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

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Arange County Animal Services Sheltering Practices and Philosophies 4'7 heartbreak when they find out that yes, we do have to put animals down. ,.. So we've kind of gone on to tell people, `Look, we do everything possible to make sure that the animal is going to get a home and have a good quality of life, but there are times when we have to make a decision when the quality of life of an animal is not what it needs to be. Then we are going to have to put an animal down.' I think that's important for people to know up front." We All Want to Be "No Kill" l)nderstandably, people tend to believe first what is easiest to digest and absorb; those relinquishers who have any sort of attachments to their animals will of course be comforted by the idea that it's possible to find every cat and dog a home, Even if the phrase "no kill" had never entered the collective conscience, the fantasy notion that euthanasia can end just because one wills it to would persist, In Theresa Bruner's West Virginia community, far example, the all-volunteer Taylor County Humane Society has increased the county facility's adoption rate from zero to 35 percent in nine months; by helping the part-time dog warden clean, feed, socialize, and place the animals, the group has completely changed the plight of homeless animals in its community. It is not a "no kill" organization, however, and has never promoted the phrase, Yet the perception of the humane society as "the good guys" is often equated with the idea of "no euthanasia" by people in the community, "They call me, they think that by giving up the dog, it's a sure bet that the dog is going to be saved," says Bruner, "I'm saying, 'You know, that's not right, What you guys need to realize is that we may be at 35 percent, but there's still 65 percent of the dogs going down,' " It would be tempting for someone in Bruner's situation to tell people what they want to hear, abdicating responsibility by saying her group has a 1 QQ-percent adoption rate; after all, all the animals technically "belong" to the county, and the humane society has no legal accountability for them, But that would give the false perception that animal homelessness has everything to do with the organization in charge and little to do with societal ills, perpetuating the culture of blame that runs counter to the community spirit Bruner's group has been trying to engender. Besides, animal advocates in Taylor County have more immediate concerns: Before the new all-volunteer humane society arrived on the scene last year, the county facility didn't even have running water; the dog warden had to carry buckets into the building from a tank outside, "I think 'no kill' is wonderful, and I think everyone would aspire to that., ,., But we can't all be that way," says Bruner. "Let's don't get into little pockets of pointing fingers at this person because they are, or this group because they aren't-because everyone can't be." Ganay Johnson thought her shelter could be when its board decided to go "no kill" in 1995; after all, the Humane Society of Gallatin Valley in Bozeman,