The H.A.L.O. Board of Directors voted out Tamera Reed as its president earlier this week with little details being given as to why the removal was made. The move has upset some Oakley residents who have adopted pets form the organization calling the move “a terrible decision”.
I caught up with Tamera Reed early Sunday afternoon and received some additional details on what had occurred.
According to Ms. Reed, the reason the board gave her for letting her go was they had “lost confidence in her as President.” However, two weeks earlier they had told her she was doing a good job.
“Two weeks prior to that we had a meeting in which we reviewed the finance of HALO and I was applauded,” explained Reed. “Since the opening of HALO house we had brought in $40,000 more in a 6 month period then ever before in the life of HALO. They said the credit was owed to me for running HALO house and doing such a great job with the community and volunteers and rescuing of the animals.”
According to Ms. Reed, Wayne Sanderson is the new President of HALO. Oddly enough, he is also HALO’s Treasure and CPA while his wife Joyce Sanderson is also one of the Board members. It appears they now have a majority stake in the organization and control of the finances.
Ms. Reed also explained that of the board members left, just two of them helped get HALO House up and running, but stopped coming to meetings in January. One board member who was against voting her out had helped work for the organization in picking up shifts. Another board member who voted against voting her off resigned the moment the vote took place.
According to Reed, none of the remaining other board members were ever involved in the day to day operations of HALO house.
I sent an email to the Vice President of H.A.L.O. and it’s Board of Directors on July 20 and have not received a response.
If you recall, H.A.L.O. made an agreement last year to take over the old Station 93 in Oakley off Second Street and it was a year ago come August where they moved into their new building with essentially a no-rent agreement as it’s just $100 per month for 18 months.
Last year, HALO adopted out 449 dogs and 237 cats. Dogs and cats in the care of volunteers are groomed, receive medical treatment and are taught to socialize with other animals.
As of this morning, Ms. Reed is still listed as President of the organization on it’s website. Here is a list of their Board of Directors as shown on their website:
- Gigi Boss – Vice President
- Andrea Stuart – Public Relations / Board of Directors
- Joyce Sanderson – Adoption Manager/Board of Directors
- Normajean Cohn – Board of Directors
- Ken Gove – Board of Directors
- BJ Lauver – Board of Directors
- Treasure Carlson – Board of Directors
“My heart has always been with the animals not with any status,” said Reed. “I went back on Friday after being voted off and adopted thee dogs. Then Saturday adopted two more. Now all I can say is Saturday after I left they took all the dogs from HALO house and they have them all on Joyce’s (Sanderson) property.”
HALO Website
http://www.eccchalo.org/
24 comments
This is why i never chose to be on boards, drama! Sounds like the Sanderson’s have some explaining to do!
I’m the board member who resigned immediately after the vote. This is nothing but a power play and brainwashing on the part of the members who voted Tamara off as President. At a meeting on July 5th we voted to hire an attorney to update our bylaws and also agreed that no changes would be made to the current board at this time (we were scheduled to have annual elections). I left that meeting feeling hopeful that HALO was on the right track to make sure legally our “house” was in order before taking it to the next level. Guess I was seriously misguided in that assumption. Not only is there a serious conflict in the current board structure, but apparently a select few were meeting off-site and not including all board members in those discussions. Something very wrong with that as well and potentually another violation of State code in regards to non-profit organizations. What a huge step backwards HALO has taken. I hope the folks left know what they are doing. Sure doesn’t sound like it to me. So sad that they have lost site of the purpose, our mission and the vision…making sure those four legged creatures are properly cared for and helping them find their forever homes.
I appreciate the information Treasure, something does not smell right and based off what Tamera explained it sounded like a power grab to me. Of course, none of them will reply to my email I sent on the 20th. For such a wonderful organization and purpose, this is a black eye that is unneeded
I wish I could do more to make sure the truth is available to those who are affected by this unwarranted action, especially the young volunteers who so freely gave their time and love to the animals.
This a very sad story especially for the animals, people that “were” on the board, and the volunteers who put their heart and soul into this organization….making sure that these animals had a safe haven and were placed in the best possible homes. The animals were their #1 priority….I am very disappointed to hear this….I know first hand that this has hurt a lot of people. Kim Hill-Oakley
Hi Kim,
You’re right on so many levels. It is heart-wrenching to think of the trauma those dogs have been through (I understand they left the cats). Now they’ve been ripped from their “home”, their routine and the people that loved and cared for them.
I am the Vice President of HALO and the other board member that voted in favor of Tamara staying on as President. I was out of town when you sent that email only having access on my phone, i noticed other board members on the email as well so did not realize it was meant specifically for me, I apologize for not getting back to you. Since i was not one of the board members in support of Tamara leaving and was not prepared for what happened at that meeting i am not the best person to answer as to why she was voted out – i have no reason for her to of been voted out. I have been by Tamara’s side and supporting her from day one.
I have been with HALO for over 9 years and have done many good things for and with HALO, it is a big part of my life and my passion for rescuing animals, not something i can just make a hasty decision to walk away from. I have several reasons for still being with HALO and have received nothing but support from Tamara and other volunteers that decided to leave. I have had volunteers call me and ask me to please stay.
My staying with HALO does not mean i support the decision that was made, i support HALO and the animals and that is why i am still here.
I too was at the board meeting on July 5th. I have been one of those volunteers since March 2011, and at the Halo house since it has opened. I have been a shift leader working 10-20 hours a week, and I was blindsided by the news that the board had removed Tamara as President. I am not surprised however, because there has been some very questionable behavior and comments in the last month. Treasure is right, at that meeting, we were guided to believe that we were making positive changes, Tamara was highly praised and acknowledged for her hard work and dedication. The number of dog and cat adoptions speak a thousand words.They talked about the financial success, and the grants Halo had recieved. One of the board members , spent time with myself and another volunteer praising the job Tamara has done and she deserves the position of Executive Director, that she supported her a hundred percent… . A week later she was casting the vote to take her out. We had an organization loved and respected in the community, run by volunteers, 3 shifts a day 7 days a week, and over seen by Tamara Reed..She is much respected and admired among all of us. Not only did board members walk away, so did most of the shift leaders and volunteers in support of the work we have done and in defense of the way Tamara was treated. I am very anxious to see the response from their social editor, because we have answers. I don’t want to hear it was an instrumental organizational move to better Halo.. What they have done is distrupt the lives of those poor dogs by going in recently and removing them from the Halo house and bringing them to a house. They have lost sight what was really important here, by letting some personal issues interfer with their judgement. I have lost sleep over the animals and the hard work that everyone put into that place. I can count on my fingers with the exception of several members of the board, Treasure and Gigi Boss, just how many times I have seen a board member actually work or participate at the Halo house in months.
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Letter sent to newspapers, How sad to think that people can’t put differences a side for what H.A.L.O.’s mission was.
I wish I could say this was a happy story for you,its far from it though.
My sister has poured her heart and soul in to halo and especially all the animals here. She worked an average of 60 to 80 hours a week here. There was never even a moment when we would be together that her phone wasn’t ringing about someone needing to surrender a family pet or a shelter calling for her to rescue a dog in danger of being put to sleep, or concerned citizens calling about a dog that had been abandon along a road, along with other halo business. She devoted so much of her life to this place and sacrifice everything.
She has always had a passion for animals and even as a little girl would bring every stray or hurt animal home.
Since the history of halo they in the last 6 months increased their profit by 40,000 dollars, that has never before happened. We also had about 80 to 100 youth volunteers and about 20 to 30 adult volunteers all in which loved Tamara and saw how hard she worked building halo into a household word, and halo into our community. She even had three surgeries and still she was here doing what she could here every single day, she is my hero and I am so proud of her.
Before halo house was in existence she approached the city for the firehouse location the board members were all in agreement yet she was the only one of them that would attend all the city council meetings and speak with the Mayor and single handed she won their hearts, and halo house was born. The board approved to have an on site caregiver so that the animals could be attended to in case an emergency should arise or if one or more was in need of night medication,or if they dogs got noisy they could be quieted so that the surrounding neighbors wouldn’t be disturbed,that’s where I come in.
I moved in Oct 30th of last year and although it was a extremely hard decision I had to make for I was leaving children I had nanied for four years and I was only three miles from my workplace I knew I had to be their for my sister. She was going to be going through a lot for her youngest son Nick Reed 18 had enlisted into the Marines and her other son Ryan Reed 21 was in college so I knew she would be experiencing life’s empty nest syndrome so my choice was clear…….family first…..my agreement with halo was to be here every night and take care of the animals and if the morning shift leader couldn’t make it in that I would have to unlock the facility to allow the volunteers in, I couldn’t have anyone live with me, I made sure though that on the weekends I could have guests, and that if possible they kids I nanied over for weekends, they would also have to volunteer though. I not only did what was asked I also ended up volunteering myself and cleaned and maintained the facility lead shifts, covered shifts for others, made improvements around halo did vet runs, rescued dogs with my sister and was even in the process of writing the volunteer handbook which is written just not finished with they typing…lol..I volunteered roughly 30 to 40 hours a week and halo provided me a home with utilities for the length of their lease which is three years. It hasn’t been easy though dealing with many personalities yet I felt we all made it work and I felt I more than earned my keep.
So halo had two sisters that worked on saving animals and giving them new hope.
My sister and I along with a few volunteers raked acorns in the dog park for 6 hours for we found they are poisonous to dogs, we walked ten miles searching for a dog that had gotten out of an familes yard that had adopted her, we spent a weekend trying to capture a dog who’s owner abandon him along a road, which we caught, we worked with all the wonderful young kids that would come in and mentor them, we built wonderful bonds with the adults that would come lead shifts, we have been blessed in so many ways.
We did countless vet runs we would go together and rescue dogs who were on death row, I nicknamed us the rescue rangers, we have cried together and laughed together and all for a wonderful reason……saving animals who had no voice.
The board members knew all we did the volunteers saw our faces and couldn’t believe our dedication. My sister always ran everything by the other members and I don’t know how she would do it…..She would have to bite her tounge at times, she wanted to always stay in the guidelines and followed the book by the T, and she even won them a grant with the Stewart Foundation, she would do her best in holding the other members accountable and they would fight her saying ” who is she saying I need to do that” they were board members without really working, basically for voting rights only, I have never seen a board like this, usually a board is comprised of non bias members along with vested members and your meetings are conducted by Roberts Rules of Order and you follow your bylaws so that you stay in compliance with the State of California rules for a non profit organization. (Well that would be if the actually had current bylaws).
Tamara learned of their bylaws and brought it to the attention of the board that they were still following bylaws which were poorly written in 2001, and the original members who signed them were not even on the board anymore. In 2006 prior to my sister being involved with halo an attorney (Jill England) informed them that their bylaws were pretty messed up,yet the president at the time never invested the time to have them rewritten even after her council advised her to do so. So Tamara approached the board members about this and they were in the midst of starting the process.
The board members made Tamara job extremely hard, it was as if they elected her only for the sake that no one else wanted the position, they didn’t want all the garbage that comes with the title, yet they all wanted to call the shots. I know I’m not telling you anything new about how boards usually are, I just thought halo was different, for isn’t it about the animals and a special companion for life? For Tamara it was and for 2 other board members, not for the rest of them though, at times I became the center of attention for they would want to control everything about me, from how I dressed, to if I should have visitors, which for the record I stayed within my agreement, to board members who didn’t want to work with the young kids and who treated others in a not so nice way, I thought to myself….. really not working with kids….to who would say what they would do yet never do it, my goodness its so draining I really don’t know how my sister did it. It’s sad to say this…they used her for their gain…. they took advatage of her to build up halo and spend every waking minute here and they talk about her behind her back like little kids usually do….These though were not little kids…these were board members. Tamara stayed focused on what was important which was our fury k-9 and feline friends and finding the best sutiable homes for them, and when others didn’t do what they volunteered to do Tamara would ask for others to step up, yet no one ever would. So what would one do in this case? Simple she would do it herself and I would help for we have integrity and big hearts and a place full of innocent animals who depended on us.
Well July 19th they had their board meeting and many volunteers were present . The meeting started positive Tamara told the stories about one of our volunteers who for her twelfth birthday asked friends and family in lieu of gifts for herself to make donations to halo, the next was how we trapped and rescued the little dog who was just dumped with pair of his owners shoes on Eden Plain Road, that we came in second for our Maddy’s fund event adopting out over 167 animals( in which no one helped do any of the paperwork except for Tamara) then it happened N.J. one of the board members stood up and motioned that Tamara be removed as president of halo and the board and Ken made the second….all who present gasped and many broke out in tears, when she asked why…..their answer was ” we lost confidence in you as our president and you were controlling and wouldn’t deligate”. WHAT????? They could not have been so far off base, this came from people who never even cleaned one kennel or scooped poop, who the only time they would show up here was for the board meetings, 2 other members resigned people were stunned and hearts were broken .
Next was my turn they voted me to be evicted saying the animals would be fine at night, I informed them that we have an agreement and I was asked to be here for the length of their lease three years, it is a verbal contract which is a binding contract and legal in the State and the City is aware along with the Sheriff department is well aware I live here, and before I was was a part of halo they voted to have me. I would have never commited to a short time here and I wouldn’t have invested all I have and now I am homeless.
The worst part is within 48 hours they have destroyed halo and all the work our community invested, all our wonderful volunteers who worked countless hours building halo house, I sit here tonight in tears looking at empty kennels and a mess. They moved our dogs to a board members house, they didn’t even come the following day of the board meeting to do all the exercising shifts for the animals, now they say they don’t need to exercise them three times a day, they left one scared little pooch prissy in one dark kennel for she’s very timid and want to put her to sleep….my god who are these people? They didn’t even know the animals here ,of corse they would be timid. It’s a shame that good things don’t happen to good people….they single handed got rid of a woman who sacrificed every single minute of her past two years who knew every single animal, every single volunteer and their families who gave them record breaking profit……if that’s not a great president then I have no clue who is. It’s a empty shell here now…no life within these cement walls, no sounds of the kids playing with our animals….and they say this is a good thing….its not only me feeling this way….I can give you countless names and numbers of people who will testify all I have written is true.
Now they have Joyce and her husband Wayne Sandersen, who is now president and also handles the money, two others who live and work together one of which was yelling at the dogs yesterday because of barking, them blaming Tamara of taking files which the board gathered right after the board meeting theirselves. Yet in just a few short hours dismantled what so many worked to build.
Lawsuit???
I’m actually afraid of the Sandersens, Wayne commented to Tamara ” he knows people in high places, and that he will make my life a living hell, and that he will put up five hundred thousand dollars of his own money to do so”. I can’t afford a lawyer . I’m a blessed person nevertheless and a Christian, so I look at it this way….I guess he will have to fight the almighty father for he my protector…” Truth shall set you free”.
From the comments I have just read I have to ask…Are these board members who took over and destroyed this organization affilated with H.S.U.S? A lot of people are unaware of HSUS and there actual goals of exterminating all dogs and cats. This origanization is ran by extremeist who do vicious acts to shelters detroying them and then say they did this to protect the animals, when in reality that is the farthest from the truth. The horror stories I have heard about this organization who so many people believe care for animals and give hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, in which the animals never benefit from. DO NOT DONATE TO HSUS, less than 1% of the millions donated to them go to local shelters. Instead their board members are living high on the hog at the expense of these defensive animals. Donate to your local shelters, they use most of the money to take care of these animals. Sounds to me the HALO organization has jumped in bed with HSUS. Greed and the need for power, will always make an organization forget the innocent victims that they vowed to help. So sad for all those that have devoted their time and services for these animals in need. Hang in there, these animals still need you!
Prissy the dog mentioned in the story is in good hands now, my sister Tamara Reed has her at her home and we are looking for w family to take her. Halo is a no kill facility . When you rescue you must understand these animals are extremely scared and we work on slowly socializing them. She is still timid she’s also though a very sweet lil girl.
This is just sad and sickening….I know Tamara and her love for the HH. It is disturbing and the truth will come out~ I CANNOT wait!
My family and I started volunteering at the H.A.L.O House in January of this year. We loved working with the dogs and cats.. and most of all learning new things from Tamera Reed. She is very paitient with my daughters and with me. I have seen her work so many hours and days at the HALO House. I have also seen scared and abused dogs come in and she would transform them into loving pets. I was shocked when Tamera was voted off from being president. She has worked so hard and now I feel like she is being kicked to the curb. This is so wrong!
My name is Katie Menez. My 3 kids and I have been volunteering Wednesdays and Fridays at H.A.L.O. house for several months now. We have put in countless hours helping take care of the animals and have been richly rewarded by what the animals have given us back in return. It has been a wonderful opportunity to show my kids the importance of volunteering your time.
I sadly had to resign from volunteering also. I was at the July 5th board meeting and heard the motion not to make any changes to the board at this time and was led to believe that Tamara would be staying on as President. When I found out Thursday what had happened I was sick! I feel that there was a plan in motion by some of the board members to blind side Tamara and at that July 5th meeting they were just giving us what they thought we wanted to hear. When did we lose sight of what is really important?
Thank you Michael for view on the Halo takeover and support. I appreciate you giving us volunteers the opportunity to speak. And THOMPSON..I know who you are..pathetic..how long have you been at Halo? A month, maybe two? How many hours have you worked at Halo house hmm..maybe 3?..and thanks for enlightening all of us to the conversations that are going on in the Sanderson house, since that is where you volunteer. You seem to have alot of information about the Renee situation, thanks for helping us out STARR.
I read this article with great sadness. Up until January, I had been a Board member around seven years. I had never wanted to be a Board member, but had been asked to serve as one by both the dog and cat managers, the President and the Vice President. I quit in January when it became clear that egos were becoming more important than the animals for some of the Board members. Two of the current members can clearly be classified as bullies who have mistreated the volunteers and other Board members. I clearly lost my temper in the last Board meeting I attended, and that is something I try not to do. Four members of the Board have quit in the last seven months, that should say something about what is going on with H.A.L.O. Right before I left the Board, I suggested that four Board members, including myself, should step down for the good of H.A.L.O., that we created too much dissent with in the organization. I was the only one of that group who left.
While neither side is this debacle is totally without blame, the way the five Board members who removed Tamara as President is appalling. Tamara was repeatedly told that she was doing a great job. She put in more hours with the animals than did anyone else. She was (and is) admired by the majority of volunteers who have worked at H.A.L.O. House. If there was ever a time to find a neutral third party to try to find common ground on a matter, it was here. Instead, five Board members, decided to use smoke and mirrors to remove her. The press release by H.A.L.O.’s PR person regarding the circumstances with Tamara’s ouster is laughable.
I have the highest regard for Joyce and Wayne Sanderson’s past work with H.A.L.O. They had been good friends of mine. They have sacrificed a great deal of their privacy and resources to make H.A.L.O. a success. I came to Joyce’s defense several years ago when she was being attacked by people playing politics within H.A.L.O., but politics seems to be exactly what is happening in this case. I sincerely wish that this situation had been handled differently.
I am working on information that has been given to me about this situation. Perhaps I’m wrong in my belief that Tamara was treated very poorly in this matter. I wasn’t there, but my experiences with the members who voted in their heavy handed way to remove Tamara makes me think that I’m probably spot in in my feelings. If I’m incorrect, then I encourage the Board to clarify the situation.
I don’t know if H.A.L.O. can be “saved” but it would be good if some of the over the top rhetoric from both sides were tamped down a little. H.A.L.O. does wonderful work, we have rescued thousands of animals in the eleven years we have been in existence. The Therapy Dog program and youth programs have added a great deal to the communities which we serve. It would be a shame to see it all be destroyed because people don’t know how the hell to talk to each other.
Let’s get the focus back on the animals where it belongs. H.A.L.O. Board members, you have a great deal of work to do in order to re-gain the trust of the volunteers and the community. Good luck with that.
Well said, Chris. As you can see, nothing’s changed since you left. It’s only gotten much worse.
I find it interesting in their press release they state the growth of HALO as the reason for removing the very person who was pivotal in creating that growth. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told directly or overheard some board members state how great of a job Tamara’s done with HALO. These same comments have been expressed in emails as well, and fairly recently. Then there was an announced retirement, HALOs in good hands, good time to step down, etc, only to retract the resignation just 2 weeks later. The reason given was to wait until things were in order.
Also mentioned in the press release is renovations as the excuse to yank the dogs out of their “home”. The only upgrades on the table was to lay linoleum in the cat room. Yet they left the cats. That seems like a feeble excuse for what they did. The only logical reason for removing the dogs must be because they lost 90% of the volunteers and they didn’t have a plan in place to cover that loss. Their only option was to take them to Joyce’s as its clear the remaining members can’t or won’t take the time to care for the dogs in the familiar setting at HALO House – not convenient for them I guess. Since the cats don’t require (however they deserve) as much work and attention as the dogs, I guess they figured it would be ok to leave them behind.
It’s a sad state of affairs and I have doubts HALO will ever be regarded as a respectful organization within the community. It’s a shame – peoples feelings and egos have over-shadowed the great work and progress HALO was making.
Treasure, we both know that the internal politics of HALO has been ugly in the last year or two. Only a few mean-spirited people can create a poisonous environment, and that is what has happened. I do not want HALO to be destroyed, I hope that several of the Board members do the right thing and resign, I don’t think the community will support the organization if they remain.
My name is Robbin Ward and I had the pleasure of meeting Tamara back in April.I found a dachshund on Halo’s site and I drove from Livermore to the facility.Tamara has been very kind and informative about what goes on with the adoptions.It is quite obvious that she has a love for these animals and wants only the best for them.When I emailed her regarding 2 of the dogs I was interested in and found that they had been adopted by loving families with other dachshunds,she still kept in contact with the families to see how they were doing.It deeply saddens me what they have done to her.Shame on them!.
I am sending a challenge out to all involved. We need to all sit down calmly, respectfully, and with a mediator who is non bias and come to a solution that would stop all this maddness and restore what everyone came together for in the first place, which is to save and rescue animals who otherwise be put to death. Wasn’t that why everyone was so passionate about? Don’t you see the focus was shift to people and not why we were all here and why we all worked so hard? I know in my heart that no one wants to see halo tarnished. We can show the children, the community, the volunteers, that we are all adults and that just maybe things were not completely thought out, that emotions took over and that choices can be different. We can make halo a name that is known for what we actually do ….save animals……………………..not maddness. I know it can be done, everyone involved has to know deep inside that we owe it to the ones without a voice, please if it is truly about the animals then everyone would agree to this. I believe this would be a great learning expirence and a way to show the community who believed in all of us that we can put differences aside for the betterment of the animals. Thats what halo is about. Remember TEAM…..together, everyone, achieves, more. I can only put it out there, I can’t make anyone do what I ask. We all know though its the right thing to do. If you don’t respond then you are saying that it was never about the animals…it was about your own personal gain.
Im sorry, but I have never seen anything so sad in my life.
I was a shift leader that led shifts 3-4 days a week. Shifts are 2 hours but I often stayed up to 6 hours a day, doing some extra clean up, spending time with the animals, but most of all working side by side with Tamera. I can honestly say everyday that I’ve been there since I’ve started with Halo Tamera was also there constantly working. I’ve never seen someone who did not get paid for what they did work so hard. She has taught me so much and I’m truly going to miss working with her. She will always have a place in my heart.
As for Renee… Where do I start? So many people have told me “I don’t know why Renees living there, she does absolutely nothing” but you know who those people are? People that are never at HH! Renee was not only a shift leader but did much more. And I dont even know where to begin about the boy that is being dragged into this mess. Do you people have any idea what you are doing to this kids life?! Yes, nobodies mentioning his name in writing but everybody knows who youre talking about. The accusations that are being made about Renee and this young boy, true or not, are going to stay with them for the rest of their lives. For the record let me say this, for anybody, I don’t care who it is, to accuse either of these people of the kinds of things they have been accused of, with all do respect, should be committed into a 5150 house because that’s just crazy.
The articles I have read in the past couple weeks have completely broken my heart. My passion since I was a child has been animals. I started volunteering because my goal is to be a vet tech and I wanted as much experience as possible. I have learned a tremendous ordeal just by volunteering at halo.
I feel everybody is losing site on what is most important. These animals need us, more than some people know. Not only have I been volunteering at HH, I’ve also been fostering kittens through halo. I started out with 7, 1 week old kittens and I now have 3 left since the other ones have been adopted. I look at these precious animals everyday and am so thankful that others and myself are able to save these animals lives. And I truly believe just by looking into their eyes they show us how thankful they are as well.
I feel so blessed to have been given the chance to work with Tamera, Renee, and all of the other members I volunteered with.
I would like to thank the volunteers that I led. You guys were absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for donating your time.
I’m getting sidetracked because there’s so many things I would like to say but the animals are number one. I have made a special relationship with each one of these animals at HH house, as I think much of us have. Since a couple of years ago I have suffered from severe panic attacks and I can not tell you how much these animals have changed my life. I can’t count how many times I’ve started having a panic attack on the way to HH and as soon as I walked in and saw how happy those dogs were to see me it all just faded away. Helping these animals does not only help them, it helps us and I think through this hard time we all need to remember that.
When I walk into HH now, it’s so quite, so lifeless. It used to be so filled with life. Now it’s just an empty building and the worst thing about it is that their are dogs being put down every second and we could be saving 30 dogs lives right now with the space we have at HH.
I really hope the board members can fix this problem and get back to saving lives because every day that goes by is more and more dogs lives we could be saving.
I really don’t care what those who don’t know me think. I worked very hard around here, several times especially i did dog laundry t in just the mont of June I logged over 180 soo 2 in the morn so hh would be clean for adoptions, I gave the dogs and cats meds if needed at night, I climbed up on ladders and cleaned the bays, i scoped poop, cleaned kennels,I did several vet runs, I made apointments for our sick animals, I rescued dogs w my sister, I cleaned the house area , cleaned windows, took over waterin for Jack (he had surgery), I was here for Maddys fund event, I helpped w the ramble and cleaned up after that and put everthing all away, I dumpped garbage,I fostered dogs,I brought scared dogs inside at night to calm them, I lead several shifts,I covered several shifts for othert leaders, I worked over 100 hours creating a volunteer handbook, I dealt w people after hours wanting to surrender thier pet, On top of that I work a regular job as well. I’m tired of people judging me and saying im the cause, I’m far from the cause i’ve become the excuse..I treated everyone of you with respect, and respect doesn’t mean having to agree w ea of you, Its easy to point fingers, I know all I did around here, My clients did the dryer electrical my clients did the lights in the cat room, I put up living in a glass bubble and I wasn’t treated w respect, yet I never stopped helping, I did above and beyond fr halo, and I had several people call me at night asking to go give cats meds and check their water, I had several people ask me to check on the dogs after hours, I did everythg asked of me, One must remember this is where I live so just like anyone you , I do have days off, guess what tho????????????????I never had a day off. Its ok I don’t need to make excuses or change stories to make myself look good, How would those who were not here when I was how wud they know what I did? Just like how would I know what anyone you did outside HH. If you are going on what others told you, I feel sorry for you. How would any of you like your neighbors to say you don’t do anythig? dd anyone see me water at 8 at night every night or get up at 7 to water on the hot days and take care of the plants? no thers no way you could, for no one was here. I kept a list of my volunteer hours and I would be happy to show anyone all I didn’t do. I ask don’t use me as excuse Im not the cause of all this, Just maybe if one person got to know me and saw my dedication to HH then maybe you would see who I really am and not what you made me out to be. And Apparently I must have been more important than the animals, for some people used all their energy on how much I didn”t do around hh and less energy worrying about the animals. And saying the vial things those of you had said about me, is wrong in so many ways…………….compassionate people don’t do what some of you have, and if you treat humans that way how would your peers think you treat animals…….Gossip sure went a long way, shame on all you fot talking the way you have about myself, and you can’t say no one gossiped, ..simple fact just look at who was here, and then look at those who are making the comments. God Bless All of you…………..Forgive them father for they don’t know what they have done……………………..good thing I’m a forgiving woman.
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