Or....maybe it's time for the Animal Shelter to be a for profit business?? Where business decisions are made the way they are supposed to be. Where fees accurately represent the costs. Where the cozy comfort of "Not for Profit" doesn't create complacency, inefficiency, and coasting.

If the name changes, at last the Rock County Historical Society will once again be recognized by its initials....
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It is very true that the board of a non-profit is in charge of policy, mission, and funding, but also true that the executive director (who is their employee) has charge of day-to-day operations. If there were fraying relationships, the director should bring that to the board, preferably before it becomes serious.
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In this case I feel the board needs to do a self-assessment of where all their members are on these issues like handling strays and working with donors/suppliers. They need to be on the same page. Then they need to ask the society membership what they want, and get public input as well. An organization does not get dysfunctional by accident.
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I think in this case and also the Farmers Market the non-profit board members may have lacked experience in the role and as with that group should seek out experienced leaders in the community and possibly other educational opportunities such as statewide organizations and non-profit sector educational groups that actually compile institutional knowledge about how to run an organization of this type. It is down to the board to recognize the problems and work on them. Hiring an executive director with experience and vision who can guide them to be a better resource is very important now.

When my aunt died a few years ago she left a substantial donation to the Humane Society....and I mean SIZEABLE. I think she'd be awefully disappointed to see the state of current affairs. The board has an on-going duty to these organization supporters, and how you live up to that obligation directly effects donations of the future. If your not up to the task you need to step aside.

There is a great deal of conjecture here that is simply inaccurate. Angela did many good things for the shelter and brought shelter operations into this century. The animals were cared for better than ever, significantly lowered euthanasia rates and operated the shelter much more efficiently from a business standpoint. Two shelter evaluations from outside sources said that the contracts for stray animal pick-up were a complete and total disaster and sorely needed revamping. Could you offer a business or service at perhaps half the real cost? My guess is no. Angela's PR skills were lacking however, which is what led to the current dilema. Ironically, if the situation were reversed (go back 5 years), mediocre animal care, inefficient operations but OK PR, who complains?

get rid of the board that oversaw the decline of the shelter...

Sandman - great post! I understand there may have been problem created because of Rhodes personally, but where was the board in all of it? We can't really be expected to believe that she change contracts terms with local municipalities, raised fees, and basically changed the entire direction of the shelter without board knowledge and approval. If she did, those people have no business sitting on the board in the first place. Maybe they're just using her as a scapegoat now to try to wipe the slate clean. If that's the case, they better take full advantage and get things moving back in the right direction because another blunder like this and they'll have lost all support of the community.

FIRST...the board of the Rock County Humane Society should TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for allowing the organization to spiral into it's present incarnation instead of trying to feign surprise! If they DIDN'T KNOW what was going on...OR...if they DID AND CONDONED IT until it imploded, they should RESIGN their board membership!

Boards should take RESPONSIBILITY for the organizations they oversee and the employees they put in place - period. Lead, follow, or get out of the way, folks...it's not the country club and if you're part of the irresponsible management then you're part of the problem for all the animals that are potentially touched by your facility!

Risrvt:
It would be a wonderful world if all shelters could be no kill, but here is the harsh reality:
-Most cities have an ordinance prohibiting stray pets. The numbers are completely unpredictable and fluctuate greatly by season.
-When stray animals are picked up, they must go somewhere. The city can either put them in the shed out back, build their own shelter or contract out with somebody to care for the animals.
- Most cities contract out for this service as the shelters do a better job of it more cost effectively; often the cost to do so is supplemented by private donation by animal lovers.
- If there is a contract in place with a shelter, the shelter is bound to take any and all animals, whether they have room or not and regardless of the temperament of the animal. Private shelters without contracts can pick and choose the "cute" animals with a higher likelihood of being adopted.
- So if there are 50 cages and 100 animals, what is the shelter supposed to do? Of the 50 cages of adoptable animals, what if only 20 people come in to adopt? There are simply size and financial limits to what they can do.
-Even if they keep adding more cages, they must rely on people to come in and adopt; if the number of adopters doesn't rise, there is not a building big enough to house all of the animals.
- If a shelter elects to be no kill, they can say, "no more" when cages are full. But there would still be potentially hundreds of abandoned animals starving out in the cold or heat. Then the city has no alternatives for the stray animals.
All RCHS wants is to be paid the actual cost of caring for the stray animal for the 7 days it may be there.

Here is the link:

http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/shel...

Here's a link to a brochure from the No Kill Revolution. I think that having all shelters, public and private, move to no kill is the way of now and the future. There are step by step guideposts for a shelter Board and Administrator to follow and go to get support and information. You can do it! It is possible. Much larger municipalities already have made the transition.

Board of directors per RCHS web site:
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David Thill (President)
Leslie Hulick (Secretary)
Julie Michaelson (Treasurer)
Elise Erdmann (Vice President)
Erin Brown
Deanna Riggs
Maryann Burkheimer (Member at Large)
Jaci McDonough
Margie Duerr
David Heckner

I would like to say "Thank You" to Angela Rhodes for her many years of helping to care for our lost pets - not many people make a career out of caring for these needy animals.

Everyone is quick to blame the Executive Director for all financial woes of a nonprofit. The Board of Directors of any nonprofit has a fiduciary duty to the organization that includes responsibilities for fund raising. And throwing more events that raise a couple hundred bucks isn't the only answer, either, when hundreds of thousands of dollars are involved. I only know this situation from afar as an organization that helped Rock County--and Angela made many improvements during her time to help decrease euthanasia in a community bursting at the seams with homeless pets. A name change won't make the difference, folks--it is a distraction you don't need right now. It's easy to point fingers in a situation like this. Instead, as members of the community--adopt a pet, volunteer, get all pets and ferals in your care spayed/neutered, and donate to LOCAL shelters/rescues (not HSUS or ASPCA--the money doesn't help pets in your community).

now its time to clean house, with the board of directors!

It is time to give the board a chance to rectify whatever was amiss. Remember, the the board does not receive monetary payment to do this - they only receive the love of the animals, animal lovers gratitude, and personal satisfaction.

To the board, workers, and volunteers, I say thank you for moving this forward and best wishes.

Maybe the board of director's need's some restructuring.

I don't know where the humane society will go from here, but it's too bad Rhodes was allowed to do so much damage. Had the board listened to those trying to tell them there were issues, maybe they would have fired her sooner. What a mess!

The Janesville Humane Society.

"changing the private, nonprofit shelter’s name so people no longer falsely believe it’s a governmental agency that gets tax dollars"

From reading the past few articles about RCHS it's obvious that funding is an issue. The first step should be try and repair relationships from old sponsors if possible. I don't remember ever hearing about events that RCHS may have done for fundraising. They could probably have more fundraising events run by volunteers. Being more active on social networks is great way for companies to get more exposure (Not just using Facebook). The website also looks like it could use some updating.