Dear Jane Hoffman,
Let us begin by saying we have a lot of respect for the Mayor’s Alliance and the dedicated rescue groups it supports. You founded the life-saving New Hope department in the ACC shelter system, and continue to fund it to this day. With that said, we turn to you because this ship is sinking on your watch. If there was any question about Julie Bank’s intentions, they were laid bare on network television for all to see. The dictatorial way that Julie manages the ACC has cost New Hope its most dedicated employee, and now conditions have reached State of Emergency proportions.
For example, before today, there was no Manhattan New Hope department since Saturday. The only employee left on Sundays called out sick, and then the department was off for Memorial Day. Volunteers are being bombarded with emails from concerned rescue groups about what to do to save the dogs and cats. We’re not even just talking about the euth list — we’re talking about sick and injured animals that need to leave the shelter ASAP that have no way of getting transports scheduled. Just today, the Mayor’s Alliance delivered an adult cat to a rescue group, and when the rescuer opened the cat carrier door, the cat was dead.
Last night, a mother dog named Mandy (A897379) and her seven puppies with ringworm were on the euth list, but did not even receive a plea. How were they saved? People saw the pictures and the euth list on this website. While you, Jane, want the animals to get out of the shelter as soon as possible, before they can get sick or their existing condition worsens, the remaining New Hope staff prefers to play Russian roulette with the euth list. They simply wait until a 4 month-old puppy gets sick and let the euth list sort him out, rather than try to find placement in advance. These are employees are paid with money from your Mayor’s Alliance, and with our money — the taxpayers of New York.
Tonight, there are 28 dogs and 42 cats on the euth list in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The Interim Shelter Manager in training, Melissa Webber (a cronyism hire courtesy of Julie Bank — Melissa is a good friend from the West coast) took so long to make the massive euth list that it did not even go out to rescuers until 6:21PM. That’s an hour and twenty-one minutes late in an already tight time window for rescuers. Not a single plea was sent until 8:30pm tonight, and they were direct copies of the euth list into emails. Euth list pleas are doubly important because many rescue groups don’t receive the list, so rely on pleas to know who is in danger. To have a veritable massacre of adoptable, coughing dogs and cats of all ages and do next to nothing about it is unconscionable. These are placeable animals if someone would do their job correctly.
The bottom line is that dogs and are dying because Julie Bank fired Emily Tanen without even having a replacement. The entire two years she worked at ACC, no one bothered to recognize how much work she did for the dogs until she was terminated. Now we know. If you were powerless to keep Emily employed, we beg you to figure out a solution to this black hole left in her wake. We come to you in a time of desperation engulfing the ACC. Volunteers and rescuers are on the verge of outright revolt due to the shockingly inept management by everyone from the Executive Director to the shelter managers to the failing New Hope department. Staff, volunteers and rescuers are afraid to speak up out of fear of retribution and the scornful responses they receive from Julie if they come to her with suggestions or concerns. Jane, you are the only person with the power to fix this situation. Something must be done, because the New Hope department is failing the city’s animals who need them most.
Sincerely,
Urgent
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