Another Wicomico Humane Society Letter To The Editor

Dear Joe,

With all the high emotions surrounding the Wicomico County Humane Society, I thought you may find this story interesting. It’s a little long, but the facts are important and I think you’ll agree. I hope the people of the county do NOT give up on getting rid of the HS current administration and most importantly ask for an accounting of the amount of medication ordered and used to put animals to sleep and compare this to the number of animals they really put to sleep. It doesn’t take much to put an animal down and certainly the amount they have used may be predictably higher than the amount needed to kill the animals they claim to have put to sleep. What a coincidence?!

From what I’ve been told, Sandy Hudson is supposedly not an animal control officer however, she allegedly acts as one and isn’t very nice about it either. I also had believed that any “investigations” at the HS were confidential, but apparently, Sandy Hudson may be above the rules. A friend of mine has been in animal rescue for approximately 30 years, has a good reputation and many connections with other rescues and the focus of her life has always been to save animals. It has been brought to my attention, that apparently Sandy Hudson conspired to take down this friend of mine and Sandy may have possibly released false and misleading “confidential information” about my friend’s rescue over the telephone to a woman she didn’t know.

Turns out this woman caused a horrible backlash of phone calls and threats after spreading this confidential lie in a conspired attempt to put my friend out of the rescue world. That woman has emailed (“cross posting”) hundreds upon hundreds of people and repeated information that could have only been known to the HS. I know this to be true because I received emails with Sandy Hudson’s name in them as the giver of information and this woman who lived hundreds of miles away had never been to Maryland. Although, my friend has never mistreated animals, nor had any animals removed from her home and  never been found in violation of any laws concerning the care of animals, the Humane Society theoretically set the crazy vindictive people upon her and to this day, she tells me they continue to harass her.

On a few occasions, an unknown person in a red Jeep was found exiting their driveway and speeding away as my friend was just arriving home after running errands. I hope they discover who owns the red Jeep and prosecutes them for harming animals and threatening my friend’s family.

Once this woman who had admitted online through emails and on FaceBook she had spoken with Sandy Hudson, retaliation spread like wildfire as in the dark of night harm to my friend’s animals was carried out. Anti-freeze was poured in her horse’s water trough, dog kennel wires were cut repeatedly and animals were released in the dark of night. Death threats were received to this friend and in fear for her life and her children’s safety, she closed down her animal rescue for a year. Think of all the animals that were not rescued during this time and think of the living hell Sandy Hudson supposedly put into action! Someone needs to clean house here and take away these unethical people at HS!!!

You’ll find this most interesting, as reportedly only after two days of my friend reopening her rescue, she seems to have received a phone call from Sandy Hudson in which Sandy was using a screaming voice was saying things that sounded like threats to my friend. In response to this, my friend contacted Linda Lugo to inform her of the situation and was allegedly told Sandy Hudson had full power to do whatever she pleased. So much for the “Humane” in HS.

My friend is now seeking legal actions against the “In-Humane” Society of Wicomico County for this entire incident which continues. Her animals have no health problems, are always taken to the vet and vaccinated. Seems like this whole thing may be due to the wrong person in control and given the power over not only animal’s lives, but also the lives of people she just doesn’t favor much. Seems to me the HS is purely “rescue unfriendly” and if only they would partner up with those rescues around Delmarva, hundred of animals now put to sleep at the hands of HS and would find good homes. If becoming rescue friendly were to happen, I believe the abandoned dog in the news that was recently put to sleep by the HS after having around five rescues wanting to take him, treat his skin condition would have found his life was spared.

The dog in the news allegedly had mange, which is a treatable skin condition. How do I know this?!?!??! Because the dog I adopted from the HS ten years ago had a terrible case of mange when the HS gave her to me! Unfortunately, when I asked the HS worker why the dog I was adopting had hair falling out and looked so terrible, I was told it was nothing to worry about. My vet thought differently. I was told in two days or less, the HS was going to kill the mother of the puppy I was looking to adopt because she would be at the HS too long before anyone would come to possibly want her. When I heard this I was horrified, so instead, I adopted the mother and saved her from the hands of being killed by HS. Best dog I ever had!

The HS cries about budget cuts and I find this amazing because people will hear the HS says they can’t or won’t go out to help animals, something about only one hour a day is allowed for animal control issues. Are they serious?!?! With the amount of dog fighting running rampant and horrid atrocities concerning animals in this county, why do they choose to sit in their nicely air-conditioned building with the pretty pavilion and make no proactive effort to address people and animals in need, choosing only to decrease their numbers and expenses by “euthanasia”?

Someone needs to get involved and clean house until all the rats are exterminated, and I am not talking about rodents, don’t you think?

I. Richardson

Salisbury, MD