I went to the TOH Shelter yesterday...

My daughter was home from school and we were in the neighborhood so we stopped in for a quick visit. She likes to see the cats and the dogs waiting for homes and I like to visit them as well, even though we aren't looking to adopt a new pet anytime soon.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. There were a lot of volunteers there taking dogs for walks and having playtime with cats in the visitation room. Last time I was there volunteers were banned, and so I have always just seen the animals locked up in their cages. It was refreshing to see that animals were getting time outside of the cages to interact with people --- surely it will make them more adoptable when the right family comes along for them.

I picked up a volunteer application. We have a baby coming in less then 2 months, so the time isn't necessarily right for us, but I am a SAHM and maybe in the future it is something that I can do.

If anyone is available to be a volunteer at your local shelters, it is a good thing to look into! I am sure there are a lot of people on this board who are able to give love to the animals waiting for homes, even if you aren't able to take them in yourselves.

Re: I went to the TOH Shelter yesterday...

I'm so glad to hear that! My mom lives nearby and has time on her hands; I know she was thinking of volunteering there, so maybe I will nudge her along a little bit.

Re: I went to the TOH Shelter yesterday...

I spend a lot of time there and do see some changes but please don't let the fact that "volunteers" were there fool you. TOHAS would love for you to think that everything is great but the truth is there are only 2 volunteers for the dogs. There is NO DOG VOLUNTEER PROGRAM yet. There is not even an orientation date yet for the dog volunteer program. They are taking applications and volunteers for cats can be mentored which is awesome and the first step in the right direction but dogs are still languishing in their cages there and I am sorry but there is no excuse as to why they can't start training volunteers to work with the dogs. Volunteers are not permitted to speak to potential adopters so don't be offended if you ever ask one of them a question and they do not answer. Please continue to visit this shelter and be a voice for the voiceless. Tell everyone you know about volunteering there as we would love volunteers to be packed in there like sardines!

Re: I went to the TOH Shelter yesterday...

Re: I went to the TOH Shelter yesterday...

Re: I went to the TOH Shelter yesterday...

Re: I went to the TOH Shelter yesterday...

If the TOH actually wanted our help with successfully finding cats and dogs their forever homes or taking care of our homeless shelter animals, a volunteer program would have been started long ago. A great shelter, that welcomes volunteers and people like us, has volunteer photographers, volunteer webmasters, volunteers to walk the dogs and socialize the cats, volunteers to run the volunteer program.....I could go on and on but TOHAS doesn't us "outsiders" who will speak up if we see anything that is questionable.

Up until recently, donations of blankets, towels and toys had been made and they were nowhere to be seen. Right before the only 2 rescuers that frequented the building were banned, 100 Kongs were ordered. Did they ever make it into the dog kennels. No! Were they ever seen again? No!

I do not mean to stir up drama here but I have been witnessing what has been going on there for the past decade and despite the small recent changes, it has not been pretty. In fact, they recently "accidentally" killed an owner's dog. Yes....you read that right, an owner's dog was killed at the hands of TOHAS. Check out the Hope for Hempstead Shelter FB page for the story.

Their Petfinder Site is rarely updated, bios are missing key facts and pleas for dogs on death row are hardly ever seen. Even if Domino offered her time to work with this shelter, they would probably say, "Sure. We'll be in touch when we need you." and she would never hear from them again.

Let's remember this shelter has a $7.4 million dollar budget. That is close to what the City Shelters get for all of NY City Shelters. That's a lot of money that could be used to comfort and care for our homeless shelter pets. TOHAS now has a volunteer coordinator, 2 rescue liaisons, an adoption coordinator, who if they really cared about the animals would be walking through the shelter with someone like you, Melbernai and talking about ways you can help. TOHAS employees care about one thing.....their paycheck and it's a disgrace.

Over a year ago, they banned the only 2 rescuers that frequented the building and saved over a thousand animals a year. These two women could run this shelter with their eyes closed and has TOH come to either one of them for advice? Never!

We ALL need to keep going in there, spread the word about the volunteer program and continue to fight to reform this shelter. I believe that REFORMING this shelter is the only way that brings a solution to help these homeless animals.

With 3 New York State Angencies investigating TOHAS (The DA, The Attorney General and the NYS Comptroller) things will change there for the animals we so dearly treasure. It's just going to take time.

Keep doing what you're doing Melbernai and I'm sure the girl scouts will enjoy their next "project" and so will the animals who will get much comfort from the donations that your girls will collect & best of luck with that new little baby!! The future of animal advocacy is in the hands of this next generation! What a wonderful future our homeless shelter animals have in store for them with advocates like you raising children!