Martha Boden has resigned!

If I could do a cartwheel, I would be doing them all over the living room! This is stunning news.

OMG!!! I was just saying earlier maybe a fairy godmother would get me a job like hers!! WOW!! I'd better check my lottery ticket!

Okay color me dumb. But who is she? I don't live in the city. So I am clueless on her.

Rachel

She is/was the CEO of the Humane Society of Indianapolis. Underworked and overpaid.

Okay, I'm going to say what my students would say to something like this, "SHUT up." Except I have no exclamation point. LOL

Oh, Nancy, I was really expecting more of "No She Di-int!" from you. **shaking head**

Yippee! I'm sure the animals will also be turning cartwheels. Maybe there's my new job:-) This is fantastic news for everyone involved with animals in the city. Good riddance!

I wish they would hire you!! You would have so many volunteers from IndyPaws it wouldn't be funny!

Ahem, if you will check my response to your "Vent" post, I must have had ESP. You have my vote!

Great News! I'd gladly support any IP member that went in there!

She was making $105K a year?!?!

No organization that begs for monetary donations and volunteers should be paying that!

AMEN! I quit donating when I read that a year or so ago. Now, maybe they will turn around and be an organization I can support. We'll see.

They'd have to rename it if we took over...! How cool would that be?!

I'm still super happy over this. Funny how it was in the Indystar but not on HSI's website. I like to think that some of the scrutiny and pressure that HSI felt from the community and specifically from some of us, contributed to this change in leadership. I"m so happy I'm doing the hamster dance in honor of her:-)Bye bye Martha. Go back to your hammies.

You know, if someone on here was interested, start pounding the pavement now! Talk to Steve Talley, Scott Newman, get your vet to call in, talk to the board, etc... I'm sure there could be no more rewarding job. It may take work to get in there, but I bet it could be done.

Me again. I want to nominate Warren Patitz for her position. How awesome would that be!!!! For those of you who haven't had the privilege to meet him, here is one of his sites www.movetoact.org He also had www.doggoneconnection.com He is one of the calmest people I know. I always admire how he can say something that is negative but make it sound so innocent. I truly wish I could be more like him but I'm all emotions-all the time. Anyway, he would be an awesome choice for the job. I think I'm going to email him right now and suggest it. I'm sure he would downplay it but he would be the perfect person to lead that organization. He is a true friend to the animals and a humane person as well. Warren for President(or whatever they're going to call it)!!!!

I thought the same thing, but I still think you would be good at it too!! I would LOVE to see Warren get the position. If he gets that job, most of my time and donations will go directly to HSI. I could really commit if he were running the place. I trust him. I think Indy could really go No-Kill with Warren in charge. How can we get him in there??!! (I guess we should find out if he wants the position first, huh?) :)

Yahoo!!! That's grrreat news!!!

Oh, Connie, you beat me to the story! Just got it via IBJ:
Humane Society CEO steps down
Six years after taking the helm of the struggling Humane Society of Indianapolis, CEO Martha Boden has left the not-for-profit as the agency's board looks to transform it into a "smaller, leaner organization," Chairman David Horth said in a statement. "It became obvious to the HSI board, and to Martha, that it no longer made sense for any individual to lead the organization at the CEO level," he said. Instead, the board realigned its administrative and operations staff and is recruiting an executive director.

I have a couple people in mind for that position, too...hee hee!!

Ok your all happy she is leaving, So now Isn't it time for all of you who said you could do a better job and for less, to start applying. Here's your chance at making the changes happen. Don't let it be just talk and rantings.

I have this insane urge to sing that song from the Wizard of Oz, "ding dong the witch is dead..."

This is great news. Let's see if the new CEO can get some of these whacked-out policies turned around.

Y'know, reading some of these postings is like reading notes from junior high schoolers. So you don't think Martha did a good job. Fine. You have a right to that opinion. But for ADULTS who are supposed to be caring, loving individuals to say "ding dong the witch is dead" is in exceptionally poor taste and extremely immature. It's juvenile, mean, and spiteful comments like this one and a few others regarding this particular posting that cause county, city, and state officials to NOT take animal welfare supporters seriously. Here's a suggestion. Now that the person you despised so much (and I'm sure most of you posting here have never met her, don't know her, and probably haven't set foot in HSI in years . . . if ever) is gone, take all that useless and petty negative energy, move away from your computer, and go volunteer to make things better for the animals. Here's your chance. How many will step up to the plate, stop complaining, and pitch in?

I understand where you are coming from, but I think these are the wrong people to direct that towards. Connie has to be the most dedicated person I've ever met. She's done so much in the last six months, like taking in four fosters, attending IACC board meetings (that even Boden herself rarely attended), going to almost every puppy mill protest, and traveling down south to help the flooded shelters. Amy takes in strays left and right, out of the goodness of her heart. Stacy adopted Minnie from HSI just last year. Monica rescues more Dachshunds than I thought possible. Dreya fosters for a rescue, as well. I volunteered at HSI all last summer, and witnessed firsthand the corruption there. We are a well-intentioned bunch who are just optimistic that change is now possible. No doubt many of these faces will work their tails off initiating that change.

Certainly not everyone here has spewed out hateful comments, and a few actually do good work. But it's these uncalled for and inappropriate comments that really serve no purpose except to be hateful and make animal care and welfare supporters/workers look like emotional morons. It's hard enough to get city officials to sit up and listen when we behave in a professional manner, let alone like children. Despite how you feel about Martha personally or professionally, we're talking about a human being here who is someone's daughter, aunt, niece, friend. And remember . . . even tho Martha is gone, the same board remains. If I remember correctly, many here were carping about the members of that board not more than a month ago.

Susan, if your so highbrow then why haven't you let this go yet? By ragging on this issue again your coming off as a hypocrite. It's well past time for major changes at HSI. This is a time to put even more pressure on the existing board to stop wasting time and money. To make decisions on the issues at hand even though some members aren't present.

I understand where you're coming from. I normally don't think of IndyPaws as being a place where we need to be professional, but I guess some of the officials/higher ups do read these forums. A good number of us have been on so long, we're used to socializing and being silly with one another. I don't mean anything personal against Martha as a human being. You're right. I don't know her personally. I don't believe a non-profit that is running at a deficit should employ a CEO making 6-figures. That was my main issue. My fairy godmother comment was referring to a post I made earlier being silly with Dachsoholic when she was having a bad day. I'm sorry if it is childish.

It was mentioned that animal care supporters looked like emotional morons. Maybe it takes some emotional morons to make sure the animals get the care they deserve. My husband told me that WE don't OWN these dogs. God does, and he has entrusted us for taking care of them. I read the Indy Star today and it said that alot of animal care supporters were against her. It also stated how many jobs she eliminated. How could someone stay guilt free in a $l00,000.000 a year job after eliminating so many other people's incomes? It will take a true animal lover, [emotional moron, as it was called } to run the place for the priority of the best interest of the animals. When you kiss your pets goodnight before you go to bed tonight, think about all the pets in shelters and the care they need. Cutting help might not be the best moral decision. Signed.....emotional moron

I am owned by six dogs, ten "regular" cats, two house ferals, and a varying number of foster cats . . . and sometimes dogs. And then there are the raccoons, too. Four of my dogs share my bed with me at night, and the first things I see in the morning are are my safe, warm, and peacefully sleeping fuzzmates. I take my Doe dog with me wherever I can because she is my very best friend. I love and respect animals, pure and simple. I respect them enough to realize that if, in a public forum, I can't control what I say or do, I've just weakened my case for bigger, better, stronger animal welfare support.

Regarding cutting jobs at HSI, it very well could be that they were overstaffed. Take a look at the Community Assessment paper on the Spay Neuter Services website (http://www.spayneuterservices.org/) and see how many paid employees HSI had as of 2006 (page 7). Then compare that number to the other shelters/rescues mentioned in the report. Before making a judgment about cutting jobs being good or bad, it might be an idea to find out which jobs were cut and why. Looking at this report, it appears that they should have trimmed many paid positions. This entire report will give you a lot of good information about the state of animal welfare in Indianapolis and where we can go from here.

Sorry we are new to town, but seems like it is way deeper than just one person! I went to the website for that Warren guy, I didn't get it. Seems like he is bitter since his training program was cancelled. Please explain anyone who is a long timer!

It is deeper than just one person, but it's easy to take anger and frustration out on someone in the public spotlight, especially when that person has made some unpopular decisions and not lived up to high expectations. Anyone who thinks that the state of animal welfare in Indianapolis is going to change dramatically and immediately simply because Martha is no longer CEO of HSI is kidding themselves. Changing the shape of animal welfare in Indianapolis needs to be addressed on several different fronts, from an aggressive city-sponsored spay-neuter program to changing the policies at Indianapolis Animal Care and Control and HSI to public education and on and on and on. One person didn't create this problem, and the absence of that one person isn't going to fix it. What will be a big step to correcting an inexcusable situation is for people to get informed. Know what they're talking about. I've said many times that dealing with animals in peril is an emotional issue and people tend to let their emotions carry them away. But the facts are out there, and knowledge is power.
"That Warren guy" is a wonderful man with a heart the size of Montana. :) He is passionate about animals and their care and treatment, and now sits on the IACC board as a mayoral appointee. For more info about Warren, email him and ask. He's more than approachable. :)

Welcome to town!
Not sure where you heard about Warren's behavior modification program at HSI being cancelled. I'm an old timer and Warren actually quit training at HSI before Martha even came to Indianapolis. Classes were orginally held in the Lilly Room which was an ideal place to run the classes. Several years later classes were moved to a room above the Wellness Center. This made it unaccessable to both older people that had difficulty maneuvering the stairs with their dog and also was unaccessable to handicap people. When HSI was unwilling to make any changes for those that needed a room they could access Warren left.
Check out Doggone Connection if you need behavior modification for your dog. Warren's team of instructors are the greatest!

Actually I do volunteer. After getting acclimated to this town and its shelters, I chose to volunteer at IACC instead of HSI because of their policies. I also choose to donate financially to animal welfare organizations. I was also active with volunteer work and animal welfare in my last hometown.

You are right, I do not know Martha Boden. I've been in this town for about 10 months now and I have been disappointed by the direction of this city's Humane Society, the daunting task faced by the shelters and rescues in this communty and throughout the state, but I have never stopped believing that change is possible or that my letters don't matter or that my time isn't making a difference. I'm not sitting at the head of a board and you may not know me, but that doesn't mean I'm not doing what I can.

For my lapse in judgement and making an immature statement while having a moment, I apologize. For disagreeing with the direction that Boden took HSI, I have no apologies and stand my convictions.

It was actually in one of the articles by the Star!!! We are just so confused, we are not use to all the drama going on in the pet welfare world!

"Drama" is the word that Martha Boden liked to use in descibing the animal welfare climate during her rule.

bye bye Amadeus Boden

Bye to you Wally Boden