As California goes, so goes the nation?

This is one case where I surely hope California doesn’t turn out to be the bellwether for the rest of us:

Schwarzenegger on Shelter Animals – Kill’em Faster to Save Money!, For the Love of the Dog blog, 6/7/09

See also:

A Pet Tax Break – A Deduction for an Adoption – VIDEO, For the Love of the Dog blog, 4/16/09

(Now that wouldn’t be a bad idea to adopt, pardon the expression!)

But then there’s this other proposal kicking around in California that would add a burden to pet parents:

A Sales and Use Tax on Vet Services?, For the Love of the Dog blog 11/28/09

So it sounds as if legislators in the Golden State can’t seem to get their right hands in sync with their left hands when it comes to doing what’s best for both people and dogs.  Heaven forbid anyone should use logic in coming up with ways to manage costs of animal care.  Win-win is just more than anyone can imagine, y’think?

 

NPR’s Frank DeFord on Michael Vick

DeFord points out yet another perspective on Vick:

Sweetness and Light, Morning Edition, June 3, 2009

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104831602

 

Update on the Shelter Pet Project from Maddie’s Fund

Regardless of whether a shelter’s mission specifies “open admission” (accepts all animals) or “no kill” — and the two are not mutually exclusive — animal welfare organizations around the U.S. will be dramatically affected by the upcoming Shelter Pet Project campaign.  The Ad Council is teaming up with HSUS and Maddie’s Fund with the objective of increasing shelter pet adoptions to the point that upwards of 3 million healthy, adoptable animals no longer lose their lives.  Take a look…

Maddie’s Fund May 2009 e-newsletter (Shared via AddThis)

Be sure to read these individual links:

• A Big New Voice For Shelter Animals
• The Shelter Pet Project By The Numbers – And Something More
• When The Adopters Show Up, Will Your Shelter Be Ready?
• Petfinder.com survey results (summary)

 

And for another take…

There’s certainly more than one way to look at Michael Vick and HSUS.  Here’s Nathan Winograd, on his blog:

In bed with monsters
5/25/09

To which I reply, yes, HSUS does adopt some very questionable policies, to say the least.  HSUS also adopts some very progressive policies, at least on the outset.  So do we throw the baby out with the bath water?  Or do we work from inside to try to change the system?

For those of us who believe HSUS does have at least some merit, I say it’s up to us to help other folks understand what programs they do and do not undertake.  If you want to support animal welfare directly rather than through advocacy, put your nonprofit dollars into local or small, struggling organizations with a valiant mission, where every penny makes a legitimate difference in animal lives.  These organizations still are able to draw on the HSUS knowledge base, which is considerable in spite of some of the criticism from those with an opposite political philosophy.  And HSUS’s advocacy efforts are still effective in many ways at saving animal lives on a macro level.

There’s room in my playbook for some of what HSUS is all about, and also some of what Nathan Winograd is all about.  I’m for picking the best practices each has to offer rather than pitting one against the other.  The latter more closely resembles a dog fight.  I thought that’s what we’re all against, folks!

 

Michael Vick: Reforming? or just kissing up?

Humane Society open to working with Michael Vick
USA Today, 5/20/09

The humane thing to do:  Give Vick a second chance
by Tom Tryon, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 5/24/09

Campaign against dogfighting comes to Atlanta
Event comes on eve of Michael Vick’s release from prison
By Alexis Stevens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/19/09

Does Michael Vick really mean it when he says he’s sorry?  He hasn’t apologized to the dogs.   Is he just claiming remorse so he can get on the good side of a new football team and get his game back?  Or will he demonstrate that he’s changed not only his attitude but his behavior as well?

The latter is certainly to be preferred.  I’ve thought from the beginning that a constructive approach would be more effective for helping him change direction than a rigidly punitive approach — see my Web of Life blog right around the time of his sentencing hearing for a bit of historical context.

Think about it:  If you accept the logical premise that any animal can be trained to be either calm or vicious, or deliberately provoked to the point of becoming aggressive, then you may be receptive to the main idea behind positive training.  In essence, this kind of training rewards the desired behavior.  When an animal performs an undesirable behavior, that is simply not rewarded.

There are plenty of variations on that theme — counter-conditioning, desensitization, negative reinforcement, and others.  You can teach an animal what you want by trading an undesirable behavior (aggression) for an acceptable behavior (sit politely, the equivalent of saying please before granting something of higher value, also known as “no free lunch”).

And I suggest that you can use these same principles on people, to direct their behavior as well.  Works with kids, works with college students.  Perhaps even with tough guys, too.  It’s not for counselors or rehabbers who want a quick fix for their clients, but rather, for those who are willing to invest in the long haul.  With dogs, the difference between positive training (think Victoria Stilwell) and dominance (think Cesar Milan) is that with positive, the dog learns to give the behavior because he wants to.  In contrast, with dominance, the dog gives the behavior out of fear of what will happen if she doesn’t.  Make the reward for good behavior so attractive that it effectively becomes the only choice.

So yes, maybe getting to play football again is such an attractive reward for Michael Vick that doing good with The Humane Society of the United States becomes a behavior he would actually be eager to demonstrate.  If that comes to pass, the practical result would make him an ambassador for both humane education, reform, and sport.

Breeds that mislead
Cary Smith, DC Pets Examiner, 5/20/09

What’s next for Michael Vick?
Wayne Pacelle blog, The Humane Society of the United States, 5/20/09

If anyone was ever in need of an extreme makeover, it’s Michael Vick
Published by Tim Collette on SeahawkNationBlog.com, 5/13/09
(Note — Collette suggests a good list of “rehab” community service projects for Vick)

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Is Michael Vick genuinely sorry for what he did?

Can he be effective in helping HSUS combat dog fighting?

Can he be an effective role model for disadvantaged kids, as Wayne Pacelle suggests?

Take Our Poll

 

“no kill” offers useful strategies

I am deliberately writing “no kill” in lower case letters because that’s largely what I heard at last weekend’s conference in DC, organized by Nathan Winograd and the Animal Law Project at George Washington University.  Perhaps some of the sessions I didn’t make it to were more “political,” but the ones I did hear would have been useful in a fairly wide variety of settings.

Controversial or not, there’s no denying a bunch of techniques and strategies animal welfare folks can implement that will change from outcomes that create or sustain suffering for animals to outcomes that improve their quality of life.  These strategies ultimately end up saving their lives.  In a nutshell, that’s what shelters are supposed to do in the first place.

Some people are  adamantly opposed to no-kill.  Not all of the techniques presented and discussed during this conference are right or adaptable for all shelters.  But that doesn’t mean the movement is all wrong.

What others are saying:

See Kim Thornton & Christie Keith blogging at PetConnection

Archives:

• Shelter Track documents — click here
• Legal Track documents — click here

 

 

No Kill Movement Descends on the Nation’s Capital — Examiner

Lisa Marie Ordakowski
DC Animal Welfare Examiner
4/23/09

http://www.examiner.com/x-3605-DC-Animal-Welfare-Examiner~y2009m4d23-No-Kill-Movement-Descends-on-the-Nations-Capital

See also:

No Kill Conference website

Nathan Winograd’s blog

No Kill Advocacy Center website

Love him or hate him, Nathan Winograd is one of the leading voices on bringing about change in U.S. animal shelters.  The upcoming conference promises to be a dynamic event for listening and learning.  Depending on how you define the no kill movement — capital letters or lower case — proponents may make a lot of sense, speaking with reasoned voices, or they may be shrill and unwilling to hear other viewpoints.  There are such organizations as open admission shelters with no kill policies and successes.  I’m open to hear as much of the continuum of opinions as I can learn.  Stay tuned…

 

 

ABC Nightline investigates puppy mills 3/27/09

Many of us in the animal care world have received this message from Bill Smith of Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs, PA (I’ve received it from at least three listservs already today!).  Sadly, Pennsylvania has some of the worst puppy mills in the country.  Here’s hoping this spotlight calls to attention both the problem and what folks can do to combat it.

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Well friends, once again, the cat is out of the bag – or should we say the dog out of the hutch!  This Friday night, March 27, ABC’s Nightline will be investigating puppy mills! <emphasis mine>

ABC Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi and investigators from Nightline travel the byways and back roads of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania – visiting numerous puppy mills and filming Main Line Animal Rescue’s volunteers as they rescue breeding dogs and puppies from Lancaster County’s notorious Amish commercial breeding facilities.

This promises to be a very special program. If you are involved in rescue, advocate on behalf of the millions of puppy mill dogs interned in our nation’s commercial dog breeding facilities, or if you just simply love animals, you will not want to miss this.

Sharyn Alfonsi interviewed, on camera, an Amish breeder while touring his facility – a first for network television. With approximately 500 dogs housed on his property, this commercial breeder speaks openly about an industry cloaked in secrecy and suspicion – the cruel factory farming of man’s best friend.

PLEASE tell your friends, your family, your coworkers – ABC Nightline investigates puppy mills – this Friday at 11:35 pm (Eastern Standard Time). Please take the time to forward this to all the rescues, shelters, and legislators in your area.

It has been almost one year since Oprah’s puppy mill show aired. That program received the highest viewer response of any Oprah Show in years. Now we need to spread the word about this very special Nightline. Only by educating as many people as we can, will we be able to help these animals. And after you watch the program, please don’t hesitate to contact ABC and Nightline to thank them for casting such a strong light on the plight of our nation’s puppy mill dogs.

Bill Smith

Main Line Animal Rescue

Friday’s airing of Nightline’s investigation of puppy mills is subject to breaking news. If for any reason it is not shown, it will air the beginning of next week. Please check listings for your time zone.

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Pits might get a break in Ohio, at least

Ohio bill would remove pits from vicious list

on ohmidog.com, 3/25/09

I don’t like the idea of breed-specific legislation.  It’s punitive, not progressive.  It doesn’t help people know what they should do, as opposed to “can’t,” “won’t,” “don’t,” etc.  In short, it’s negative.

And that doesn’t help either dogs or people.  People have created many of the problems that people then want to solve.  A better solution takes a preventive approach to manage the environment and its inhabitants — both human and animal.

I don’t deny that pits — and other animals — have caused harm to humans.  So have dachshunds, for that matter — recently named America’s top biter du jour according to a study at the University of Pennsylvania.  The point is, dogs are individuals.  In our current society, their humans are responsible for their behavior.  It’s the humans who need to be held accountable, on a case by case basis.