I was a volunteer at Pasado’s Safe Haven for almost 2 years before I was banned for expressing my disapproval of euthanizing a dog that I believed was neglected by caretakers. I had offered to adopt him, yet they decided to euthanize him instead. From the beginning of my volunteering, I watched as the farm wet downhill. In my opinion, the animals were not being cared for properly. Pasado’s owns several large land parcels that were not being used for animals. Instead they threw animals onto small areas of land that were insufficient to meet their needs. They used to let the goats and llamas down to a large area of land everyday to get exercise and stimulate them. They moved their cows from their large roaming land to this area, which took it away from the goats. The goats were going stir-crazy not being able to graze and wander and were crowded into a small area with 4 other llamas. The cows that were moved to this area were starting to suffer. No one would trim their hooves, and in fact, they sent a certified letter to a former employee who was the only one able to do this task, telling her that if she stepped foot on the property again, the sheriffs would be called. The cows were and still are standing in at least 6 inches of mud. A couple of volunteers (now banned from the farm too) and I offered to host a work party to fix their living conditions. I was told that it had to go through management first and that management might decide for us to do something else. We were not allowed to request where we would like to work. After months of offering our help, I was told that the cows’ area would be done by Pasado’s Safe Haven. In acquired about the status last fall and was told by a caretaker that it was never done and that the cows were still living in squalor conditions. I again offered my help to gather a work party and I later received an email requesting me to pay between $5000-15,000 dollars to have this done. This is ludicrous considering that Pasado’s has a net worth of over 5 million dollars. It is also inappropriate to request this kind of money from a volunteer when in fact, Pasado’s should be paying to make sure that their animals are taken care of. The work has still yet to be completed. In the fall, the dog conditions were alarming. Dogs were locked in small cyclone fence kennels for months at a time, with no shelter from the cold, rainy, wet, sometimes snowy elements. The dog yards and houses are meant for packs of dogs, yet there were many yards that housed only one dog while others lived in horrific conditions. While these yards were almost empty, dogs who could have been rescued, were left to die in the shelters. One of the dog yards and house, contains cats owned by a volunteer. It houses no dogs. Why one might ask themselves, isn’t this area being used for rescuing more animals. I recently had the chance to view pasado’s 2010 990 form. I was utterly shocked. How can the living conditions and lack of rescuing more animals be null while the salaries of the executives were nearly doubled from around 600 thousand to 1.2 million in one year!!! I could go on and on about what has happened in my short time volunteering at Pasado’s. I implore you, as a donor, a volunteer, or just an animal lover to take a long, hard look at the present Pasado’s Safe Haven. A once stellar organization is collapsing I am afraid. I am afraid for all the animals that are involved and am afraid that one day, if management keeps running things the way they currently are, that Pasado’s Safe Haven will be no longer.
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