Good evening, Felinity Assembled, for anyone who missed the start of this series, you can read it here.
Well, there was a reason for no post, yesterday, and I'm afraid I'm partly to blame.
Daddy got us some new toys, and Elvira, & I were testing them out, but something else has been happening for a few weeks now, but Daddy didn't notice until yesterday, and Daddy was so pre-occupied with his camera that I couldn't find time to do some blogging!
Daddy noticed that I, Geezer Central, was friskily playing chase, and wrasslin', with, Elvira, even Talking Smack back with the Sassy Young Thang along the way.
Look, I can't explain it either, but there WILL be pictures of all this, non-journalistic, behavior, don't worry. :-D
Anyway, to continue with this series....
I want to share something about the beginnings of the No-Kill Movement, before moving on to the event happening in Toronto, and those involved, plus some other links we have long had in the sidebar, after that.
Before the 1990's it wasn't all just about city, and county, shelters, and expensive vets, the business of killing, and disuading the growth of low cost clinics, and adoptions.
There have been Rescues around for decades, and attempts at low cost healthcare for pets, even efforts at the care of Feral Colonies.
But, a Movement, with real teeth in it, has to have its start someplace, and that place was at an SPCA in San Francisco.
Nathan J. Winograd, in his book Redemption, tells the fascinating story of how an agency that was killing most of the 20,000 Dogs & Cats it impounded every year, during the 1970's, became the birthplace of the No Kill Movement we know today.
The national organizations such as the Humane Society, ASPCA, and even PETA, were not on board with what began in San Francisco.
When Richard Avanzino too over the SFSPCA, in 1976, Shelters were not known to proactively reach out to those Humans willing to Foster care pets elegible for adoption,, rescue groups, stores, and other, it was mostly about killing the inmates, even if they were healthy.
At the time there was a successful low cost spay/neuter program in LA, and this gave Avanzino some food for hought.
He wanted to take the idea further, much further.
He believed it was most important to get pet lovers to adopt from shelters, not stores, or backyard breeders, so he set about finding ways to make his shelter better serve the public...and the animals that came into his lock-up.
He began a program of fixing the inmates BEFORE putting them up for adoption, thus slowly begining to cut the numbers of animals being killed in his shelter.
He developed a volunteer foster care system, and began holding adoption events all over town, and changed the hours the shelter was open making it easier for wroking people to visit.
Over the initial decade he created other lifesaving programs, all the while openly going against 100 years of standard practices, and beliefs, about "How things were done".
A lot of very powerful people, and interests, nationwide, were less than pleased, and far from convinced, about the rightness of his methods, despite the enthusiasm of the general public.
In 1988 Avanzino signed one final Animal Control contract with the city, and then cut the cord completely.
He walked away from $1.8 million in annual shelter income.
His staff walked away from HIM, and went to work for the city shelter, displaying an open dislike for his methods, by doing so.
San Francisco also had various rescues, and a non-profit vet hospital, and the fresh start by the SFSPCA signaled the opening salvo of a possible new way of doing things.
Things began to really change, in 1993 and 1994, with an Adoption Pact with the city shelter that led to all healthy Dogs & Cats not adopted out by the city, or claimed by owners, being sent to the SPCA, instead of being killed.
It took a lot of public education, and eventual enthusiastic support, to get the Animal Welfare Commission, and city shelter leaders, to sign on.
San Francisco became what Winograd calls "the safest urban community for homeless pets in the United States."
While his wasn't actually the first No Kill Shelter Avanzino's efforts brought the idea to serious national attention for the first time.
In 1997 Avanzino wrote, "what is unconscionable, abominable, and outrageous is that animals, healthy, and well-behaved, are being killed because someone says there are too many. That is something we do not accept. That is somehing we find intolerable."
Sadly, there is no happy aftermath to his tenure...Those who came after him dismantled many of the programs that he'd set up.
However, once the so called "Cat" was let out of the bag, others began to pet it, and the idea of No Kill began to take on the trappings of a full fledged Movement, a direct challenge to the disturbing fact that the killing of healthy, unwanted Cats, & Dogs, in shelters, was the leading cause of death for Cats and Dogs, in America.
(QUOTES ON THE PLAQUES: "My Cat is an Angel from Heaven above, with sandpaer kisses, & a heart fill of love", and "Cats Leave Paw Prints on your heart.")
I want to now share some quotes I found in Mr. Winograd's books, quotes from those associated with organizations uninformed Humans think are there to save Homeless Cats, and Dogs.
It really makes one think, when you read these words:
"Ownerless animals must be destroyed, it is as simple as that." - Dr. John B. DeHoff, Baltimore Health Commission, at the Proceedings of the Nat. Conf. on Dog and Cat Control, in 1976.
The Humane Society of the US has called the mass slaughter of Feral Cats in Shelters, "the only practical and humane solution."
They have claimed Cats are a public rabies threat, claimed that "Free-roaming Cats kill millions of wild animals every year", and are causing "conflicts among the neighbors!"
Roger Caras, ASPCA President once called what happened in San Francisco "More hoax than fact", and continued to put his foot in his mouth by claiming the success was due to all the Homosexuals in town, claiming that "the Gay Comminity is traditionally the most animal friendly."
Ohhhkaaaayyy...
Perpetuating the myth of pet over-population is an industry in itself.
As Mr. Winograd writes, "By defining and controlling the language used to describe No Kill" groups mired in the philosphy of killing are attempting to control the perception of it."
As Elvira, & I read his books, and check out various websites, we are learning what No Kill means from those active in the movement, and who run such facilities.
It is quite eye-opening, especially if all you are used to hearing about is not very positive about the idea.
Besides the books by Winograd, I will be telling you, in a future post, about a website that documents a whole lot more of what the Humane Society has said, and done, and continues to say, and do, that is far from friendly toward Felinity Assembled.
That there are animal activists that support the traditional shelter way of doing things, and traditional shelters that do a lot of good within their community, as far as education, adoption, and health, shows that there is a long way to go before No Kill becames the accepted norm.
Some of the best material in both of Mr. Winograd's books, "Redemption: The Myth of Pet overpolulation and the No Kill Revolution in America", and Irreconcilable Differences: The Battle for the Heart and Soul of America's Animal Shelters", can be found in their Appendixes: various declarations, proposed animal protection laws, a No Kill Shelter Blueprint, and a bibliography with a list of articles, you can maybe find online, and books, to read to further educate yourself, and your Human.
Next up = FNN SPECIAL REPURRT: The No Kill Animal Shelter Revolution 4
A quite interesting blog, thanks for sharing your experience.
Posted by: veterinarian orange county | June 28, 2012 at 12:02 AM