Sarah Willette

Review of Upper Hutt Animal Rescue Socie...

I m writing this review from the perspective of a ...

I m writing this review from the perspective of a former volunteer. Unfortunately, I would not and cannot recommend Upper Hutt Animal Rescue Society for anyone seeking to adopt and/or relinquish a cat at this time. Recent changes to the Executive Leadership team have completely sent the Society into disarray. The atmosphere at the Haven currently is astoundingly unprofessional and, at times, very hateful. Myself and other volunteers have expressed concerns about the welfare of cats as well as management practices, and have been threatened with legal action from the highest Executive and, in my case, dismissal just for raising valid concerns I had about references to drug use written on the property at the Haven (see picture below).

I want to stress that this is not the result of hardworking volunteers on the ground who, day in and day out, aspire to do the best for the cats who come through the doors at the Haven. Rather, this is a result of extremely poor leadership from the Executives. It is being run almost as a dictatorship, and has become less about the welfare of cats and more about politics and a person s attempts to hang onto power.

I strongly advise others to look elsewhere for their adoption/relinquishment/donation needs. There are so many other animal welfare organisations in the area that are meeting all the needs of their resident animals and are being run democratically. While I hope that one day I ll be able to delete and/or follow up with a positive review, it does not look like it will happen anytime soon if the current leadership team remains in place.