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Post by johnr on May 11, 2012 4:46:18 GMT -5
AFF is constantly scolding people to adopt out more and more and more Pit Bulls. But when I asked them about their adoption stats, they said they placed a little over 80 last year and a little over 60 the year before. This not only means that they placed a small fraction of the total dogs my home shelter placed, but in fact only placed a little over 2/3 as many Pit Bulls and Pit Mixes as we did. I worked for years at a strict no kill and was half out of my mind over how tight our space always was and how little we could therefore help in saving dogs going down in animal control shelters in the area, let alone beyond. But even back in my day, which was before AAC got into the business of importing adoptable dogs from the South, we always placed between two and three times as many dogs as AFF did in their supposedly banner year last year.
I don't for a minute doubt that shelters, very much including both my former shelter and my current one, can do a better job and that some can do a vastly better job. I have a friend who took over the management of an animal control shelter in the midwest and she got the euthanasia rate for dogs down from about 75% to well under 20% and is still making progress. There are people out there with real track records of success from whom much can be learned. But they aren't out there wagging their fingers and scolding people. They are out there getting stuff done and eagerly helping anyone else who wants to make a positive difference.
I understand that AFF sits on a huge endowment. I can only wonder what they could achieve if they were staffed by people who were less talk and more action.
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Post by loverocksalot on May 11, 2012 6:26:44 GMT -5
Petsalive where my mom got her dog adopts out several dogs a day. I bet they do 80 in a month! So much activity that I had to take their posting off my FB wall. www.facebook.com/PetsAlive But what I dislike about the program is bringing dogs in from other countries. We have enough of our own. Not to mention the 70 Rottis just about to be put in the system literally around the corner from them and I did not see Petsalive mentioned in the article. www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20120510%2FNEWS%2F120519992%2F-1%2Frss01 Now about AFF sorry went off topic. If I were to adopt another dog I thought I would consider going there since they are about hour and a half from me. Are they a true rescue with dogs in foster care or are they more of a shelter. But there are some great dogs right here in the little shelters that have been living there for years. |
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Post by johnr on May 11, 2012 6:39:10 GMT -5
What if a rescue/advocacy group with a large endowment used the money to open adoption centers around the country with attached low cost spay/neuter clinic that might also give low cost routine care? What if they pulled heavily from local shelters to ease the burden?
I must be out of my mind, right? You need millions a year to hire execs to hold opinions! Those opinions are pretty damn heavy, you know, and not just anyone can hold them!
I don't mind groups pulling dogs out of desperate situations in other parts of the country and other countries altogether as long as they are also working to make things better in the areas they pull from. It's always a fine line between helping and enabling. I also insist that groups that pull from far away should also do stuff locally. You may have a special draw to, eg, dogs from the Caribbean, but bringing them in en masse to compete for homes with local dogs complicates someone else's mission and the plights of THOSE dogs. So do something for them, too, to earn the right to bring dogs into their territory.
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Post by loverocksalot on May 11, 2012 7:52:55 GMT -5
Ok that seems fair and Petsalive now has a rescue in Puerto Rico. petsalivepr.org/index.php/about/ and now after looking further into the Rotties I found that Petsalive did step in. Many people have issues with how they pump out adoptions. Some of them are not successful but they dont make you feel bad if you need to bring dog back you are easily able to swap for another dog with no problem. You are given a trial. Where other shelters I have gone too dont give a "trial" you are simply turning in a dog to the shelter which IMO tarnishes your record with that shelter. I think sometimes we spend too much time talking crap about some of these places rather than notice all the good that has been done. |
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Post by johnr on May 11, 2012 8:34:39 GMT -5
Ok that seems fair and Petsalive now has a rescue in Puerto Rico. petsalivepr.org/index.php/about/ and now after looking further into the Rotties I found that Petsalive did step in. Many people have issues with how they pump out adoptions. Some of them are not successful but they dont make you feel bad if you need to bring dog back you are easily able to swap for another dog with no problem. You are given a trial. Where other shelters I have gone too dont give a "trial" you are simply turning in a dog to the shelter which IMO tarnishes your record with that shelter. I think sometimes we spend too much time talking crap about some of these places rather than notice all the good that has been done. And we need to at least consider new models. I have allowed people who have returned dogs to adopt an animal that might be a better fit. When an adoption fails, analyze why. Don't just pick someone to blame. Of course, that goes both ways. Shelters that make an occasional unsuccessful placement shouldn't be hung out to dry, either. You get to know the animals as well as you can, but are operating in a somewhat artificial setting. We try to evaluate the people, their experience and commitment, but can't possibly probe deeply into everyone's soul on the basis of an app and an interview. But if places are making constant bad placements or someone has brought back four dogs over the years, then we have a problem. It's just like evaluating workers and volunteers. It's a tough business and there will be incidents of dogs getting loose and there will be bites and no one should be flailed over any one incident. But when there are patterns of a handful of people causing constant problems, then one has to consider whether those people belon there. Don't be too quick to judge. But don't be too slow. As for "rescue imports", one thing that'll get me in a tizzy is when people bring in dogs from out of area and then place them w/o speutering them first. Now you really are importing a problem. |
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Post by johnr on May 11, 2012 15:07:25 GMT -5
I'm about to get really cranky on Facebaook about AFF's consistent misrepresentation of the breed mis-ID issue.
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Post by emilys on May 11, 2012 18:10:14 GMT -5
I'm about to get really cranky on Facebaook about AFF's consistent misrepresentation of the breed mis-ID issue. did you see how fast they backtracked on their casual "don't panic it's really fine" response to the Md ruling, once they saw all the koolkids (and everyone else with half a brain) understood how truly dreadful the consequences of the ruling would be?  |
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Post by loverocksalot on May 11, 2012 18:33:16 GMT -5
OYE I took them off my wall on facebook so I would not see posts. In order to avoid the nonsense and pay more attention to the things I need to do. Yet after this thread could not help from taking a look. Boy am I sorry, cause I left a comment and not sure I wish to continue with seeing the posts because I really do have better things to do than be concerned with what is going on with people I don't even know.
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Post by johnr on May 11, 2012 19:26:19 GMT -5
Well, thank you both, Emily and CA, for stepping up to the plate once again. I know how annoying it is to engage some people, but also how risky it can be to ignore them entirely. And yes, Emily, the about face on Maryland has been striking and more than a little amusing!
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Post by RealPitBull on May 18, 2012 12:59:55 GMT -5
AFF is really small, considering the amount of space/money they have. But they do give out a lot of money (or so I've heard?) and I think their main focus is outreach and education.
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Post by johnr on May 18, 2012 15:26:14 GMT -5
AFF is really small, considering the amount of space/money they have. But they do give out a lot of money (or so I've heard?) and I think their main focus is outreach and education. Well, their "education" seems to consist mainly of berating others for not adopting out more when in their best year they adopted out less than half of what I adopted out my worst year at sleepy old AAC and blaming Pit Bull advocates who know the dangers of a bad placement for the PR problems Pit Bulls have. If AFF as currently constituted disappeared overnight, it'd probably be a net plus. I'm not sure how much money they give out or to whom, but they are barely even benchwarmers in the adoption business and spread a lot of MISinformation. |
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Post by michele5611 on May 18, 2012 15:38:24 GMT -5
I just can't get on board with their turbo charging agenda and the "pit bull" type dog thing!
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Post by suziriot on May 18, 2012 16:08:08 GMT -5
I just can't get on board with their turbo charging agenda and the "pit bull" type dog thing! That's because you are an intelligent and rational human being.  |
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Post by johnr on May 18, 2012 18:46:27 GMT -5
I just can't get on board with their turbo charging agenda and the "pit bull" type dog thing! But what's doubly ridiculous is that there own adoptions are hardly turbocharged. It's a real "do as I say, not as I do" proposition. But rescue is FULL of people who think it's their job to yak and yak and tell everyone else how to do things while other, less loquacious and often all but silent people do most of the real lifting. I know people who have accomplished spectacular amounts and 99% of what you hear from them are simply lists of current available dogs with good bios. |
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Post by odnarb on May 18, 2012 22:13:56 GMT -5
They did give us money at the library for Grant being an on site fixture as a breed ambassador. I didn't know much about them when I applied for the grant. Somebody had told me about it so I submitted. They sent us $1000 and some books for the library. We put it to good use. Thrilled with what we got from them, but I was saddened to see what their angle was  Sent from my DROID BIONIC using ProBoards |
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Post by johnr on May 19, 2012 6:17:37 GMT -5
They did give us money at the library for Grant being an on site fixture as a breed ambassador. I didn't know much about them when I applied for the grant. Somebody had told me about it so I submitted. They sent us $1000 and some books for the library. We put it to good use. Thrilled with what we got from them, but I was saddened to see what their angle was Sent from my DROID BIONIC using ProBoards Well, that's at least $1000 well spent! |
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Post by maryellen on May 19, 2012 6:47:08 GMT -5
they gave rufus $1000 for his therapy reading program a few years back and i gave it to a nonprofit rescue that i knew was reputable.
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Post by johnr on May 19, 2012 8:23:56 GMT -5
they gave rufus $1000 for his therapy reading program a few years back and i gave it to a nonprofit rescue that i knew was reputable. These grants that are small to them but big to those receiving are probably what they should stick to. Their "education" is miseducation and the way they keep scolding others to adopt out more while adopting out so few themselves is offensive and idiotic. But given how many loose screws they have, I'm not sure it would even be good for them to try to up their rescue/adoption totals by much. A few "trophy rescues" is probably their speed. But it is long past time for them to shut up about everyone else. |
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Post by RealPitBull on May 19, 2012 9:11:44 GMT -5
They denied RPB's CGC grant. By "deny" I mean just never heard back from them. |
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Post by johnr on May 19, 2012 18:29:22 GMT -5
They denied RPB's CGC grant. By "deny" I mean just never heard back from them. Ever the class act. Anyway, when you gonna visit BCAS? |
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