"No-Kill Starts As An Act of Will"
Nathan Winograd on The No-Kill Administration
"What kind of shelter
director should we hire? I believe that the best, most successful shelter
directors around the county have no animal sheltering experience. Why?
Because they are not schooled in the defeatist mentality that has thoroughly
defined the soul of our nation's animal shelters for over a century. They
have not adopted the excuses, they have not betrayed their obligations to
the animals, they do not kill with impunity, they are not content to parrot
the same old tired cliches, and promote the same old worthless programs
without examining whether they are actually having an impact."
* * * * * * * * * * *
WINOGRAD on:
"In Tompkins County, we did it with a simple yet highly effective three-step process: (1) Stop the killing; (2) Stop the killing; (3) Stop the killing. I am not joking. No-kill starts as an act of will."
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Like so many shelters with animal control contracts, the
TC SPCA had relied on the fiction that the only solution to pet
overpopulation is the "blue [euthanizing] solution." Staff would shake their
heads and continue to blame "irresponsible owners" for the fact that so many
animals would go out the door in barrels rather than in the loving arms of
families.
Like so many other shelters, the TC SPCA never once saw the killing as its
own failure to find solutions, meet its real mandate to be an animal welfare
organization, or live up to the very real but often ignored shelter credo
that 'every life is precious.'"
* * * * * * * * * * *
"I developed a flurry of programs to increase the number of homes, reduce birthrates, rehabilitate injured animals, and keep animals with their loving, responsible caretakers.
Next, I approached every
veterinarian in the community and asked, "How much will you charge me for
spay/neuter and for treatments? Will you waive your office visits?"
I went down the list of what I thought we would need. I went to the local
universities and asked, "What can you provide? Do you have PhDs who can look
at my wacky dogs and tell me how to bring them back to normal behavior?"
We went to the media and said, "Can you showcase our available pets once a week on the local news?" Now, we’re on the local TV news once a week, we’re on the local radio station once a week, and we’re in the local newspaper once a week. So at least three times a week, we’re out there.
I contacted every church, every community group, and said, "Anytime you have an event, I’d like to be there and bring some pets who need homes." I didn’t get any no’s. Everybody said, 'That sounds great!'"
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Say you live in Anytown, USA. Your community shelters
are killing 5,000 animals per year and you want to reduce that. Should you
start a TNR program? Should you open the shelter on weekends to do more
adoptions? What should you do? The number, 5,000, doesn't tell you anything
in and of itself.
"It really depends on who is dying. If you actually crunch your
numbers and categorize them, you can answer that question. So say, for
example, of those 5,000: 2,000 are feral cats. 1,500 are dog with behavior
problems. 1,000 are under aged kittens and puppies. 500 are sick or injured
animals.
"Now we know something. We know that to save the 2,000 feral cats, staying
open on weekends to do more adoptions won't help. We need a TNR program. For
the 1,500 behavior dogs, we need dog behavior and rehabilitation. For the
1,000 under aged kittens and puppies, we need a public spay/neuter program
and a foster care program for the shelter. And for the 500 sick or injured
animals, we need medical intervention programs."
* * * * * * * * * * *
Nathan J. Winograd is the founder of No Kill
Solutions at
www.nokillsolutions.com