastiff puppy has recovered and is currently at home with his owners. The devastated volunteer states that the owner had his dog on a long lead and wasn’t paying attention. The shelter dog was on a tight leash. Even with the greatest care, accidents can happen. Terming it a “mauling” is inflammatory and untrue.

Another one of our dogs was severely bitten in the rear area by a dog when two volunteers were walking them, and ignoring our “walk dogs separately” policy. This incident also cost several thousand dollars for emergency medical treatment at Red Bank Vet Hospital. Two dogs were not being walked together. A volunteer was returning a dog to its kennel and noticed that another dog had gotten out of its kennel and was off leash. At the same time, another volunteer was bringing a dog out for a walk. In a rush to get all dogs to safety, as well as contain the off leash dog, the volunteers got a little too close to each other. One of the dogs bit the other’s hindquarters. The quick thinking of the volunteers prevented further injuries. The injury that did occur was minor, but the lack of an in-house AHS veterinarian caused a medical expense at an outside vet hospital. This incident can be confirmed via the video surveillance which is on 24/7 at the shelter.

In the end our goal remains the same, prevent as many euthanasias as possible and help the animals have the best possible life for their duration in the shelter. We feel obliged to defend the good names of the volunteers. It is our hope that media coverage will keep the spotlight on AHS management and encourage them to maintain the high level of care that the volunteer program provided for the animals, in addition to dramatically increased adoption rates. We fear for the lives and well-being of the animals we love at the shelter.

For more information, please contact Dawn Estelle at dme1970@gmail.com or 908-803-9713; or Laura Juliano at lejuliano28@gmail.com or 732-616-5233.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Bastan, volunteer since January 2010

Mechele Shoneman, volunteer since January 2010

Dawn Estelle, volunteer since October 2010

Heather Jensen, volunteer since November 2011

Amy Quinn, volunteer since November 2011

Jeffrey Seeds, volunteer since November 2011

Amy Woerner, volunteer since December 2011

Mary Quinn, volunteer since February 2012

Jennifer Solano-Thieme, volunteer since February/March 2012

Laura Juliano, volunteer since May 2012

Jessica Nieves, volunteer since May 2012

Michelle Lippincott Heinl, volunteer since May 2012

Teresa Silletti, volunteer since June 2012

Jessica Gonzalez, volunteer since November 2012

Brenda Patterson, volunteer since April 2013

Jacalyn Sharpe, volunteer since July 2013

Johanna Strobel, volunteer since July 2014

Erica Kronenfeld, volunteer since September 2014

Peter McCormack, volunteer since September 2014

Bridget McCormack, volunteer since December 2014

Julianna Vroman, volunteer since December 2014

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