LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 3-22-2012

Failure to thrive
Editor: Until now, I have made no public comment regarding the controversy surrounding the Healdsburg Animal Shelter. However, with the departure of the CEO, the re-organization of the Board of Directors, the disturbing loss of a well qualified animal control officer, and an increasing decline in donors, volunteers, and the basic foundation of trust, I feel it is time to step up and offer some potential solutions.
Amidst all of the controversy over the HAS, Cash, the dog who brought much of the public attention to bear on the situation, is happy and thriving in his new environment. The same is true for four, additional rescues that King’s Kastle took on from the HAS, all of whom had been slated for euthanasia. Brownie, Jakey, Bubba, and Jayda, were once “dead dogs walking” at the HAS, as they had been deemed “unadoptable.” I am happy to report that now they too are well adjusted and ready for adoption.
Why did they fail to thrive at the HAS, when they have done so well at King’s Kastle?
Despite all of the best intentions and the sincerest desire to be of help, few of us have learned what it means to think like a dog. And because of this, the traditional methods of animal care and control have only served to increase the number of animals, like, Cash and his cohorts, who are put down at traditional shelters, like the HAS, each year.
The communal housing method is a much better alternative. It is more reliable, more affordable, and it is patterned upon the natural state of being for dogs. The success of King’s Kastle is a decade of proof that Mother Nature knows best when it comes to meeting the psychological and social needs of dogs. Organizations, such as Shelter Revolution and The Green Dog Rescue Project, (in conjunction with King’s Kastle), have taken their cue from Mother Nature and have adopted communal shelter models.
When I read and hear about the HAS’s unfinished building and all of the haranguing over changes needed in its design, it saddens me that no one involved in the decision making process seems to be considering a design from the animals’ perspective or in response to their actual needs. Unless that happens, all of the discord and frustrations currently eating up so much energy at the HAS regarding its building, etc., will have been in vain.
Past and future directors, staff and volunteers can only do so much within the boundaries of the outdated and broken system, which is the traditional shelter approach currently employed at the HAS. Given my experience with and faith in the generous and compassionate members of the Healdsburg community, who have been my clients over the years, I am compelled to invite you to visit us at King’s Kastle to see the difference that communal housing makes, before deciding how to spend any more time or money on redesigning your building and selecting your shelter’s new Board and Executive Director.
Colleen Combs
King’s Kastle


An outstanding person
Editor: I’d like to share a couple of thoughts I’ve had since I read my hometown paper last Thursday.
I’m not a very religious person, but I know that somewhere on Sunday March 11 a little bell started ringing and our small piece of the world just got a bit smaller than before.
I was so incredibly sad upon reading my paper on Thursday that I had to put it down after reading about Jeanne and couldn’t pick it back up till today, Sunday.
Whenever I think about the paper, in my minds eye, I see the different offices I had the pleasure working in (Sebastopol and Healdsburg) and I would see a deadline coming up, people going like mad, phones ringing off the hook, Reporters writing, Ad Reps working the phones and running in and out with proofs for Ruby, Gail or Jim, and in Jeanne’s area she would be setting there with a calm command and acceptance of the madness swirling around her, going about whatever task needed doing at that time. She would look up and with a little grin ask Cherie or me or any number of us for some bit of information she might need, and we’d get it for her right then because she was Jeanne and she wouldn’t ask for it if it wasn’t absolutely needed, and well, because it was Jeanne!
Jeanne was such a force at Sonoma West. God forbid if something or someone got between her and the successful operation of the paper or the completion of the task she happened to be working on at any given time. She was a Momma Bear with always a project that she was working on and never a down time. She was also without a doubt one of the most loyal persons I have known. I was only at Sonoma West a few years but in the short time I was there I came to love and respect Jeanne. If I ever needed anything, info, whatever, I’d just turn around and ask Jeanne and if she didn’t have it, know it or know where to find it then she would tell me not to waste my time on it and get back to what I was doing. She was truly Sonoma Wests go to person for us all.
After I left the paper, once in a while, not to often, I’d call the paper on something of no consequence but of importance to me, and I knew that when I called I’d be talking to Jeanne and I’d get an answer to my questions and at the same time be able to catch up on what was happening with the paper. Somehow that was always a great comfort to me. Not the knowing of what was going on or the answers to my questions, though that was important to, but the knowing that with Jeanne there, there was a controlling force keeping the chaos that is a newspaper under control and that there would always be someone there who would know what in the heck was going on and I knew Jeanne would always take the time and answer my stupid little questions, questions of no importance at all, except to me. Thank you Jeanne, thank you very much.
Anyway, just a couple of thoughts on one of the outstanding individuals that has had an extraordinary impact in my life and that I’ll always remember.
Thank you for your time and allowing me to share some of the things that have been running through my mind since I read my hometown paper Thursday. My best wishes and condolences to us all.
Michael Coughtry
Healdsburg