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 Full Text of Presentation to Town of Hempstead Town Council
My name is Cathy LaSusa. I’ve lived in the Town of Hempstead for 16 years in Bellmore. I am an animal advocate and activist. By trade I am a nonprofit development professional of over 15 years and am a veterinary technician student awaiting licensure. I have volunteered for or belong to numerous local and regional animal-related and rescue organizations, and at the national level to organizations such as ALDF (the Animal Legal Defense Fund), PCRM (the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine), ASPCA, IDA (In Defense of Animals), FARM (Farm Animal Reform Movement), and PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals among others. By Cathy LaSusa Town Hall meeting Tuesday, July 7, 2009 Hempstead, NY I am here to today to talk about the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter and the goal of NO KILL. Many of you may remember a few years ago the two protests organized to pressure the town shelter to improve. I would like to acknowledge the town for eventually making some improvements, most notably moving to the mandatory spay/neuter of shelter animals before releasing them to adopters. However, this step marked only the beginning of the known, proven practices available to shelters to be progressive and exemplary as our town should strive to be, especially in how we treat our animals. Unfortunately, not much else has changed. An estimated 5-10 million dogs and cats EACH YEAR in this country get killed in our shelters. I use the word “killed” not “euthanized” because euthanasia means “good death,” an act of mercy reserved for humanely putting to death irreparably sick and suffering animals, or animals so beyond rehabilitation that they are deemed too aggressive and unsafe for adoption. This is NOT the case at the Town of Hempstead Shelter. Animals not in this category are killed every day or close to it. Yes, the public plays its role in being responsible toward its animals; however, we can no longer fall into the trap and excuse of blaming the public. To do so takes the responsibility and duty to do something about the problem away from the shelter. Our municipal shelter can easily access the knowledge to be NO KILL if it wanted to, the information is available and I outline it here. It certainly already has the resources; we have more than our share with a shelter budget of $4-6 million dollars (depending on the creative accounting). Approximately 70% of those millions goes toward salaries and benefits, and 25% toward administrative cost (not to the animals.) Approximately 1% goes to food and supplies for the animals. That is an outrage. It is the town who should and can have the leadership; at least as a start it should have the attitude shift of doing everything proactively in its power to go NO KILL … known and proven successful practices of NO KILL which I will outline. This is an important issue. It is an issue about the animals, but we can and will not stand for being written off as “crazy animal people.” Granted there may be an individual or two who may be out there, but we are animal advocates and productive members of the community thousands strong in Hempstead who vote and care. This is also an economic issue and a political one but, moreover, it is an ethical and moral issue as well. I would like to clarify something here for the benefit particularly of Charles Milone the shelter director, and also to inform you Supervisor Murray and you the members of the town council and to have it on public record. There are two women who go into the shelter and are single-handedly responsible for a very large number of adoptions. They are NOT volunteers; they act on their own …. one advocating and getting dogs adopted, and the other cats … including working with rescues locally and across the country to save animals, paying out of pocket to advertise these animals in the shelter, and preventing countless animals from getting into the shelter in the first place, etc. These women are in the shelter practically every day of the week, every week of the year. I do know them, they are amazing, BUT I am NOT speaking for them. They were not involved in any way in either my appearance here today or my message. I take the time to tell you this because the animals can not afford to have them be thrown out of the shelter or face adverse retribution. Significantly more animals would die because adoptions would plummet. I am a supporter of the No Kill Advocacy Center (NKAC), a national nonprofit whose specific mission is to end the killing of animals in shelters across the country. The founder of the NKAC is Nathan Winograd, a former corporate attorney and criminal prosecutor who turned his life purpose toward saving animals. He has successfully run NO KILL shelters in San Francisco, CA and Tompkins County, NY. He is the protégé of Richard Avanzino, the “father of the NO KILL movement” who is now the President of Maddie’s Fund for NY City Animals, a multi-million dollar nonprofit dedicated to revolutionizing the status and well-being of companion animals with a goal of reaching NO KILL by 2015. I attended the first NO KILL Conference 2 months ago organized by NKAC in conjunction with and held at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D. C. It was sold out and attended by approximately 400 people …. not only traditional animal advocates, but even by management of shelters across the country. Mr. Winograd just published his second edition of Redemption, The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the NO KILL Revolution in America. It is the roadmap to NO KILL. He is donating copies of Redemption for members of the town board and shelter “management” including Mr. Milone, Regina and Joanne at the shelter. I hope and ask each of you to read it. In particular, Supv. Murray, I ask you to read this book. I do commend you Supervisor for working on one aspect of reaching NO KILL …. promoting shelter animals out in the community. You appear on WKJY promoting the adoption fee waiver programs. Barring the fact that there is limited to no screening of adopters, it is a good program. Not screening adopters in any way, which is how the shelter operates all the time, can easily place animals in the hands of people who potentially can not adequately care for them without supportive services, or, who may use them for unscrupulous reasons such as dog fighting, etc. It is my sincere and fervent hope that our town shelter will truly one day have one of the highest adoption rates in the country. However right now, as you and the shelter boast, we do NOT. It is impossible the way this shelter runs in reality. For example, if the shelter has 100 animals, you may boast an 80% adoption rate when in fact it may be closer to 20%. If out of 100 animals, you deem 25 of them to be “sick” and kill them, that 25 come off the top of what YOU count as “adoptable” animals leaving 75. Often the sick animals killed either have very treatable illnesses, got sick from sub-standard cleaning practices or lack of veterinary care or monitoring. If out of the remaining 75 animals, you deem 25 of them to be “aggressive” and kill them, that 25 also come off the top of what you deem “adoptable” animals leaving a count of 50. Often these animals are not aggressive at all. They are scared, confused and/or in shock. They may fail inappropriate or poorly devised or poorly administered temperament tests. They may be killed possibly for having the misfortune of physically looking a certain way, being a certain breed, or not being liked by a particular shelter staff person for some reason. So of the 50 animals remaining, let’s say 40 get adopted. Yet in fact, it may be the effort of the women who on their own go into the shelter and get 20 of that 40 adopted. The math then adds up to be an adoption rate of 20 out of 100, or 20% by the shelter, NOT 40 out of 50, or 80%. I am offering here today, free of charge to the town, to have Nathan Winograd work with the shelter and perform an independent review and assessment of it’s operations, to consult with them and lay out a plan … a roadmap of how we can make the Town of Hempstead Shelter NO KILL. Approximately 4 years ago, a young staff person at the shelter named Nancy, excitedly and proudly secured and offered also free of charge to the shelter, a similar opportunity to bring in a different nationally-known and sought-after consultant. Not only was it turned down by shelter director Charles Milone, she was severely chastised for speaking with someone from the “outside.” WHY?? Why would this be so?? He knows exactly who I mean. If not, I’m happy to remind him. Nancy has agreed to attest to this. WHAT WE NEED FROM OUR HEMPSTEAD SHELTER & GOING NO KILL 1. Spay/Neuter Right now, the town shelter is only acting on one necessary component to be truly NO KILL. That is, as I acknowledged before, the mandatory spay/neuter of animals before adoption. This decreases intake (of unwanted offspring), increases adoptions and reduces killing. The other prongs of the equation are those which have been discussed with and mentioned to the shelter over many years at different times including recently but to no avail. 2. TNR The town must have a trap-neuter-return program for feral cats. My colleague Joanne Monez, founder of All About Spay-Neuter will be speaking to this shortly. 3. Foster Program There must be a network of animal advocates and volunteers to foster animals that need attention in order to be adoptable or in the severe case of limited space in the shelter. The former includes pregnant and nursing moms, both canine and feline, kittens and puppies too young for adoption and/or those who need socialization, sick animals who need observation and/or care, shy or scared animals who need socialization to be adoptable and so on. Fostering increases adoptions and reduces killing. 4. Veterinary Care Proper and prompt vet care increases adoptions and reduces killing. It is essential for NO KILL. Every animal should be examined at intake. Every animal should receive prompt veterinary care for any injuries or illnesses. Specialty care should be given as needed including necessary surgeries and ongoing care for chronic illness regardless of costs, which can be offset by outreach to the public and volunteer fundraising. There should be a veterinarian and vet tech committed to NO KILL on staff. Shelters need an isolation ward, and a ward or area to house sick/injured/pregnant animals that is quiet to aid recovery and where they can receive the attention they need. It is widely known that at our town shelter, animals in these categories have been relegated to the GARAGE to be housed out of sight from the public. That is outrageous and inhumane. 5. Behavioral Training & Rehab All animals in need of such should receive proper training and socialization. This reduces killing, increases adoptions, and prevents animals with issues who are adopted out from being returned to the shelter. Volunteer experts in this area are also among the town residents whose offers of free assistance have been turned away, surely leading to increased killing and decreased adoptions of those animals. 6. Staff Training & Development Staff should be properly recruited, hired and trained to be on board and implement NO KILL. Existing staff can be given the opportunity. This includes modern best practices of animal handling, interaction, cleaning and care, relations with the public, and knowledgeable, enthusiastic promotion of the animals, etc. It is widely known in the Town of Hempstead shelter, for example, that little to no regard is given to where the animals are placed in the shelter and how they are physically handled; this includes the highly inappropriate and cruel practice of hosing down runs with high powered hoses WITH THE ANIMALS INSIDE. It includes the unnecessary use of catch poles on animals in lieu of trained and humane animal handling. It includes inappropriately placing animals in areas of the shelter that are detrimental to their physical or mental health. Staff needs to be either compassionate and on board with no kill, or leave. 7. High-Volume, Low-Cost/Free Spay-Neuter Ideally an in-house clinic that offers low-cost or free spay/neuter and medical services should be available. This is key to assist the public who may be struggling to care for their animals from relinquishing them to the shelter in the first place, particularly in tough financial times. I personally have assisted with organizing TNR and low-cost spay/neuter clinics for which I alone have recruited dozens of volunteer vets, vet techs and vet assistants on numerous occasions, so I know first-hand that it is possible to reach out into the generous veterinary community for assistance when needed. It is helpful and acknowledged that the town shelter does run an annual rabies clinic. Programs like this, if expanded and with broadened outreach, are helpful. 8. Collaboration with Rescue A concerted, cooperative effort outreaching to breed and mixed breed rescue is an essential key to increasing adoptions, decreasing killing, and also preventing owner turn-ins in the first place. Many rescue volunteers locally, regionally and cross the country are committed to assist with increasing adoptions and reducing killing at shelters across the country. 9. Comprehensive Adoption Programs/Public Outreach Shelters need to promote the shelter and all the animals all the time. This includes posting all animals on websites such as Pet Finder with photos and accurate descriptions of the animals, and keeping the postings up to date. It includes having friendly help for potential adopters at the shelters knowledgeable about the animals who can help make good, lasting matches to increase adoption retention. It includes public relations including newspaper, TV and radio outreach. It means holding adoption events out in the community bringing the actual animals out to the people. It means having educational materials and assistance for adopters to also promote pet retention so pets are not returned back to the shelter. This does not mean what Town of Hempstead Shelter does, which is only and always saying everything is wonderful there when it is far from. “Studies show people get their dogs from shelters only 15 percent of the time overall, and less than 10% of the time for cats. If shelters better promoted their animals and had adoption programs responsive to the needs of the community such as weekend and evening hours and offsite adoption events, they could increase the number of homes available and replace population control killing with adoptions. Shelter killing is more of a function of market share than ‘public irresponsibility.Contrary to conventional wisdom, shelters can adopt their way out of killing.” (Redemption) 10. Volunteer Program Having a comprehensive volunteer program is an essential, non-negotiable component of NO KILL. In NO KILL shelters, volunteers and staff work together. Volunteers are instrumental in foster programs, assisting the animals, staff and adopters at the shelter, rescue networking, fundraising, public relations and outreach, offsite-adoptions, TNR, veterinary clinics, behavioral training, pet retention education and assistance, rehab and so much more. A Message From Nathan J. Winograd
Dear Friends and Colleagues: Too many shelter directors hide behind the myth of "too many animals, not enough homes" for policies that allow them to continue killing. The numbers, however, do not add up that way: 1. How many dogs and cats enter shelters annually? 8 million. (Some put it as low as 6 million, but I am going to use a "worst case" scenario.) 2. Of those how many are savable? 90 percent or just over 7 million. 3. Of those how many will be saved? 4 million. 4. How many of the savable animals are killed? 3 million. 5. How many need to find new homes? If shelters are doing their jobs comprehensively, just over 2 million (3 million on the high end). The remainder should be increased reclaims or in the case of feral cats, TNR'd. 6. Other than those who will adopt from a shelter as a matter of course (those saved above), how many people in the U.S. are looking to bring a new dog or cat into their home next year but have not decided where they will get the animal and can be influenced to adopt from a shelter? 17 million. So, 17 million people for 2-3 million dogs and cats. 7. Has this happened anywhere? Yes, there are many communities which have hit the 90th percentile in save rates. 8. How long did it take them? They did it virtually overnight when new leadership committed to the No Kill philosophy and passionate about saving lives replaced long standing bureaucrats mired in defeatism and excuse making. 9.Why don't they do better? A failure of leadership ANIMAL SHELTERS - The Good, The Bad, Your Right to Know
For many years the public has been told that dogs and cats must be killed in our municipal shelters due to overcrowding.
In communities throughout the United States,rescue
groups,animal lovers,good Samaritans and No Kill
shelters are demanding change. Rejecting the failed
notion that the best we can offer homeless animals is
a "humane" death and that shelters bear no
culpability for the numbers of animals killed,these
individuals and organizations are challenging the
status quo,and calling for an end to the killing. But not all animal control departments have
embraced this renaissance in lifesaving.Many
refuse to change with the times.Still others are
adopting the name and language of No Kill,but not
the programs and services that save lives.With
large national groups and other industry
associations mired in the failed philosophies of the
past,many shelters and bureaucrats are resisting
demands by citizens for a more
progressive humane shelters. |
