Hall of Fame baseball manager Tony La Russa and his family have severed ties with the Walnut Creek-based animal rescue nonprofit the family founded some 30 years ago.
La Russa — the former manager of the Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox — and his family originally founded the Animal Rescue Foundation after La Russa corralled a stray cat on the field at the Oakland Coliseum during a game in 1990.
After discovering the Bay Area had a dearth of no-kill shelters, Tony and his wife Elaine launched ARF, initially known as Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation. ARF is now located in the Shadelands Business Park.
The La Russa family said in a statement Wednesday that the organization’s “current leadership, policies and attitudes” are no longer aligned with the passion for animals with which the family originally founded ARF.
“The foundation was like an extended family, everyone contributed to this close-knit personal culture,” Tony La Russa said. “This culture was an important factor in ARF’s early and continued success. That is, sadly, no longer the case, which is why we no longer want to be associated with the foundation we created.”
The La Russa family — including Tony, Elaine and their daughters Bianca and Devon — sent a cease-and-desist letter to ARF March 3, withdrawing the organization’s ability to utilize the family’s names, likenesses, social media accounts and quotes and demanding the organization formally remove all ties to the family within 90 days.
According to the La Russa family, the decision to terminate the relationship with ARF was finalized after an allegedly mishandled adoption of a dog named Lovebug on Feb. 9.
The organization allegedly allowed Lovebug to be adopted without a harness despite notes and instructions that the dog needed a harness. As a result, Lovebug escaped from the adoptive family before getting into their home.
The La Russas also allege that ARF prematurely ended its attempts to rescue Lovebug. The dog was later safely caught and taken to safety by a group of volunteers, including members of the La Russa family.
According to the La Russas, ARF also elected to dismiss a volunteer of 20 years who had assisted with Lovebug’s rescue, which the family argued is “heartbreaking and unacceptable.”
While the La Russa family said its issues with ARF had developed over several years, the family elected to release a public statement after ARF announced Monday that the organization and the family had mutually agreed to part ways.
“We take this path with gratitude for all the La Russa family has contributed to ARF’s advancement and extend our warmest wishes for success in their future endeavors,” ARF CEO Susan Lee Vick said Monday. “At the same time, we’re tremendously excited about ARF’s expansion and new directions.”
The La Russa family argued the organization’s statement was disingenuous and implied that the separation was mutual.
In a statement Wednesday, the organization did not comment on the Lovebug adoption but stated that ARF “takes great pride in the outstanding efforts of our dedicated staff and volunteers” and noted that ARF’s Board of Directors voted March 1 to sever ties with the La Russa family.
“We extend our gratitude to Tony and his family for their passion for animals and support of our organization over the years,” ARF said. “We remain committed to serving our beloved community and look forward to continuing to make a positive impact in the lives of animals and animals and the people who love them.”
ARF has handled some 47,000 pet adoptions since its founding, according to the organization.
Any organization or person who rescues dogs and cats is wonderful in my opinion. I hope they don’t shut their doors. I have friends who adopted wonderful pets from ARF.
It’s not easy to win playing hardball vs. Tony La Russa. I have no idea what the ARF board of directors thinks they are doing and wonder why neither them nor the La Russa family has put out any coherent press releases over the past couple of years explaining what’s happening.
I seem to remember a little fracas a few years ago about the CEO making $400k a year. Think about that when you’re paying your $250+ to adopt an animal. And don’t forget, most likely you’re dealing with a volunteer doing the work for nothing more than the love of the animals…
Salary posted was 2 years ago and DOES NOT include her exorbitant bonus and her benefits! Puts her total compensation at more than the President of the United States’ salary!!!
Time for ARF to go! To corporate. Anyone who continues to support is trash.
When ARF and LaRussa can’t get along what next?
This is too bad. I volunteered for five straight years and met Tony and his family at a volunteer appreciation event. His daughters came and helped there, too. I stopped volunteering in 2008 as new management really changed things up in terms of how volunteers were to operate and I just didn’t like the direction it was going. I do have many happy memories of my Saturday shifts, helping socialize so many cats and dogs. I was even an ‘Outward Hound’ (skilled to work with large dogs who needed a little more training).
2008 was 15 years ago.I had no idea the issues had been percolating for that long.
Not surprising. After that dog escaped and was finally found, it was obvious something wasn’t right at ARF. I’m sure it’s difficult for the La Russa family to walk away from something they founded.
Newly adopted dogs escape all the time. It’s not just an ARF issue. Some dogs are not comfortable with the new environment and flee at the first chance. Usually when they are caught they are brought back to the family that adopted them in the hope that the dog will settle down, and get comfortable plus feel safe with their new family.
In the news recently was a dog adopted in Texas that escaped from its new family, went ten mile back to it’s old shelter. The shelter had a Ring doorbell which activated when the dog arrived in the middle of the night. The staff let it in and it went to its kennel. https://abc7chicago.com/dog-escapes-new-home-rings-doorbell-el-paso-animal-rescue-league-of/12821963/
This reminds me that about a year ago there were signs up around the intersection of the Iron Horse Trail and CC Canal Trail about a newly adopted dog from ARF that had escaped.
Looked at charity navigator and saw that for 2020 the executive director for ARF made a salary of 337,906 dollars. Am i wrong to suspect power and money are more behind things then Lovebug?
10 years ago the “adoption fee”for my dog was $200, I don’t know what it costs now.
They’re a Non-Profit organization?
Check out the salary of your local favorite Walnut Creek foundation Executive Director. You might be surprised.
More than 4% of donations made per year is considered a high salary.
I commend Ms. Bicker for staying over fifteen years. And putting ARF on the map so prominently in Walnut Creek.
If you have ever worked with employees and volunteers in animal welfare you would see some really great people, but not a lot with a passion for helping animals AND business acumen. It’s a business with ALOT of emotions.
The Business of Saving Lives. 🐶 🐈
Thank you, Elena Bicker, you showed the way.
Salary posted was 2 years ago and DOES NOT include her exorbitant bonus and her benefits! Puts her total compensation at more than the President of the United States’ salary!!!
I am quite saddened to hear of this. I adopted my best friend from ARF about three years ago and he has brought me such joy. I passed by Tony in the parking lot that day and we said hello. I was previously a cat socializer there and have been a long-time advocate for ARF. I have given time and donations to ARF because I believed in the cause, but the comments from the CEO ring hollow to me. The next adoption will be from the pound.
So no one wants to say what happened? Even people who have quit? I got my sweet guy there and never had an issue. I would like to know the truth!
So every dog that gets adopted and escapes in the adopters (new owners) hands, is ARFs problem? Seems like the adopters of Lovebug are the ones at fault here and the La Russa’s unfortunately threw arf employees and volunteers under the bus. You can have every collar, harness, whatever, and sh*t can still happen.
As far as management issues go, sure…we don’t know anything. But don’t make the hard working employees and volunteers look bad when it’s not their fault the dog escaped.
An East Bay Times article has additional detail that sheds some light on what happened with Lovebug. My interpretation is that it appears the La Russa family called up a crew of volunteers to find and catch Lovebug. Tony La Russa’s daughter then decided to keep the dog for herself. ARF fired her from the volunteer job she had at ARF for essentially stealing the dog. The La Russa family retaliated by telling ARF they needed to remove “Tony La Russa” from the name and to return his baseball related stuff. A lot of drama around a tiny dog!
If the LaRussa family is not involved in day-to-day operations, then it is time to take off their name.
Thank you Tony LaRussa for having a dream back in the 80s for local animal rescue and eventually putting your name on it.
My dream is for a world where responsible pet owners exist, and they don’t throw away their unwanted pets.
Since my dream is harder to fulfill, I will continue to donate to ARF.
Once a small organization becomes a large organization you start having more rules and bureaucracies. And every time you have a new CEO come in they want to make changes to the organization to make them self look like they are improving things. Changes just to make changes is never good.
There hasnt been a new CEO.
Elena Bicker has been the Executive Director of ARF since 2006.
Bicker is a big part of the problem at ARF.
If you want to read up on the allegations and lawsuits made a year ago about the toxic culture at ARF, simply do a search for reporter Martha Ross at the Bay Area News Group from April 24, 2021
Elena Bicker retired December of last year. New ED is Susan Lee Vick.
This is so sad. Our family was at the A’s game when little Evie interrupted the game for an hour and I remember telling my husband this is leading to something. The LaRussa family has been struggling with management for awhile and I don’t blame Tony for wanting his name taken off of ARF. It’s still a wonderful organization, but management issues ruined it for the LaRussa family.
It was 11 months ago that Tony LaRussa stated that he was going to stand by Executive Director Elena Bicker and board chairman Greg McCoy while they faced 4 lawsuits from current and former employees. Tony stood by Bicker and McCoy, even though his wife and daughters Bianca and Devon had thrown in the towel and resigned from the board and said that they wont have anything to do with ARF until Bicker and McCoy are gone. Looks like Tony finally threw in the towel as well.
ARF has been a sea of dysfunction for many many years and if you know of anyone that currently works there they will tell you how incompetent this rescue has become over the years. The environment there has been “toxic” given Bicker and McCoy. HIs wife and daughters abandoned ship nearly a year ago. Now Tony has thrown in the towel.
Some of the toxicity has probably coming from Mr. LaRossa as well. Folks that really know him have said he is actually kind of a “jerk”.
It sounds like it has been and may continue to be a long and messy divorce.
https://www.southsidesox.com/2021/6/3/22411995/tony-la-russa-struggles-at-the-arf-foundation-highlight-a-pattern-of-internal-feuding
I have been a long time donor to ARF. This story saddens me.