Another Day At The County Commission

Outsourcing Washoe County Regional Animal Services
to Nevada Humane Society
"Marsha, thank you for your interest in hearing from NHS about the possibility of operating animal services for Washoe County on a contract basis. "
Summary
This document identifies benefits and considerations regarding the outsourcing of Washoe County Regional Animal Services (WCRAS) functions to Nevada Humane Society (NHS).
Background  :
Historically, many cities and counties choose to outsource animal services for their community to a local humane society or SPCA. Recently, local governments have increasingly looked to privatization or outsourcing of a number of community services in an effort to address the reduction in revenue caused by the recent economic challenges. (The cities who have done this have experience 200% budget increases, some even higher.) The increased cost of medical care is stunning.
Outsourcing of animal services is generally chosen for two reasons:
· Public perception most members of the public feel that a humane society or SPCA has both the appropriate animal care expertise along with the best interest of the animals in mind which often times reduces public concerns and complaints to government officials. (I will be happy to provide you with links to failed partnerships that have left agencies nearly bankrupt) NHS lost almost 6 million dollars in 4 years through deficit spending. These figures are available on the 990”s and the county needs to start being responsible for who it allows to “ partner”using the County name.
· Cost Savings—These private organizations can generally provide this necessary public service at a lower cost, There is no cost savings, again, happy to provide names and links to jurisdictions that have suffered fiscally from trying to run a shelter like a sanctuary, think Lieds Nevada) in part due to the overlapping nature of services with their own work and also the lowering of employee costs. (The first choice for cost saving is leaving cats on the streets, this creates a health and welfare issue) Please read Hillsborough County Veterinary Association sues county to prevent TNR)

In Washoe County (WC), the animal services functions have been regionalized and in part, are already outsourced to NHS. Under the current agreement with NHS, WCRAS has responsibility for field operations and the sheltering of stray animals while NHS has responsibility for owner surrendered animals, including their housing, veterinary care and the handling of all pet adoption services for WC. This has enabled the county to save resources by outsourcing services which is traditionally an integral part of providing animal services to a community.

(With the little respect that’s due, NHS has held the shelter portion of the duties, they have failed to accept owner surrendered animals on many occasions and violated the contract. They also imported “ small highly desirable dogs (their words) from Las Vegas while turning away Washoe county residents who needed to surrender an animal. Using the shelter.holding portion of any Animal Control Agency as a Sanctuary is not the best use of resources.)

The two parties share a facility on Longley Lane that was constructed in 2005 and occupied in February 2006. NHS paid $4.5 million toward the cost of building the county-owned facility, essentially paying rent in advance and enabling the county to lower the amount financed for this needed facility. (Per a management level former NHS employee that amount was reduced to a little over 2 million and has not been paid, it’s being paid in increments,) Additionally, NHS pays 58% of the maintenance and utilities for the ongoing operation of the shared facility, though NHS does not always have control over the expense decisions that are made. (58% is the percentage of the facility that is designated for NHS operations.) (The internal audit did not find that NHS was timely in their payments, nor have they been good tenants. Their portion of the building is overcrowded which translate to overworked therefore needing more maintenance and driving up costs. Animals are kept in areas designed for humans, when the walls are ripped out the County is doing the maintenance. Please read the Audit thoroughly and I will be happy to provide you with statistics if needed, or copies of comments made by the Assessment team.
This community is extremely animal-friendly with nearly 10,000 residents adopting pets each year from Nevada Humane Society and an additional 1,000 annual pet adoptions occurring in the community from the SPCA of Northern Nevada. Citizens voted by a substantial majority to tax themselves to create this partnership between WCRAS and NHS at a time when other proposals were voted down. (As a person who worked my butt off on the ballot initiative I can tell you it was never meant to create this travesty, of cat lined hallways and multiple dogs to a kennel It was built to create a healthier less crowded environment for animals and staff)
While we need to respect the public’s commitment to this cause and maintain the support for animal services in the community, we also need to find ways to reduce the tax burden to local taxpayers. For the past few years, please see audit, NHS has “ borrowed” from the WCRAS side of the building, we have subsidized them through using our software at no charge. TNHS would “borrow” medications and other supplies, lots of other supplies. The NHS part on Chameleon should have been $12,500 per year. They quit paying but continued to access the software. The owner surrender euthanasia they refused, were done on the County side at Taxpayer expense including the cremation or rendering charges, as appropriate. ) This proposal offers a way to accomplish both of these goals.
Advantages
Cost savings—Overall program cost would be reduced by:
· Eliminating redundancies in administrative staffing costs. (What redundancy? The County is not paying NHS Staff, although the County is picking up a lot of NHS slack)
· Streamlining shelter operations by combining similar functions/services for greater efficiencies. (For example, currently operating two admissions/intake rooms—front and back on both sides of the facility.) (There are no “ similar functions” owned dogs are property and treated as such, they must be handled differently than owner surrenders which can be adopted or put down at once. Strays have to be held 5 days in a single run because the county can get sued into the next century if they let my dog get hurt)
· Eliminating duplicate record-keeping, data entry, and paperwork generated in duplicate, which is substantial given that currently thousands of animals are entered into and dispositioned out of two systems. (This no savings, NHS pays for their record keeping which serves a different animal population than what is served at WCRAS)
· Making bulk purchases and obtaining quantity discounts on materials and supplies. (It Costs NHS nothing to beg for food on Craigslist, County feeds a quality product based on the needs of shelter animals, no savings at all to the County from this.)
· Dramatically improving overall efficiency, the flow/ability to move animals, through better use of space and ability to make decisions more quickly. The use of space in the NHS side of the building is in conflict with the air exchange set up, and floor space requirement outlined in NRS, We don’t need their space, they need ours. Kennels would very quickly fill up and be putting owned dogs at risk through overcrowding and allowing volunteers access to owned animals)
· Creating enhanced operational flexibility for the future which would significantly reduce the likelihood that additional shelter space would be needed to be constructed as a result of future community/animal population growth. (Humane euthanasia of unadoptable animals will allow this building to last out the 30 years we planned when we did the ballot, NHS keeping of dangerous and sick dogs is what will cause a need for a bigger warehouse.
· Eliminating current communication concerns which cause frustration and inefficiencies for citizens, government officials and the two parties. (The only “ communication concerns I have seen have been the unwillingness of NHS to honor the Interlocal and SOP agreements) NHS admits in many forums they do not take all owner surrenders, nor will they accept doa, or owner request euthanasia, this burden goes on the taxpayer)
· Preserving the fund balance for building and fleet maintenance. Current management is rapidly spending this down. (NHS had the use of a spay neuter van purchased by the county to be used by both agencies with a split maintenance agreement, they never paid maintenance and sold the Spay Neuter van and bought an “ adoption Van” The County did not get part of the money from the sale. Our fleet is old and long past time for replacement. Under Mr. Schneider we were given funding for “ hard spending” and Mitch bought a big fancy” boy toy” Not the new trucks we needed on a daily basis. It’s like we are driving a 20-year-old Honda civic to work and Dad buys a $70,000 RV. That left this administration with the job of purchasing much needed work vehicles.
Improved Customer Service for the Public―including:
· Extended hours for lost-pet redemption (evenings, weekends, most holidays and into the evening hours), which would increase redemptions and citizen satisfaction, decrease length of stay, and lower costs. (Several national studies have shown that expanding hours for redeeming pets has not increased return to owner, I am on 30 forums with professionals all across the country as well as national agencies.)
· Simplification of services where citizens would only need to deal with one entity when it comes to reporting or seeking help with animal concerns. This would reduce citizen confusion and frustration. ) What would simply service is if NHS would honor the contract and take owner surrenders, perform the agreed to euthanasia and pay their bills, again 990’s are your friend.)
· Enhanced benefits from more consistent use of proactive programs to address common problems that citizens experience, such as excessive barking, intact roaming dogs, neighbor issues, containment of dogs that repeatedly escape, free-roaming cats, low-cost spay/neuter assistance, and veterinary care needs when pet owners cannot afford it. (This has got to be a pitch for the “ help desk” commonly know to respectable shelter directors as the deterrent desk. The only spay neuter they provide is for feral cats and that is in violation of state vaccination laws and Dr. Kate Hurley answered in her seminar at NHS that “ they just flew under the radar” with that one, so it’s not like compliance is big on their agenda. )

Potential Challenge
Washoe County would have to find suitable placement or lay off approximately 30 employees. Current staff could be given preference in NHS's hiring, however, with the pay differential; some may not be interested in this opportunity. If the county shifted the employees wouldn’t that negate any “ savings” how dumb is that.. And we are going to let volunteers run a 14 million dollar building? )



Financial Overview
In reviewing WCRAS budget documents; it appears the current budget for the animal services program is approximately $4.8 million, which is believed to be $674,000 in excess of current revenues. It is assumed that this overage will be addressed by utilizing the program's existing fund balance (approximately $4.5 million), which was amassed during the housing boom. Assuming program costs remain relatively the same for the next five or six years, the fund balance will be exhausted and the program will likely have to be subsidized by the county's general fund (approximately $800,000 annually) or drastic reductions in staffing and services will need to be made.
While further discussion would be needed, NHS estimates it could provide the same services, with the addition of expanded hours for the public to redeem lost pets and generally more efficient services for the community, at a substantial savings of $800,000 to $900,000. Please see Austin Texas, Delaware, any jurisdiction that has tried this. The cost goes up because it costs more to store animals because the medical needs increase with time. Please look at the 990’s for NHS and understand why they need to get the County coffers in their hands again.

Assumptions
This concept recommendation is based upon current information available to NHS and will require further details and discussion to work out a mutually fair and equitable agreement between the two parties that would meet the needs of the citizens and the animals of the community. This proposal includes the following assumptions, which are open to discussion, of course:(NHS has refused to negotiate clear back sin ce NHS hired Brown, her “ agreement “ with Mitch Schneider was soundly rejected by the BCC because it involved demands not consistent with sound fiscal practice.)
· NHS provides shelter operations and field operations for Washoe County, with the exception of criminal matters and animal permits, and would be compensated at a mutually agreed upon amount substantially lower than current costs. ) NHS got rid of its animal humane officers, so they have nobody to do field work. Nor are they fluent in state law as shown so clearly over the years. )
· Code Enforcement would employ an officer to handle Kennel, Cattery, Exotic and Dangerous Dog Permits. (The county would hire someone to do their work, haven’t the code people got their hands full already?)
· Code Enforcement or local police (TBD) would enforce State Statute Enforcement/Misdemeanor Citation cases (dangerous dog, hot car, animal cruelty, etc.). (So the Cops are going to be dogcatchers? That will go over well, that would be the Sheriffs Dept since the cities sub contracted with the County)
· Civil penalty authority provided to trained field personnel. Who is going to “ train” these people?
· Washoe County or the Sheriff’s Office keeps the recently donated Command Center vehicle and provides operation and coordinates with field services staff during disasters to provide for the needs of animals. (How sweet of NHS to give the county it’s own vehicle, be still my heart…that will work well since they want the deputies to be dogcatchers.
· Vehicles and equipment including the dispatch center for RAS would be leased to NHS. NHS would carry insurance on the vehicles and equipment. (NHS has not proven itself worthy of any further lease agreements with Washoe County, its failure to maintain it’s own side does not bode well for giving them more floor space to overcrowd and destroy.)
· Performance Standards would be established based on current performance levels, including median range response time for various types/priorities of calls (also calls that were scratched), Return-to-Owner rate and other reasonable measurements of performance. These would be reviewed annually. (Say what??) gibberish
· Policy review and appropriate code revisions made related to the following:
o Recognition of TNR in codes. (Pages and page of legal reason this won’t fly)
o Clarity on policies in relation to euthanasia of owned animals (owner requests for pet disposal, euthanasia, and other medical requests). (NHS refused to honor the SOP now and why would we think the future would be different. When under Mr. Schneider (NHS go to man) a Mr. Santos brought in a 12 year old pitbull with advanced testicular cancer. The dog was in pain and the vet recommended euthanasia. The man had no more money (used it all trying to save the dog) and the vet gave him a letter and sent him to Longley lane. NHS refused, he then came to WCRAS, and Mitch refused as well. This very sick suffering animal was sent out the door. The owner pulled the stereo out of his car and sold it to relieve the misery of this cancer-ridden dog, and get it put to sleep. Mitch currently works for NHS and has often bragged he would “ run WCRAS from the NHS side “ I hope if the BCC considers this they are sued to the moon for failure to do diligence. They should have been sued for breach of contract years ago, but now those people are gone.
o Recognition of return-to-owner policy.
· The fund balance would be used for capital improvements and vehicle fleet replacement.

Conclusion
Outsourcing the WCRAS shelter operations and field services to NHS would be a substantial benefit to WC by creating a more efficient and coordinated operation, resulting in substantial cost savings ($800,000 or more annually) in addition to increased service levels and citizen satisfaction. ( OMG just read about all the failures and then the tax works of the “ partner “, and be very grateful that some of us are willing to work with you and not against you as we try to get this facility back on track. How dare this even be mentioned without someone wearing a clown suit?

Hillsborough County Florida, A Savvy Comment

Hi, I have been studying TNR for 7 years now, I love cats, and live with a TNR program that has brought so much pain and misery to these wonderful animals. I certainly don't want to attack but will try to explain. Cat's do die,, everything dies, but feral cats always die an unassisted death, from trauma, disease or poison. What do TNR people thinks happens to these animals ? That they wrap themselves in a blanket and wander off into the night?
Working in a shelter will give you a better picture of the truth about TNR. Sadly when most of these cats are scooped up with the ACO's snow shovel it's not always possible to check for an ear tip, but road death is the most common. I don't try to change the mind of a person with no practical experience, that experience is the teacher about the horrible truth of TNR,... but I hope that all of you know the last few months of most of these cats lives are filled with suffering. Do you think only 'house cats" get cancer, FIV, URI, what about diabetes? I have a few more " cause of death" scenarios I could give you.. Would you TNR folk let your cat lay in in the front yard for days dying from a car hit ? I didn't think so. You only do " wild" on homeless cats. Feral cats do not have special powers, they feel pain and fear the same as the cat laying on the sofa.
They are not bouncing along singing " The Happy Wanderer" looking for their next adventure. That's Alley Cat Allies propaganda. These cats live with hunger, routinely, parsites, and often congential defects that keep them from " earning a living" They die a very slow and painful death, I want every proponent to be very aware of what you are offering these helpless cats.

I Will Be Writing For Oreo

I will continue to make this blog available, but my updates will be on Advice From Oreo. We all thought it would be wiser to keep one blog current than all of us to be lagging. There is a certain level at which one is simply repeating oneself. If there is a way to do something poorly The Nevada Humane Society has perfected it, and now we are on a repeating cycle. How many three legged animals are to many? Since leaving there my blood pressure has dropped, and I sleep through the night. I pray for the day the animals are treated as sentinent beings and not stuffed toys on a shelf. In Christ's Love Chap

We Are Sharing Rent

This is a different view. I am keeping my blog open for past writings, however; changes are afoot. Oreo, Kevin and I have always collaborated. We held our blogs to certain standards of behavior, and have worked well together for the past seven years. It seems logical that we merge and share space at this point in our blogging lives. It will be easier for us to keep one blog current than three. Kevin has been closed for a length of time due to "technical difficulties " Many of you may remember he was the keeper of documents, and some of those papers are being scrutinized by our legal friends to make sure he is not violating any use laws. The documents were obtained under the FOIA program, but when you are dealing with unstable persons, it's always better to be diligent. Due to the sheer volume of her blog style, Greta will continue to operate on her own I have wandered away from the Nevada Humane Society; a man can't experience the overcrowded, endless rows of animals and keep them out of his sleep forever. My time had come. My exit by stealth went largely unnoticed. After Bonney and Diane took their show on the road; little changed, we have remained on a steady decline under Schneider's interim. There is a new director coming this month and I hope he is going to bring about better choices for the animals. When you are giving your animals away free on Craigslist it's hard to go any further down. Some have asked why I don't volunteer for WCRAS, it's under consideration. At this time there is a very strong no kill mindset in one volunteer, I don't plan on being part of the volunteer group when someone gets killed by her absence of judgment. May Christ bless each of you for your efforts. Chap

Euthanasia, Because Abandonment Should Not Be An Option..

After reading No Kill drivel for almost 7 years now, one thing is painfully clear.  They don't get life in general and shelters in particular...Major cities are having major issues with stray dogs and the common denominator is a cadre of No Kill zealots. What do they propose when "killing is not an option"  lets see; what options are we left with ?? We could reach into our magic " foster hat" and see if we could get one more cat jammed into some bathroom somewhere.  But, that gets a little trickier with dogs, doesn't it?  How about " just try harder"   ?  Shall we put on our " just try harder" outfits and  start walking pit bulls down the liquor aisle at Costco?  Maybe Nathan could loan us his magic horse trough... You know after he put that one litter in there, we never heard another thing about incoming dogs in Tompkins.  Maybe the person surrendering them told the community the crazy man put the puppies in a horse trough outside, and they quit going there...Seriously people, what is the elusive secret to storing animals that seems to live only in the minds of No Kill elite ?Please know, that is the direction the No Kill movement wants to take us.
One will read a seemingly innocuous statement in a forum." Can anyone feed the stray dogs behind the Kroger store while I'm on vacation?"  If that doesn't set off an alarm bell, you better check your battery.  The No Kill Shelter Team will tell you they achieve lower numbers by refusing to pick up cats, now that may help the shelter, but it doesn't help the cats or the community.   On more than one forum I have seen the Whinettes opine that the Lab-mix  running down the street is " going home for dinner"  and we should " let him be"   Now ol Rex might be late for dinner if he gets hit by a car, or perhaps attacked by a dog aggressive stray; if it's a rural area.....Well, maybe Farmer John thinks he looks like a stock killer and shoots him.  Sometimes romance is in the wings for ol Rex, and he takes up with a consenting poodle..Poodle owner may not be happy about that and hit ol Rex on the noggin...See, he's not really having fun,..... because a dog no longer can function without an owner in our society.  I grew up on farms and stray dogs were routinely shot, so if you are romancing the past, get over it...Nobody wants your dog on their property, never did, so no point in looking at the past through rose colored glasses.
Dogs who live on the streets are lost souls, and they need to be removed from the streets, and if the outcome for them is euthanasia, it's kinder than death out there.. The City Of Houston's solid waste department picked up 34,600 domestic animal carcasses from the streets of Houston.  That would seem to suggest that life on the street does not end well for these dogs left homeless.. Don't divert on WHY they are homeless, that's another blog, just try to focus on 35,000 animals having an unattended death on city streets and ask how that works with your No Kill illusion.
Leaving unowned, unwanted animals on the street is cruelty and is only condoned by those who never really look at it closely.  Make up a nice story about how that 25 pound GSD mix has an owner looking for it so you can sleep at night, because the truth will keep you awake.
Stop the insanity and care enough to get these animals out of the streets for their well being. Since Mr. Winograd thinks that death is the ultimate cruelty, he needs to get his pudginess from behind his keyboard and down to the hood., maybe he could watch Juan's home movies......just sayin

Dr. Kate Hurley, Please Reconsider Your Current Stance..

The following is an excerpt from a recent NY Times article which quoted Dr. Kate Hurley, formerly a highly respected member of the veterinary community.

"When Dr. Kate Hurley, the director of shelter medicine at the University of California, Davis, first heard about the no-kill movement 20 years ago, she agreed with PETA. She believed that no-kill was an unachievable policy, and that shelters claiming such a distinction were taking only the animals most likely to be adopted and forcing other shelters to euthanize the castoffs. “I felt in many places it wasn’t no-kill, it was kill elsewhere,” .

In a series of research projects on feline upper respiratory infection, she and her colleagues documented the huge impact the illness can have on shelter resources. Treatment required expensive medical care and a lengthy recovery period, reducing the animal’s chances for adoption and taking up space that could be used for other homeless cats. But by doubling the size of the cages, contagion was reduced, the rate of respiratory problems and costs went down, and adoptions increased.

Dr. Hurley has also been impressed by shelters that have started to take stray cats that would have been euthanized and instead spayed or neutered them, vaccinated them for rabies and released them back where they were found. “If they came from an alley, they know how to live in an alley, and if they’re spayed, they’re not making new cats,” she said. “The pieces for no-kill are in place. We just need to spread the word and make sure shelters have the resources and know-how.”

From Reno / Tahoe pets Craigslist, below..

Looking for Volunteers (removed )

I recently moved from the area of Neil Road in South Reno. While I lived there I was caring for and feeding ferral stray cats. I had the cat colony of about ten cats spayed and neutered with shots through the Humane Society's Community Cats program so they would not continue to multiply.

I asked a neighbor there when I had to move if I buy the cat food if she would fill there bowl daily and give them water so they would not starve. I cared for this colony almost two years and because I got laid off work I was forced to have to move. The cats are very sweet.

I received a call from another neighbor recently telling me the cats are starving. The original neighbor I asked to feed them stopped feeding them. I am unable to make it over to that area due to being on a tight budget and gas costs since I am now on the other side of town.

I am willing to buy and provide the food but I am seeking volunteers who reside in that area who would be willing to feed these cats one or two days a week. It breaks my heart and I am so worried about them. One stray cat has 2 kittens to feed.

I called the shelter and was informed there is nothing they can do to help them. I was told to leave them to the universe. The shelter does not come out and capture ferral cats the problem is so big in reno with so many stray cats.

If you have a big heart and five minutes to put food in a bowl for them please contact me via e-mail and I will work with you to help these cats. I appreciate your interest.

Dr. Hurley offered her expertise on cats and little else, it was heartbreaking to see her drop the ball on all the bigger issues, and offer false hope to so many.  She sounded much like Mr. Winograd , all ideas and no practical solutions, sure just double the cage size......Hey, got funding?  It is irresponsible to say the pieces are in place for No Kill ( with or without the caps )  Did you see anything about dogs in her rah, rah piece ?  I was stunned at the absence of any rational offerings..." Just make sure the shelters have the funding".. yeah right :)  That is the thinking of academia, somewhere over the rainbow.  We have shelters we are trying to get funding to get rid of gas chambers, perhaps decent food while the animal is in custody.  These Ivory Tower thinkers do a great deal of harm because it's the least educated who believe them..

To say that" if a cat came from and alley, it can live in an alley", indicates less than stellar thought process, maybe people don't want the cats in their alley.   Often horrid things happen to those cats who are allowed to become a nuisance.  TNR never shows the pictures of the shot or poisoned cats, how about the cat that is run over and dies alone, starving and in pain.  You can tell a cat lover from a person who has a fixation with cats. Real cat lovers despise TNR.  These are abandoned animals left at the mercy of some of Mother Natures worst diseases, they are a synthetic population, allowed to expand beyond their resources, becoming vectors through no fault of their own.  One rabies shot does not last a lifetime, &  there is more to medical care than neutering.  What part of that is eluding the good veterinarian ?  Has she joined the ranks of Yes Biscuit, where quality of life no longer matters ?  Maybe she ought join Baltimore Rose, and really see the street cats,she can travel from theory to reality in one quick crash course......

What about the dogs in her " The pieces are in place for No Kill world"   Like Mr. Winograd has she found some parallel population, who has been ignoring overpopulation, but is now going to " jump in and adopt us out of the No Kill nightmare" ?

No, Dr. Hurley has no answers or she would put them forth, with funding and protocol, something like the Assilomar Accords, only with an underwriter. .  Shame on Dr. Hurley for minimizing a very serious overpopulation problem, while exacerbating the divisive dialogue.  Animals will populate to capacity and beyond, unless we implement aggressive spay neuter, provide triage to pull animals from the system who will never find a permanent home. We must raise the bar  to a reasonable level for adoptions, the hoarding cases are multiplying at an alarming rate, and that is proportional the No Kill..

By continuing to place animals in homes that cannot sustain them we are creating even higher return rates and the hidden dogs of Craigslist.. Huge free adoption events and hoarding bust seem to go together, and how can an intelligent Dr. not see that.  The whole focus on cats are being the answer to achieving "No Kill" is because dogs are a little harder to hide.  The dog numbers have not changed in the communities with limited admission No Kill shelters, they remain unchanged.  For all the hoopla about Washoe County, our stats do not reflect the No Kill propaganda.. Sorry, long winded, that's what happens when you let Burley take the keyboard :)

Compassion Or Unbridled Emotion ?

I have been told by some of our more fervent rescue types that I lack compassion. Now, for a man of the cloth, that could be a bad thing.  I see many people today who are in emotional turmoil and they label it compassion, I lean toward the logic that will get the job done. Hysteria is not a solution although if you follow Mr. Winograd long enough you could be swayed.
True compassion is not talking, it's doing.  Does an animal have shelter, food and medical care ? Because without those things, quality of life is poor, love is never enough.  Animals require care, that costs money. Love is the supplement.   Somehow this generation has missed that point and belatedly joined the hippee movement. I expect at any moment to see Mr' Winograd open his NKC with " love is all we need " playing in the background with a light show. Fluff and balderdash, lets see how Mr. Schneider handles our 400 or so cats.  A few pitbulls" free " doesn't seem to be drawing a crowd, it would appear from here that skill would go a long way to bail " compassion " out of the soup.
Warm and fuzzy doesn't cut it, and frankly Mr. Winograd is failing at that lately. We need aggressive spay and neuter incentives, although with the latest batch of pit puppies on Craigslist I doubt there is a demand for fixing one's pet.  The other issue we have lately is rescues bringing in out of area dogs.  These are often not altered and do end up in the county side, along with the out of area parasites and heartworm.
I've been following Oreo's venture into finding lost dogs, it's been a lesson in tenacity.  There is a mission and it's to be followed.  Our mission in animal welfare should be to reduce population, not keep juggling animals like circus clowns.
I have seen so many compassionate people get burn out, the hand wringers don't get that, because all they do is talk about what should be done.  The doers get worn down by the reality of it all.  Please spay neuter, and if you need a little extra cash, rob a bank; but please don't have a litter of puppies.
For the love of Christ
Chap

Tags People, Tags..

How cute is this ?  Sad thing is, this little guy is so cute he's at risk of being kept by a finder.. Many people think ( incorrectly ) "well if the owner cared the dog would have tags"  I am among the guilty parties who chip instead of tagging, even though county code is pretty darn clear. Tags must be worn at all time, so why am I a slacker ?  In the case of Newfies, the long hair really gets wound around a collar and sometimes it gets knotted pretty bad.. For this little guy, I think he usually is collared and tagged if he's not doing a photo shoot for his Mama's book.  In our county, Washoe Nevada, proof of rabies is required for tags, so in the event of a bite one knows immediately if the dog has been vaccinated. That can prevent a series of painful injections, that's a good enough reason right there. Instant knowledge of rabies status, saves worry, pain and treatment unless needed.  It can also keep a dog from being killed for testing, and the only way to test is to decapitate the dog.  That should make you think about "tagging" fido. It just did me.
What I have come up with is homemade, looks cute, and may even be for sale somewhere I haven't seen. You know the little " ruffles with bells " sold around Christmas season, well take that a step further.  I use old denim jeans.  Making a tube and running 2 separate pieces of 1 inch elastic through it.  You want it to be fairly snug going over the head.  I use a sturdy brass curtain ring, then you can fasten the tags as you would on a normal collar.  It's soft and doesn't rub on long haired dogs, and is similar to a cat collar in that it is " breakaway" but not so easily...Of course this could not be used to walk or tether the dog, but would be comfy to leave on all the time without rubbing sores. I throw them in the washer as needed..
One thing I have learned in my " lost dog searches" is that people are doing it wrong, I don't want to get stuck on the problem, so I am sharing a solution, most people will call an owner if the dog has a tag, not everybody is going to put a strange dog in the car and drive it to the vet.  Lots of people resist calling AC which is really pretty dumb, because that is where owners of lost dogs look. But tagging your dog in addition to chipping raises your chance of getting the dog home quickly....

NHS Throws Their " Partners" Under The Bus Again

Posted: 2013-05-28, 7:37AM PDT

All Pets FREE at NHS June 1 and 2 (2825 Longley Lane/Rock, Reno)

Maddie's Pet Adoption Weekend is June 1 and 2 with extended hours both days from 9:00am-9:00pm. All the pets at the Nevada Humane Society will be available for adoption for FREE. Additionally, for every pet that finds a loving home, Maddie's Fund will make a generous donation to the NHS to help care for even more animals.

NHS will be at Legends June 1 and 2 from 10:30am-5:30pm.

NHS will be at Cops and Burgers at Victorian Square June 1 and 2 from 10:30am-5:30pm.

One of my rescue buddies sent this to me, she has no " Maddies Fund" to pay her for her charges that she has pulled, so this is a real back stabber. Two other agencies are involved, but NHS is the one who brought this monkey to the parade..  An article in the paper last week promoted Diane and Bonney's new venture, while stating that Diane would be consulting for NHS.  They have lead them nearly into bankruptcy and I'm unsure of how much more " help" our community can stand.
Having failed miserable at running a shelter  they, like Winograd, will now try to teach what they do not understand themselves. Compassion, fiscal responsibility and common decency with a moral compass.  Please Jesus, if you are listening to an old man this morning, call these pain mongers to you.
For the love of Christ
Chap

An Open Letter To The Washoe County BCC and the Nevada Humane Society BOD

For years people have thought Oreo was my muse; absolutely backward. I am her muse :)   But today, because it may become unpleasant, I do want to be standing first in line, when the punches get thrown.
Bonney Brown and Diane Blankenburg are leaving NHS, that is a blessing by itself, but truth be told, they are only the symptom, the disease lies within the board. Their current CEO application contains the same language the old one did, so they are trying to solve a problem with the same thinking that created it./CEO-for-Nevada-Humane-Society  Didn't work in 2006 in spite of all the media hype, and frankly our county and our shelter, can not take even one more year of their mismanagement. NHS has failed to work forward on new PSA for over 4 years, kinda handy just totally ignore your contract and refuse to write a  new one .This-outlines-the-duties-agreed-to-by-the-BOARD-OF-DIRECTORS-in-signing-the-contract    Notice right at the start paragraph 3 they agree to all owner surrender inclusive of owner surrender euthansia.  The general public has no idea how much is not being done by NHS.  They milked that mouse far to long.  The old contract is good until and new one is written, The-Inter-Local-agreement-between-Washoe-County-Reno-and-SparksA-2992-pdf   NHS has broken their word on every turn. The BCC have failed miserabley inspite of repeated requests to take action.  The BCC is the enforcing body on the Interlocal agreement.  I will provide links so the reader can see for themselves what is going on here.We have some new commissioners and while I loved many who have served and gone, I do not " love" this has been passed over again. Kitty Jung will tell you the voters supported No Kill in 2002, absolute untrue, here is what we voted for..This-old-press-release-from-Washoe-County-shows-the-original-intent-and-how-far-afield-we-ve-wandered  I love my spelling errors, but the links work so bear with me..... horrid cold, and only seeing the horrible appication  again.. could get me moving.
I must admit I have been so happy to see our shelter getting back on track with Mr. Brode, but never have forgotten that our public has no place to surrender our animals, and our county has no funding to support the uninteneded population increase. I hope this link will make sense to you, when you look across the bottom row notice the YTD line..........what that will show you is that WCRAS took in about 8,000 dogs in 2012, while NHS only took in about 3,000. That's reverse of a a healthy shelter population which should be 75 % owner surrenders.  Also notice the NHS only took in 1,595  dogs from the public, hardly appropriate for an intake facility for the entire Washoe county area.  NHS is taking less that 1/7 of the dogs from the public, If you can't figure out the graph pm me.Notice-the-Incoming-OTC-for-NHS-that-is-all-the-dogs-they-took-from-the-public-a-direct-conflict-with-the-PSA-Stcats-202012-202-7-13-20Final-NHS-20  NHS like to point to the 2,000 dogs they " cherry picked "from AC after the County had done shots and needed treatment, that does nothing to help the person who has to give up their pet.  This turning away is a planned thing, As a matter of fact they are rather proud of it and peddle it around the country as a sucess. The-No-Kill-technique-for-keeping-animals-OUT-of-your-shelter.. Not sure where they think they will go.. but hey, not their prob, right?
On November 23, 2005 Washoe County made a good faith contract with some bad hearted folks, and now is the time to correct that.Agenda-defining-Professional-Services-agreement.. if we don't clean this mess up before they bring in another person , who will not honor the contract, we deserve to have the cities pull out.  Many people have blamed Bonney which is a little unfair because she was never qualified to do the job, NHS BOD set her up for failure and she lived up to their expectations. The problem is the BOD they are picking the CEO, don't blame the poor little goof ball with stars in her eyes and feral cats hanging out of her back pockets.
It's going to take a couple of years to even begin to have a viable shelter again.. and the NHS BOD has something up their sleeve when they change the CCR's that ran with that old building where they keep the sick cats..... here are two deeds one showing original intent and another showing a plot.Tear down the building Original-intent-was-to-be-a-dog-park-NHS-changed-CCR-s-on-Reno-parcel-pdf-original-pdf, and quietly in 2009..Want to use it for animals again.Attempting-to-reopen-for-use-to-store-live-animals-NHS-changed-CCR-s-on-Reno-parcel-pdf.. Do I wish they would move to the old building........nahhh that was deemed unsuitable in 2002, we didn't butild a new one because that one was working. The air exchange is miserable, parking is limited... not good. In 2006 NHS stated they were responsible for animal cruelty and wildlife, they became a cat sanctury, please read this all the way to the bottom, then go online and look up the new ones.NHS-IRS-Report-2006-pdf-This-is-before-No-Kill-when-they-were-still-quite-Solvent
In closing I want to mention the audit, which really did get down played, don't blame the county, pretty embarassing stuff, we let a people who can't even pay their bills on time put the power for a Washoe County Building in the NHS name,  I think that was job security for them,  I think John B did the right thing by leaving after that one.  Now of course Krys Bart is leaving the airport, so maybe they won't want the NHS solar panels on their land... why would they?  They county got no benefit from that whatsoever, the BCC was stubborn and most foolhardy....Independent-Audit-Animal-Services-Audit-Report-August-2012-high-lighted-doc.. boy did that report get taken to the dry cleaners before seeing the light of day.. Just wanted to let you know it may be a while before the county could work with NHS so maybe we should let them ditch them........ thanks,
 Oreo

Bonney Brown Is Leaving NHS, In Worse Shape Than She Found It.

As many readers know, I left the shelter a while back, unable to continue watching animals turned away.  Everyday I had to face the overcrowded conditions. My understanding is they, she and Diane Blankenburg, will be giving seminars on institutionalized hoarding. I did look online to determine just what the "Humane Network" could be.  A consulting firm no doubt. 
How can you give lessons about something you cannot do ?  I do know that Diane was conducing interviews prior to her public resignation from NHS and my thoughts were not charitable.  How can you possibly give advice on a subject you have failed so miserably at.  I won't bore you with numbers here. Delawarecapa.blogspot.com/ does a far better job than this old man for laying out the numbers.  Suffice it to say, Bonney Brown and Nathan Winograd ran a wonderful shelter completely into the ground.   They have lost over a million dollars a year while giving animals away free on Craigslist and overburdening our foster network.  NHS used up SPCA's share, Animal Control's share, any rescue in 100 miles was jammed to the max with NHS dogs that were poor candidates for adoption.  Our return rate was close to 70% if you looked at it honestly.  Anything over 3 weeks was not considered a return, it was an owner surrender.

When NHS reached the portion of the contract where they began to repay the county by taking in owner surrenders sans compensation, they bailed.  The people who are publicly bemoaning the loss of of Brown should make the County audit required reading.  We currently have solar panels on airport property,; that was a poor idea when Krys Bart was CEO, but with her resignation, what will the new CEO think of having solar panels for a non profit that provide power to a Washoe County building ? I hope risk management takes a look at that one. Krys served on the board of NHS and may have mixed up her principles and loyalties.  If the solar panels go down and there is damage to the building who is responsible. ?  Who will clean up the cats held in the back building with ringworm ?

 I went online and looked the the requirements for the new director which indicate the BOD have learned nothing. What is the mental aberration within the board of directors for the Nevada Humane Society that they cannot tolerate an experienced shelter director ? They can't clean that mess up with the same thinking that created it.  Ms Brown created a legacy of destruction and distrust. Her behavior cast a pall over any future partnerships because the entire country was watching our shelter. And they watched us fail with distinction.  I am embarrassed for the County commission who allowed the travesty, and shamed by the board of directors that allowed such a disaster.
My estimate is the county has a good two years worth of work to try to pull out of the damage done by this misguided No Kill folly by the Nevada Humane Society.  The idea of their continued exploitation of the general public love for animals is beyond the pale. Good riddance to a very bad CEO and shame to those who hired and protected her, at the expense of the animals.
For the love of Christ
Chap

The People We Meet On Our Journey..

Burley Dog got a new groomer to come to his house, he was thrilled.  She was a little stunned...He continues to look for Carla, but he welcomed his new friend with open paws.  We could learn from our friends with extra toes and no thumbs.  Letting go of the past is not forgetting the past, it's embracing today. Life is better when we bloom where we are planted, and sometimes the reason we leave things in the past, is because they have no place in our future.  Life is to short to dance with ugly men, or go to lunch with crazy ladies.  I would give a rough estimate that 95% of the people in my life today are damn decent folk, doing the best they can, but the other 5% can be a real bugger.... the animal world people are a breed unto their own. One thing I have learned is the difference between people who talk about " furbabies & "furever homes" and people who truly care for animals.
 I've watched Burley dog and Miss Priss in public, and they have totally different reactions to body language.  If someone freezes up at Burley's approach, he turns around and walks away, boom, he's gone. Miss Priss on the other hand " gushes" she rolls on her back, puts her head down and does the full body wiggle.  That will  bring even the most stanch "blue hair" to her knees....in her best white pant suit, no less.  Learning to read body language in the animal world is a survival skill, those of us who volunteer in that world should take lessons.  I have met people with whom I totally disagree, and yet because of our love and respect for animals , we work together just fine.. I've tried to work with others who are using animals to meet their own needs and found them rigid.. As we worked our way through a prolonged search effort,  the diference between those two mind sets came to the fore.  The unhealthy ones never spoke of the dogs feelings, only how much the owner wanted the dog back.  There was no mention of how frightened the dog would be, there was no empathy, only " I want "  That turned a lot of the searchers off, and pretty soon the worst of people were the loudest voices in the room. the decent people left the search.  But a new group of caring people formed, and that is never a waste in animal welfare.   One person has great experience in trapping dogs.. I would like to learn more about that, another has a horrible shelter and I have helped turn a few shelters around so maybe I can help there. I have been in animal welfare 50 years, I have learned a great deal, I hope to learn more.. Look at Burley Dog's body language, relaxed happy face, ready for a new experience, yep I want to be like Burley Dog when I finish growing up.

Leaving Stormy Behind

The past few weeks have been hectic, I got involved in a search for a missing dog, that may be better off not going home from what I've seen.  I also left the shelter field after several years  This old man is working very hard to keep any faith in human beings.  We met a few good folks on the search, where Oreo goes good things grow. She has a way of keeping balance.  People just annoy the daylights out of me.
I didn't see any sign the NHS has a plan to work with the Animal Control people, nor do we have any place for people to surrender their animals. Getting weary of writing that.
The news has been all over a bite case and the local hand wringers are out in full steam.  First we had the pitbull club " Pimping Their Breed" was their title , taking over public parks and letting their dogs run and poo on the beach.  Next comes the Dude The Dog  FB page.  Really ? The case has been proven. The dog proved it would bite and the owner proved she couldn't keep it under control.  How much more proof does a sane man need ?
It's good to be off the search case though, a group of people digging holes in the ground  and covering them up with chopped down trees seems a little odd.  I know the hills of Oregon are full of anti government  survival types ( mostly living off government checks ) but Oreo really needs to leave these people to their own devices. I did a great deal of research and not everybody is nice.  I will continue to write. Just not sure about what since I am no longer at the shelter, Kevin is a going to work as a volunteer for AC when they start a program, maybe I will join him. I miss the animals already. 

The Most I Can Offer You Is A Promise,

And, in a world shattered by broken promises; can I ask you to believe me...?  When I first talked with Stormy's family about spearheading a national, search and recovery effort, for their lost Newfoundland Dog, I told them I would lead the search for as long as they wanted me .  I honored that promise.  I left the search because the family thought they could create a more effective search on their own.   I am comfortable with that, and I wish them well.  I hope they move on to find peace, and the poor dog.  I have been called names that I didn't even hear in 24 years as a military dog handler, I have laid those slurs to grief and frustration, as well their strong desire to take over my personal account .  At the request of over 200 readers I am keeping the page open as a place for animal lovers to gather on FB and chat in a safe, friendly environment. For years Oreo's readers have urged her to create a FB page, so we did that using Miss Priss's account,  now she can finally post as a Facebooker, and not just a "blogger" ..She feels very " trendy" in her role as Admin on the Stormy pages, and takes her responsibility seriously.
It was inspiring to have so many people come together on my page.  I've seen incorrect things posted, I'll take this time to put some of them to rest. I am not a " non-profit 501c " I am not a rescue, I would not allow the page to become monetized for any reason.  I do understand the others wanting to raise money, but I didn't want that on my page.  If we couldn't find the dog without "paypal" then I didn't want to continue, so it was really rather easier on me when family wanted to take the reins. ..
In organizing the mail programs I used in that search, I was amazed again at the caring from various persons, and tons of municipal shelters I dealt with . At the beginning of the search I contacted every gov. shelter on the west coast, Nevada and Utah by email.. sending a flyer containing Amy's cell phone, and my email.  That way there were people in two states who could be reached quickly.
 Just gathering & organizing the email addresses took 5 working days.  Most of those shelters responded saying they had printed out the flyer for the employee breakroom.. That generated a desire to reply and thank them:)  I handled almost 5,000 emails on the search.   At it's high point the weekly reach for my page was 128,000 people.  Oft' times, with so many readers on the east coast, my day would start at 6 a.m. my time, and end at midnight, I don't regret a single minute of it .. I learned so much.  This was my first time of doing this type of search, but I" learned by doing", and sometimes readjusting my approach.  Some rescues were surprisingly secretive about the purebreds they had for adoption, and  used message machines with preemptive announcements that all their dogs were held the full stray period before being " pulled" and to leave a number for call back.. In closing my work on this dog, I've come to the sad conclusions that if a dog cannot be found with that type of saturation, without identification, it's hopeless.......I pray if someone has Stormy in their home that they treat her well, I wish there were someway to get Stormy's picture into peoples living rooms, because that's the only stone my search left unturned.  I know other people posted on Craigslist, and some folk, lit candles.  To all of you who followed, blessings..to those of you who continue to search with the family, blessings...
Pictured is Miss Priss with her Daddy..

CAPA, Stormy and the Nevada Humane Society

After 6 years of working with homeless animals; I am moving away from direct shelter involvement.  At different times I was in northern California shelters in the Sacramento, Stockton area as they were under attack from the Central California Pets Alive, and a more loathesome group would be difficult to imagine. Back home again in Nevada I slipped back into volunteering at local shelters there. The missus and I will be buying our plot up here. While the valley is beautiful in it's own way, the climate and the mountains are where we want to be. It's taken us almost a year to complete the return move. During that time, going back and forth from Reno to Sac on almost a weekly basis I finally could see clearly the utter distruction caused by NHS's failed No Kill attempt. The hoarding & turning away of animals at the expense of the public are at odds with decent human behavior. On the surface it appears that there is a contradiction in the use of hoarding and turning away, but let this old man assure you they work together quite well.  Even with staggering our intake and making people wait we would go into overload, many of our clients walked next door to animal control and turned their own dog in as a stray.   What were they supposed to do with them? 
When people are out of work and have no shelter,, keeping the family pet is often impossible.  As much as you may love the animal, no home, no money, no food; let us be realistic.  Every time I see some person spouting off " I would never give up my animal" or "I would live in the car with my animal"  I know they have not yet faced the demon " poverty". 
There are new concerns at NHS why did they get the deed rewritten on the old building to allow them to hold animals there, it was a land use change not approved by the zoning department. Nor does the building have staffing, correct air exchange and accessiblilty to view standards of care. What is the connection between the NHS and the start up Canine Rehabilitation place they are trying to get off the ground? All the dog pictured in the latters ad's are still in their NHS scarves amd the Canine Rehap place has no building, is this a set up to store long term dogs on the old parcel?   I know that very few of us were allowed near the old building where the ringworm and ferals were kept.

The Original Deed Restrictions.

The Deed Revised To Allow Usage For Animal Storage.

If there were no intent to maintain live animals in a building that was sub-standard for the community in 2002 when the ballot initataive was passed, why are the good folk at NHS trying to use is for a shelter again?
That is why many of us are drifting away without notice.  Nobody wants to be a part of keeping animals in a substandard building. The land use is a separate issue and would have to go through approval processes and the people of Washoe county have a right and the Nevada Humane Society has a moral obligation to tell the public if the animals they surrender are kept in that old abandoned building.
I have been helping Oreo and that group look for Stormy The Newfoundland and in California with the Hayden Act is in effect ;we have seen very little oversight for where these animals are forced to go.  The idea that Stormy could be in some hellish rescue without any checks and balances keeps us going forward. At this point in time NHS has first right of refusal. That means they can go to your animal control and pull any animal they want and store in in a decrepit building as soon as it's stray is up.  Might want to look at the old building and let this blog know if thats where you want your pet..  You might also want to look at the arrangement that allows such a group as NHS access to our helpless strays who have no voice

Dog Bites And Hoarding Are On The Rise

I follow several groups  some are more opinion while others post primarily links.  I need a little of both in my daily diet. The one common factor in all outlets however is the rise in dog bites and hoarding.There is no mistaking that the advent of No Kill in various communities has increased the risk to animals and public alike.  I also check Mr. Winograd from time to time when I need something to smile about.  He's on his old fall back, PETA, rather like a sagging politician trying to rally his base.
I've been helping Oreo and Kevin with a lost dog case and enjoyed seeing the animal community at it's best. Over 4,000 people talking on the page and no infighting.  NHS knew nothing about it which shows how limited their involvement with our local community is.  I asked a few people if they had seen the story and they had not.I am sure they would pull that one as soon as it came into the county, it's a beautiful dog. I also would not trust them to come forward if they had placed the animal.
I came to the sad decision today that I can't set foot in that place even one more time, it's become so degraded and negative, it's affecting my usual cheery nature.  Kev's wife helps at the SPCA and I weighed that option.  I think I will wait until animal services is taking volunteers and go there. Maybe I will devote more time to my writing, all I know right now is, I cannot continue to watch the travesty that is the Nevada Humane Society.
For the love of Christ
Chap

No Kill, Unraveling Faster Than It Can Spin.,,

Many years ago in a faraway land......actually it was Ft. Leonard Wood Missouri. Gen. Ed Greer gave me an understanding of how to win a fight,  that I have never forgotten.  The lesson was," why soldiers learn to march".  My job on base was to train the handlers to work with the dogs, and fine tune the relationship into a precision unit.  I  also owned a small 30 dog boarding kennel to support a shelter I was getting up and running.  I would board the Greer's Doberman when they were on temporary assignment, and we became quite close. When he rotated back to DC I ended up with Sheba.  I didn't " rescue" her, she was given to me because their living arrangements were going to be a small apartment in DC.  He didn't " dump" her, she was placed with another family.  I am not so sure a lot of the negative language being used today is not slowing down our chances to improve things. Sheba was a joy to board, quick to learn, eager to please, but she tended to be sloppy in her obedience.  Her recalls were meandering at best. Ed was pleased when he picked her up, but  then a few weeks home and things started going down hill.  Have you ever tried to explain " focus" to a United States 3 star General ? Finally in frustration I said " well, why do soldiers march?" He got it. That marvelous laugh seemed to last forever, and he gave me the lowdown on marching.
Thousands of soldiers preparing for war, what if the ego were not sublimated ?  Perhaps each soldier could go at their own pace ?  Of course that would be chaos... one doesn't like boots, another doesn't like hot weather, nobody's going to tell me how to do it..  If real war were approached with tactics used by many animal welfare people, we would be speaking Japanese.
  To achieve a goal takes discipline and sacrifice of personal agendas.  That appears to be a higher price than most of the advocates are willing to pay.. The No Kill movement is dying by the inch, from within. The leaders are to busy defending their positions and " rights" to even spin the lies into a smoke screen. Sadly, that affliction has spread into the pro-compassion movement.  The TNR people don't want limits, same with dog rescues, " have a right to save as many dogs as I can love"  but we need to regulate " them", we want regulation for the bad guys, but nobody can agree who the " bad guys" are.  We need to march in the same direction, if that means compromise, just bite it and keep going. Based on experiences lately, I don't think that is going to happen. In King County Washington everybody put aside their personal thoughts and took up a goal.  That goal was to keep Winograd out of their shelter, and they did it.  Austin held up for 3 years until the infighting took over, when people fight, they take their eye off the ball.. just sayin' ..Indianapolis put personal agenda's on the front burner, and were No Kill for 2 months before getting them out. Now they still get attacked but they stick together.  The only way this inane, cruel plan can get into your shelter is if you are to busy trying to get " your way".. The first person to see the cracks in our wonderful No Kill palace was me, after that a volunteer with a military background took notice.  Over the years people are beginning to smell something rotten in the No Kill movement, this is the time to put down the differences, and utilize the opportunity to help the shelter animals.  Winograd's biggest claim to fame is his No Kill golden girl had years as a successful " Marketing Director"  We don't have a marketing problem, we have an overpopulation problem, we don't have an " exposure " problem, or a "distribution" issue.  We have a serious overpopulation of dogs and cats who are suffering in shelters to sooth this insanity.  I can tell you right now, one of my best friends volunteered in a high intake city shelter, he's since moved back to No Kill " land; he swears on his bible, those animals got better care than anything he ever saw in a No Kill shelter.  Yes, many of them died, but they were not stored, terrified and tortured.  If you save 5 million dogs over night, where you going to put them ? Spay neuter, responsible adoptions and regulations on breeders, which cannot be done because the rescues fight the limits..How important is animal welfare to you ?  Will you give up your " pork" to gain it?

Pictured is Oreo and a young BD, I cropped the poster for here, in the original it said " rumors hurt shelters, don't start one"  You can trash your shelter or you can help it, but you can't do both,

Waggin Train, The Next Chapter

The Waggin Train saga is only just beginning.  It's the camel's nose under the tent for removing autonomy for all shelters and rescue groups.  But, it's far more damaging than that. Long after the pledges to help Waggin  have faded, ... the stories will remain , toxic online flotsam.  Spewing from a temporary, dying movement, and leaving only a legacy of fear, the slime will smother the rescue world. As soon as it destroys the shelters..... What is lost here, as we offer immediate moral and monetary support, is how deep the loss is.     Will the kennel notes for Nikki be posted along with the slander ?  Because this euthanasia will be tried in the court of public opinion, and both sides may not hit the search engine at the same time. Most of us understand in that "Court", you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent, and it's not always the No Kill side slinging the mud.  "I heard you did this, prove you didn't " or " This is my opinion formed on some, unknown to us, anonymous source. "  Trying to prove a negative is not difficult, it's impossible.
A couple of years ago Oreo was being interviewed for a Reader" Digest story, just a feel good piece about community involvement and the foreclosure crisis.  Nice reporter, nice story, mainly about volunteering and civic service.
 As we reviewed the agencies I volunteer for , he asked if I was a No Kill volunteer.  Reader's Digest had done a story on Winograd when he first came on scene. I replied absolutely not , unless I had died in my sleep and gone to hell. .. I had never heard of the story, nor have I bothered to look it up.  Somehow knowing that RD had done a story on No Kill took the shine off my prize.....God, they would write about anything, if they would write about Mr. Winograd.   I heard from them again  summer past, they were revisiting their position, and would I care to comment ?  I suggested they do a little more field work.  The longer No Kill is claimed , the more conditions deteriorate in shelter communities.. I pray that reporter is paying attention to Waggin Train. If that doesn't show the hatred and divisiveness, nothing does.  The shelters and workers denigrated, the misinformation spread, my God, how many " algae covered water bowls " must the Internet be subjected to before someone really quits being outraged and takes action. ? I am still trying to find the kennel notes which were posted by a caring person , trying to help Waggin Train.  When I saw them they were on a No Kill proponents FB page and it seems they got deleted.  If any gentle reader finds them, could you direct Oreo there, or copy/paste them into a comment box here?  Waggin Train deserves to have the last word. In three years only the ugly keeps getting bumped up. Cyber assualt turns a persons life upside down, it hangs there like a bad picture in your year book. Never goes away, that's how you are viewed forever, Waggin Train will always have guilt by gossip, ruined by a blogger, how sad it that ?

" Victims of cyber assault tend to blame themselves, crawl into an emotional fetal position and shut down their above-board online presence. They may close their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, not realizing that these accounts serve as a partial buffer against the disturbing data from the abusers site. When all positive information about them vanishes, only the negative remains. It becomes easier for their employer or grandmother to do a Google search and to find the offensive comments. Moore is not the only cyber rapist in town.  With an increase in “life ruining” sites, there will no doubt be an increase in victims. "

Provided by a reliable source and speaking up for Waggin Train in their decison making process.

From owner surrender questionnaire:
19: - Does your dog have any behavior problems that you are aware of? Aggression
From medical intake:
Tolerates limited handling..extremely tense, nervous, fearful.. attempts to bite
From attempt to perform a SAFER:
Displayed extreme aggression inside and outside of cage. Lunged, snarled, growled and tried to bite the assessor. Would not permit the assessor to touch him, so behavior eval could not be conducted

A staff member stated that they didn’t recall the intake but did recall the dog. "She was flattened in the back of her kennel all the time, but if you tried to remove her from the cage she was snarling, all of her hair on end. She was kind of scary because she went from zero to 60 if you tried to interact with her."

 

Thank you Nanette and Waggin Train Rescue for the courage of your convictions, and protecting Nikki from her midirected instincts.

Waggin Train Rescue And The Donner Party..

Meet the epic tragedy of free publishing, coupled with an absence of decency...When you enter the strange world of No Kill  you will find the modern day version of the Donner Party.  The difference is, the Donner Party turned to cannibalism from necessity, and No Kill does it as a matter of course.Recently a rather well respected New York rescue had to put down a dog; that happens in rescue.  It's one of the sadder parts, and doesn't show as well on websites as the " eternal happy tails" .  Losing a rescue dream is one on the downsides to pulling animals, but it comes with the turf, real heroes get that.  You do not win every battle, you cannot save every dog.  No Kill appears to think you can lose every battle and still win the war.  That is the ultimate fantasy of No Kill.
 Now another good rescue is pulling away, as so many have since the madness began.   Every animal that is pulled from a shelter comes without a guarantee, the shelter environment .affects each animal differently.  Some are subdued, some sharp / shy, and usually both of those are a temporary face for that animal. Once home,  the true nature of the dog comes out, and often not for the better if there is a resident critter .  Haven't we all heard " They were perfect for 3 weeks.... or 2 weeks "  Animal's have better survival skills than we humans, they generally know to  feel the place out..  There may be some hip bumping that goes unchallenged, perhaps one will look away, but there is always the sizing up of the competition for resources. That would be food, human, or favorite spot to relieve themselves.  They make their own rules, fill their own roles. Somewhere on here I have a post about our Hawk, he was never " quite right" our other dogs knew that. We respected his peculiarities, his story is on here somewhere and worth a read, It may be " A Stone For His Pillow, or close in placement to that.. 
The point I am going for here is, whether you like it or not animals are property; they are not furry children..Nor should they be, they will never be able to defend themselves, or survive on their own. ( not up for argument )..If one more person says " you wouldn't kill a bad kid" I will know for sure your beverage was spiked.  Dogs do not think in terms of " good vs. bad" they go by instinct, and sometimes that instinct is misdirected or malformed, they need to be protected; and so does society. 
The act of euthanasia is a deeply private decision, an act that cannot be undone.  That decision needs to be made by the most informed, & affected;  that would be the owner or person living with the animal. Notice I haven't spent any time here on hypothetical problems, or solutions.....
The issue is, who decides the fate of the dog ?  I say the owner, or failing that, the person who has the most spiritual interest invested  in it.  Some of the comments on these blogs really do put a living being down to stuffed toy level.  Read the story of King Solomon and the baby..... Will the real animal lover please step up?
Pictured is Oreo's  sibling who passed this month at 15 years old, she was our friend ; she was lovely and we're blessed she came into our lives.

General J. Sibley And The Great Waggin Train Massacre

I received a comment that needed to brought up to the front of the line.  Mr. Winograds attempts to disassociate himself with the rantings of  John, and the lawuits of NKN have created a strange new baby.  A baby with eyes that don't quite match.
"Nathan Winograd is now in the process of crucifying on-line an absolutely wonderful rescue...a group who routinely pulls, rehabilitates, and places animals from the dreadful NYC shelters.
Because of this mindless vindictiveness the rescue is receiving hate mail and people are actually threatening them.
Why is Winograd doing this? Because he can?
What happens when some nutter decides to start firing bullets into a shelter in the name of 'saving the innocent fur-babies from being murdered'.
This is exactly how the radical and violent right-to-life movement began.
Ranting about 'killing' and 'murderers' and 'innocent babies'.
Inciting people with hopped-up emotions and vindictive rhetoric.
And what if such a terrible thing does happen?
Mr. Winograd will say, which of course is absolutely true, that he never suggested violence, that his hands are clean, but he understands why the
y did it?
Where is this going to end? "
Mr. Winograd is not blameless, when you incite a mob, the blood is equally on your hands.  He says he " sees " why they feel that way" but mildly disapproves.. Mr. Winograd encourages violence with his ramblings and the target audience he has aimed for.  To say that his vocation has become cyber-bullying is to do a disservice to the man, I agree with a link I came across a few months ago, this is cyber assault.

" Victims of cyber rape tend to blame themselves, crawl into an emotional fetal position and shut down their above-board online presence. They may close their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, not realizing that these accounts serve as a partial buffer against the disturbing data from the abusers site. When all positive information about them vanishes, only the negative remains. It becomes easier for their employer or grandmother to do a Google search and to find the offensive comments.  With an increase in “life ruining” sites, there will no doubt be an increase in victims. "

As a Chaplain, I have seen my share of suicides, and families left behind to grieve.  There needs to be a prosecution of the former prosecutor, I hope Waggin Train exacts a toll.  In the meantime, they need to open up their page and everyone should get the crazy stuff pushed down. I will later add excerpts from some comments left on the offending post, and it's good that Mr. Sibley believes " In Dog We Trust"  If you found a comment you felt threatening or violent, please send it it, removing the commenter's name.  I cannot alter comments.

For the love of Christ,

Chap