Justifying Shelter Killing

Why do we kill pets in shelters? I no longer believe in the"too many pets, not enough homes" reasoning because the math does not add up. But I understand this is a point of contention for many who cling to the old thinking. I'm guilty of clinging sometimes myself so I understand. So let's say, for the sake of argument, it's true that we have too many pets and not enough homes. Don't ask me how the math would work on that scenario because I have no idea. (Anyone?) But let's just say it's true for pretend purposes.

So here we are at Our Beagle of Mercy Shelter in Southtown, USA and we've got too many pets and not enough homes for them all. We know there are many pet lovers in the Southtown area and that at least some of them will be looking for a new pet at any given time (first time pet owners, expanding the pet family, death of a pet, etc.) So the first thing I'm going to say to my shelter staff is "Be nice to people". While many people we meet are experienced pet owners who take good care of their pets, it's a given that within our community there will be some irresponsible pet owners just as there are irresponsible parents and irresponsible people in all walks of life. Unless these pet owners are sadistically cruel, we can hope to educate them on becoming responsible owners. But we will never educate anyone if we blame them for the community's pet problems. In order to address the "not enough homes" part of our problem, we do not want to do anything that compromises our good relationship with the people who will provide the homes we seek.

While we are being friendly to folks, we need to reach out to the community to get our foster pet and low cost spay-neuter programs going. We'll need volunteers from the veterinary community, donations and transportation volunteers from the public, and media promotion to spread awareness of the clinic. We know that the major obstacles standing in the way of getting more pets in the community neutered are education, cost and transportation. We're going to continually work to remove those obstacles so that everyone who wants to get his pet neutered can do so. Our community's feral cats will be trapped, neutered and returned to their living areas. We'll continually seek foster homes for pets from the community. All of this will help us with the "too many pets" part of our problem.

In addition to our efforts in the community, we are going to extend our reach by utilizing social media such as Twitter. We'll also be networking online with shelters and rescues in other parts of the country because not all of them are going to have the same "too many pets, not enough homes" problem we have. We may be able to arrange for some of our pets to go to areas where there are fewer pets in need of homes.

Our website will feature adoptable pets as well as strays who are pending redemption. We'll keep our shelter doors open during the hours we know the public is most likely to visit, including weekends. Because we take good care of the animals we shelter, the public will see clean kennels and pets who have been adequately fed, watered and exercised. Sick pets will receive veterinary care so they can be adopted and medically hopeless pets who are suffering will be euthanized.

I know by now skeptics are thinking, "All this fancy no kill talk sounds good but meanwhile there are pets piling up in your shelter and you've got to do something with them". Right. And we will, but it's not going to be killing. Never that. Instead, we are going to shelter them - not warehouse them, not dump them in unscreened homes or rescues - really and actually and truly shelter them. Because Our Beagle of Mercy is an animal shelter, that's what we do. In fact, that's what the public has a right to expect and demand from every shelter in this country - sheltering of the community's pets. Anything less is a crime.

Action Alert for Austin Pet Lovers

You are invited:

When: 10am Thursday, March 11, 2010
Where: City Hall in the Council Chambers (301 W. Second St in downtown Austin)
What: The city council will vote on adopting a plan to make Austin a no kill city.
Why: The city shelter currently kills pets even when they have space for them. Sometimes they kill them just because they're young. The community does not want this happening in their city.

Attend the meeting tomorrow to show your support for saving Austin's homeless pets. Additional info here.

Must See TV

I can announce after watching this video that it is indeed possible to tear up while tapping your toes to a Monkees tune and smiling at pictures of happy pets.

You Can't Reject the Internet

Mike Fry received a heads up in January that the Spring issue of The American Dog Magazine contained an article addressing no kill and mandatory spay-neuter:

After reading the article in question, I requested an opportunity to write a rebuttal in the next issue. The publisher agreed and the rebuttal was written. Upon submission, however, the article was rejected, with the publisher simply stating this was not what they had agreed to publish.

You can read the rebuttal here.

Shelter Pets - What's Your Goal?

This is a continuation of the discussion in the following posts on KC Dog Blog and One Bark at a Time:

No Kill Communities vs No Kill Shelters -- and why confusing the two endangers the movement

No-kill: it can't be impossible if someone's already doing it



I want to live in a no kill nation.

Sounds like a simple enough statement. But of course it isn't because - it seems like lately anyway - nothing is.

To achieve a no kill nation, we would need the cooperation of every community in the country. These will include such diverse groups as Animal Control outfits who routinely shoot homeless pets in secret, pet haters who would prefer to see every pet in the country killed rather than one homeless pet saved, and animal advocates. It's that last group that may be the most challenging.

Even if we eliminate the wingnuts like PETA, who claim to be animal advocates but actually operate a pet slaughterhouse, there is a lot of disagreement about how to move forward. And unlike the previously mentioned groups, it is animal advocates whom we must rely upon to do most of the heavy lifting which makes cooperation essential. Animal advocates must do much more than simply stop standing in the way - we must act as a cohesive force. That doesn't mean we can't have different views and employ a variety of methods. But it does require a basic agreement on the core principle: We do not kill healthy/treatable pets - we save them.

So what do I mean by "save"? Those opposed to no kill are quick to say that we would stuff every pet in America into a cage and leave them in an abandoned building until they die. But this is just flash talk to distract people from the truth - no one wants any pet to live his entire life in a cage. When I say save, I mean that ideally, I'd like to see that pet in a home, living as a family member. And I further recognize that not every pet is going to get a home, for various reasons. So to my way of thinking, we are still saving those pets if we can provide them a reasonable quality of life which includes adequate shelter, daily human interaction, outdoor exercise (for dogs), appropriate veterinary care and sufficient food.

Some pet advocates are opposed to the term no kill and prefer to use "low kill". It's important to define what we mean by the word kill with regard to shelter pets. To me, if we humanely end the suffering of a medically hopeless pet by the gentlest method veterinary medicine offers, that is euthanasia - a kindness we offer to our pets. If we end the life of a pet who is not suffering and medically hopeless, that is killing - and I'm opposed to that. By those definitions, I am not for "low kill" because that means some adoptable shelter pets are being killed. I am for no kill and on that point, I can't see any compromise. My goal is to save every healthy/treatable shelter pet. Every single one.

If you are an animal advocate, please share your goals and principles with regard to shelter pets. I'd really like to hear and hopefully generate some brain food for thought.

Begins at Home

A couple who visited the Memphis Animal Shelter last year (prior to the raid by authorities) took home three dogs including an "injured and bleeding dog that had not received any veterinary care". This was the beginning of their "Streetdog Foundation" rescue which is currently caring for a dozen dogs. They have been boarding dogs, paying their Vet bills and fostering a couple at their home - all out of their own checkbook.

I would love to do something like this except I'd like to do it at our house. I'm willing to do the work and frankly, even if we had terrible luck finding permanent homes, I would be happy to keep a small group of dogs for their entire lives if necessary. It's that checkbook thing that is holding me back. Maybe someone reading this post has been thinking, "I have the money to fund a small no kill shelter and I'd really like to help some dogs but I'm not able to do the work". Hey - you got your chocolate in my peanut butter!

The Berkshire Eagle Publishes Letters About No Kill Shelters

Did you know that no kill shelters are places where "enslaved" pets are kept alive for our pleasure? Me neither but that's what one reader wrote in a letter to a MA newspaper:

Folks, put yourself in their position. Wouldn't you rather be dead?

God but I hope I don't get this guy on my insurance company "death panel".

Another reader wrote a letter in response:

No-kill shelters aren't there to just keep any old animal around to pawn off on some unsuspecting soul who thinks they want a new pet. They take much time and effort to work with the animals and the adopters to ensure that the animal will go on to live a long and healthy life with their new forever home.

OK, whew. For a second there I thought...

"I'll go to jail for my dog"

A low income family in New Zealand took their puppy, who had been hit by a car, to the local Vet. The Vet diagnosed a broken leg and gave the family a quote on repair as well as a less expensive option - amputation. Since the family could afford neither cost all at once, they offered to pay a small amount each week but the Vet declined. The Vet then refused to return the puppy saying he needed to be killed if they weren't able to pay for treatment up front.

The 19 year old son could not allow his dog to be killed so he stole the puppy from the clinic. New Zealand's SPCA threatened him with prosecution for cruelty but he decided he'd rather go to jail than have his dog killed.

I think we can all understand this feeling. No one wants to see a dog suffer and this puppy probably was in a good deal of pain. No one wants to kill a dog who is suffering from a treatable injury. And no one expects Vets to give away services because if they did, how could they afford to keep their doors open? On the other hand, the Vet was never asked to give away services - he was asked if he could allow a lengthy payment plan.

Any guesses as to how this situation was resolved? After the story made the news, the community rallied to save the dog and donations came pouring in. I am reminded, once again, that we, including our neighbors around the bend in New Zealand, are a humane society of pet lovers. We want to save pets, not kill them. A little less judgment and a little more understanding goes a long way toward helping us achieve that goal.

Punching the Clock

I used to think guarding grain silos from the starving masses in a third world country would be the worst job ever. Standing between human suffering and the means to relieve that suffering while threatening violence seems like misery defined. But as much as that job would suck, it is a fact that distributing food without proper order merely hurts starving people more while local organized crime thugs gain power. So there is a valid reason the grain silos must be guarded instead of simply letting people have at them. And it's actually a humane reason, intended to do more good than harm in the long run.

Now I think the worst job in the world, for me, would be working in an animal shelter where I'd have to kill a pet. No matter how much good I might be capable of doing, I know I could not kill a pet I was supposed to be protecting. Even if, in my hypothetical shelter job, I was able to save 99% of the pets my shelter took in, I could not kill a pet. Note that I am not talking about euthanasia which to me, is the humane act of ending the suffering of a medically hopeless pet. I have done that. I'm referring to killing healthy/treatable pets.

One might argue that with all the good I'm doing in my hypothetical shelter job, I should just accept that I can't possibly save every single animal that comes through the doors. That I should focus on the positive and think about all the good my shelter has done. That I have to work within the system in order to change it and accept the fact that there is no magic wand. Perhaps those arguments make sense in my head but in my heart - no. I could not justify killing 1% or 1/2% or one healthy/treatable pet at my shelter. So my head is on some level grateful that we have people out there in shelters doing good, working for change, and improving save numbers all over the country. But my heart knows that shelter pets are completely at our mercy, that without our compassion they have no hope and that there is no humane reason to kill even one. And it breaks my heart to think that the shelter workers out there who are working hard to save more pets are sometimes the same people forced to kill pets.

There are enough homes for every pet in this country. Getting them all into those homes is a multi-faceted and challenging community task. But it is achievable. We are a humane society. Join us.

It's time.

Why Don't Residents Bring Strays to Local Animal Shelter?

Residents of Barnwell Co, South Carolina are reportedly concerned about the high number of stray pets in the area. There is an animal shelter so I wonder why people don't take strays there so they can be cared for until they find permanent homes. Maybe it's because they know that's probably not what will happen to pets admitted to that shelter. Standard operating procedure at the shelter apparently includes a local Veterinarian who comes by on Fridays to kill pets for space but the shelter fills up again by Monday.

Anyone else see the insanity here?

The community should feel confident that any pet taken to a shelter will be sheltered and, in most cases, properly cared for until adopted by a new owner. That's what animal shelters are for - to temporarily care for lost and homeless pets until they can be reunited with their owners or new, permanent homes can be found.

A weekly shelter cycle of death and despair serves neither the pets nor the residents of the community and obviously isn't helping with the local stray problem. So why would we continue funding such an enterprise? Wouldn't the limited available funds be better spent saving animals' lives and offering more low cost neuter clinics? There is already a team of community volunteers in place - let's not squander their good faith investment by putting them to work on killing pets instead of saving them. I'm sure that's not what they signed up for when they agreed to donate their time.

The answers to the area's stray problem lie within your grasp, Barnwell County. Reform: It's a good thing.

Stray Dogs in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is a little smaller than the state of Connecticut. Like some of the southern states, rescues in Puerto Rico send some of its stray dogs (known as "satos" locally) to the Northeast for adoption. Since shelters in the Northeast are short on dogs and Puerto Rico has an estimated 150,000 stray dogs, it makes sense to network on rescue efforts:

After nearly 15 years of Sato importation, New England is surely home to the highest concentration of these former strays of anywhere off the island. And they have a devoted following. Satos tend to be on the small side (under 30 pounds) and they come in many unusual combinations, just like Valiente [a Chihuahua/Border Collie mix]. Chihuahua genes are pretty common, as are enormous ear spans, stubby legs, and a penchant for sun bathing. Their gratitude at being given a second chance is often palpable.

Approximately 2000 stray dogs are rehomed in this manner every year in Puerto Rico. Which leaves us 148,000 more in need of help. The state is roughly 3500 square miles in size. If the estimate on stray dog numbers is accurate, that works out to approximately 43 strays per square mile. Think of a square mile in your neighborhood. Now put 43 stray dogs in there. Repeat the exercise times 3500 square miles and you can imagine the challenges and difficulties facing rescuers in Puerto Rico. I wonder if there is any access to low cost neuter in the state or if they even have any actual shelters. I wonder what more they need by way of assistance. Anyone?

What's Stopping Us?

All aspects of the No Kill Equation are intertwined and it would be foolish to think we can single out one or two tenets and solve the problem of killing pets in shelters. Having said that, I sometimes think about doing something along those very lines. That is, I consider what single thing could happen today to bring us dramatically closer to being a no kill nation. The two most obvious to me are:

1. All those killing homeless pets in this country simply stop. They adopt the no kill philosophy and begin to implement the changes needed in their communities. And in the meantime, they stop killing pets.
2. We increase shelter adoptions a little bit. Nathan Winograd breaks down the math for us here.

Now of those two ideas, I think it's unrealistic to expect the first would happen today. Changing philosophies takes time. Especially when many shelters are still very far away from the no kill philosophy and consider killing to be a "kindness" they perform because they love pets or a "necessity" due to so-called pet overpopulation. As for the second, I think yes, that could happen today.

How?

The first and most important point to my mind is to stop blaming the public. We don't want potential adopters to feel guilty for buying a pet from a responsible breeder by perpetuating the myth that a shelter pet must be killed for every pet purchased from a responsible breeder. There is room in no kill, and in fact a need for, responsible breeders selling pets to people. In addition, we don't want the public to feel guilty that animal shelters exist. For example, when we wag our fingers at owners who do not neuter their pets and state that they are the reason we must have shelters and in turn "must" kill pets, we demonize both potential adopters and the shelters themselves. More education, assistance and understanding - less judgment.

Secondly, let's recognize that there is a group of people in society who would like to add a pet to the family but are not sure how best to obtain one. This is our target market. If we can influence some of the people in this group to adopt from a shelter, we can make that giant leap toward no kill I dream about. The good news is that the potential adopters are out there and the pets are out there. The bad news is that there is a gap between the two preventing them from connecting. It is this gap we must bridge and everyone must pitch in if we are to be successful.

Shelters must make themselves as inviting as possible to the public by keeping pets and facilities clean, keeping their doors open when people are most likely to visit, getting pets out to high traffic locations such as pet supply stores, and maintaining reasonable guidelines for approving adopters. To meet these goals, high quality, committed leadership is essential and more volunteers will be needed:

Some pets will need more than a bath in order to look presentable. If you have basic grooming skills, your help is needed.

Other pets will benefit from some time in foster care to learn basic manners. For example, a large dog who has been taught not to jump up on people and not to pull on the leash is going to be far more adoptable than one who hasn't. If you have basic obedience training skills, your help is needed.

Orphaned kittens who need to be bottle fed around the clock in order to survive their first weeks of life arrive at shelters every Spring. If you have the ability to offer a temporary home to a litter of kittens in need of care, your help is needed.

Shelter cats who have been handled lovingly by humans are going to be more adoptable than those who haven't. If you have cat petting skills, your help is needed.

Dogs who have been walked are going to have less anxiety when visitors stroll through the shelter than those who haven't and as such, will be more appealing to adopters. If you have dog walking skills, your help is needed.

Sick or injured pets will require more veterinary care than healthy pets to make them adoptable. If you have veterinary skills, your help is needed.

Caring for pets costs money and shelters want to keep adoption fees as low as possible in order to encourage adoptions. If you can donate money to your local shelter, your help is needed.

Educating the public about the availability of shelter pets and how to responsibly care for pets over their lifetimes is essential. If you have a digital camera and know how to create a website to advertise shelter pets, your help is needed. And if you have good written and/or verbal communication skills and know how to make people feel good about themselves while learning something, your help is needed. (Lecturing finger-waggers need not apply.)

You get the idea: Your help is needed. If we all pitch in and work to bridge the gap between adopters and shelter pets, we could bump up shelter adoptions enough to make enormous strides toward becoming a no kill nation. It could happen today.

This is What Animal Shelters are for

I have no idea why Karen Erby of York Co, SC allowed her puppy to deteriorate to the point where she couldn't walk or even lift her head. Maybe she really was trying to nurse her back to health as she claimed when surrendering the dog to authorities and maybe somehow, despite the dog's deathly physical appearance, she actually believed she was making progress. Or maybe she just did not care very much about how long or how terribly the dog suffered. Or maybe it's some other reason.

Whatever the case, I can understand how someone - not necessarily Ms. Erby, but a dog owner in general - might find herself with a sick dog and no financial means to care for her. If this situation befell me, I would first take the dog to my regular Vet for an evaluation and ask if she'd would be willing to work with me on financial arrangements. Depending on circumstances, I might seek a loan from a family member to help pay for care. But failing all reasonable options, I would not leave a dog in the condition Ms. Erby's pup was in chained in my yard, pour motor oil on her and hope for the best. (Rubbing motor oil on mange does not cure the condition, despite whatever old wives' tales you may have heard.)

This is what animal shelters are for. They are a safety net for pets in the community who need help and have no one able to provide for them. It's tragic that so many people have come to regard shelters, rightly in some cases, as death houses. We need to change the public's perception of shelters but in order to do that, shelters must stop killing pets. Euthanasia is a kindness - a means to end the suffering of a medically hopeless pet. Animal shelters do offer this service but the overwhelming majority of shelter pets who die in this country are not euthanized - they are killed. Again, I have no way of knowing Ms. Erby's motivations but it strikes me as plausible that she, or others faced with a sick pet, might consider that a pet is better off in agony on a backyard chain than going to a shelter. This must change.

We are a no kill nation. Join us.

Dude - What?

The Danville Area Humane Society kills approximately 90% of the pets they get their murdering hands on and is under the direction of HSUS BFF Paulette Dean. Ms. Dean was recently named "Person of the Year" by the VA Voters for Animal Welfare. And if you're done swallowing that mouthful of irony, open wide:

The Danville Area Humane Society announced Monday that it plans to build a no-kill adoption center for Danville and Pittsylvania County next to the existing city animal shelter.

Executive Director Paulette Dean said she believes the new adoption center will help solve the overpopulation problem and decrease the need for euthanasia of animals.

*monocle pop* *spittake*

The slaughterhouse-shelter side by side design aspect is wonderfully convenient. So with one hand, Ms. Dean can fundraise for the no kill shelter while the other hand can reach across the way and keep killing pets by the thousands.

In most cases I would extend support to anyone claiming to adopt the no kill philosophy but in this case, there is obviously no one adopting even the most fundamental tenent of no kill - which is, actually to not kill pets. You can't run a pet slaughterhouse at 666 Main St. and open up a no kill shelter at 668 Main St. and expect no one to notice the hypocrisy. Instead of asking the public for 3/4 of a million bucks to build the new shelter, why not just stop killing pets at the existing place? Ask the public for help doing that, and then ask for more once you've proven you are committed to no kill. As things stand, sorry - no sale.

Paws Up for Gwinnett Co Jail in GA

This is exactly the kind of program we need in the South:

With a sharp decline in inmate population over the past month, Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway plans to devote a portion of the county jail to save dogs' lives.

The jail will serve as a foster home for the Society of Humane Friends, a licensed pet rescue agency.

With six open housing units that can accommodate up to 72 inmates, the sheriff is devoting one ground unit to the program. He will assign a dog to each of the 10 inmates in the unit.

The dogs will have access to a fenced grassy area for exercise, Conway said, and trainers will come in to work with the inmates on grooming and training the animals. The program will begin as soon as he puts up the fence.

Yes, yes, yes! More proof that each of us can do a little something. And when we do, it adds up to a big something.

Ten dogs is not that big of a deal in terms of jail space, Conway said, adding that he is keeping 20 rescued dogs at his home.

No county money will be spent, and the Society of Humane Friends has already agreed to donate food and veterinary care, he said.

"I'm committed to either paying for it out of my pocket or through donations," Conway said. "This is great for the inmates. It will socialize the inmates as well as the dogs."

Dennis Kronenfeld, president of the local chapter of the Society of Humane Friends, said the program is already in correctional facilities in 17 states.

Everybody wins.

Thanks to reader Valerie for mentioning this story to me.

When Will We Achieve No Kill?

I received as a Christmas gift the book Disposable Animals - Ending the Tragedy of Throwaway Pets by Craig Brestrup. I've only just started it but already I've come across a concept I wanted to discuss regarding who is to blame for the killing of shelter pets. So pull your chairs in a circle book club members, turn to page 17 and read along with me:

"The truly guilty, being the source of the problem, are those who choose to have animals without choosing to do so in a morally responsible way. That way would be to recognize the value inherent in the life of an animal and to actively respect it, to take charge of its reproduction, to recognize that to take in an animal is to take on a relationship of commitment for his or her lifetime. When we achieve that vision, the killing simply stops."

I try very hard to keep my mind open when I come up against ideas my brain hates. On the one hand, I can hardly disagree with the idea of people owning pets "in a morally responsible way". (While we're at it, how about everyone consuming the Earth's natural resources in a morally responsible way. And raising children in a morally responsible way. Etc.) But on the other hand, I have to ask if there is one widely agreed upon morally responsible way to own pets. I don't think there is. In fact, one of the tragedies of life is that every one of us believes he is a pretty good fellow all around. (I could say almost everyone if you want to include the rare few who know their actions are evil but choose to be that way.)

If we look at the specifics of the morally responsible way to own pets offered by the author, we are faced with many questions.

• "Recognize the value inherent in the life of an animal" - This will clearly mean different things to different people. A farmer raising a pig for food will regard that animal as having value, as will a dog fighter regard his dog, and an apartment dweller regard his cat.
• "Take charge of its reproduction" - In the case of someone who breeds his dogs as often as physically possible for the purpose of selling the puppies - he has taken charge of the reproductive aspects of the animals. Likewise with the owner who neuters his dog before the animal ever reproduces. Perhaps the intended meaning will become clearer later in the book, I don't know.
• "Take on a relationship of commitment for his or her lifetime" - Does this mean every owner must keep every pet he takes on, even if his life circumstances change so significantly as to make keeping the pet impossible? If the owner screens prospective buyers and rehomes his pets when necessary, has he failed to meet his moral obligations?

Finally, the conclusion reached by the author "When we achieve that vision, the killing simply stops" seems, at best, unlikely to me. The idea that if we had a utopian society, everything would be swell sounds fine, but how is that applicable to reality? In real life, we will always have a need for shelters. Even if we sprinkle magic moral responsibility dust over all of humanity, we will still need shelters. People move/lose jobs/die unexpectedly. Pets slip out doors and dig under fences. Some pets end up living as ferals while others are born into it. Life is untidy. Just as there will always be a need in society to look after homeless/orphaned/lost children, the elderly and the handicapped, so will we need to look after pets.

And someone will work at one of those shelters and believe it is a "kindness" or a "necessity" to kill a healthy/treatable pet. When we have replaced all of those shelter workers with compassionate people who embrace the idea of no kill, when every community has implemented the No Kill Equation, when we stop blaming the public for the atrocity of killing shelter pets, when we learn to judge less and understand more - then the killing will stop. Not in a fantasy world but in real life. Not in some distant future but in our lifetime. It could happen today. We are a humane society and a no kill nation of pet lovers. Join us.

Lying about No Kill on the Web: A Tutorial

How to spread myths about no kill shelters on the internet:

1. Compile a list of the most common lies spread by those opposed to the no kill movement
2. Turn around and list them as facts
3. Frame your article as if you are "dispelling some myths" when you are actually perpetuating them.
4. Voila - Mission Accomplished!

Truth.

If Only in My Dreams

I hope one Christmas to be thinking about all the shelter pets in this country who are waiting for their future families to find them because we don't kill homeless pets anymore, we adopt them out. But that won't be this year.

From North Carolina:

When Brunswick County Health Department officials began considering whether to buy a new gas chamber to euthanize animals the county couldn't adopt, they knew they wanted one large enough for the shelter's largest animal cages.

A small chamber, Health Director Don Yousey said, would mean that at least some of the animals would have to be forced into the enclosure with a choke stick, a situation that would have been unnecessarily traumatic for both the condemned animal and the person charged with ending its life.

[...]

The need to euthanize animals because there are no homes for them is an unpleasant reality, but a reality nevertheless.

The "unpleasant reality" is that shelter pets are needlessly killed due to a widespread myth of pet overpopulation.

The Brunswick County animal shelter, for instance, takes in about 6,000 dogs and cats a year, Yousey said. Of those, about 5,000 must be euthanized because they are sick, injured, vicious, feral or just can't find humans to adopt them before their waiting time runs out.

That's an 83% kill rate. I believe Brunswick Co has forfeited its right to call its pet killing facility a "shelter".

The shelter uses both lethal injection and carbon monoxide poisoning, depending on the age of the animal and its physical condition as well as the potential safety risks to shelter workers. Puppies and kittens don't die well in gas chambers, and animals with respiratory problems might suffer needlessly there, so they get lethal injections, Yousey said.

Puppies and kittens don't die well in gas chambers. How annoying of them.

"A lot of animals we get down there, they are terrified with you being around, just because you're human," said David Stanley, the health department's director of environmental services[...]

Maybe they're terrified of you because you're not human. Maybe they are frightened by the stench of death in your slaughterhouse "shelter". Maybe they have seen their neighbors get dragged by "choke sticks" into the gas chamber and heard them scream as they struggle against the carbon monoxide.

"It's a horrible job," he said. "It's a thankless job. [Shelter workers] hate it."

You want to be thanked? Try directing your resources toward saving the pets you are supposed to be sheltering and not toward buying a super sized gas chamber.

We are a humane society of pet lovers. Join us.

No Kill Action Alert for MN Residents

From my inbox, sent by the Animal Ark Online Community:

Following a report that the Animal Humane Society is violating Minnesota law by failing to hold all stray animals for the required 5 day period, Minnesota residents are being asked to contact members of their city councils to demand they enforce the law.

The Animal Humane Society contracts with nearly 2 dozen cities in and around the Twin Cities metro area (complete list is here). Furthermore, the Animal Humane Society accepts stray animals from private citizens whether or not they are the designated impound center.

Documented cases of have shown that Animal Humane Society will kill stray animals, without scanning them for microchips, without listing them in their lost & found system, and without providing possible owners any opportunity reclaim their pets. In one documented case, a heathy stray kitten was killed within 5 minutes of arrival at the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley.

In another case, the guardian of a group of cats arrived within hours of them being brought to the Animal Humane Society shelter in Woodbury. But the cats were already dead.

Residents are urged to contact the members of their city council and demand that they enforce the law. Additionally, everyone is asked to share this story with other residents in MN.

So long as Animal Humane Society continues to violate state, none of our pets are safe.

No Kill Gift Giving: Outside the Box

My local no kill shelter, Animal Protection League of SC, has a wonderful gift idea for the pet loving friends and family on your Christmas list. From their newsletter:

Honor Loved Ones This Holiday Season with a Black Pearl Gift

Make a donation in someone’s honor or memory, and we will send your gift for you.

The APL holiday sponsorship program is focusing once again this year on our Black Pearls—those beautiful, lovable black dogs and cats who end up in shelters across the country in disproportionate numbers and who are statistically more likely to be euthanized than their brown, gray, orange, white, or mottled counterparts.

The APL has worked for years to draw attention to the plight of our own Black Pearls. In 2007, we even won a grant from Maddie’s Fund for dramatically reducing the black cat and dog population at our shelter through adoption.

By giving Black Pearl gifts this holiday season, you can honor or memorialize a loved one, bring attention to the plight of these precious animals, and support the mission of the APL—all at once!

This year, we have two Black Pearl gift options: for a donation of $50 or more, we will send your honoree either a two-toned cotton tote bag (19" x 15" x 6") with the Black Pearl logo printed on both sides or a shirt, black or white, with an embroidered Black Pearl logo in the contrasting color. Each gift comes with a letter explaining the Black Pearl program.

To honor or memorialize someone, fill out the sponsorship form and mail it in along with your donation. Order by December 19 to ensure local delivery by Christmas. Out-of-town deliveries may take longer.

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Another swell gift idea comes from Pets Alive, a no kill shelter in NY:

Want to give someone the gift of a dog this holiday season, without the responsibility of feeding, walking, and cleaning up after the dog? Did you know that shelters fill up in January with puppies and kittens that have been abandoned by people who can't handle the responsibility of caring for them?

We have the answer. With GiveADog you can give someone you love the joy of following one of our rescued dogs on his or her journey from being alone in a shelter or foster home to the Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary facility to his or her forever home.

The person who receives your gift gets a thank you card and when they choose their dog, a beautiful certificate announcing that they have saved that dog.

They also get an account at GiveADog where they can go to follow the progress of their dog. Once or twice a week they will get email updates about their dog as he or she embarks on the journey to a forever home. Their personal page has the current status of their dog, pictures of their dog, notes about their dog and a place to communicate with us about their dog. They can even see videos of their dog.

I love hearing about innovative ways no kill shelters help pets all year round. If you hear of others, please share.