Agenda - 09-19-2006-7b - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

orange County Animal Services Sheltering Practices and Philosophies 2Q killing animals is an act of kindness, something we do as a favor to them in order to put them out of their "misery," without regard to whether they are suffering or not, "It's an impossible, almost schizophrenic situation," one commentator wrote. "Shelter workers themselves spend half their time protecting animals and the other half killing them," And in the end, the goal of creating a truly humane society was pushed aside by the day-to-day ordeal of intake and disposition of dogs and cats in shelters across the country. And hope far the future was replaced with despair. And then despair turned to anger. The humane movement began to blame the very people it needed to embrace in order to effect change. Shelters across the country enacted laws that put a stranglehold on the community-pet limits, registries, even laws making it a crime to feed stray cats. As a result, compassion became control. And animals-the healthy and treatable side-by-side with the hopelessly ill-died in shelters by the millions, To cope with the deaths, shelters built walls to protect themselves. They assured themselves that there was no other way. They generated innovative workshops to help shelter employees "cope" with "euthanasia," But innovation that would change the status quo got lost in the now-all-too-familiar cliche that there were just "too many animals, and not enough homes," It is time to recapture our roots The No Kill Movement In 1994, the City of San Francisco broke this tradition and ushered in the modern "No Kill" movement, The San Francisco SPCA guaranteed a home to every healthy dog and cat who entered the shelter system, But ten years after San Francisco's groundbreaking accomplishment, only one other community has so far achieved that elusive goal, In 2001, Tompkins County, New York became the second community in the nation to guarantee a home to all healthy, homeless dogs and cats, And in 2002, Tompkins County went one step further by saving 100% of sick and injured treatable animals and 100% of feral cats - 93% of all dogs and cats entering their open door animal control facility. It repeated that historic achievement in 2003, earning national acclaim as the community with the lowest per capita euthanasia rate in the United States. At the same time, it closed a budget deficit more than doubled the average gift, drastically increased membership, finished with operating surpluses, all while maintaining its animal control contracts and responsibilities. Since then, many other shelters, cities and towns have also announced ambitious plans to become No Kill communities, but many more are mired in defeatism, convinced that there is nothing we can do, One shelter administrator