Ever since I rescued my gal Cici, became involved with the Patrick movement, and learned about how abused and cruelly some animals are treated (pit bull breeds) at shelters and beyond through Breed Specific Legislation, and pet owners who should NEVER be pet owners, and also reading Nathan Winograd’s solution-oriented books and research about USA animal shelters, I’m committed to sharing the No Kill Equation and philosophy in hopes of Making a Difference. This cause is near and dear to my heart. NO healthy nor adoptable pet should be euthanized EVER. And no animal deserves to be abused and treated cruelly. These should be self evident and morally binding contracts that human beings have with the animals but some humans appear to have other agendas going on.
No animals should be killed because of their breed, because they were fought by criminals to make money, and no animals should be killed due to lack of space or cages. If some shelters can FLY dogs and cats to safety and new homes (Hawaii, California and other places), then there is JUST NO EXCUSE for the killing of healthy and adoptable animals. I am NOT saying it is easy to be a shelter director and to make these decisions. AND what I am saying is that if it is your JOB is to humanely take care of animals and you are BEING PAID to do so, then you have a moral and ethical obligation to DO THE JOB of humanely taking care of animals and that DOES NOT INCLUDE KILLING animals when you have NOT implemented ANY part of the No Kill Equation.
Off the top of your head, imagine you are a shelter director… and you have a bunch of cats and dogs in your shelter… let’s say 50… and you want to go No Kill… killing is no longer an option… you have 10 empty cages and a rescue effort brings in another 30 animals… what are you going to do???
Here is my list:
l. double or triple up some of the dogs/cats in cages
2. hold an adoption event, extend adoption hours and/or discount adoption fees
3. call upon volunteers and rescues in the area to foster some of the pets
4. bring some of the cages/kennels into the lobby to make the pets more visible for adoption
5. call the media to advertise the pets up for adoption
6. call other community organizations in the area to see if they can take a few pets
7. call sponsors, school organizations, teachers and ask if they would let you bring a few animals to school for an adoption event
8. call business chamber of commerce and other networks and ask for their assistance with adopting pets
9. call pet food express and other pet shops that DO NOT sell pets and ask if a few of the pets can be put in cages there for adoption
10. hold a pet-a-thon, adopt a pittie, black dogs or cats or whatever day every saturday or friday or whatever day
11. ask for help, ask staff to call upon others in the community to solve this problem
12. bring pets to the local mayor’s office with the media and ask the community for support
Some of these can be done on a regular (weekly) basis …
Think outside the cage/kennel and STOP Killing healthy, adoptable pets and STOP the lame excuses…
People that defend killing animals make me think of the part during the Alice’s Restaurant saga where the guy sings “I want to kill… I want to kill…” He has gone to the draft board and is trying to get out of going to Vietnam. He is trying to convince them that he is crazy. Just admit to the public that you want to kill animals… Own up to it. And if the public is (rightly) horrified, then grow a conscience and STOP KILLING ANIMALS.
Seems to me that our culture rewards abuse, torture and violence on all sorts of levels. Look at all of the wars the USA has started and continued. How we cannot get legislation for gun control, background checks, even after small children were shot down in Newtown, CT, how we are taught to blame the victims of crimes and how little animal abusers are punished by our faulty Justice system.
People often mention – with pride – that the United States is the most powerful nations on earth. And it’s true. We’re also 12th in per capita income, 50th in infant survival rate, and 51st in life expectancy. But we can blow up more than anybody else, so we’ve got that going for us. (Source: CIA World Fact Book)
“We are a nation of animal lovers, and we, and the animals we love, deserve better. We deserve shelters that reflect our progressive and compassionate values, not thwart them. We now have a solution to shelter killing and it is not difficult, expensive, or beyond practical means to achieve. Only one thing stands in the way of its widespread implementation: a deeply troubled and dysfunctional animal protection movement that undermines the effort at every turn.
“Through the No Kill movement, we can create a country in which it is illegal to kill animals who enter shelters. We can create a country in which children are raised with higher expectations for the treatment of animals—and an understanding and acceptance that animals have legal rights. And we can establish powerful advocates for the well-being of animals in every community by reclaiming the thousands of shelters across our nation, and reorienting them away from killing and back to their founding missions: to advocate for and save animals.” Nathan Winograd
Let’s make a difference for our country and the people and animals in it.
The No Kill conference takes place July 13-14 in Washington, D.C.
http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/shelter-reform/no-kill-conference/
Just One Day
