I resigned as the acting President of The Association of Sanctuaries

today and wrote the following letter. What is funny is that I let Howie edit it and sent his version which is below mine.

Dear Board, I have always held TAOS in the highest esteem and even though I did not wish to serve on the board or be an officer I agreed when Barbara had been abandoned by the rest of the board and had the weight of the conference on her shoulders. I stepped in to help and learned a lot about why the membership does not support TAOS events or TAOS initiatives.

As a member, I saw TAOS as a service provider and was happy to serve the rest of the membership by contributing in ways that I felt would enable all of us to share and have better sanctuaries. In speaking with the membership these past several days I am impressed with what a wonderful group of people we have who are doing good work and who all voice the same desire: That we focus on what we have in common and build on that. I share that sentiment.

Those of us on the board have had several conversations about why the membership is not supportive, why there is so much back biting and why the members don’t support the conference or dues increases or any of the financial needs of TAOS. We could have asked each other that question for ever and never gotten an answer, but when we ask the membership they are answering in unison: The leadership of TAOS is not their choosing and they feel that they don’t get any benefit from submitting themselves to a governing body that is unrecognized for all practical purposes.

We promote TAOS as setting members apart from pseudo sanctuaries but it doesn’t because TAOS is still virtually unknown. AZA is so much bigger and stronger than TAOS and it faces the same lack of recognition in the general public that causes zoos to wonder why they would submit themselves to all of the politics and onerous paperwork to be a part of something that does not help them. Any of us who write grants to support our work know that including the fact we are accredited by TAOS doesn’t have any bearing on our ability to secure the funding.

The only reason I have tried to keep TAOS afloat is because of its participation in the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, but TAOS cannot afford to even pay its dues there and given the current draft of the standards it is unlikely that they will ever be adopted widely. I have submitted a considerable body of work only to have it come back to me with revisions that make it impossible for all but 4 or 5 sanctuaries to meet them. Those sanctuaries can only meet the standards suggested because they are not governed by USDA. I believe in the concept of standard sanctuary standards but if those standards would require funding that most major zoos couldn’t afford then the only purpose of them will be to eliminate sanctuaries; the good and the bad. There isn’t a zoo or game farm in the country that meets these high standards, but these standards won’t apply to them. They only apply to those of us who are left to deal with their carnage.

TAOS appears to have lost its founding mothers and has had a recent history of high turnover in its leadership. To dismiss our Executive Director with no viable plan or person to replace her just smacks of incompetence. The timing and lack of preparedness for the transfer of documents, credit cards, email accounts and such just further illustrates the emotional imbalance of the remaining board members. TAOS’ only national acclaim to fame is that it accredits sanctuaries who are not inspected by state or federal agencies and some of those are under fire with allegations of breeding, escapes and substandard conditions. At a very minimum TAOS should require USDA licensure so that we don’t have to take that sort of heat.

There is a huge disparity between what the membership thinks TAOS should be and what the board of TAOS believes it is. I am told by the board that the membership does not have any say in the leadership or direction of TAOS because it is an accrediting body. I am told that this is standard for accrediting bodies, but that is not the case for AZA and their 6000 members. The TAOS board has reiterated that board members should not have to be working members, but rather are in place to set policy and standards. In 12 years TAOS hasn’t managed to get its standards in writing and its policies are unclear and not enforced.

TAOS does not have a plan for sustainability. The grant money ran out and membership dues and current supporter’s donations are not enough to even cover the cost of accreditation visits. I had hoped that with my business background, Barbara Yule’s great rapport with the membership and Lynda Sugasa’s husbandry training and energy we could turn TAOS around and build an organization that would be self sustaining. By building the trust and support of our member base we could better promote TAOS’ high standards and encourage other sanctuaries to want to participate by improving their facilities.

Because this is not what the current board envisions I have become a voice of one. I do not serve your purpose if I am at odds with virtually every decision the board makes. I will not be held responsible for your decisions by being perceived as in agreement by my participation on the board or as an officer. I was particularly incensed that you would tell Barbara that it was a unanimous decision of the board to ask her to resign, when everyone on the board knew I did not support the decision, whether I was at that meeting or not. I do not wish to continue taking the flack for the actions of the group when I feel that these actions will destroy TAOS.

Please accept and post my resignation statement below to the membership immediately so that I don’t have to go to each person individually and do so. I will not allow you to mistreat me in the same way that you have the past President by not being straightforward with the members.

“I believe in the necessity of an accrediting body such as The Association of Sanctuaries and the high ideals and standards that are encouraged by participation. I agreed to serve on the board and as Vice President during a time when there was only one other participating board member and officer in an effort to help Barbara Yule bring the annual conference to the membership. That event was not widely supported by the membership nor by the leaders of TAOS. In the months since then I have tried to determine what it would take for the members to be more supportive of their association. I feel that I am unable to meet the needs of the membership by my participation as an officer or member of the board of TAOS. The board’s decisions do not reflect my own and I do not wish my beliefs to be misperceived by association. For that reason I am resigning from the board and as the Vice President/ acting President. I do not believe it is helpful to the movement to keep splitting and dividing into more and more accrediting bodies and will not be soliciting the start up of yet another group. My hope is that the members, including Big Cat Rescue, will become more active in supporting TAOS. By working together and focusing on what we do have in common we can make TAOS something we can all be proud of.”

Howie wrote to me:

I should not be insisting that I write your resignation. Part of my seemingly uncontrollable impulse to "fix" everything. I so want you to be happy and to help in every way I can. If you want to write it up to you. I'm happy to just review and it would not take long to do that. Sometimes a few words that change tone can change impact. It is tough because you feel strongly about that what is happening is wrong, but do not want to hurt TAOS and lower its chances of survival. I don't remember when you started, but one "public" tact might be that you joined when Barb was desperate for help and no one was available, feel you have done what you could, but now that Board has been expanded need to return to neglected duties here. Anyway, gotta run. Back mid morning and happy to talk if you like, up to you. - Howard Baskin

Howie’s vanilla version:

Dear TAOS Board Members, I have decided to resign from the Board effective today. My reasons are in the statement below, which I wrote with the intent that it be published to the membership. I would appreciate your doing that by tomorrow so that I do not have to do it individually. As you know, one of the things I have urged to no avail recently is that we communicate immediately and effectively with the members. If the Board does not publish the statement, I will send it separately so that my resignation does not become another piece of information that is not promptly communicated.

I think you will see my reasoning in the statement, which I have tried to frame in a way that is as supportive of TAOS as I can. And as noted below, I would like to make sure you each know that I respect each of you and the work you do very much despite not agreeing with recent Board decisions, and that if permitted I will continue to be an active supporter of TAOS. I sincerely believe TAOS can fill a much needed role that can enormously help our cause, and I hope you are able to work through the current situation and that it will grow and prosper. I think the alternative of TAOS failing would be a very sad, sad shame. Respectfully submitted July 14, 2004 - Carole

STATEMENT FOR RELEASE:

To TAOS Members from Carole Lewis

I believe in the necessity of an accrediting body such as The Association of Sanctuaries and the high ideals and standards that are encouraged by participation. However, it has never been my desire to serve on the Board. I had declined a number of times. I agreed to serve on the board and as Vice President last year at the request of Barbara Yule, during a time when there was only one other participating board member and officer, in an effort to help Barbara bring the annual conference to the membership. My own opinion and the feedback I have received from other attendees is that while it is always difficult for any of us to get away and most of us are on tight budgets, the conference program was extremely useful was very well worth the time and expense to those who attended. Unfortunately the event, which is intended to be a primary source of funds to support TAOS’ operations, was not well supported by the membership, including those who had leading roles in the past. I think this is a shame and would like to urge everyone to attend in the future.

Since the conference I have tried to continue to contribute as a Board member. In the last few months the Board has made a number of decisions with which I do not agree. This has two implications. First, I find myself unable to make a meaningful contribution as the sole dissenter, and if I am not able to make a contribution there is little purpose to my serving. Second, while I respect the right of others to have different opinions than my own, and I particularly have personal respect for the individuals on the Board and the wonderful work each of them does, with the Board’s decisions not reflecting my own beliefs, I do not wish my beliefs to be misperceived by the members. For that reason, I am resigning from the Board effective today.

I would like to make very clear that I believe very strongly in TAOS. By way of analogy, any of us can disagree with whatever laws our current Congress passes, but I think we all support our country and our democracy. Similarly, while I am disappointed with certain decisions, I believe strongly in TAOS. I believe that sanctuaries can accomplish far more if they work together than if we each just do our own thing. I believe that by attending our annual conference we can learn from each other, learn from outside experts, build supportive relationships that can be of great comfort as we do our difficult and stressful work, and give suggestions and feedback that can help TAOS continually improve in fulfilling its mission. I believe that while we have many different viewpoints on many things, the most important aspects of our work we have in common and we should focus on that and be tolerant of our differences.

I intend to continue to be an active supporter of TAOS and very much urge each member to do so. I have particularly enjoyed talking with quite a few members in recent days and enjoyed hearing their thoughts. I would like to urge every member to help support TAOS and, for the good of the animals we all seek to save, help TAOS continue to evolve and be the best organization it can be.

I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story. The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story. My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.

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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.