Why S.O.P.'s Should Be S.O.P.

Standard Operating Procedures are exactly what they they sound like in the military. They are a set list of procedures covering every aspect from mundane administration to defining the pecking order of responsibility and accountability on all levels.
They sound as dull as dishwater don't they? In today's computer savvy world, why would the military still use them? SOP's are used at all levels by all branches because they clearly define procedures and clarify any question of individual responsibility.
Some very hard lessons have been learned this year as a result of the Celtic Pets seizure. Much of the ensuing controversy could have been avoided if the society had clear cut SOP's for cruelty seizures of any size that would include, but not be limited to :

• specific timelines before seized animals could be adopted
• clear cut criteria for killing any seized animal
• precise accounting of all the animals, whether they were adopted, fostered, transferred to the custody of a rescue, still at the shelter or killed.
• an explicit definition of the BOD authority with respect to both the investigation and to the fate of all of the animals.

SOP's clear up the fuzzy grey areas and prevent individuals from assuming more authority than they actually should have. Organizations just run smoother when responsibility and accountability are "written in stone" If the society is truly in pursuit of more transparency, having SOP's for the sticky spots would be a darned good start.

After all, if there had been SOP's this year when the seizure took place, the society could have garnered much sympathy and public support for the plight of so many animals. Instead, the society very nearly circled the drain as a result of the public indignation about the misuse and overreaching of individual authority.

With SOP's, the society would have been able to draw in public support by allowing them to understand and share the journey. The society should have been strengthened .... instead it was shrouded in a veil of secrecy by individuals who refused to accept criticism or even hold themselves accountable to the society BOD. The society is still trying to recover the credibility and support that was lost at that time.

SOP's prevent situations like that from happening. We cannot and should not ever attempt to whitewash what happened this year after the Celtic Pets Seizure. I still have all the old pictures of Chinchilla Charlie ( remember him... he was the front door poster boy for the society after the seizure while they were drumming up donations and then he was killed, in spite of the fact that there was a place and training/ rehab available for him.

I still have all the old pics of Jackie, and I remember like it was yesterday when the society tried to take him away from Joan. SOP's would have made it impossible to rescind memberships and threaten Joan like that.

And the Celtic Pets Six/seven eight nine????? If there had been SOP's we would know how many of those rescued lived to tell the tail. But of course the person who made those decisions is gone and because there were no SOP's, that person got away with murder. Because there were no SOP's, to this day not even the BOD knows the numbers.

And of course, in the here and now, SOP's could change the killing in Cape Breton. But that is a rant for another day, because THAT whole situation is so darned big its going to take more than better administration to fix that.

At the end of the day, SOP's are like routines..... they free our minds to focus on the big picture.... and they minimize the time that gets wasted deciding what to do.