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

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orange County Animal Services Sheltering Practices and Philosophies 72 may not always be necessary to choose between preventing animal suffering and preventing animal deaths: it will be passible to do both, A Shelter of Hope For All Animals But meeting a shelter or community's goal of reduced euthanasia while also preventing suffering is no small task, It requires interagency cooperation, a thorough examination of services to ensure that precious resources are not spent on duplicating one another's work, and, most of all, a guarantee that animals deemed "unadoptable° for health or behavioral reasons are still taken care of- provided with compassionate care, adequate food, comfortable housing, and humane euthanasia, As long as there is refuge for all animals in need, there is room for the fostering group that only takes in poodles or the limited-admission shelter that specializes in cats; these organizations can be valuable pieces of the puzzle, But if an animal protection group does not actually accept all animals who come to its doors, it must at least be supportive, both publicly and privately, of the organization that does, Providing refuge to homeless animals is the mainstay of the Humane Society at Lollypop Farm's mission, But even as an open-admission oasis for all creatures great, small, treatable, and unadoptable, the Rochester, New York, organization is still setting high goals for the future. Already at a point where staff never have to euthanize healthy puppies, the humane society has rejected "no kill" terminology and instead nicknamed itself a "Shelter of Hope," Aiming to reach the end of euthanasia of healthy, adoptable dogs within the next few years, the shelter first has some formidable hurdles to overcome: an impoverished inner city where dogfighting and cruelty are rampant, and surrounding farmlands where dogs are frequently left neglected at the ends of chains and people have a much more utilitarian attitude towards animals. Yet the shelter's spay/neuter, education, behavior, and animal care programs have helped lower the euthanasia rate in recent years. "There are still huge problems and big issues to deal with," says President Jim Tedford, "but if I didn't think it was ultimately fixable, then I'd probably throw in the towel," To Tedford, fixing the problem involves more than his own community; even if his shelter reaches "zero euthanasia," he won't consider the battle won until the counties surrounding him achieve the same results, and the counties surrounding them achieve the same results, and so on. He doesn't limit his approach toward ending animal homelessness to just cats and dogs, either: The day of Animal Sheltering's interview with Tedford, his office was also occupied by three chatty birds, a hyperactive pooch, and a wild weasel who'd been caught harassing the shelter's fowl; his plans for the afternoon included helping his staff rescue 50 neglected goats from a goat hoarder. It's a comic image, but the sad reality is that many species are left out of plans to end animal homelessness; domesticated birds, rodents, and farm animals may