Wednesday, November 21, 2012

GIVING THANKS –DOGGY STYLE!

Okay, so it’s Thanksgiving.  A time for giving thanks for everything that enriches our lives. A time for acknowledging how blessed we really are.  So, I thought I’d list a few of the dog-related things that I am truly grateful for.

I’m thankful for every dog, past and present, that has been a member of my family.  From my youngest days to my current state of rapidly advancing years (okay, I’m not that old, but some days it feels like it!), I have constantly been amazed at the unselfishness of these amazing animals.  Some of those dogs were with us for only a short time—as a child I learned the dangers of buying from a pet store when it was discovered our gorgeous puppy, Tuppence had contracted distemper—others were with us for their entire lives, and others are still with us.  Each and every one brought joy and laughter. They played the peacemaker when necessary and played the clown when it was most needed. Every single dog displayed a distinct personality, and every one brought something new to the family!  There is more than a hint of truth when you hear animal owners proclaim that they did not rescue the animal, the animal rescued them!

Not only am I thankful for the canine members of my family, I’m thankful for every dog and cat that I have met during my brief time in the world of animal advocacy and rescue.  Their unconditional love and their hopefulness in the face of often devastating adversity is a constant inspiration.

I’m thankful for the selfless devotion of the animal rescue advocates that it has been my pleasure to become acquainted with.  Time and again, I discover that although I think I am active in animal rescue and advocacy, my contributions are miniscule and insignificant compared to those of others. Also, if it was not for these people, I would never have received the companionship of my 3 current dogs: Suzie, Shadow and Sam!  I am especially thankful for the volunteers at Pet Rescue North, a no kill shelter in Jacksonville, Fl that you have heard me mention many times before, for Peggy and Mary Ann, for Fred and Deb, and for the many others that I have never met personally.

I’m thankful for the work of advocates such as Nathan Winograd, The No Kill Advocacy Center, and The No Kill Nation who work tirelessly to expose the hypocrisy of organizations killing healthy and treatable animal that they are supposed to be caring for, and to debunk the bureaucratic excuses used to rationalize this behavior.  It is the work of people such as Nathan (hopefully, I’ll get to meet him one day) and the related no kill organizations that bolster my belief that one day the United States will actually become the nation of animal lovers that it is supposed to be.

I’m thankful for my loving wife, Val, who not only agrees with and participates in my animal related activities—few as they may be—she puts up with every time these activities interrupt something else: my time at the computer advertising dogs in need, my black moods when the stories of despair seem just too much, and the days when it must seem as though the dogs are more important than she is.  Don’t worry; I’m pretty sure she thinks the dogs are more important than I am!

Obviously, the list is incredibly incomplete and, in some ways, I am thankful for that also. If I could include everything animal-related that I am thankful for in a short list, it would mean that only a few animal-related things in this world were worth giving thanks for . . . and this is so obviously not the case!  We have been tasked with the responsibility of protecting this amazing planet we live on, and with caring for the vast array of life upon that planet, and thankfully it appears that an increasing number of people are taking that responsibility seriously!

Take a moment to give thanks to your companion animals. They are doing what comes naturally to them but, even if you don’t realize it yet, they are giving you a gift just by being in your life . . . and I’m sure your parents taught you that you are supposed to be thankful for gifts!

So from Val, Shadow, Suzie, Sam, and me to all friends of animals out there, and their companion animals:


WE WISH YOU ALL A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!
 
 
 

Sunday, November 18, 2012

DYING FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

Some recent animal-related events in the North East Florida region have kept me from posting on this blog as frequently as I would like.  I am sure my readers accept that trying to save animals must take precedence. However, one of those events is worth discussing here.  In the callous world of so-called animal “shelters” killing healthy or treatable animals rather than truly trying to find homes, this struck me as particularly horrendous.

101512-11JP 003Bradford Co. Animal Shelter and Control, Starke, Fl 
On Sunday, 11 November, 2012, an email was circulated around various animal rescue organizations and advocates in N.E. Florida. The subject was the Bradford County Animal Shelter and Control located in Starke, Florida and the email contained photographs and a list of over thirty cats and dogs at the shelter.  Animal advocates in this area are well aware of this “shelter” and its killing policies.  In my limited experience I have not dealt with this particular “shelter”, but one advocate, a person I trust implicitly, stated that, “This shelter is so poor that they euthanize in each kennel then lay the dogs in the aisles where the other dogs can smell and see.”

As expected, recipients of the email sprang into action—spreading the word through social networking—to see if these animals could be saved.  After a few days, one person that I know of contacted the “shelter” to ask how long we had to find homes for these animals.  And it was in the response to this question that I discovered one of the most callous, heinous, and unforgiveable attitudes that I personally have heard of: They hope to have all the dogs gone one way or the other by next Wednesday due to the [Thanksgiving] holiday.


102512-QA 003 Bradford Co. Animal Shelter and Control, Starke, Fl 
Because I am a third party to this communication this is as close to a direct quote that I can be and I added the emphasis, but when I asked the recipient of this statement whether I was interpreting the statement correctly, that the animals will either be rehomed or will be dead by next Wednesday, it was confirmed that I was not the only one interpreting it that way!  And to prove the accuracy of this statement we then heard that the killing would begin on Monday, 19 November, 2012!

People in the animal rescue world are used to such deadlines, but what I find most horrific is the underlying text of the statement: If the facility is empty on the Thanksgiving holiday, the staff will not have to interrupt their own celebrations with the need to go into work to look after all those pesky critters!

Think of the meaning of Thanksgiving, a holiday where Americans traditionally give thanks for all that is great in their lives, a holiday that celebrates the blessings we encounter each and every day, a holiday where many give back to those less fortunate than themselves.  Apparently in Starke, Fl (and in many other communities around this country) this giving back doesn’t extend to our four-legged friends, many of whom were previously in homes until they became a nuisance for some reason.  Perhaps they became old or ill or just too damn inconvenient!  Whatever the reason, I wonder if those former owners knew that their former friend and family member would never see another Thanksgiving?




101512-13JP 003 Bradford Co. Animal Shelter and Control, Starke, Fl 

It should go without saying that Bradford County Animal Shelter and Control (interesting how the word “control” is slipped in at the end of the title there) is not the only organization clearing the book so they can enjoy their holiday; they just happened to come to my attention.  So will the staff of those shelters be giving thanks for their day off? Will they be down on their knees asking forgiveness for what they had to do in order to get that day off?  Or will they be too busy stuffing their faces to worry about it?

The America that I chose to become a citizen of is supposed to be a nation of animal lovers. How can this be true when some people are able to celebrate because of the indiscriminate killing of innocent animals? And I hope I don’t hear any of the usual bureaucratic excuses . . . I don’t see the hospitals killing off their patients so the nurses and doctors don’t have to go into work on Thursday!


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Who says the public doesn't care!

In the works of Nathan Winograd a recurring theme is the excuse given by kill-shelters that there are not enough people who care, not enough people willing to adopt, not enough people willing to foster, and therefore animals must be killed. Nathan Winograd argues against this vehemently. I just thought today I would share an experience that supports Winograd rather than the excuse makers. 

flyer posted on PRN's Facebook page
 
Recently, a speckled coonhound was surrendered to a vet’s office by the owner who claimed a history of food aggression and snapping or biting from this dog. An employee at the vet's office who received the dog sent out an e-mail stating that they had seen no evidence of this, but, unfortunately, they would be unable to keep the dog more than a few days. If they were unable to find the dog a home by Sunday, 11 November 2012 the dog would have to be euthanized as requested by the owner. Pet Rescue North, a local no kill shelter in Jacksonville Florida, unable to save the dog directly because their kennels were full, posted this information on their Facebook page seeking help.  

Pet Rescue North is a small organization with only just over 400 likes on Facebook, but the response was overwhelming. The post resulted in over 700 shares and almost 200 comments. Ultimately, the result was that a forever home was found for this dog. It is worth noting that comments were posted from as far away as South Africa. The forever home that was found was in Daytona, Florida, almost 100 miles away. Now the only problem is arranging transportation. This is a minor problem, but the most important thing is that this dog has been saved. 

The question has to be how can anybody claim that the public is not supportive of no-kill policies when a tiny pet rescue organization can put a simple request on Facebook and more than twice the number of people that they should reach shares the request in such a positive manner? 

The mission of no kill shelters is to save animals, whether those animals are in the care of that shelter or not. However, their efforts are being hindered by this belief of the kill shelters that the public does not care. When one small shelter can reach so many who care what could happen if kill shelters adopted policies of communicating with the public rather than just bureaucratically killing animals because they believe no one will care! All they need to do is give us time. 

Just as a final thought, this experience showed some of the limitations of Facebook, and will no doubt provide the basis for many posts on this blog to come. However, as far as the concern that the public may not care about the unnecessary killing of animals goes this experience blows that argument out of the water! So if you live in an area where the pound or the local shelter claims that there are not enough adopters out there, tell them that they are not working hard enough!