Post by michele5611 on Jul 8, 2011 10:03:40 GMT -5
btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2011/07/whos-side-is-the-public-on.html
July 07, 2011
Whose side is "The Public" on?
If you are new to animal welfare, or even if you've been around for awhile, it may be a bit confusing for you what side of animal welfare issues "The Public" is on.
Look at a few examples from around the country just this week:
1) In Tallahassee, FL, Animal Shelter Assistant Director Ericka Leckington responded to complaints about shelter's high-kill rate by saying, "Until the community steps up, takes responsibility for the overpopulation in Tallahassee and we get a lot of spay neuter resources, and people being responsible about pet ownership, we're going to have this problem".
While the shelter has a 52% kill rate, it is not the shelter that is to blame, it is "the public" that is at fault and irresponsible. They are the reason animals die at the shelters.
2) The same is apparently true in Memphis. Last week in an article in the Memphis Commericial Appeal, Animal Control Director Matthew Pepper noted that people who don't spay and neuter are the reason that the shelter kills 77% of the animal it impounds. Pepper said "We have a lot of people upset at shelters for the euthanasia rate, but it's not our fault. We're doing the best we can. I wish people would address their frustration at the people who aren't spaying and neutering their animals."
In other words, don't blame the shelter for the problesm, even though they barely use online resources like Petfinder or Pet Harbor to list homeles animals looking for homes. It's the public's fault -- blame those irresponsible people who don't alter their pets.
If you listen to these failing shelter directors, then clearly, "The Public" doesn't like or care about animals and are the reason for animals dying in the shelter. Or are they?
3) Last month, over 900 pets found their way to the animal shelter in Joplin, MO after a tornado tragically leveled a significant portion of their city. After a fairly long holding period in hopes of matching these pets with their owners, the shelter held a major adoption event to find homes for the remaining animals. In one weekend, an estimated 5,700 people, from 24 states, entered the local Humane Society doors and adopted 745 pets -- finding homes for not only all of the pets at the Joplin shelter, but others that were imported in from surrounding communities to be sure there was enough supply to meet the demand.
When the shelter asked "The Public" for help, they answered the call, in nearly overwhelming fashion.
4) In Louisville, the Metro Animal Services Shelter had 3 confirmed cases of distemper. In response, the city asked "the public" for help. By 4 pm the first day, half of the shelter's 150 dogs had been adopted -- with more folks waiting to come in and meet the adoptable pets. While that particular shelter doesn't usually offer adoptions, the shelter was offering them for just $9. The city's mayor noted that, thanks to "The Public", no dogs would have to be euthanized to make room for the thorough cleaning of the shelter following the distemper outbreak.
Again, when the shelter asked for help, "the public" stepped up and helped out.
So who's side is "The Public" on?
Do you believe the folks in Tallahassee or Memphis that the public is the problem for our shelters? That it is their irresponsibility that is causing animals to end up at the shelter and thus, why shelters have high kill rates?
Or do we believe the real life examples of 'the public" stepping up when asked to help in times of need?
The reality is, "the public" is on whatever side you want them to be on. If you continually set up a divide between your shelter, and "the public", by blaming them for all of your problems, then you can almost guarantee that "the public" will not be there to support you and your mission.
But if you embrace "the public", and ask for their help in saving animals, and embrace them not as the CAUSE of the animals being in the shelter, but as the SOLUTION to getting them back out, they will step up and help you with your cause.
So why do so many failing shelters still want to blame them instead of embracing them as a solution?
July 07, 2011
Whose side is "The Public" on?
If you are new to animal welfare, or even if you've been around for awhile, it may be a bit confusing for you what side of animal welfare issues "The Public" is on.
Look at a few examples from around the country just this week:
1) In Tallahassee, FL, Animal Shelter Assistant Director Ericka Leckington responded to complaints about shelter's high-kill rate by saying, "Until the community steps up, takes responsibility for the overpopulation in Tallahassee and we get a lot of spay neuter resources, and people being responsible about pet ownership, we're going to have this problem".
While the shelter has a 52% kill rate, it is not the shelter that is to blame, it is "the public" that is at fault and irresponsible. They are the reason animals die at the shelters.
2) The same is apparently true in Memphis. Last week in an article in the Memphis Commericial Appeal, Animal Control Director Matthew Pepper noted that people who don't spay and neuter are the reason that the shelter kills 77% of the animal it impounds. Pepper said "We have a lot of people upset at shelters for the euthanasia rate, but it's not our fault. We're doing the best we can. I wish people would address their frustration at the people who aren't spaying and neutering their animals."
In other words, don't blame the shelter for the problesm, even though they barely use online resources like Petfinder or Pet Harbor to list homeles animals looking for homes. It's the public's fault -- blame those irresponsible people who don't alter their pets.
If you listen to these failing shelter directors, then clearly, "The Public" doesn't like or care about animals and are the reason for animals dying in the shelter. Or are they?
3) Last month, over 900 pets found their way to the animal shelter in Joplin, MO after a tornado tragically leveled a significant portion of their city. After a fairly long holding period in hopes of matching these pets with their owners, the shelter held a major adoption event to find homes for the remaining animals. In one weekend, an estimated 5,700 people, from 24 states, entered the local Humane Society doors and adopted 745 pets -- finding homes for not only all of the pets at the Joplin shelter, but others that were imported in from surrounding communities to be sure there was enough supply to meet the demand.
When the shelter asked "The Public" for help, they answered the call, in nearly overwhelming fashion.
4) In Louisville, the Metro Animal Services Shelter had 3 confirmed cases of distemper. In response, the city asked "the public" for help. By 4 pm the first day, half of the shelter's 150 dogs had been adopted -- with more folks waiting to come in and meet the adoptable pets. While that particular shelter doesn't usually offer adoptions, the shelter was offering them for just $9. The city's mayor noted that, thanks to "The Public", no dogs would have to be euthanized to make room for the thorough cleaning of the shelter following the distemper outbreak.
Again, when the shelter asked for help, "the public" stepped up and helped out.
So who's side is "The Public" on?
Do you believe the folks in Tallahassee or Memphis that the public is the problem for our shelters? That it is their irresponsibility that is causing animals to end up at the shelter and thus, why shelters have high kill rates?
Or do we believe the real life examples of 'the public" stepping up when asked to help in times of need?
The reality is, "the public" is on whatever side you want them to be on. If you continually set up a divide between your shelter, and "the public", by blaming them for all of your problems, then you can almost guarantee that "the public" will not be there to support you and your mission.
But if you embrace "the public", and ask for their help in saving animals, and embrace them not as the CAUSE of the animals being in the shelter, but as the SOLUTION to getting them back out, they will step up and help you with your cause.
So why do so many failing shelters still want to blame them instead of embracing them as a solution?
I look forward to learning much here