This week, I came across two MSNBC articles worth sharing that relate to progressive animal welfare efforts. On one hand, some cities are banning retail puppy sales, which is vastly increasing shelter dog adoptions, especially for shelters that offer friendly customer service and adoption counseling, matchmaking. On the other hand, there are some serious dangers to approaching NO KILL the wrong way, and for some shelters, the horrors animals suffer before anyone does anything to stop the insanity is a sad example of how local and state leaders are woefully out of touch with modern sheltering and best practices.
The following story talks about the progress being made in Albuquerque and other cities since they banned retail puppy sales:
No pups for sale? Cities ban pet shops: Movement aims to curb puppy mills, spur shelter adoptions, MSNBC article, May 27, 2010
The next article talks about shelters that have become literal places of horror for animals because of misguided management that did not understand or did not care that reaching NO KILL should not come at the sake of basic, humane animal care for pets housed in their shelters. I may be in the minority, but I fear our local shelter shares many characteristics with these shelters, such as housing multiple dogs in kennels with very little escape from this small confinement, very little supervision and care, etc. Some smaller dogs housed with bigger dogs getting trampled on and injured; some dogs do not eat enough because they are the submissive ones in the confined pack, etc. There's also a double-wide trailer on the property used to house sick dogs in drop-down crates not meant for holding dogs more than 8 hours in a row.
This article is very important for our local leaders to read so they can understand that simply lowering the kill rate is not what we are asking for as animal advocates. We expect a high level of care for the animals housed in our facility as well.
Animal shelter turned into a ‘house of horrors’: Quest for low-euthanasia rates led to charges of criminal neglect, cruelty, MSNBC article, March 16, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
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