WOW! Ed, you are probably the first person to say out loud publicly what we rescuers and advocates have been saying YEARS. Fire their asses! Punish bad shelter directors and make it so they don’t go to another shelter, creating the exact same mess- but with a pay raise. Why are these animal abusers getting away with multiple violations of the law? We animal lovers and rescue groups have had to sit by and watch these organizations with their leaders basically abuse every single animal protection law WITHOUT consequence. We founded our rescue in 2011 and have been crushed and gutted by their ILLEGAL and inhumane violations of the Hayden Animal Protection laws. My rescue sued and won a lawsuit last year against LA County and Marsha Mayeda for their years long Hayden Law violations. That didn’t change a thing over there. Twenty years at the helm- Mayeda is still there being paid $30,000 + a MONTH by CA taxpayers to basically run a slaughterhouse.
Why are these monsters in charge - getting away with such egregious behavior DAY AFTER DAY?
I know for a fact, they kill out of spite, they retaliate against volunteers and rescue groups. The shelters are filthy, the animals who need BASIC vet care (hit by a car, kennel cough) are NOT treated, but left to suffer in a filthy concrete floors, in outdoor hellholes. Shelter directors, even with the resources don’t make the necessary upgrades to shelters. Many of California’s orphaned animals are outdoors in freezing winters and in sweltering heat in the summers. Shelter directors could actually ask for more money from taxpayers, through city council/Board of Supervisors - It seems since they don’t care and plan to kill ASAP, why would they want to improve the horrific conditions? It doesn’t seem to be on their radar to care or plan ahead.
Shelter directors apathy and UTTER incompetence doesn’t just affect the animals, but extends to the entire working environment— creating a hostile work place. They pit employees against each other. Those who love animals are singled out as troublemakers.
And WORST OF ALL California shelter directors have banded together to consolidate their power through Cal Animals ( a California Shelter Director organization) to MAINTAIN complete and utter control over the entire CORRUPT system. They band together to fight legislation with OUR tax dollars that could actually be used to improve and help the crises they have created. (2 recent examples: Bowie’s Law and a shelter transparency bill AB2265, both laws killed because of Cal Animals marching orders issued to shelters directors to show up and LIE to legislators.)
You can read some of the distortions and lies on SD Humane’s website about the shelter transparency bill.
And if that weren’t bad enough. We’ve had literal sociopaths… Gina Whiteside at Apple Valley, Marsha Mayeda at LA County, Stacee Daines at LA City/Long Beach/San Jose, Erin Gettis at Riverside, and San Bernardino City has had more than 4 different sociopaths in charge - who create an UPHILL BATTLE for us to save animals even with all the legal mandates on our side!! They burden rescues with insane requirements to become a “partner” to be able to rescue animals they plan to kill. We heard LA Co is now requiring tiny rescues to purchase multi million dollar insurance policies and name THE COUNTY as the protected party in the policy.
Rescues like ours, using our own damn bake sale money are just trying to save lives face these barriers along with EVERYTHING else it takes to save an animal after they leave the shelter. It is an EPIC calling, we rescues are weary and broke.
And now we have Gary Weitzman at San Diego Humane Society — SD taxpayers are paying him over $37,000 a month as their CEO.
He happens to be a board member at Cal Animals👹. Shouldn’t he know better than to violate the law?
Weitzman and his SDHS board members decided in secret - in 2019 to CLOSE San Diego Humane Society cat adoption centers. And get this: they started throwing list, friendly cats brought to them on the streets— by the the thousands 18,000 so far.
And now he’s been caught redheaded for violating the law — and AFTER THIS RULING on Friday- he immediately tells the San Diego Union Tribune he won’t stop because it’s not a clear ruling AND his experts, his policies, his “bought and paid for” studies and his junk science are more important than the law- more important than compassion or honesty. I hope donors are listening.
I for one, would love to see him fired, and then prosecuted for all the cats who have turned up dead on our streets . It would certainly send a message to all those other shelter directors who are members of Cal Animals who are being directed to violate the law and abuse and mistreat animals- saying they guided by their “policies and experts” instead of California state animal protection laws.
Thank you for your voice, your courage and efforts to inform and educate! It is appreciated by all of us who have worked so hard to make positive changes.
Christine, thank you for your heartfelt and passionate comment. Your dedication to animal welfare and your firsthand experiences highlight the systemic issues that continue to plague California’s shelter system. It’s enraging and heartbreaking to hear how deeply entrenched the disregard for Hayden’s Law and basic compassion has become, especially when it’s perpetuated by those entrusted to protect animals.
Your courage in fighting back—suing and winning against LA County—is inspiring, even if the change hasn’t come as quickly as we all hope. The resilience of rescues like yours, working tirelessly with limited resources, is a testament to the love and commitment that truly drives this movement. I share your frustration with the barriers, corruption, and apathy you’ve described, and I agree that accountability—real accountability—is long overdue.
Thank you for your kind words about my efforts. Together, with voices like yours and others in the rescue community, we can continue to expose these injustices and push for meaningful reform. Please don’t lose hope—your work is making a difference, and I’m honored to stand alongside you in this fight.
What a nice note. As they say, one voice unlocks another! It’s as if we are finally beginning to hit critical mass- so much of the inner workings that have been hidden from us are now known. The money, the players, the plans…KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! Thank you for the wonderful support.
You nailed it in one sentence: …”Programs like high volume spay/neuter initiatives, robust adoption efforts and stricter breeding regulations offer sustainable solutions to overpopulation without compromising animal welfare.”
These are the three main methods begged for by advocates. Koret, HASS, BF have placed no emphasis on any of them, finding them ‘not innovative enough’.
Koret in particular dangles the carrot of California grant money to direct shelters to literally violate state law. Think about that: a group of licensed California veterinarians working at Koret Shelter Medicine Dept. (a non-profit affiliated with UCD) was enabled to instruct local shelter directors to violate the most comprehensive anti-cruelty, humane treatment, animal welfare statutes )Hayden’s) in California. Turning stray unaltered animals, releasing unaltered animals, increasing our overpopulation and bad death in our streets has been nothing short of criminal. Their 503(c) status should be pulled.
Keep up these great articles with your keen insight.
Thank you Hilary, for your thoughtful comment! Indeed, advocates have been calling for and championing the core solutions—spay/neuter initiatives, adoption efforts, and breeding regulations— for years. It’s frustrating to see these proven methods dismissed as “not innovative enough” while harmful practices continue to undermine progress.
Your point about organizations like Koret directing shelters to violate state law is deeply concerning and deserves to be under greater scrutiny. I appreciate your encouragement and will keep shining a light on these issues—together, we can push for the accountability and compassion that animals deserve!
Now we just need to convince all these shelter directors to do this, and if any of you out there has a know it all, statistic driven, paid, it's my way or the highway director like I do our work is more than cut out for us. But if you are like me, we are up for the challenge. 2025 the year of and for these cats and dogs.
Long post warning 🐾
WOW! Ed, you are probably the first person to say out loud publicly what we rescuers and advocates have been saying YEARS. Fire their asses! Punish bad shelter directors and make it so they don’t go to another shelter, creating the exact same mess- but with a pay raise. Why are these animal abusers getting away with multiple violations of the law? We animal lovers and rescue groups have had to sit by and watch these organizations with their leaders basically abuse every single animal protection law WITHOUT consequence. We founded our rescue in 2011 and have been crushed and gutted by their ILLEGAL and inhumane violations of the Hayden Animal Protection laws. My rescue sued and won a lawsuit last year against LA County and Marsha Mayeda for their years long Hayden Law violations. That didn’t change a thing over there. Twenty years at the helm- Mayeda is still there being paid $30,000 + a MONTH by CA taxpayers to basically run a slaughterhouse.
Why are these monsters in charge - getting away with such egregious behavior DAY AFTER DAY?
I know for a fact, they kill out of spite, they retaliate against volunteers and rescue groups. The shelters are filthy, the animals who need BASIC vet care (hit by a car, kennel cough) are NOT treated, but left to suffer in a filthy concrete floors, in outdoor hellholes. Shelter directors, even with the resources don’t make the necessary upgrades to shelters. Many of California’s orphaned animals are outdoors in freezing winters and in sweltering heat in the summers. Shelter directors could actually ask for more money from taxpayers, through city council/Board of Supervisors - It seems since they don’t care and plan to kill ASAP, why would they want to improve the horrific conditions? It doesn’t seem to be on their radar to care or plan ahead.
Shelter directors apathy and UTTER incompetence doesn’t just affect the animals, but extends to the entire working environment— creating a hostile work place. They pit employees against each other. Those who love animals are singled out as troublemakers.
And WORST OF ALL California shelter directors have banded together to consolidate their power through Cal Animals ( a California Shelter Director organization) to MAINTAIN complete and utter control over the entire CORRUPT system. They band together to fight legislation with OUR tax dollars that could actually be used to improve and help the crises they have created. (2 recent examples: Bowie’s Law and a shelter transparency bill AB2265, both laws killed because of Cal Animals marching orders issued to shelters directors to show up and LIE to legislators.)
You can read some of the distortions and lies on SD Humane’s website about the shelter transparency bill.
And if that weren’t bad enough. We’ve had literal sociopaths… Gina Whiteside at Apple Valley, Marsha Mayeda at LA County, Stacee Daines at LA City/Long Beach/San Jose, Erin Gettis at Riverside, and San Bernardino City has had more than 4 different sociopaths in charge - who create an UPHILL BATTLE for us to save animals even with all the legal mandates on our side!! They burden rescues with insane requirements to become a “partner” to be able to rescue animals they plan to kill. We heard LA Co is now requiring tiny rescues to purchase multi million dollar insurance policies and name THE COUNTY as the protected party in the policy.
Rescues like ours, using our own damn bake sale money are just trying to save lives face these barriers along with EVERYTHING else it takes to save an animal after they leave the shelter. It is an EPIC calling, we rescues are weary and broke.
And now we have Gary Weitzman at San Diego Humane Society — SD taxpayers are paying him over $37,000 a month as their CEO.
He happens to be a board member at Cal Animals👹. Shouldn’t he know better than to violate the law?
Weitzman and his SDHS board members decided in secret - in 2019 to CLOSE San Diego Humane Society cat adoption centers. And get this: they started throwing list, friendly cats brought to them on the streets— by the the thousands 18,000 so far.
And now he’s been caught redheaded for violating the law — and AFTER THIS RULING on Friday- he immediately tells the San Diego Union Tribune he won’t stop because it’s not a clear ruling AND his experts, his policies, his “bought and paid for” studies and his junk science are more important than the law- more important than compassion or honesty. I hope donors are listening.
I for one, would love to see him fired, and then prosecuted for all the cats who have turned up dead on our streets . It would certainly send a message to all those other shelter directors who are members of Cal Animals who are being directed to violate the law and abuse and mistreat animals- saying they guided by their “policies and experts” instead of California state animal protection laws.
Thank you for your voice, your courage and efforts to inform and educate! It is appreciated by all of us who have worked so hard to make positive changes.
Christine, thank you for your heartfelt and passionate comment. Your dedication to animal welfare and your firsthand experiences highlight the systemic issues that continue to plague California’s shelter system. It’s enraging and heartbreaking to hear how deeply entrenched the disregard for Hayden’s Law and basic compassion has become, especially when it’s perpetuated by those entrusted to protect animals.
Your courage in fighting back—suing and winning against LA County—is inspiring, even if the change hasn’t come as quickly as we all hope. The resilience of rescues like yours, working tirelessly with limited resources, is a testament to the love and commitment that truly drives this movement. I share your frustration with the barriers, corruption, and apathy you’ve described, and I agree that accountability—real accountability—is long overdue.
Thank you for your kind words about my efforts. Together, with voices like yours and others in the rescue community, we can continue to expose these injustices and push for meaningful reform. Please don’t lose hope—your work is making a difference, and I’m honored to stand alongside you in this fight.
What a nice note. As they say, one voice unlocks another! It’s as if we are finally beginning to hit critical mass- so much of the inner workings that have been hidden from us are now known. The money, the players, the plans…KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! Thank you for the wonderful support.
Hoping we right this ship! Carry on!
You nailed it in one sentence: …”Programs like high volume spay/neuter initiatives, robust adoption efforts and stricter breeding regulations offer sustainable solutions to overpopulation without compromising animal welfare.”
These are the three main methods begged for by advocates. Koret, HASS, BF have placed no emphasis on any of them, finding them ‘not innovative enough’.
Koret in particular dangles the carrot of California grant money to direct shelters to literally violate state law. Think about that: a group of licensed California veterinarians working at Koret Shelter Medicine Dept. (a non-profit affiliated with UCD) was enabled to instruct local shelter directors to violate the most comprehensive anti-cruelty, humane treatment, animal welfare statutes )Hayden’s) in California. Turning stray unaltered animals, releasing unaltered animals, increasing our overpopulation and bad death in our streets has been nothing short of criminal. Their 503(c) status should be pulled.
Keep up these great articles with your keen insight.
Thank you Hilary, for your thoughtful comment! Indeed, advocates have been calling for and championing the core solutions—spay/neuter initiatives, adoption efforts, and breeding regulations— for years. It’s frustrating to see these proven methods dismissed as “not innovative enough” while harmful practices continue to undermine progress.
Your point about organizations like Koret directing shelters to violate state law is deeply concerning and deserves to be under greater scrutiny. I appreciate your encouragement and will keep shining a light on these issues—together, we can push for the accountability and compassion that animals deserve!
I am encouraged by this ruling. 👍
Now we just need to convince all these shelter directors to do this, and if any of you out there has a know it all, statistic driven, paid, it's my way or the highway director like I do our work is more than cut out for us. But if you are like me, we are up for the challenge. 2025 the year of and for these cats and dogs.
What Christine said