SPCA Says It Did *Not* Attempt to Train Deaf Woman's Hearing Dog Over the Phone

• Francis Metcalf is currently the San Francisco SPCA's primary and preferred trainer for the SF SPCA Hearing Dog graduates for behavior modification or specific training related to their service duties. He was suggested to and politely declined by this SF SPCA Hearing Dog owner the summer of 2009, due to his prior thoughtlessness in not returning phone calls and lack of follow through in the past. http://www.friendsofthefamily.info/Site/welcome.html

• thanks for the good article, which I hope is the first of many to expose the way the purposes and uses of the SPCA have been co-opted. Re the trial--if the SPCA made false claims to the court, is this fraud? I understand that court appeals are on questions of law, not fact, so have the SPCA administrators won because of their egregious conduct? I notice that the dog training department with Jean Donaldson seems not to be involved. Have you asked her for an interview? Her books and interviews have always struck me as open and honest, so I'd be interested in her responses to the questions about whether any old freelance trainer can be entrusted with refresher or new training of hearing dog teams. Evelyn

• This is a case where the general public does not see what has become of this once wonderful organization. Its a shame that the current administration has brought the SF/SPCA to its current demise. The volunteers and old regime are the only ones actually concerned with the welfare of the animals and the people they serve. (I met a person kicking his dog for not crossing the street when HE wanted it to. I asked where he got the dog and he said the [SF]SPCA.) Nice work Jan - the dog is much better off being kicked than euthanasia, right? (I think that sums up her words - as if those are the only two choices.) To reiterate another comment - it is sad how much control the BOD seems to have over "big media." Well, thank you Joe and Susan for having the strength to stand up and shine light on a negative situation - and giving us the opportunity to make this positive - as the San Francisco community we are proud to be. Stand up!!!! :) We, volunteers, give of our time and energy freely everyday - what have they done?

• Forget anything Metcalf says. He resigned from the SPCA Hearing Dog Program a few months before the program was abolished. Plus he's married to someone in the SPCA upper echelon. Shows you how devious the administrators are. They hired him back as a contract trainer after dismantling the program and , then, after winning the half million dollar court case, they probably gave him the boot along with the aforementioned "gag order".

• The board of directors of SPCA are not animal advocates. They are almost certainly socialites who live to party. Is the board of directors not directly responsible for Jan McHugh-Smith, and all the human "baggage" she has brought along she has brought along with her? And yes, Francis likely accepted the gag money. SPCA is well known for offering "severance" with a "gag" attached. And they are well known for trying to gag rescues. After all, they have the money. Until people read articles like SF Weekly's and like Norhtside Magazine's Sept cover story they will not know what has happened to the SPCA. They seem to be enthroned on the "too big to fail" throne. Major media is afraid to touch them. They can afford to advertise with their cute logos in the Chronicle. It is a crying shame what SPCA has become since Avanzino left. It has been a sad, slow slide to the bottom of the pit.

• The SF SPCA is paying former employees to sign a gag order. They are also asking current volunteers to sign a gag order - saying "they will not make disparaging comments abut the SPCA". THE SPCA HAS A LOT TO HIDE THESE DAYS! San Francisco residents demands better treatment for our animals.

• Jan McHugh-Smith, SPCA President, Dori Villalon, SPCA Vice-President and McHugh-Smith's assistant all testified in a San Mateo courtroom that they did indeed have a functioning Hearing Dog Program in order to seize a $500,000 bequest specified for an SPCA Hearing Dog Program. Deception. It is important to state that the same family who made the bequest had ALSO left another $500,000 to the SPCA to do with as they pleased. That's $1,000,000.00 they seized. The decimation of the HDP and firing of its personnel was done ONE DAY after the HDP was asked to display its accomplishments at an SPCA fundraiser (which it did to the tune of thousands in donations) and in the same week, the SPCA Board of Directors awarded McHugh-Smith a personal loan of half a million dollars. Francis Metcalf will only say that he is "no longer contracting with the SPCA". I wager a fat bet that he was asked to sign a gag order not to say anything denigrating about them. They have resorted to demanding that people, like the Feral Cat Assistance Team and rescue organizations who they invited to partner with them, sign gag orders. Why worry about something negative being said if you're squeeky clean? While McHugh-Smith and Villalon have utterly and arrogantly dismantled the SPCA, really, the ultimate villains are the Board of Directors. Their egos and myopic determination to see a multi-million dollar hospital built fueled their decision to hire M-S, a seasoned politician and a fundraiser. M-S chose Villalon to be her henchman and implementer. Shame on the Board. Do not give your money to this fraudulant organization. Read the northsidesf.com September issue. Let the Board of Directors, not just M-S, know exactly where you stand. You think M-S and Co. are going to share complaints with the Board? Uh uh. They've snowed the Board so far and the Board believes whatever they are told as long as it's what they want to hear. Take action for the animals NOW. Many in our city are needlessly dying.

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