Marin Humane Society Article: Multi-Issue Opportunity for Letter Writing

They are animal lovers - and proud of it.

Whether objecting to a herd of brush-eating goats or thwarting plans for calf roping at a Novato rodeo, the Marin Humane Society is again tangling with community groups in its unique position as both animal advocate and regulator.

And while some criticize the group for aggressive tactics, Humane Society officials say they aren't looking for trouble - but they're not running away, either.

"We don't avoid controversy," Executive Director Diane Allevato said. "We don't go looking for it, but we don't avoid it."

Over the past 20 years the agency has crossed swords with West Marin dairy ranchers, Novato civic service groups, the Marin County Fair and others who say the Humane Society has misused its power as the county's dog catcher.

That power - in the form of a five-year, $2 million annual Marin County animal control contract - comes up for review again this year. The Marin Humane Society is one of just four such agencies in the state that both advocate for animal welfare in its role as a nonprofit organization, and contract for county animal control - and the set-up is not without its critics.

George Silvestri, a Novato attorney who clashed with the agency in 1997 over pony rides organized by his Rotary Club, says he was concerned then that the Humane Society "totally blurred the line and crossed over. ... They took their agenda, what I call an animal rights advocacy position, and trying to incorporate that into their ... pound-keeper role, and I thought it was totally inappropriate."

Meanwhile, the agency is growing, with a $5.8 million annual budget, 625 volunteers and some 18,000 members - and plans to expand onto several acres adjacent to the existing campus on Bel Marin Keys Boulevard in Novato.

"We're an old dog that still learns new tricks," Allevato said. "There's a lot for us to do. If we're not leading, we're not doing our job."

98-year institution

Founded in 1907 in a San Anselmo drawing room largely to tend to the community's horse and dog population, the Humane Society is Marin's oldest charity with the same mission throughout its tenure.

Despite the similar name, humane societies are independent organizations with no state or national affiliation.

The public shelter, first housed in Sausalito and later at Third Street and Grand Avenue in San Rafael, moved to 171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd. when the property was purchased in 1968.

"A lot has happened in those 40 years," Allevato said. "I've been here 25 years and I've had the pleasure of seeing 25 years of those changes."

Twenty-five years ago, the Humane Society dealt with 18,000 dogs and cats a year, and today it works with 5,000 to 6,000 animals a year - a smaller total due in large part to an ethically mindful community and a large public education effort, officials said. The agency employs 70 full-time workers.

An 11-member board of directors manages operations for the group, "as an oversight to make sure the Humane Society runs as a smooth organization," said Marianne O'Connell, president of the board of directors.

"I would say our job is a relatively easy one because we have an organization that's well-respected," she said.

Growth has been at the heart of the organization's effort, which over the years has added spay-neuter clinics, an education center, an animal training pavilion, a rehabilitation facility for dogs and cats and behavior and training programs in a new wing built in 2002, among other things. At any given time, some 35 classes a week, from basic family dog training to more specific behavioral training, are held at the Novato campus.

Humane Society officials stop short of saying they support vegetarianism but, Allevato said, the organization "promotes compassion for all animals and we encourage people to take the quality of animals' lives into consideration when choosing the foods they eat."

The group serves up information about choices, such as where to find "humanely raised" meats and eggs, meat alternatives and vegetarian foods. A four-page spread in the agency's newsletter, "Animal Chronicles," was recently devoted to the topic.

The organization, which has been providing animal control services in Marin since 1946, doesn't only take care of dogs. The addition of cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rodents and other creatures, coupled with the age and configuration of the 1968 facility, has prompted plans for expansion.

Recently complete is the master plan to develop two acres owned by the Humane Society contiguous to the existing property on the opposite side of the creek, San Jose Arroyo.

Early plans, which still require city approval, include a vehicle and pedestrian bridge spanning the creek, 75 parking spaces, fenced-in off-leash areas for large and small dogs, fountains, seating and other amenities.

County relies on agency

Unlike many counties and cities that provide municipal animal control, Marin has looked to the Humane Society for help, said Matthew Hymel, chief assistant county administrator.

"Both the cities and the county have an obligation to provide animal control and shelter services," he said. "(In Marin,) cities and the county contract out."

The five-year contract, worth more than $2 million per year, expires June 30. It provides animal control services to all cities and towns and the county of Marin.

The group, which receives 30 percent of the contract from the county and 70 percent from the cities and towns, also handles dog licenses, rabies control, wildlife pickup and other animal control services.

The contract represents about 40 percent of the Humane Society's budget, officials said. The Humane Society brought in $5.8 million in revenue and spent $4.7 million on operations, according to the 2003 annual report, the most recent report released.

Humane Society officials said the group's animal control segment is separated from its advocacy side. Officials said they keep separate budgets, conduct separate audits and separate accountability for animal control functions from Humane Society functions.

All advocacy is funded by private donation dollars, Allevato said.

A team representing the cities and the county will continue to meet with Humane Society officials in the coming months to hammer out a new deal. Options for service will be reviewed, although county officials noted that such options are limited by requirements under state law.

As for who provides such services, "I don't think there's a set formula how it gets provided," Hymel said.

Marin arrangement

Marin's one-stop shop for animal services is somewhat unusual, officials said.

Marin is one of the few counties in the Bay Area still contracting out for animal control services, with San Mateo's Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA the only other humane society in the Bay Area still combining animal advocacy and control under a nonprofit umbrella. The other two organizations in California are in Pasadena and Riverside.

In San Francisco, with one governing body presiding over city and county business, animal care and control is an in-house operation, officials said.

Working closely with the group is the San Francisco SPCA, which in 1905 took charge of the city's animals until the task was given back to local government in 1989.

In 1994, the animal welfare group struck a deal with the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control to ensure no adoptable dog or cat in San Francisco would be euthanized, according to the SPCA's Web site.

In Sonoma, animal control is largely a local matter, said Chief Deputy Barry Evans of Sonoma County Animal Regulation.

There are six shelters in the county, the largest being the county facility in Santa Rosa. In addition to covering the county, the cities of Santa Rosa, Cloverdale and the town of Windsor pay the county for its animal control and shelter service after the Humane Society of Sonoma County stopped providing animal control to some parts of the area in 1989, he said.

The county built a shelter, and in 2001 Santa Rosa city officials signed a 30-year agreement for service.

Evans said he believes the old-fashioned system of a one-stop shop under a humane society is falling by the wayside because such contracts no longer cover the cost of doing business.

The missions are different as well, he added, explaining that municipal animal control groups are focused more on public safety while advocacy groups are concerned about animal welfare.

"The Humane Society, from my understanding, didn't want to do the animal control part of the contract," he said of the arrangement in Sonoma. "It's a losing proposition for them because the level of service they provided was a different emphasis than what a municipal agency would have."

Should the tasks be separated? It depends on who's running the show, Evans said. In Marin, the arrangement seems to work, he said.

"Marin, I think, has a very good system. They provide a level of service beyond what we provide in Sonoma," he said. "Geographically, Marin County is smaller. It's easier and its centralized services and it's real easy for people in Marin County."

"The reason we do it is we do it well," Marin's Allevato said of the Humane Society's motivation to continue the contract. "It permits us to be there when animals need us."

Critics raise questions

Not everyone agrees that's a good thing. Over the years, groups have accused the organization of coming on too strong.

In 1997, Rotary Club of Novato Sunrise clashed with the organization over a fund-raiser when Marin Humane Society officials and others protested the treatment of Shetland ponies that were tied to a carousel for the pony ride attraction.

Silvestri, who was club president at the time, excoriated Humane Society officials for failing to keep their two positions separate.

"What troubled me the most, I basically realized they have two levels of power and responsibility in their animal control officer capacity, doing it on behalf of the 11 cities and counties and all of Marin, they are acting as peace officers and governmental authorities when they are wearing that hat," Silvestri said. "The second level they engage in is supposed to be unrelated to that - it's a nonprofit."

Silvestri, who served as deputy county counsel from 1969 to 1974, said the Humane Society's dual role is a sweetheart deal in which all the cities and towns, and the county, agree to the Humane Society's terms in order to avoid having to act as dog-catcher.

"There's a political force at play here because what they do is create a JPA (joint powers agreement) amongst themselves, then they collectively contract with the Humane Society," he said. "Part of that agreement ... which makes sense in a way, is it's the tail wagging the dog, no pun intended. None of them want to face the prospect of being the pound-keeper in their individual jurisdictions. If any of them raise their heads too high they get threatened behind the scenes. ... It's one of those nasty little secrets."

Recent criticism from the Humane Society resulted from the cancellation in September of a junior rodeo put on by Novato Horsemen's Inc. in which organizers hoped to include calf roping in the program.

Critical at the time was Aldo Gigliotti, a member and past president of Novato Horsemen, who said he doesn't speak for the group, but personally believes the Marin Humane Society is superior in its shelter, adoption and training programs.

But, he said, he takes exception to the group's enforcement arm.

"I think as a public entity they have seized the opportunity with no competition and no checks and balances," said Gigliotti, a local businessman active in the community who owns animals. "There is no one challenging the Marin Humane Society with respect to policy guidelines and manner of operation. ... I think they have a legitimate role and I think they need to revisit what that role clearly is."

Most recently, a disagreement stemmed from a large herd of grazing goats hired to chew flammable brush in Mill Valley during the fire season.

The permit for the group, Natural Solutions LLC of Santa Cruz, was yanked by Humane Society officials, who then attempted to banish the goats from the county, citing illegal operation and concern for the health and welfare of the herd.

The issue landed in court. In November, a Marin Superior Court judge ruled the goats could stay pending a settlement or a trial.

Ira Rothken, the attorney representing Natural Solutions, said at the time that Humane Society officials were carrying out an ongoing vendetta - "manufacturing a controversy where none should exist. I think that there has to be some sort of inquiry made as to what the proper role or roles should be for the Marin Humane Society," Rothken said last week. "It seems to me there may be a conflict of interest there.

"It seems they have nearly unfettered control over implementing the animal control laws," he said. "I'd like to see some sort of greater governmental oversight, and ultimately that will be better, not only for the organization, it will be better for Marin County. They'll have greater predictability in how the laws are implemented."

Humane Society officials, who said they work largely on complaint-driven cases, acknowledge that not everyone sees eye to eye on animal issues. Rarely do cases go to court, and most abuse is dealt with through education, officials said.

When they believe it is time to step up, Humane Society officials make no apologies.

"We're an advocacy organization," Allevato said. "We advocate for animals. Sometimes, people have different interests. ... There are no bad people, just different interests.

"Whenever human interests and animal interests collide, there needs to be an agency like us," Allevato said. "It's not our job to be quiet."

Jennifer Upshaw, IJ reporter