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This No-kill advocate isn’t thankful on Animal shelter appreciation week

By Clara Miller

(Editor’s Note: According to the Humane Society of the United States, the National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week is observed the first week of November every year. In observance of that occasion, we are publishing the following letter that was written by Clara Miller, co-founder of No Kill Buffalo-Niagara. It brings into focus how much more needs to be done to reform shelters here and across the country to reach the goal of the No Kill Movement.)

According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), this is National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week, and we should all contact our local animal shelters and tell them what a wonderful job they are doing. So I thought I would take a moment to give thanks to the job that some of the shelters, both locally and statewide, are doing.

Thank you so much to the shelter that kills the majority of the pit bull looking dogs that they take in because, you know, it is just too hard to adopt them out.

Thank you so much to the shelter that has a quota on the number on their adoption floor because, you know, they don't want people to think that is all they have for adoption, so they kill all but a few. And thank you so much to the grant agency that gives them millions of dollars anyway, because, you know, pit bull type dogs don't count.

Thank you so much to the shelter who hires the worse possible employees that are friends of friends or municipal employees that have screwed up so badly that the town can't trust them to fill pot holes or empty garbage totes because, you know, cleaning up dog s---, changing litter boxes of stressed and sick cats, hosing out kennels with the dogs still in them and tossing kibble into a bin on occasion doesn't affect anyone other than the traumatized animals in their care, and those animals are so much less important than car tires.

Thank you so much to the shelter that uses 6-minute behavior tests to cull the animals that might take a little more effort to help because, you know, adoptable means they can go right up for adoption and you don't have to take time away from those important things like gossiping or coffee breaks.

Thank you so much to the shelter that goes into a hoarding situation and proceeds to get all the publicity, the donations and the grants for the care of the animals and then dumps them into shelters that are going to kill them or passes them off onto rescue groups or advocacy groups that are run on shoestring budgets, because, you know, those animals already served the purpose of increasing their coffers.

Thank you so much to the shelters that are presented with un-socialized or scared cats and proceed to either intake and kill them, use them to hold other organizations hostage (take them or they die) or inform the public that they just can't help, because, you know, even though they have more than enough money to help these community cats, it would be a great deal of work to actually do so.

Thank you so much to the shelter that makes it so difficult for rescue groups to take animals from them that these rescue groups take animals from out-of-state shelters instead, because, you know, the shelters can then turn around and claim the rescue groups are the problem.

Thank you so much to the shelters that always ask the question, "What is in it for me?" rather than "What is in it for the animals in my care?," because, you know, it's all about them and not the animals.

So while the HSUS celebrates the successes of animal shelters that routinely kill about 1/3 or more of the animals that come through their doors, we'll be continuing the fight for shelter reform. We are proud to stand with the No Kill Advocacy Center for National Shelter Reform Week - and so should you.

Clara Miller is the co-founder, No Kill Buffalo-Niagara
http://nokillbuffaloniagara.wordpress.com/

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com

Nov 13 , 2012