Complaint Review: Humane Society Of Inverness - Inverness Florida

I am writing regarding the following organization:

The Humane Society of Inverness located in Howards Flea Market

On the corner of the MAIN AISLE AND AISLE D at

6373 S. Suncoast Blvd.

Homosassa, FL 34446

ALSO LOCATED AT:
The Humane Society Of Inverness
10517 E Faith Ct.
Inverness, FL 34450-2946

It is very hard for me to put into words how I feel about this organization.  I get so angry every time I even think about the way they treat their animals.  They put everyone and their pets that happen to cross their path in jeopardy.

A few months ago in the Citrus County Chronicle there was an article showing that this organization had dumped 1000s of used needles in a pond on their property.  Of course the President & Founder Margaret Nolan had no idea how they had gotten there.  

I really have NO IDEA how they keep all their licenses & Permits!

One of the first things I personally viewed was while setting up they left the animals in the cars, vans, pick-up trucks (IN THE HEAT).  The animals were left there while the workers set up dirty pens, kennels etc. for the day. The small plastic carrier & small wire kennels they use to transport would have 3 or more animals in each carrier.  The animals could hardly move.  How long they talked to each other or fooled around with other things would determine how long the animals were left in the hot vehicles or the bed of the pick-ups with the sun beating down on them.  On a normal day it takes them about 15-30 to get the animals out of the vehicles.  Then in the afternoon the vehicles have been sitting there all closed up with the sun beating down on them.  They take the animals and place them in those hot travel carries in the hot vehicles. They may or may not start the vehicles.  We all know even if they do start the car and turn the air on it takes a long time for the cars to cool down here in Florids (the car probably is just starting to get some what cool by the time they decide to get in) and what about the animals in the back of the pick-ups with the sun beating down on the crates? The animals sit in the vehicles as long as it takes for them to put the dirty used pens, kennels etc. into their storage shed & fight over who is going to count the donation jar (sometimes I wonder if its whos going to take how much money out to go in their pocket before the money taken back to their bookkeeper) and be in charge of taking the money back to the bookkeeper. Again the animals in the pickups have the direct sun beating down on them. They look so sad and hot in those travel cages, those little faces just panting looking out between the bars in the back of those SUVs (yes, at least they leave the back hatch up so they get some air moving throw).  You can tell they are very hot because they are panting so hard it makes you want to find a water hose & spray them down right there in the back of their new SUVs!!!!!!  It can take them from 15 to 45 minutes to get done and leave at the end of the day. 

 They never clean their spaces in Howards flea market.  In the summer months with temperatures over 100 degrees, the build up of urine & dried feces smells so ungodly bad.  All the concrete in their spaces has wet and/or dried urine, fresh and/or dried feces plus medication all over it after they leave in the afternoon. Plus there is a build-up of animal waste stains all over there concrete in there space.  The tables they use to put some of the kennels and/or cages on as well as the products they have For Sale and of course the jars that they have to place cash donations in, are stained with animal waste, medication and god only knows. Its even dripping down the sides of the tables.  I am really not sure when the tables were wiped down last even with just plain water NEVER MIND CLEANED WITH PROPER CLEANING PRODUCTS THAT SHOULD BE USED!!!! The only time I can say I have seen it cleaned is when the venders around them get tired of the odor.

 The desks they use to fill out paper work and give the animals medications is covered with mold, dried medication, and all kinds of filth.  Who knows what all is on them.  When they pull a drawer open to get something out you can see used syringes papers & rags that are all dirty & moldy!  I really would hate to look under the top layer god only knows what you would find!!  I have even seen dirty used syringes left on this nasty desk after they have left for the day.  What would have happened if a small child picked it up????  Right beside the desk they have a table with boxes stacked on and under it that are stained with urine and feces and smell so bad it would make you sick!!!  On the table top & sides you can see dried urine, feces and what looks like part of a pill dried in feces, plus dried medication.  These tables are like this all of the time even if you went over there and looked right now.

They have a small shed that they store their cages, kennels & pens in at the end of the day.  I have never seen them clean the cages before they put them away.  They put them in the shed with the wet urine filled newspapers & all.  The most I have ever seen them do, is sometimes when they take the cages out of the shed the next morning they may or may not change the newspaper, sometimes they just put new somewhat clean newspaper over the old dirty paper.

Now if one of the animals they placed in the cage at one time or another is sick, every animal place in the cage from there on out is at risk of getting that same illness (this weekend in one pen they had a puppy that you could see his ribs and hip bones, others in the same pen were very slim with big bulging bellies, Im just a lay person but I feel those puppies need to see a vet). Unless everything is cleaned properly after each use any virus/infections will stay right there and if someone passing by touches the cage then does not wash their hands right away they can pass the virus/infections on to other animals.

For that matter if you walk an animal in the sand/dirt around them it is at risk of getting sick in fact anywhere in the market they can be at risk.

 An how about those unknowing pet lovers who bring their pets with them when ever they can, to socialize them, give them exercise etc. go walking by the Humane Society of Inverness booths at the Flea market are at risk!!!!  Or you pet that cute little animal then go home and pet yours; you have a chance of passing the virus/infection on to them also because The Humane Society of Inverness does not use proper cleaning habits.  I can tell you for a fact they have sold many sick animals, even dogs with parvovirus. I have seen cats & dogs that they have sold that have been fixed and the incisions are infected and need restitching. The Parvovirus stays in the soil for many years.  There is a big problem with the Parvovirus here in Citrus County and in my heart I feel they are one of the biggest reasons we have such a problem with the virus in this county! I HAVE ALSO SEEN THEM TAKE A SYRINGE GIVE MEDICATION TO ONE ANIMAL PUT IT BACK IN TO THE MEDICINE BOTTLE PULL MORE MEDICATION OUT THEN GIVE THAT MEDICATION TO ANOTHER ANIMAL AND DO THE SAME THING OVER AGAIN.  

I live very very close to Howards Flea market and have an 8 week old, Old English Bull Dog puppy.  I have had her since she was 4 days old, she had to be bottle fed.  She was very sick and I almost lost her many times!  She has never ever been outside, never touch sand/dirt or even a blade of grass.  We take our shoes off outside and clean them in a bleach solution.  We sanitize our hands & arms before we ever touched her.  The day after she turned 7 weeks old she started getting sick at about 4pm.  She vomited 3 times & had 2 loose stools, so we called our vet.  She had us met her in her office, we got there about 10pm.  She did a stool test, NO Parasites (worms).  Then she did a Parvovirus test, my baby had the Parvovirus!  My worst fear!!  After we were so so careful!  The only thing we came up with was that she got it is from our pants legs brushing on the concrete and/or soil. Being a rough and tough energized little ball of hair she loves to play tug of war with our pant legs. After three days in the Vet Hospital I am very happy to say she is doing well but why do puppies have to go through stuff like this?  If people like the Humane Society of Inverness would practice proper cleaning habits viruses and infections like this could be minimized.

Another thing I dont understand is how can a non-profit rescue charge different adoption fees for mixed breeds than pure blooded breeds or ones that look more like a pure blood line?  Wouldnt that be selling not adopting???   Rescues that adopt pets out DOT NOT HAVE TO GET HEALTH CERTIFICATIONS.  When people sell a dog they have to get a health certification from a Vet. So it would only make since that if you are a rescue and you charge higher fees for one dog or cat than the other, that the higher priced ones are sold not adopted.  Therefore you should have to have a Health Certification.  AM I RIGHT?  I know for a fact that they do charge higher fees for the animals that appear to be a pure blood line. They list animals right on the Internet with the fee for that animal.

It really gets me to see them set there and take in hunderds of dollars a day in cash donations alone and all those poor animals are so sickly. Where is all the money going? I have done research here on the internet and this Margret Meier Nolan has her name as President & Founder on rescues from Homestand Florida all the way up the state to Crystal River Florida. There are also many other animal rescues & breeder sites she has her name on in one way or another. This all sounds And Looks fishy to me!!! She may have stated out all for the animals but I think the OLD MIGHTY DOLLAR HAS BLURRED HER VISION!!!!

YOU CAN BELIEVE WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN OR NOT BUT I DO HAVE PICTURES AND/OR VIDEO TAPES TO PROVE WHAT I HAVE SAID IN THIS LETTER IS TRUE.  Plus not only do I have pictures of the syringes they left at the market I actually have one of the syringes and an open medication bottle they left at the end of the day.  The first time I found a syringe with some medication in it left out on the desk, I told one of the flea markets weekend day security officers and they removed it. Then when I saw it again the very next day I took a picture of it, got gloves and removed it myself and placed it in a plastic bag.  If you would talk to the venders around where the Human Society of Inverness sets up at Howards Flea Market you will hear some unbelievable stories from misusing donations to animal cruelty.  Much to my surprise I found out this weekend they do this same thing at other flea markets.  I was also told that they are just as bad if not worse at other flea markets and I really would like to see the state of their facility in Inverness.  If their other places are worse than at Howards Flea Market I do not know why the State or County has not stepped in. 

SOMEONE HAS TO CLOSE THIS SO CALLED RESCUE DOWN OR AT A BARE MINIMUM FORCE THEM TO DO THINGS THE RIGHT WAY BEFORE MANY MORE ANIMALS ARE HARMED.