Where Dogs Go To Die
Critics of the MADACC animal shelter say it doesn’t do enough to prevent dogs from being euthanized.
Problems Handling Volunteers
Sparapani, the former director of the Elmbrook Humane Society, brings over 20 years of animal welfare experience to her new job as head of MADACC. She says she plans to fix any problems at MADACC and repair some of the damaged relationships accumulated over the last year or so. “MADACC did make its bed in a lot of ways and things were not handled necessarily the right way on either side,” she says.
However, she notes, not every relationship can be rectified. “Volunteering is a privilege, not a right,” she says.
MADACC’s volunteer handbook says it has the right to terminate a volunteer at any time without warning. Sparapani will be reworking the volunteer program in the near future to give a clearer understanding of roles, responsibilities and boundaries.
“Our volunteer program is not a big fan favorite by a long shot,” Sparapani admits. She will base her revised program on the approach used by the Wisconsin Humane Society, offering multiple opportunities for volunteers, not just dog-walking.
As far as the walking lists are concerned, while MADACC doesn’t legally own the dogs during the seven-day stray hold, Sparapani wants to develop a new system in which they may still go for walks during that period.
Her overall goal, she stresses, is not to make MADACC a “no-kill” shelter because that is not its intended use. But she believes each animal deserves a fair chance at getting out of the facility by being individually judged, not euthanized based only on space available.
“We have to change the culture at MADACC and we are going to do that,” Sparapani vows. “Give me a year.”
Sparapani will also be hosting a public listening session on Monday, May 1 at 6 p.m. at the Wauwatosa Public Library in the Firefly Room, where she will respond to questions. If you have questions send them to askmadacc@madacc.org. All Milwaukee County residents are invited to come and there will be seating for 100.
If you wish to express your concerns directly, contact Karen Sparapani, Milwaukee, Executive Director of MADACC at ksparapani@madacc.org or Ron Hayward, MADACC Board President at ronald.hayward@westmilwaukee.org.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the Wisconsin Humane Society and did not make clear that MADACC’s stray hold policy is set by state law, which requires a longer period than some other states.
I am tired of all the bad press for MADACC. Yes they need to fix things but they are in a tough spot. Created because Wisconsin Humane Society (not Milwaukee Humane Society – no such org exists) decided not to do animal control as they had before, it is a municipal organization funded by and led by represetnatives of each community – so it is our community leaders who have out MADACC in the spot it is in not MADACC employees who all along have gone above and beyond what is asked/required of their founding purpose. MADACC was never set up to be an adoption center and they do the best they can with their facilities and staff to get as many animals saved by partnering with other organizations. Furthermore, the US Davis report was funded by Friends of MADACC but actually asked for by Melanie Sobel in order to get the idea of what to improve.
I’m sure the room will be filled with outraged citizens. Meanwhile the Philadelphia abortion clinic will continue to receive little if any mention in the media and the same citizens will stand mute.
This article is fair and balanced on the problems and challenges facing MADACC. I wish the best of luck to Karen Sparapani in her new position. I’ve recently begun to follow the MADACC Facebook page and look forward to seeing improvements in the next year.
Good article. Why don’t most people in Milwaukee know that this is going on? I hope the new Director can make the improvements she talks about here.
Thanks for the note on our error, we corrected and changed “Milwaukee” to Wisconsin Humane Society.
In response to dogtired: Yes, MADACC has gotten a lot of bad press lately, but don’t you think that it’s necessary for change? The things that are going on there need to drastically improve, but if no one knows what’s wrong, who will make sure change happens? It really sounds like the new director wants positive change and I want to believe in her with all of her experience. Thanks for the great article, I can’t wait to see the changes that should be happening in the next year, let’s see some more pit bulls saved!!
Could we leave comments on the Gosnell trial in Philly out of this? There is no correlation between abortion and euthanasia of animals, at all. Good luck Karen. Many of us are pulling for you to succeed.
The unfair part of this article is the name…really? “Where dogs go to die”? Despite the fact that many of the animals euthanized are not candidates for adoption (illness, behavior, neglect), there are still thousands of dogs that make it out of MADAAC back to their owners, to local humane societies and rescue partners. So NO, it is not “Where dogs go to die”. MADACC serves a purpose in the community and, just like anything in the whole wide world, there is room for improvement. No one at MADACC, no Director of MADACC and no Board Member of MADACC wake up with the purpose to kill dogs ever day. It would be nice if the community recognized it’s role as community members and stop placing all the blame on one organization. I urge you to figure out exactly how much in tax dollars you pay to MADACC per year. I know my cut is less than $13. How many people do you know that regularly advocate for spay/neuter? How many people have you recruited to help volunteer with organizations like MADACC to work with dogs that need walking, training, etc. How much time do you spend advocating for legislature against puppy mills? Do you help inform poeple to adopt instead of shop? MADACC cannot solve the issues of animal over-crowding, over-breeding, and over-pricing. They will make improvements where they can, but if every single person who reads this article can be responsible for getting one more dog spayed in the Milwaukee area, you would not be reading this type of article nearly as often. And, for everyone who thinks the problem is MADACC, I urge you to consider what role have you taken on that gives you the right to blame someone else?
First of all, who are any of us to say a dog is not a candidate for adoption and cannot be rehabilitated. Secondly, people who volunteer to help these animals depend on writers who also love animals to advocate for social change through words. It is their way of helping. Furthermore, I do not see the blame. For every acqusation, the opposition is clearly reported upon. It is fair and balanced journalism ending on a positive note for a hopeful future.