Wolf Hollow Director Chanda Stone reached out to the Journal this week to remind islanders of the Center’s ethical requirements, their commitment to compassion for humans and animals and their continued mission to promote the well-being of wildlife and their habitats, even during periods of transition.

“We are still helping the animals – taking every single phone call,” Stone confirmed. “Every animal is getting the help they need through our network of rehab centers. We are still doing outreach, we are actively working to fill the staffing positions we need filled and continuing with our renovation projects.”

Just before Christmas, an anonymous letter was posted around town (and on Facebook), written by “a concerned community member,” accusing Wolf Hollow of dishonest practices and mismanagement, warning citizens to reconsider supporting the center via donations.

“A clear example of this is the fabricated story regarding the reason for not currently taking animals into care due to building maintenance. The actual reason is due to the mismanagement and incompetence of the director and majority of board members in relation to staffing,” the type-written letter stated.

The letter also encouraged readers to contact Wolf Hollow directly to ask for more information regarding the current situation. After reaching out to the anonymous writer and other former employees, Stone was the only person the Journal could reach for comment.

“I’m wanting to be objective with the situation,” she said.”That’s my role: to stay calm and make sure nobody is harmed by gossip or speculation. There are ethical standards around personnel issues for a reason – it’s to protect people.”

When asked the difference between protecting people and protecting the organization or board, she was quick with a reminder about all of the standards and laws that hold them accountable.

“We are responsible to the donors, definitely,” Stone said. “What they need to know is that we are doing things in the correct and ethical way. There has to be accountability. All of our decisions are made and done in the right way, with labor laws and due process. We are regulated by the State and the Federal government. Just because we are keeping information about staffing private doesn’t mean we are being dishonest. We really are fixing up the buildings. We are using the money from the freezer donation to fix the freezer. We spend donors’ money on what we said we would. Donors can be very sure of that.”

As the bids come in for the building maintenance and the search for a Wildlife Rehabilitator manager continues (all information for the job posting can be found at www.wolfhollowwildlife.org), Wolf Hollow is still hosting outreach events and educational activities with the elementary school, scouts and Youth Conservation Council, and taking all phone calls on their direct cell line at 360-375-5324 daily from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. so they can continue to help wildlife in need. Donations of extra insulation, bed sheets, towels or any frozen meats with no seasoning on them like salmon or venison would be helpful – and of course, monetary donations always go the furthest.

When asked about the rumblings around the island of employees being unhappy at Wolf Hollow, or there always being problems there, Stone acknowledged she had heard those undercurrents, too.

“You know, every organization has challenges. This in particular is a difficult job – helping hurt and orphaned animals,” she said. “Have you heard of compassion fatigue? Vets deal with it a lot. It can really wear on people, and I think it’s easy to judge without fully understanding what’s going on.”

“There needs to be compassion everywhere,” she continued. “That’s what I’m putting out there. Have compassion for everyone. And I’m including the people who are writing these things about us. Everything is different on an island – we all just need to work together. We all need to support each other. We all need compassion for the humans and wildlife around us. And that’s what I’m doing at Wolf Hollow.”