I tend to view the world from a cooks perspective. There's the logical side, where success depends on deft combinations of measured ingredients and traditional skills. Then there's the creative end of the stick, where new techniques and innovative recipes create bold new concepts. Whoever it was who said there is nothing new under the sun clearly never set foot in a kitchen.
The No Kill Concept has been around long enough to have mapped its own ingredients for success. These are not radical theories but tried and tested techniques.
Basically, the recipe has ten ingredients:
#10 TNR program for Feral Cats
#9 High volume / Low Cost Spay Neuter
#8 Rescue Groups
#7 Foster Care
#6 Comprehensive Adoption Program
#5 Pet Retention
#4 Medical and Behavioral Assistance
#3 Good community relations and involvement
#2 Volunteers, and last but not least
#1 Compassionate, goal focused leadership
If you look at the situation in Cape Breton, some of the ingredients are already in place, even if not in the needed quantities.
#10 The Cape Breton Feline Support Society already exists, and has been doing their bit not just with TNR but in trying to help with adoptions. http://www.cbfss.org/
#9 The CBRM has funded 300 low cost spay neuters for this year. That number pales in light of the nearly 4000 animals admitted to the CB branch, but it is something that can be built on. There was an article recently in the news about the intention of CBRM to fund more assistance for people who "take in" strays.
#8 There are rescue groups throughout the province that have been and would be willing to accept animals into their care. A standardized procedure, such as the New Hope Network used by LA Animal Control would engage the rescues and shelters in this lifesaving work
#7 Foster Care is the backbone of every rescue and shelter. Animals that are living in a cage seldom have a chance to show their best selves. Admittedly it is difficult to find people willing to volunteer for a high kill group.... but if the killing was to stop, the animal loving community would step up to the plate.
#6 Promoting the animals through free services like Petfinder is a critical component to boosting adoptions. Online dating services can't hold a candle to how far kind animal lovers are willing to travel for their new best friend. The CBFSS already has made the big step of taking the adoptables to the mall and on the road. Building on this would just make sense
#5 An ounce of pet retention is worth a pound of cure. If the CBRM was willing to make the leap of offering free lifetime licenses for microchipped and altered pets, it would cut down traffic at the CB branch and liberate more resources for rescue Right now there is a flat ten dollar licensing fee with no "reward" for having pets altered or microchipped.
#4 Hand in hand with that, it is penny wise and pound foolish not to provide medical and behavior assistance when needed. The cost of a few free obedience workshops, a help line and emergency low cost medical assistance would just keep Fluffy and Fido home and out of the shelter.
#3 Good community relations happens in a positive environment where life is nurtured and respected. The Gas Chamber is one of those 'dirty little secrets' that no one likes to talk about but everybody knows about. There will be no good community relations until that is permanently gone. When AC went No Kill in Maricopa County, their donations took such an upswing they were able to add on to their facility and fund more programs.
#2 People who volunteer with the animals are normally animal lovers. In this day and age, they are simply not going to step up to the plate until the gas chamber is gone.
#1 None of this will be possible without a committed Branch president and executive who are on the same page as the provincial society. Granted that it is possible to teach a turkey how to climb a tree, but general wisdom has it that its easier and quicker to hire a squirrel for the job.
At the end of the day, the recipe only works if all the ingredients are available. Until then, everything is just going to keep falling flat.
2 comments:
You said "Online dating services can't hold a candle to how far kind animal lovers are willing to travel for their new best friend. "
You are so right! This past Labour Day weekend we travelled to Montreal to get a senior Golden Retriever who I found advertised on Pet Finder. She was so worth the trip - I know that we will only have her for a couple of years but she is such a sweetheart and gives us so much love. We wouldn't have found her if she was at the Cape Breton SPCA!!!! I know that there are so many special dogs here in N.S. needing homes.We have Penny, a beagle mix, from Celtic Pets who would have ended up in the dirty kennel mess had we not adopted her a few months earlier.... we went there because of the ads on Pet Finder.
What has to be done to get through to the folks at the C.B SPCA.... ?I'm sure they mean well but are they overwhelmed.. are they short of help.. disorganized... or just plain stubborn?
Very sad for the animals and sad for the folks who would love to help but maybe feel that it is a lost cause.
Barb
If shelters aren't using Petfinder it's a shame. We use it and EVERY day I get emails about pets and I also get emails complaining that they contacted their local shelters by email (many in NS) and never heard back from them. I know people are busy, but checking email is quick and if you post them on petfinder, you should let people know a time frame when there will be a response. I emailed one about a dog we got in who was originally at their shelter. 2 MONTHS later I got a response with a sorry, but they've been busy. Inexcusable in my opinion.
We are a VERY small rescue and we work our asses off to cover every avenue possible for rehoming our pets. We are all volunteer, this is done before work and after work and on weekends. It's not the life for everyone, but the rewards outweigh the costs.
Barb is right, we've had people come as far away as Pennsylvania, Mass. and Ontario for our dogs and cats. Some people may frown on long distance adoption, but I've found that these families are more committed than most and give us updates and photos often. I know it's hard to keep positive in the midst of all the misery we as rescuers/SPCAs see, but we have to remember that most people are good, and of those there are a large number who are better than good. We just have to reach them, answer their questions and make them feel like we want them engaged in the process of finding a new "family member". When we are enthusiastic, they are too.
As an outsider I don't know what's going on in Cape Breton, but it sounds like both pets and people are miserable. Are more animals flooding this SPCA per population than other areas of the province? Several years ago we went to a seminar on compassion fatigue and depression. If these people aren't taking care of themselves, then they are in no position to look out for the welfare of animals. I can't imagine that anyone who works there went to work with the thought that they wanted to euthanize everything in site, Have they given up? If so that's very troubling.
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