Helping or Hurting Animals?

With $67M, the MCSPCA can do much better for their staff and the animals in their care.

The MCSPCA doesn’t want you to know:

  • Despite having tens of millions of dollars, the MCSPCA resists changes to improve the safety and welfare of animals and employees.  There is no safety training or protocols for employees.

  • The MCSPCA Executive Director “retired” after an expose in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the shelter. He had been with the organization for more than 50 years and made $250K annually, yet he did nothing to manage the operational issues of the organization. His wife is still employed by the organization handling payroll. And his management team, Kennel Manager and Operations Manager are brother and sister.

  • The Interim Executive Director who was put in place has also been with the organization for more than 20+ years. Her daughter, conveniently, is a dog warden responsible for taking complaints regarding this organization.

  • The dog kennels are more than 40 years old and do not work properly, repeatedly causing injury to animals, staff and volunteers. Due to understaffing and kennel drains that do not function properly, dogs are left standing in their own urine and feces for hours.

  • The current MCSPCA Board President has been on the board of directors for more than 20 years. Has she really been completely unaware of the cruel treatment to animals and staff - or has she just been turning a blind eye?

  • They do not employ a single professional dog trainer or behavioral specialist, so large dogs, like German Shepherds, Rottweilers and Bully breeds are frequently euthanized without a proper health or behavioral assessment.

  • In July ‘24, the Conshohocken shelter was cited by OSHA for black mold in the “feline isolation room,” a room where the shelter keeps sick cats and kittens with health issues, like upper respiratory infections. Staff claim that they have been informing management of the presence of black mold since 2017.

  • The MCSPCA does not have a dog foster program because they consider it to be “an insurance liability.” Other local rescue organizations have deemed the MCSPCA to be a “concentration camp for dogs.”

MCSPCA Animal Failure Stories

  • Chase

    Chase was a puppy estimated to be under a year old.  He was running loose in a neighborhood for two days before someone was able to catch him. All the residents that participated in the “chase” fell in love with him.  He played with other dogs in the neighborhood until he was taken to the MCSCPA Abington location on June 26, 2024. One of the neighbors visited Chase almost every day during his stay while she worked on finding a rescue that would put him in a foster home, until she showed up on July 12, 2024 and was told that Chase was euthanized for “aggressive behavior."  The neighbor had never seen this behavior, nor had the shelter staff previously indicated anything about this type of behavior.  She believed that the puppy was euthanized because Abington's Assistant Manager was tired of her coming in every day.

  • Maxey

    Maxey was a 2 year old black poodle mix that was surrendered to the MCSPCA Conshohocken location on Friday, July 12, 2024. He was covered in thick mats and his own feces - you could not even see his eyes. He was immediately placed in a kennel surrounded by other dogs in a loud and stressful environment.  Staff were instructed to take photos of Maxey’s “before” condition.  The veterinarian that was present did a medical assessment on Maxey that same day assessing only that the body parts that were visible as most of his body was covered in thick matted fur.  Maxey was left in his kennel all weekend and did not receive a medical shave until that Monday, July 15, 2024.  Why didn’t MCSPCA have the vet immediately do Maxey’s medical shave or take him to another facility that could perform the procedure?  Why did they make him sit in a kennel for almost 72 hours covered in mats and his own feces?

  • Ice

    Ice was a Staffordshire Terrier that was abandoned by his owner and ended up at the MCSPCA Conshohocken location on September 6, 2023. He was estimated to be around 2 years old and he was easily walked and handled by volunteers.  Ice did have interested adopters and he was neutered at the shelter on November 15, 2023.  With no explanation, Ice was euthanized by the Kennel Manager on November 30, 2023.  

  • Max

    Max was a 4 year old Staffordshire Terrier that was surrendered to the Conshohocken shelter in late June 2024 because his owners had a baby and they stated that he had skin allergies.  Upon initial assessment, the shelter Medical Director recommended euthanasia because he feels that "dogs with skin allergies are not adoptable".  Shelter staff recognized what a great dog Max was and were able to advocate for him to live.  The other shelter veterinarian treated Max with an injection that helped clear up his skin issue. On August 12, 2024 the shelter was running out of kennel space for dogs, so they started looking at potential dogs to euthanize for space.  Max was selected because he had lost a significant amount of weight since he first arrived at the shelter.  Max was always an extremely well-behaved dog and shelter management intended to have him euthanized because he was stressed and has lost weight.  Again, employees rallied for Max and one staff member offered to foster him through another dog rescue group.  Max escaped death twice at the Montgomery County SPCA.

  • Storm

    Storm was a senior Staffordshire Terrier that came to the Conshohocken location as a stray on May 15, 2024. She was very friendly, but she had something that appeared to be a fungal infection on her feet. All four paws had no fur and the skin was black. The shelter Medical Director recommended euthanasia because “dogs with skin allergies are not adoptable." Storm sat in her kennel for two weeks and was not allowed to be walked by volunteers.  Staff and volunteers advocated for Storm and found a senior hospice rescue that would take her. The rescue that took her had her evaluated and found that she had two torn ACLs and various other ailments. The shelter Medical Director never fully assessed Storm because he figured she’d just be euthanized, and she was at MCSPCA for a full month experiencing pain that was never treated.

  • Scooby

    Scooby was a 2 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix that was a staff and volunteer favorite.  Scooby would act wild in his kennel, but he was easily handled by volunteers and did very well in multiple dog meets.   The shelter Medical Director hated Scooby and obsessed about euthanizing him.  He stated that his wild kennel behavior meant that he was an aggressive dog, even though the Medical Director never (not even once) assessed or interacted with Scooby outside of his kennel.  The Medical Director would stand and stare at Scooby for long periods of time taunting him and getting him to react.  Finally, Scooby was adopted!  The adopter was presented with an addendum that she had to sign stating that Scooby was an aggressive dog and that she was accepting the risk - all because of the Medical Director’s false accusations.  Scooby is now thriving in his new home with a 14 year old doggy brother.

  • Chloe

    Chloe was a 4 year old Staffordshire Terrier that was surrendered to the shelter on May 20, 2024 because her family was moving. They said that she was good with other dogs and kids. Chloe was terrified at the shelter after living in a home for four years, so she cowered in the back of her kennel.  The shelter Medical Director decided to euthanize Chloe on May 22, 2024 for having skin allergies and being a “vicious dog." Other staff and volunteers reported that they did not witness any aggressive behavior from Chloe.  Chloe was killed after being at the shelter less than 48 hours and she wasn’t even given time to adjust to her new environment.

  • Steel

    Steel was a 10-month Husky that the Conshohocken Kennel Manager / Adoption Counselor adopted to a woman in her 70s. Within a week the woman returned the dog because he was too energetic for her. The Kennel Manager / Adoption Counselor claimed that the dog bit the woman and she marked Steel for euthanasia. She tried to cover up her poor adoption decision by euthanizing the dog. Thankfully, volunteers advocated for Steel to live, and he went to a foster home with a local rescue organization.

  • Sammy

    Sammy was a senior dog that was brought to the Conshohocken location after his elderly owner passed.  He was a matted mess and could barely move.  He came in on a Friday afternoon and was not seen by a vet until Monday.  Sammy did require a medical shave before being placed up for adoption.  Staff observed that Sammy was not doing well in his cage and asked multiple times for him to be humanely euthanized because he hadn’t eaten in almost two weeks.  Sammy was dying and management let him suffer for two weeks because a member of the MCSPCA board of directors knew someone that was “possibly” interested in adopting Sammy.

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This is just cruel.

  • "I witnessed the kennel manager administer euthanasia drugs to 3 cats in a shared enclosure. The cats were all sitting up high on mounted perches. She gave the first injection to each cat and let their bodies fall to the ground while they were still alive. I felt disgusted by this act of cruelty.”

    "Employee A"

  • "When we run low on wet cat food for kittens, management tells us to feed the cats half of what we normally give them. When we run out, they will not purchase food and tell us to wait for donations. Recently, we ran out of wet food and had to wait for donations. At the same time management bought a new table and chairs for the board of directors to use for meetings. We were told by the person that ordered the furniture that it cost over $10,000."

    "Employee B"

  • "A terrified female dog that had recently given birth was dropped off at the shelter. The Kennel Manager struggled to get the dog to come in from the outside section of her kennel. The dog was too scared to move, so the Kennel Manager swatted the dog on the butt with a broom. This made the dog jump and she continued to shove and swat at the dog with the broom until she came inside. It took the dog over a week to let another person get close enough to touch her."

    Employee C