PLEASE READ ENTIRE POST! First, I would like to thank you all for your encouragement, donations, volunteerism, and attention you are giving to the Animal Care & Adoption Center, Texarkana, USA since we have started trying to make it a better place for the pets who are so unfortunate as to end up there. It is not their fault. Your response has been better than I could have ever dreamed. With that said, we need your help. The Texarkana, Arkansas City Council will be voting on our Advisory Committee on this coming Tuesday, September 2nd, at 6:30 pm. Please plan on attending this meeting. I would love to show our community how much we care for our pets! I have been forwarded two letters from shelter directors outside of our community (North Little Rock and Hot Springs) stating that they do not believe we can improve our shelter enough to become what is considered No Kill. Just as explanation, No Kill does not mean that we do not euthanize any pets. That is not true. The goal is to reduce as much as possible the number of animals killed that end up in shelters. Those that are euthanized are only the ones that are irremediably suffering, hopelessly ill or vicious and not subject to rehabilitation. Combined, these pets are typically less than 10% of all impounds all over the country. We understand that reaching this goal will take hard work, education, and the publics support. I, however, do not understand why shelter directors from outside our area would suddenly decide to write letters saying it cant be done when it is being accomplished all over the USA -- unless they are being encouraged to write letters and/or they are afraid if we do it, they will be forced to try. It is so much easier to just say kill everything than it is to work to save them. I would encourage you, particularly, to visit the North Little Rock shelter and see for yourself the animals lined up in bags out back waiting to be put in the incinerator. Those animals who were killed simply because they tested heart worm positive -- a very treatable illness -- even when rescues were volunteering to take them and have them treated -- killed. That would mean that our foster, Jett, would have been euthanized upon arrival at that shelter. Jett was adopted by a wonderful family who loves him. Or maybe they were killed because they were the wrong breed. Go inside and see the empty cages there and the 1 dog per kennel when our shelter has 3-4 in some. Then tell me he has to kill because of overcrowding. I just dont understand. Do these people care? I do! And I know you do! Here is our response to these letters that be shared with the City Manager, Mayor and City Council. Again, please join us on Tuesday night to show your support. I would like to change the outlook of the state of Arkansas to one that KNOWS that we care about our pets! This is NOT just an Arkansas issue, though -- this affects both sides of our fair cities! August 26, 2014 Harold E. Boldt City Manager City of Texarkana, Arkansas PO Box 2711 Texarkana, TX 75504 Dear Harold: Thank you for sharing the letters you received from Mr. Grace and Mr. Bugg with me. I would like to address some of their comments to begin with. First, it is not true that municipal No Kill shelters turn animals away. See nathanwinograd/?p=6785 -- A False Debate (1 page) Moreover, shelters can adopt their way out of killing while taking in all animals: bit.ly/198sATv -- ”Adopt your way out of killing, (36 pgs) The data Mr. Grace cites is wrong: bit.ly/1mgMHaO -- The myth of pet overpopulation (20 pg) And finally, No Kill is more cost effective than killing: bit.ly/1kklKTU -- ”The Economic Benefits of No Kill Animal Control, (12 pg) Since our Committee was created, there have been concerns expressed over the feasibility of the idea of a “No Kill” shelter, and we would appreciate being able to respond to those concerns here and to clarify our goals as the Shelter Advisory Committee to City Manager Harold Boldt. A No Kill shelter can be public or private, run by a humane society or by a municipal government. But the ASPCA and others have misled people by claiming that, “A no-kill shelter really can’t have an open admission policy. It must limit its intake if it wants to adopt out animals and not kill them” and by implying that “open admission” is better. This is false. A No Kill shelter can be either “limited admission” or “open admission.” No Kill only means that no savable animals are put to death, roughly 95% of all intakes. And there are plenty of No Kill animal control shelters and thus No Kill communities to prove it. By contrast, an “open admission” shelter does not have to, and should not, be an open door to the killing of animals. In fact, using the term “open admission” for killing shelters is misleading as they are CLOSED to people who love animals. They are CLOSED to people who might have lost their job or lost their home but do not want their animals to die. They are CLOSED to Good Samaritans who find animals but do not want them killed. They are CLOSED to animal lovers who want to help save lives but will not be silent in the face of needless killing. And so they turn these people and their animals away. It is also ironic that killing pounds are so enmeshed in their so-called “open door” philosophy that they are blind to any proactive steps that might limit the numbers of animals coming in through those doors through pet retention programs or increase the numbers of animals adopted through comprehensive marketing and placement. But even if the ASPCA was honest (and they are not), “open door” does not mean “more humane” when the end result is mass killing. This Shelter Advisory Committee was formed, in part, to stop this kind of misinformation from being perpetuated to the public. We all understand, and anyone who has been associated with shelters, understands that “No Kill” is difficult if not impossible to reach. Using the term No Kill has unintentionally misled the public by implying that NO animal in the care of the shelter will ever be euthanized. That is not true. The goal is to reduce as much as possible the number of animals killed that end up in shelters. Those that are euthanized are only the ones that are irremediably suffering, hopelessly ill or vicious and not subject to rehabilitation. Combined, these pets are typically less than 10% of all impounds all over the country. We have become the voice for the animals in the local shelter. There are times that the only choice we have is to be merciful in order to stop the suffering they are enduring. We understand that. However, there are remedies to increasing adoptions, fostering and rescuing that already have significantly reduced euthanizations for adoptable pets since new management has been put in place at the Animal Care and Adoption Center of Texarkana. We have received increased support from several veterinarians that are helping us tackle what all shelters experience, including contagious diseases and all the other maladies that pets might suffer. The community has rallied in support and has been coming out to help socialize the pets who are so unfortunate as to be housed at the shelter. They are helping increase the exposure of these pets, utilizing social media, helping spread the word. Because of that, in the past two weeks, we have had approximately 80 adoptions or rescues compared to previously having fewer than 10 per week. Yes, it is hard work to network these pets; however, it is more cost effective than just killing anything because you allegedly have no space available. These are the things that we are currently doing in our shelter now that have proven successful in other shelters across the country: • Rescue Partnerships • Volunteers • Foster Care • Pet Retention • Comprehensive Adoption Program • Public Relations/Community Involvement • Medical & Behavior Prevention & Rehabilitation (working with local vets) • High-Volume, Low-Cost Spay & Neuter (working with local vets) • Proactive Redemptions • Hard-Working, Compassionate Shelter Director We are working as quickly as possible to make sure all of these are implemented and successful. I really wish I had a “magic wand” to fast forward to a year from now and see the results of all of the programs we have implemented and the number of animals we have saved. And yes, we absolutely understand that we can not make a “No Kill” shelter happen overnight, as suggested by Mr. Bugg, not do we intend to attempt to do so without laying the appropriate foundation. We have repeatedly stated that this is not an overnight change. It will take time to put the appropriate steps in place. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to explain what we are trying to do. At this point, our shelter has a 90% kill rate or better. We are desperately trying to “flip” that number. It may take a while before we can get there – and we may never get to 90%, but we are not going to stop trying. Anything is going to be better than a 90% kill rate. Surely no one can find fault with our goal of saving as many pets as we can. Yes, it will be more work than just telling someone to kill an animal. However, in the long run, not only will the people on this committee be proud of our accomplishments, but our community will be proud as well. I will never forget something someone told me when I was in Springdale, Arkansas, this weekend for a conference given by Nathan Winograd, who is a proponent of No Kill. While sitting in our seats, a woman behind us started talking to the three of us who were attending. When she heard we were from Texarkana, she was surprised and excited. Her remark was, “Wow, I can’t believe y’all are here. We heard Texarkana didn’t care about their pets.” What a shame that we are known throughout the state as a community who doesn’t care about our pets. We are working extremely hard to change that. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I welcome any opportunity to help clarify what this committee is working hard to accomplish! Sincerely, Debbie Brower Chairperson Shelter Advisory Committee Animal Care & Adoption Center
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:53:58 +0000