Fwd: Redemption & Betrayal

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20 A

Shelter Director's Story of Redemption &

Betrayal  "I

slid a beautiful 4-year old, neutered yellow lab into a plastic bag. I

remember removing his green collar and knew that I could NEVER be

responsible for nor participate in anything like that again and it ended

right then and there."

 The

Fiction: “We recognize that all stakeholders in the

animal welfare community have a passion for and are dedicated to the mutual

goal of saving animals' lives.” (Asilomar Accords, 2004.)The Fact: "The truth is we are

not a unified movement, nor are we even the same movement... No Kill

advocates, on the one hand, and kill-oriented traditionalists, on the

other, are on a collision course. It is my hope that No Kill will be fully

embraced by everyone because the animals deserve it and the public wants

it. Achieving it, however, is not likely to happen while the current

leaders of most shelters and national organizations continue to hold the

positions or promote the views that they do. In the end, a No Kill nation

will require replacement of the old guard

with committed animal advocates

passionate about saving lives and deeply committed to the No Kill

enterprise." (From Redemption:

The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America,

2007.)Above, an officer at Los Angeles

County Department of Animal Care & Control kicks

a dog who is inhumanely restrained with a catch pole, a device which

wraps a hard wire noose around the dog's neck. Another officer looks

on, but does nothing. Note the filthy conditions of the

room.In King County

Animal Control in the Seattle, WA area, animals languish in pain

and without food or water. In North Carolina, they are cruelly

killed. In Texas, in Missouri, in California, and elsewhere, there is

filth

and disease and neglect. It is the same story in many communities

across the country.  This is a former Ohio

shelter director's similar story of redemption and

betrayal:I spent almost a year as the director of the local so

called "humane" society... I came into a high kill shelter and in

one month stopped all the killing of dogs and ran a no kill for space

county shelter... It was much easier than I ever woul

d have thought. There is only one "product" in a shelter and they

were killing it. What kind of business dumps their product into a plastic

bag?... The more I saved the more people reached out to help. Rescues made

huge efforts to help. Transports were set to run to areas in the country

where there were less dogs to adopt.... People put these dogs in their cars

and drove them across the country to loving, forever homes. This was the

same energy and dedication I saw when I was in New Orleans working with the

Katrina dogs. If you do the right thing, good things will

follow. I had been asked to come into

the shelter to save it from financial ruin. I own my own business, and they

wanted someone to approach it from a business standpoint. It was interim -

they said three months. It [lasted] 10 months. It was easy to see that no

business would survive in an environment of killing. The first time I was

in the vet room when they were [killing], I slid a beautiful 4-year old,

neutered yellow lab into a plastic bag. I remember removing his green

collar and knew that I could NEVER be responsible for nor participate in

anything like that again and it ended right then and there.I painted the shelter bright colors... and hung

massive ferns down the isles in the kennels. When you came into the shelter

it looked good, it smelled good and it

gave the message that this was a

place of hope not death. I had people drive hundreds of miles to adopt a

lab mix, come from DC to adopt a Siamese cat, etc. Yet, the Board was dismayed. When I would proudly announce

that only 4 dogs had lost their lives in the shelter in the month of

January it was obvious that it made no difference to them if I said 4 or 40

or 400. They fought me every step of the way. [The Board] did not want me

to say that we were a no kill for space country shelter. They even went so

far as to say that I was somehow altering the records... I didn't even

keep them. They were kept by the manager of the shelter which was part of

the old regime and was to become the future director. The day I walked out

the door, they slid right back into their own ways. I left with 9 dogs

scheduled for a transport set for CT. They never even put the dogs on the

transport, and all but 2 dogs were killed instead of finding their way to

safety. I have spent several years

totally perplexed as to why or how this could happen. Why wouldn't

everyone want a shelter that didn't kill? Why wouldn't all these

"animal lovers" want to be part of this? This was not a

competition. This didn't make me better or them worse. This was a

win/win situation for everyone - especially the dogs... Reading Redemption

has brought me an understanding of the situation, the magnitude of

situation and the conviction to move forward. [Our community] has so many

animal lovers, spay/neuter organizations, a medical assistance organization

and rescues. We need to pool our energy, our resources and our brain power

and find a way to start our own no kill facility...Although short lived, when I first went into the shelter I

took the lives of animals that I was there to protect. As an avid animal

lover I will have to live with that action. It took me one time to stop - I

don't care if you've done it thousands of time - you can stop. You

can stop by just stopping. If you refuse to kill them and you can't

have them piled to the ceiling, then you have no option but to find ways to

get them out. We never give ourselves enough credit for the power each of

us has within. Sometimes we are the most shocked of all when we accomplish

such a major task. Shelter workers

will never know what power they have to save if they continue to

kill...It is time that we who take the

lives of animals and the millions of supports of these so called

"humane" societies, shelters, etc., take full responsibility for

our actions -- stop the killing and work for change. There is no differen

ce

between the person that sticks the needle into the animal and the person

who gives the money to buy the drug that goes into the needle, that goes

into and kills the animal. People need to realize that when you donate to

your local humane society or shelter that you are helping to kill more

animals than you are saving (unless you are the fortunate few that has a no

kill for space shelter)... There are

millions of pet owners and lovers in this country. We can do

this!!! The power to change the status quo is in your

hands. Get informed: Read Building a No Kill Community.

Be thorough: Follow the step-by-step guide Reforming Animal Control. Be

successful: Use the proven model of the No

Kill Equation. Don’t settle: Demand

endorsement of the U.S.

No Kill Declaration. Require accountability:

Seek passage of the Companion

Animal Protection Act.  A No Kill

nation is within our reach 

=2

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