Quite some time ago there was a bit of braggadocio that " people sure were watching Washoe County " Well yes they are, and what they are seeing does not favor Winograd's No Kill. And since Austin is following that model under Pet's Alive, it's under observation too..
When the No Kill Movement holds a community up as the model they are trying to sell to another city, they should be prepared for the beleaguered city to take a good hard look at that " model". Below is a comment from a faithful reader who's shelter has been under attack for some time now . All across the country shelters are being harassed, it's time we see what the bully is wearing under the many masks...
"I cannot believe the blind faith in the Internet and the pretty picture it paints of The No Kill Movement.
There are hard questions that the movement does not answer and is not looking to solve or even acknowledge.
Where the numbers lie, and the information drops off as a positive live outcome.
It is described that at Nevada Humane Society 25% of the people that come in to surrender their pet leave with their pet after a trip to the help desk. The help desk which offers resources to food pantries, spay/neuter, discounted vet and behavior assistance. While all of those things are good it doesn't change that the animals were just turned away with zero follow up that the animal was kept. Please note that in NHS is allowed to be in the building owned by Washoe County and the municipal side where strays are take in the intake has gone up dramatically, I fear that owners are turning in their pets as strays when turned away by the helpdesk.
Foster Homes: This is another great help to the animals. But when you have 900 foster homes it seems that fostering is viewed as an outcome and that is where the information dies. Yet, the actual final outcome is solely on the foster to find a home, advertise and market the pet etc. Where this came to light was when reading craigslist ads begging for people to take their fosters because the shelter would not take them back regardless of aggression, or any other number of other reasons. Euthanasia has been the outcome of many of the animals in foster. Also, these fosters are left on their own and often end up keeping the animal not because they are bonded or wanted the animal, but simply because this isn't a working program it is a category for an positive outcome not a program that ensures finding forever homes.
Also, the Nevada Humane Society is a No Kill shelter, but it is not a No Kill community. As stated by the movement "one No Kill Humane Society does not a No Kill Community make."
Another positive outcome are their feral cat program. Which when done properly can assist a community committed to No Kill, but at NHS the program is a release program of feral cats without caretakers. Without Caretakers? That is abandonment not trap, neuter, return as is described by National Organizations like Alley Cat Allies that advocate for feral cat colonies.
I believe No Kill can work, but this branded version, that resembles a cult, with neither follow up nor follow through of their positive outcomes seems to only be positive on paper not in reality.
The No Kill movement needs to stop ignoring its internal problems and review the communities it is spouting as successes on-line. Nevada's NHS is a far cry from what the Internet portrays.
These are only a few of the issues to get you thinking beyond what you have been fed online. I can only tell you that I have been stonewalled when I have sought answers to these problems and been slammed with No Kill rhetoric that talks in circles and does not acknowledge the real life circumstances that are being experienced by those working in the trenches of a No Kill shelter."
Pictured is Miss Priss on her grooming bench, waiting to be prettied up
A brief disclaimer this blogger does not support / endorse TNR under any circumstances, but is in favor of subsidized spay/neuter for owned cats.
1 comment:
Before I forget, why don't you put the Rose story under Oreo's pearls ? That is to good to get pushed down. I have been reading the Daphna story about the white GSD and the whole peta thing. You shouldn't read to much of that it will rot your brain. Not the peta, the comments. I don't have peta on a pedestal, but they do get things done, and how Winograd can all anyone crazy is way beyond me. Of course I am curious about what shelter director wrote this, but then it could be any of dozens. The " Reno model" as they call it has been outted on Craigslist to long and even if they try to put a damper on the negative comments they are out there. King county rocks on. I wanted to offer a hand out to that shelter, hang on, When NHS publicly fails, and it's near that, Winograd will finally be exposed. Did you see he put a virus on his blog trying to get his " enemies " Don't know if the feason was true but the virus was there.
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