JUST WHAT HAPPENED TO THE AFLAC DUCK?

For my first post since the winter hiatus I am going slightly off topic in that I am not directly mentioning companion animals.  Instead, I want to know . . . just what happened to the AFLAC Duck?

You may have seen the advert . . . hospitalized with injuries that mysteriously are never explained. Multiple lacerations to the wing? Fractured beak? Just what is going here?

Were these injuries the result of some over-zealous, but incompetent PETA representative attempting to enforce a belief that death is preferable to exploitation? And, if so, did they ask the duck if it chose to represent this company or was it forced?

Was the duck a victim of someone, say a farmer, who believes that animals should know their place, and television stardom is not their place?

 

Perhaps the injuries are the result of an escape from a care and protective services “shelter” that had deemed the duck unadoptable?  After all the duck has in previous appearances shown itself to be rather strong-headed, independent, and even aggressive in getting its point across!

Could the injuries be self-inflicted; a result of the stress inflicted by being a public personality?  After all, everyone has read of stardom leading to what seem to be psychotic breaks or self-destructive behavior! Was the constant pressure to perform the breaking point or, possibly, did the realization that he was a phenomenon, a special individual, living a life of luxury while his fellow non-humans were being slaughtered for the crime of being homeless just too much to stand!

Undoubtedly, we will learn the truth in the near future.  But will this revelation be just another stunt by an enthusiastic but uncaring PR advisor? Let’s hope we get to hear the real story from the true victim . . . the duck!

Temporary Hiatus

Apologies to anyone who has been looking for new posts recently. The paying job has been kicking my butt recently, and I will be traveling over the holiday period.

But keep your eyes peeled in the New Year.  I will be back with more for all you dog lovers out there.

Thanks for keeping the faith!

Happy Holidays to every one of you!!!!!!

IanF

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!

 

 

 

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!

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!

Kill Shelters: Animals May Not Be the Only Victims!

The failure of any local animal shelter run by a city or county government to effectively embrace and implement no-kill policies and procedures detrimentally affects all the no kill organizations in that region, and places untenable demands on the resources of those organizations.  This effectively limits the ability of the no kill organizations to achieve their adoption goals.  As a brief example, recent events in Jacksonville, Florida, will be described followed by my interpretation of the problems that exist.   

Please note that this is not an attempt to vilify Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services (ACPS) in particular.  Rather, it is simply a case of local familiarity on my part.  ACPS has done more than many governmentally-run shelters in reducing its kill rate (and less than some others) but recent events mirror what is happening in cities and counties throughout the country. 

Last week, ACPS once again issued an urgent plea for help from local animal adopters, foster families, and rescue organizations.  With the shelter full and actually over capacity, the plea contained a sympathetically and carefully worded but unmistakable threat to the lives of the animals. Inevitably, in the ensuing scramble to rescue the animals that ACPS now has to kill, the needs of the local no kill organizations become secondary to the needs of ACPS.  Available space is used to pull animals scheduled to be killed at ACPS, space that may have been used to house animals from other sources. Foster resources slated for use by the animals that come through the doors of the no kill shelters are now used to save the animals from one source, ACPS.  Advertising resources such as social media focus on seeking homes for the animals in ACPS rather than seeking homes for the animals already housed in the no kill shelters.  

Frequently, because ACPS is one of the best known shelters in the area and therefore a larger beneficiary of donations, volunteers, etc. (in addition to its admittedly meager government funding) than many others, the organizations being asked to help are smaller, have fewer advertising or public relations outlets, are less financially stable than ACPS, and are already stretched to breaking point, but because of their mission they feel compelled to help.  Not to do so would be hypocritical. Therein sits one problem: In an environment where, ideally, all organizations would be cooperating to achieve maximum benefit for all, the benefits of all but one organization are subsumed.   

Undoubtedly, ACPS has made huge strides in its live release versus kill rate over the last few years.  The work of organizations such as Friends of Jacksonville Animals in fundraising and notifying the public of animals available for adoption through ACPS has played an important part in this.  ACPS and its various partner organizations have made much of their desire to become a no kill facility and the publicity campaign has been so successful that some members of the local community seem to believe that ACPS has achieved no-kill status.  Nothing could be further from the truth but this misconception causes another of the underlying problems.  If the public believes ACPS is no kill then no sense of urgency to act exists until the latest news broadcast informs them of how many animals are about to be killed.  

As has been noted, the public awareness of ACPS, the public profile, means that they receive a large portion of the local charitable “pie”.  Yet their very existence and their kill policies, while reducing the resources available to other organizations, demands that their needs be met even when helping could push the smaller organizations over the edge in terms of financial viability.  It is not unlike allowing the demise of many smaller banks in order to save the big financial institutions during the recent economic crash. 

Additionally, the public profile of ACPS aided by its position as a governmental organization provides easier access to and coverage by local news organizations.  This makes the misconceptions about ACPS and the cyclical urgency to empty the shelter en masse (leading to the stress on other organizations) rather than achieving a steady flow of adoptions to counter the number of intakes all the more mystifying. Arguably, there is no animal rescue organization in Jacksonville that is more widely covered and reported on by the local news media:  regular television spots, blogs on the website of the local newspaper, etc.  This is media access that other shelters or rescue organizations only dream of and if used correctly should minimize the frequency of these “emergencies”. 

There can also be no doubt regarding the support available from the local community when they are given easy access to adoption services. For example, over the last weekend of March 2012, three organizations—including ACPS-- combined in what was known as the “Mega Match-a-Thon”. The goal was to find homes for 250 dogs and cats; the result was 304 animals found homes.  Approximately three and a half months later, during a multi-organization event, again including ACPS,  held at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds a goal of 800 adoptions was smashed when over 900 cats and dogs found new homes. 

Having said all this, it is obvious to anyone familiar with the No Kill Equation as proposed by the No Kill Advocacy Center that all the pieces are in place for ACPS to move fully toward its stated No Kill goals: a high public profile, proven public support, easy media access to increase donations and volunteers, a solid network of partner organizations, etc. The missing element appears to be the element that the No Kill Advocacy Center identifies as one of the most vital: Leadership committed to a No Kill future! This lack of leadership may be within the department itself, or it may be at the level of city government, it is not for me to say where, but there is no doubt of its existence.  A few months ago ACPS experienced budget cuts as part of a citywide budget restructuring.  The most widely publicized result was the demotion of the adoptions and rescue coordinator, June Mason, and her replacement by someone who had been involved in animal rescue related positions for less time than June but had been a governmental employee longer. During her employment in the position, June developed positive relationships with rescue organizations throughout not only the state but also the country.  A huge public outcry including a petition containing well over a thousand signatures failed to overturn a decision that was based on established union and governmental policies rather than on the welfare of the animals.  It is such blind adherence to bureaucracy rather than to proven effectiveness that prevents shelters throughout the nation from moving toward no kill status.  Perhaps no single event demonstrated the negative impact of June’s demotion more than the fact that this most recent plea for help was issued by ACPS’s Division Chief because the adoption and rescue coordinator was “not available”, an occurrence that I never witnessed when June held the position! 

I must reiterate that this is not an indictment of ACPS.  It is a reflection of something that happens on a daily basis in the United States because of the failure of the local “pounds”, for whatever reasons, to do the right thing, to embrace the no kill philosophy, and to use the advantages of their governmental position to bring this into reality. If all locally run shelters became no kill they could then become full members of the animal welfare community with all organizations pooling resources to work toward a common goal. A full partnership would result in the frequent saving of two animals for every one adopted: If the no kills could focus on adopting out their own animals, then every adopted animal creates a space to pull another from a kill shelter. A constant flow of adoptions and rescues could relieve the pressure on the kill shelter and the no kills. Until that occurs, government shelters will continue acting as an entity that all other organizations are expected to compete with, but are still expected to pull from the fire on a regular basis. And when, as they always will, the no kill organizations use their valuable resources to come to the aid of the kill shelters it is worth asking, not only about individual animals but also about smaller rescue groups: How many will not survive this time? 

"Accident", “Bureaucracy Gone Mad”, or “WTF?” The Needless Killing of Healthy Animals!

Think Lucky would surviuve your local shelter? Fortunately, she is in a no-kill shelter!

I believe in a no-kill philosophy when it comes to shelter animals. I follow several animal related blogs, Facebook pages, etc. But I can hardly be accused of obsessively scouring the news each day for stories about shelters needlessly killing animals in their “care”. Yet here we are on only the 19th day of October 2012 and already this month two horrendous stories regarding this particular topic have caught my attention. Some describe the situation leading to this as bureaucracy gone mad but, to me, a more appropriate response would be an acronym that is popular in the modern vernacular: WTF?

The month began with the story of “Toothless”, a cat belonging to eight year old boy in Logan, Utah, being “accidentally” killed by a humane society shelter when the family had informed the shelter that the cat would be picked up the following day. 

Yesterday, through a Facebook post by the No-Kill AdvocacyCenter, I learned of a dog being “accidentally” killed by the Central California SPCA when the family had already informed the shelter that they would be there to pick up the 11-month old Pit Bull named Scar. Apparently, after getting out of the yard, Scar was taken to the shelter by a neighbor who made various accusations against the dog, none of which were substantiated during an investigation by the SPCA.

In my opinion, there are two issues here. One is the culture of these shelters where killing healthy animals is not only accepted but even expected and often encouraged. The rush to kill animals is, in its own right, abhorrent!

The second issue is the apparent lack of checks and balances to ensure that such “accidents” do not occur. It is not difficult to disseminate information throughout a shelter stating that a family is coming to pick up an animal or that a rescue, be it adoption or fostering, is imminent. As a nurse I have worked in many hospitals and know that, although mistakes happen, the policies and procedures in place to keep these mistakes to a minimum are numerous: two licensed nurses checking medication orders, the five “rights” of medication administration (right medication, right dose, right patient, right route, etc.), the physical marking of limbs to be operated on, etc. to name just a couple of examples. So why aren’t there similar policies and procedures in place where animals’ lives are at stake? Or, if there are, why is nothing being done about incompetent workers? A nurse found guilty of such incompetence would be fired and their license revoked in a heartbeat. 

Think I’m exaggerating the problem by just naming two incidents? According to the No-Kill Advocacy Center, “‘Accidental’ killings of beloved pets happen every day in shelters in this country. Google ‘shelter mistakenly euthanized pet’ and you’ll get ‘About 205,000 results (0.34 seconds).’” Try it. I did and got 226, 000 (0.40 seconds). Now, admittedly, some of these results may be reported in more than one place. Some may be reported in more places than in others but, to pick an arbitrary number, let’s say that each incident is reported in an average of ten places . . . that is still 22, 600 incidents. Before you object, I know that this is not a scientific assessment of the number of individual incidents, but I hope you get my drift.


While hospital-like checks and balances may help—they don’t solve the problem, but they may reduce these “mistakes”--the only true way to end these tragedies, to stop healthy animals dying needlessly, is for the pet-loving public to pressure their local shelters into adopting a no-kill philosophy. Find out how you can achieve this at the No-Kill Advocacy Center’s website. Some of the rescue groups in your area may already be no-kill, but it is likely that the local government-run facilities—even if run by a “humane society” or a “society for the protection of animals”—are not! 

Unfortunately, until this happens, it seems that I am destined to say frequently, “WTF?” followed closely by, “Not again!”