With hindsight and reflection since she left the post in
November, former Central Missouri Humane Society (CMHS) director Patty Forister
spoke candidly with the Columbia Heart Beat about the humane society's past,
present, and future. We first spoke to Forister in August 2008, for a story
called Dog Days: Humane Society Faces Closure.
This section continues from parts 1 and 2.
Columbia Heart Beat (CHB): The Missouri
Department of Agriculture regularly brings puppies from busted puppy mills to
CMHS. But they don't pay anything, and the society always takes the puppies,
increasing an already huge burden. Why?
Forister: When the
Agriculture people bring puppies, there's a huge emotional component that
affects everyone. Dirty, sometimes sick, sometimes
skinny to the point of starving, the puppies are in a desperate, desperate
situation. The kind of people who work at an organization like CMHS can't say
no to that. They just can't, and it's one of those human issues you won't
see well enough to understand unless you actually work there.
CHB: Wouldn't it be fair then to get
full compensation from the Department of Agriculture? It's a huge state agency
and it seems like they are taking advantage of your good natures.
Forister: Absolutely, the Department of
Agriculture should fairly compensate CMHS. I don't see any reason why they
shouldn't be the same kind of full and fair partner that the city and county
should be. But you're back to that same problem of trying to sell a
dysfunctional contract template to another government agency. CMHS doesn't have
fair, workable, equitable animal control contracts. Until they figure out how
to write and negotiate them, I don't see the situation changing.
Columbia Heart Beat (CHB): Given what
you know about Columbia -- progressive, people love animals, lots of young
people, three major colleges/universities, and a generally liberal population --
why the enormous resistance on the part of the Columbia City Council and the
Boone County Commission to get CMHS financially squared away? To be full and
fair partners in the animal care mission?
Forister: Think about it. For thirty
years, the city and county have been getting animal shelter services by grossly
undercompensating CMHS. Why would they want any change? Consider that the city
and county don't have to pay CMHS staff; they don't have to pay CMHS utilities;
they don''t have to pay for insurance, food, and daily expenses; and they have
not had to build a new animal shelter, which would be a multi-million dollar
undertaking. But in that thirty years, the city and county have grown --
alot. This undercompensation arrangement has put CMHS into a bind.
They've had to pick up the slack, in a way that could bankrupt them if they
don't turn it around.
CHB: Changing the subject somewhat, you
got to know ZooToo founder Richard Thompson about as well as anyone in
Columbia. But as you know, he came across poorly -- some people would say as a
flaky con artist -- when his first million dollar makeover in St. Louis melted
down. Yet you continue to believe in him. Why?
Forister: The Richard Thompson I came
to know is very aware, dedicated, and passionate. He and I would meet at the
shelter and discuss the road ahead. On the very first tour, he immediately
wanted to see the euthanasia room, where we put animals to sleep. Then he
wanted to know where we put the euthanized animals. I knew what he was getting
at -- I knew right where he was going. I started to show some emotion and I got
quiet -- I think it was obvious, and he put his arm around my shoulder and
hugged me. That was the first time I knew he understood our situation.
CHB: So where was he going with his
questions about euthanasia? What was he getting at?
Forister: We had to put
the euthanized animals in the dumpster. Of course, we bagged them up, we put
them in disposal bags, garbage bags. But we threw them away. That's one of
the first signs of an underfunded animal shelter. The minute he knew that, and
he knew how awful I felt about it, Richard Thompson knew what was going on.
The conversation
paused. Burial, cremation and contract animal
disposal services are more common ways to dispose of euthanized animals.
CHB: If Richard Thompson is a
compassionate man who really wants to help, why the widely-reported problems
with Randy Grim in St. Louis, whose Stray Rescue shelter was the first "winner"
of ZooToo's so-called Million Dollar Makeover?
Forister: I think Richard is a
visionary and idealist in the purest sense of those words. I honestly think he
may lack the know-how to work with a board of directors, which requires a lot
more than just a vision. What he really wanted to do was use the ZooToo contest
as a means to rally the community.
Any winner of the million dollar makeover will have come
from years of struggle coupled with community neglect. It's just the nature of
what and who Richard seeks to help -- those shelters most deserving because they
are struggling the most. But the problems that got those shelters to that
struggling place are often wider and deeper than I think Richard first
imagined. Correcting them takes more than idealism and
money -- a lot more.
CHB: Many people think Thompson should
have written CMHS a million dollar check. What do you think?
Forister: Of course, if he had done
that, would it have helped? Sure. It would have created the opportunity to
explore lots of new options. But would a million dollars build a whole new
shelter? Solve all the organizational problems? Would it make CMHS a better
fundraising agency? Would it correct the inequities with the animal control
contracts? No. In fact, a million dollar check might make those problems worse
because then people would say, "see, it's all fixed. It's all taken care of."
CHB: What do you hope comes out of
ZooToo, if not a million dollars?
Forister: I hope that ZooToo provides a
springboard for a full, complete, and long-lasting makeover. I hope it
inspires people to engage in the shelter. I think that's always been Richard's
intent -- that he not just write a check and leave, but write a check and leave
something lasting behind.
NEXT TIME: What's next for the Central
Missouri Humane Society?
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