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