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

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Orange County Animal Services Sheltering Practices and Philosophies 5.3 remember, but also to have words that meant something that actually everyone could relate to." In addition to the name change, the composition of presenters at the event continues to diversify. Of the 50-plus seminars on the roster for this summer's conference, a large portion are being led by people from animal care and control agencies and other shelters that take in all animals but have not signed on to the "no kill" lingo, "They have pieces that we can all learn from," says Faro. "But we continue to have the red carpet out for anybody that's doing a good job at something, and it doesn't have to have 'no kill' in the title or even be representative of the 'no kill' movement, [If] it's something that saves lives-and we're finding that there's more progress being made across the board-we want to include that," On the local level, the centrist shift has manifested itself in tentative baby steps toward a middle ground, At the Bucks County SPCA, for example, Irwin has shared resources with a "no kill" fostering organization, offering to house some of its cats in the cages that go empty in the winter, After 30 years in the field, Irwin knows that in the end, her organization and its animals will be helped more than hurt by these arrangements, "I think if we hadn't been willing to work with some of these groups," she says, "it would be too easy for us to be just this nameless, scary organization that people don't even want to call, "The `na kill' organizations and the other organizations have got to learn to work side by side," says Irwin. "It kind of means you have to be thick-skinned, I know that the members of the 'no kill' group that works with us and has placed some animals with our help still refer to us as a `kill' shelter. But I've just got to let that roll past me and figure that if we can work together on something, then we will make more progress than fighting it out-because I don't think the general public understands animal welfare groups fighting." Let's stop focusing so much on labels, says Kirkpatrick, and capitalize on all the good that's been achieved and is yet to come, The bond that ties mast people together in this field-a mutual desire to do what is right for all creatures-is much stronger than the rifts that divide, Kirkpatrick is practicing what she preaches, too; when she receives calls from people wanting to start "no kill" groups, she encourages them to find out how they can help their local shelters instead. "Other humane organizations are not our competition, They are our allies," she says. "The puppy mills, the backyard breeders, and the pet stores-there's my competition. That's the people I want shut down. The only way to do that is to make sure animals shelters all aver the country are the number-one resources for communities to get their next beloved pet,"