By Jen Saltman
The Ottawa Humane Society is planning public consultations for early next year in an attempt to respond to the community’s needs.
The format of the consultations is yet to be determined, but organizers are looking for a general discussion about what the Humane Society can do for the community.
Pam Menchions, president of the society’s board of directors, says they need to take a “good, thorough look” at what their mission is in Ottawa, noting that it’s necessary for the community and the Humane Society to work together.
The society’s board of directors met on Oct. 17 to sift through 488 recommendations from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and split them into management and operational issues.
The recommendations, most of which are being kept internal, were then divided again into three categories: short-term, long-term, and those already in place.
The majority of the recommendations deal with shelter operations, facilities, field services, management and administration, community outreach and public relations. They are based on the observations of six HSUS consultants who conducted evaluations in April at the society’s request.
Bruce Roney, the society’s executive director, says it was “quite a task” to go through so many recommendations, most of which were “very, very detailed.” One theme that he says runs through the recommendations is that the society needs to work more closely with the community – a key reason for asking for the consultations to take place.
Roney says almost half of the recommendations fall into the category of things that can be done right away. Beyond that, Roney says the society must bring the new suggestions in line with its current approach and inform staff as to what changes will be taking place in the future.
After a search that spanned the country, Menchions says the Humane Society settled on the HSUS to do the review because it couldn’t find anyone in Canada with the American organization’s level of expertise in the area of shelter management and policies.
Kate Pullen, director of animal sheltering issues for the HSUS, says she is pleased with how the recommendations were received.
“I was very happy with the Ottawa Humane Society’s response to the report,” says Pullen.
“We will continue to provide advice and be there to support them in their future endeavours.”
While the report did cover a lot of ground, the recommendations didn’t deal with all of the Humane Society’s issues.
“Leaving the report aside, our concern is always to have enough resources to meet the community’s expectations,” says Roney.
He explains that people in the community have extremely high expectations of the Humane Society and the services it provides, without necessarily realizing the limitations on its resources.
For her part, Menchions says the society has to look at how it can change its priorities and spending habits.
“We depend on the community for donations,” says Menchions. “It’s more a question of with the resources we’ve got, what can we do?”