HELP GET CHARLENE PEDROLIE OUT OF THE NYCACC AS ANIMALS NEEDLESSLY DIE.

After a 9 months search to hire a new executive director, the Department of Health hired Ms. Charlene Pedrolie, a nationally-recognized business consultant with NOT a shred of sheltering or animal medical experience.

Within weeks, 3 veterinarians and several vet techs resigned because of her misguided change of protocols. To add fuel to the soon to be raging fire, Ms. Pedrolie fired a vet tech. Last week I was told by an insider that many of this medical team who resigned were bribed into returning with offers of large pay raises at a huge cost to this already grotesquely under funded system that euthanized 20397 dogs and cats in 2006. Since Ms. Pedrolie's arrival more than 13 people have resigned and many are looking for new jobs.

An enormous turnover of staff. The core of what was a decent organization.

The resignations came from:

Liz Keller Director of Operations
Dr. Cruse, DVM
Dr. Demmerli, DVM
Dr. Opperman, DVM
Dennis Owen Behavior
Katie Dawson New Hope Coordinator
Peg Guilotta
Christine Torezz
Maria Onorato
Jenny Temba
Charney Fayer
Lisa Boden
Mark Halvorsen

This massive kill shelter system with a yearly intake of more than 44,000 animals is now under the control of a woman who's egregious errors in judgment have thrown the system into chaos. ie. Euthanasia which was normally done in the morning, was now directed by the corporate-saving business woman to be done at night with skeleton crews on hand. Fortunately, this was reversed. In another cost saving measure the administration of antibiotics to prevent upper respiratory infections was discontinued. Ms. Pedrolie was warned by the Cornell Institute that this program's demise would be very bad for the animals but she ignored them. And now the animals are sicker then ever. Which puts them on the euthanasia list. Of course their numbers don't show up as euthanasia because the shelter "rarely" puts down adoptable animals. Sick animals are not considered adoptable.

But this was not enough damage for Ms. Pedrolie and the Department of Health.

A few weeks after she arrived, 7 major NYC rescuers and groups were banned from pulling animals from the shelter as partners of the New Hope Program. The animals these hard working people pull are the larger or older dogs, many Pit Bulls, Pit mixes and shepherds, the animals at the most at risk of euthanasia.

My name is Laurie Bleier and I am the director of the Brooklyn Animal Foster Network. My group is one of those now banned. In two years we removed more than 1,000 animals from NYCACC as New Hope Partners and through our Care-A-Van adoption events with State Senator Erik Addams.

Every weekend Spring Summer and Fall you could see us on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope with 15 or more animals we just picked up from the shelter on Linden Blvd. My group would stay until every one of those homeless dogs, cats, puppies or kittens found safe homes. It was extremely rare that anyone went back to the shelter. And if one did we put a hold on the animal and pulled him/her a day or two later.

Ms. Pedrolie told me that my group was banned because one of my dogs in foster care was found to be emaciated. After a thorough investigation by the ASPCA%u2019s Humane Law Enforcement those charges were found to be baseless and the case was dropped. You can call Joe Pentangelo at (212) 876-7700, ext. 4450 for confirmation of this.

Just as a reporter for a major ny newspaper now working on this story did.


Now 9 weeks after our exoneration we still cannot pull from the shelters. She refuses to give us back our New Hope status. http://nycacc.org/newhope.htm We have 33 new applications to foster and we have no animals to deliver to them. MANY MANY dogs and cats are needlessly being put down because 7 rescuers are being unjustly prevented from doing what they have been doing for years. And doing it quite successfully.

Where is the due process in my case? No response to letters written to the board members.

Lastly, in the last two years my company, Brainstorm LLC redesigned the nycacc.org website pro bono. The website which could not be found on google searches a year ago now gets more than 4 million hits a month. Brainstorm produced countless fliers, e-blasts and posters for NYCACC. All pro bono. I tell the Board of Health, the board members of nycacc and Charlene Pedrolie -- if this is how you treat your allies I shudder to think how you treat your enemies.

The famous journalist H. L. Mencken once wrote that the job of any good journalist is to "afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted." That being said this letter and the postings I see at Craigslist today are going out to every media outlet in the boroughs.

I ask you good people of NYC, what happened to the NO-KILL MANDATE of NYC?
PLEASE call Charlene Pedrolie on her direct line and demand the rescuers and groups who have been suspended from the New Hope Program be reinstated.

Here is her direct number 212 442-2059.

Laurie Bleier
Director

http://brooklynanimalfosternetwork.org/
718 789-6865
718 789-1465 Fax


Sheltered Animals Aren't Criminals
Please visit http://www.victimsofcircumstance.org/


ADDENDUM: Dr. Lordz resigned in early June.


FROM A PAST EMPLOYEE AT ROWE MANUFACTURING:



Conversation: FYI: Charlene Pedrolie
Subject: FYI: Charlene Pedrolie
 
The only thing I left out of my original diatribe regarding Ms. Pedrolie was how severely callous she was to the needs of her employees and how mean spirited she was to the factory employees.  All her meetings were behind closed doors with no witnesses to what would transpire behind those doors.  The collective interviews of employees who had such meetings with her all told the same stories of rude "God complex" behavior, threats to their continued employment if they failed to "buy in" to her plans and assurances that they would "tow the line" or else and that they would not "publicly" discuss ANY perceived thoughts or concerns about why her plans were not feasible.
 
She instilled such a hatred and such low morale amongst employees that they sabotaged product quality hoping that Pedrolie would ultimately be held responsible for tripling of customer service costs to correct quality issues with the consumer.  One angry employee returned to the factory after hours and doused the central corridor of the business offices with gasoline and set the factory ablaze.  The company's CFO was working late and would have died in that fire had the sprinkler system not extinguished the blaze along with the help of the fire department.  Needless to say computer systems for accounts payable, accounts receivable, and new order processing were ruined.  The factory was completely shut down for almost two weeks and the business interruption expenses were astronomical.  The unusual and severe events ceased the moment Charlene Pedrolie left the company.
 
I assume she is now working with the City of New York because her "consulting" business was not a raging success as a self-employed venture for Ms. Pedrolie. 

In my previous email to you I told you about %u201Cblack Friday%u201D when Ms. Pedrolie fired every senior manager of every department in the factory.  This included the head of distribution and transportation, the plant manager, the manager of the frame building factory, the head of customer service, and all department heads throughout the manufacturing complex such as manager of sewing, manager of supply in process, manager of upholstery assembly, manager of quality inspection, manager of wood finishing.  She attempted to put new people in jobs that required a varied amount of skill sets, most important of which was people skills.  The most difficult aspect of managing %u201Cblue collar%u201D labor in a tight labor market is keeping the worker motivated and satisfied to continue working at my factory instead of any one of the many other industries in our area.  She failed to recognize the importance of our people on every level.

FROM A CONCERNED SHELTER EMPLOYEE

From:
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:28:57 -0500
To: Laurie Bleier <lbleier@nyc.rr.com>
Subject: RE: PLEASE READ:  IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO ADOPT A DOG, I CAN HELP!!!

HI Laurie, thanks for your email!
 
I just wanted to say hello as I know BAFN quite well.  I know that your group pulls death row dogs constantly from the Brooklyn ACC.
 
The rescue suspensions in Manhattan are out of control (there are virtually NO groups pulling pits at this time) and as you probably know the euth lists just keep growing daily.  The last I heard from {Name Removed} your group was going through some difficulties as well.  You would think that the ACC would make better efforts to build stronger relationships with the rescue groups but it appears to be the opposite in effect.  It's very very unfortunate.
 
I wish you all the best and thank you for the amazing work that you do!!
 
Warmest regards,
 
{Name removed for privacy}