Undercutting the competition

Its been a beautiful week and that has made it a great time for many things ... from wrapping up the last bits in the garden to sharing the dogs enjoyment in their new play yard. As always, this year my garden to do list ambitions have exceeded my grasp .... not surprising when I am at liberty to spend as much time as I want walking and hiking with the dogs.
I am a middle aged grandmother ... so if I am not always wiser, I am at least old enough to understand it is rarely possible to accomplish everything at once. The hardware kit for the gazebo/outdoor kitty room will still be there in the spring. The nursery will still be selling fruit trees next spring to convert the garden on the hill to the worlds smallest fruit orchard. And it will be just as easy to transplant the perennial herbs that I started from seed to their permanent digs next spring.
I'm not quite so prosaic about the changes that are needed to make a better world for the animals. But at fifty-five years of age, I do understand that the necessary legislation simply isn't going to happen overnight.
Does that mean that nothing can be done in the interim? Of course not ... while we are advocating for better laws .... there is more that can be done at the ground level for the animals right now.
Why do people still shop at pet stores? With all the information about puppy mills and backyard breeders, how can they still go in and shop? The plain unvarnished truth is that the majority of folks neither know .. nor to be perfectly honest ... care about animal welfare issues.
Its not that people aren't compassionate. Its not that they don't care. It is simply that there are just so very many different causes and needs out there that the animals often slide to the bottom of people's priority lists. Child hunger, poverty, spousal abuse ... its a such a hard old world out there that the animals are often overlooked.
Nor is it that people aren't animal lovers. By best guestimates, at least half of the 350,000 households in the province either have, or are thinking of getting, a pet. Why do most of these folks fly under the animal welfare radar? Because they ARE kind ... they spay or neuter their own pets and keep them for life. Safely and warmly and well cared for. There is absolutely no need for folks like that to have anything to do with animal rescue.
With all the stories that have been in the news, why do people still advertise and shop on the free online ad sites? It is just a fact of life that unless there is a personal involvement with family or friends.. most folks don't remember the stories a month after they're published. If you don't believe me, just bring up Celtic Pets in conversation with someone uninvolved in the animal rescue world and see how much they remember.
To make matters worse, most folks never hear about the many, many great pets that were adopted from rescues and shelters. They hear about the ones with unaddressed behaviour issues that make the news and THAT only reinforces the urban legend that pets find their way into rescue because there is something wrong with the pet.
So while we are advocating for better laws for the animals, what can we do? We can recognize that rescue groups and shelters are in competition with pet stores and the free online ad sites for homes for their pets. What do businesses do when they have competition? They pull out all the stops when it comes to customer service. They make it as easy and comfortable as possible to be their 'customer'.
Right here, right now, it only makes life saving sense to simplify adoption procedures. Why do so many more folks opt to take out fast food orders than to eat in the outlet? It isn't because its any cheaper. Its because it is easier and simpler and less hassle for families to bring the food back home.
People may want to be kind, but at the end of the day they do NOT want to be inconvenienced.
Good adoption experiences are the best publicity any group or shelter can get. After all, when I adopted Ruby /Henry/ Morgan / Andy, they each became ambassadors for rescue to my friends and family. Andy in particular is an awesome spokesdog for adopting senior pets because unlike the two young dogs, there were no knots to work through and no training to be done.
What time is it? Its time to bring a little business sense to pet adoption and start undercutting the competition.

Rescue without Borders ... part 3

Do you remember Shep ? He was part of the first vehicle full of good dogs that East Coast German Shepherd Rescue brought up from Georgia. They all stopped to rest and regroup in New England with volunteers.

Shep was part of the first group of four dogs that have made the second leg of the trip to Nova Scotia ... and is the only one of the three that hasn't been adopted yet.

You can see he's having a good time while he's waiting. Shep has been discovering the newfound delights that Nova Scotia has to offer .. including our early snow: )))

Yesterday, the last three of the original seven dogs that made the first trip up from Georgia arrived in Nova Scotia.

Monica, the woman with the van, brought them to the mall parking lot in Truro where she met with Leah and Paula from ECGSR.

The two boys you see together were picked in Mississippi, where they had been picked up and were being kept at a police holding facility. Monica picked them up on her travels down south, saving two more lives.

The older fellow is Benson, and he was one of the three that Leah had arranged to be pulled out of Cobb county animal control. Leah describes him as a "sweet older guy"

It takes a lot of dedicated volunteer energy and love to take on a project like this. Love is not all they need, and if you want to assist in any meaningful way with the next trip that is being organized as we speak, contact Leah at leah@nsgsrescue.com

The other day, a friend of mine was asking why this was being done, when we have so many homeless dogs right here in Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, a lot of the great things that are done by rescues here in this province never come into the public eye.

Very few folks outside of the rescue community are aware of the lifesaving work being done by Ador-A-Bull Rescue, saving lives from a sure death sentence in the land of BSL. Nor do most know how many times rescues in the Maritimes have pulled out all the stops for their adoptables by sending them where the adopters are.

And of course there is that whole other end of the stick that I go on and on about like a stuck record .... any publicity for the animals helps all the animals. The person who notices the story about the good dogs from Georgia on one of their friend's facebook site, might not adopt one of the Georgia dogs. But upon occasion, it opens their eyes ( and their minds ) to the possibility of adopting A dog. ( or a cat/rabbit/gerbil/iguana/etc )

What time is it? Its always time to remember that we can't cherry pick which lives count. Its just frosting on the cake that the work being done with Rescue without Borders is doing more than opening a new door for the Georgia dogs ... its opening a few eyes right here.

Update on more Rescue without Borders

On this day of remembrances its always great to have a glimmer of good news. Ralph, the senior shepherd in Georgia has been saved by another rescue. In turn that will be good news for another good dog, making room for one more good dog to have a second chance in Nova Scotia.

Making Do When the Men went away

All five of her daughters had already been born when the first shot was fired. Like many other women in small farming communities, she kissed her husband good bye and took up the reins of the family farm.
The task would be made somewhat easier when army engineers ran electricity out to the farms. It would still be a full days trip to go into town by horse and wagon to shop. It would take half a day when anything was needed from the local sawmill.
There was no phone or tv. Only one of the girls was old enough to walk down the road to the schoolhouse. There was no indoor plumbing, washing machine or running water.
Her grandfather helped bring in the sixteen cord of wood it would take to heat her uninsulated house and run the wood stove each year.
Still she counted herself lucky. None of the telegrams delivered in the community came to her door. None of the girls came down with anything she couldn't take care of.
And she had Charlie. He had captured her heart from the first moment they met. She knew deep down that she shouldn't give away her heart .... that noone in the community would understand.
Out of respect for public opinion she wouldn't allow him in the house. Charlie spent his nights in the barn and was waiting eagerly to meet her every morning at dawn.
Somehow she never mentioned Charlie when she wrote to her husband. He was away ... fighting for freedom, and it just didn't seem right to worry him. There were a few snickers when she went to church with the girls, but somehow noone quite knew how to broach the subject of Charlie.
Eventually they all just decided to take the easy path and let her husband handle Charlie when he came home. Speculation sparked and occasionally flared up about how that would go.
The girls had all started school by the time her husband came home. Thanks to her grandfather and his friends, the hay had been baled and was up in the loft. Sugar was short so there were no sweets for the homecoming hero.
Finally, at long last, it was time to come clean about Charlie. On Sunday when their buggy rode into the churchyard, everyone was waiting and wondering and watching.
Going to war changes a man in ways both big and small. If the community was expecting him to get excited about Charlie, they were in for a surprise. After the horrors he had seen overseas, her husband didn't get excited about Charlie. He was actually happy that Charlie had helped his wife through the lonely years he was away.
And because he had already seen enough killing... and because he loved his wife .... Isabelle's pet pig Charlie lived to be a ripe old age.
Webmaster note: For all of you who have already asked ... yes this was a true story. Isabelle's husband was one of over a million Canadians who went to WWII. It was told to me by Isabelle, on the evening before I left for basic training, in 1974.
The years had not dimmed her affection for Charlie ... nor her love for the normally thrifty Scottish farmer who went against everything that he knew to let Charlie live out his days as Isabelle's pet. Charlie was still there after the girls were all grown and gone and lived to the ripe old age of 22.

More Rescue without Borders

Meet Ralph. Right now he's knocking on heavens door down in Georgia, but there's a lot going on that he doesn't know about.

For starters, he's probably got no idea that there even is such thing as a gas chamber. Ralph is eight years old and well behaved, so at this point in time he probably thinks being in a kennel in Animal Control is the worst thing that's ever happened to him.

He's been there almost a week now, and that's probably felt like a long time to him. Ralph likely has no idea that its not long enough ... on the 11th his time will be up.

Ralph would have no idea that the gas chamber has been outlawed in Georgia. Nor would he know that rural Animal Controls received special dispensation from the state to continue using the gas chamber. There are a lot of animal advocates down there trying to change that, but that won't happen in time to help Ralph.

Most of all, Ralph doesn't know that East Coast German Shepherd Rescue is quietly pulling out all the stops trying to arrange transport for him and three other good dogs in the same fix as he is. He has no idea so much is hanging on this and how there will be the same round of nail biting suspense until definite arrangements are made.

Ralph doesn't know its Adopt a Senior Pet Month. Nor does he know that two of the senior shepherds from the original Rescue without Borders story have already been adopted.

Now before the keyboards catch on fire ... and it may just be my imagination .... but it seems to me that there have been more dog adoptions around the province since the first Rescue without Borders trip.

Why would that be? Anytime a group runs adoption incentives ( seniors/ cats/ long term shelter residents ) it has boosted all their adoptions. Why? Because adoption incentives are also attention getting devices that help all the animals.

What more wonderful way to garner attention for animal rescue than to be pulling good dogs, many of them seniors, from the jaws of the gas chamber just in the nick of time.

It is to be hoped that in time, there will be no need for Rescue without Borders. That there will be a time when exemptions are rescinded in Georgia and that the animals will face a better future there.

Until that day, committed volunteers will continue to carry on. Because the alternative is unthinkable.

Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. Chief Seattle

Sneaking in the back door on friday night

from the CBC News website tonight
Halifax area seeks new animal shelter
Last Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009 6:00 PM AT CBC News
The Halifax Regional Municipality is looking for a new animal shelter service to house rescued and neglected dogs, cats and exotic animals.
The city is looking for a shelter with a minimum of 15 kennels for dogs, five for cats and at least one for other animals such as ferrets and reptiles.
It must also have a contingency plan to handle any overflow and a way to care for animals for an extended period of time if they are held for evidence or court proceedings.
The shelter would be the keeper for all animals picked up by HRM Animal Services, so the tender also calls for a facility that can provide 24-hour access for animal by-law officers.
Coun. David Hendsbee said the city is not interested in building its own facility because it would cost more than $1 million.
"All we're doing is looking for a venue available to us to use for services … a proponent in the general public to see if they have a facility either available now or want to build a facility they can utilize to service this contract," he said.
Old contract expires
The current shelter, run by the Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, receives about $500,000 a year from the city for its services. But the city's contract with the non-profit organization expires next spring.
A study by the municipality in 2005 found that the SPCA shelter in Burnside was "barely adequate in virtually every aspect of shelter management."
"Because of its poor design, it makes it extremely difficult to provide proper upkeep and maintenance," the report said. "It is surprising what is being accomplished in spite of the condition of the facility."
The report concluded that upgrading the facility was "virtually impossible" without gutting the entire building and renovating the inside.
Hendsbee said Friday the SPCA may still put in a bid on the current tender, but there could also be other interested parties.
"I think there's a number of kennel operations and other pet-care facilities out there that may want to look at this as an opportunity," he said. "We may have vacant warehouses anywhere in the Metro area that could possibly be utilized."
The contract is for a maximum of five years. Proposals must be submitted by Dec. 1 and municipal officials want the service to be in place by next April 1.
For anyone who hasn't read the report, or who wants to revisit it, a copy may be found online at http://www.nshomelesspets.com/2008_04_24_10_17_51.pdf

So this is a very interesting little tidbit to see tucked away in the Friday evening news. Traditionally, that is where politicians try to introduce the action items they are trying to slip in under the public radar.
On the surface it seems innocuous ... so why does it have the hair standing up on the back of my neck?

• I know I've mentioned it before, but there is an ongoing study that is being done by the No Kill Advocacy Center, that concludes that that when animal control sheltering services are contracted out, the municipality only saves money because they are not actually assuming responsibility for all the costs associated with providing responsible pet adoption ( ie vet checks, vaccinating and of course altering ) http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/pdf/leadershipstudy_000.pdf
• According to the CBC article, HRM is looking for a minimum housing of 15 dog kennels, 5 cat kennels and 1 "other' kennel. Last year, nearly half (48.5%) of the 764 dogs taken into Metro were claimed by their owners, while only a fraction (1.8%) of the 1041 cats went back home to their owners. That begs the question ...what does HRM plan on doing with the cats.... bearing in mind that animal control is a municipal responsibility.
• Although I am continually advocating that it would be in the best interests of the animals ( and the taxpayers ) for all municipalities to assume responsibility for their animal control sheltering, the article is still quite skewed, because it fails to mention any of the significant improvements that have been made by the hard working folks at Metro. Instead it implies that nothing has really changed at Metro since the report was written, and makes no mention of the fact that this report, which was paid for by taxpayer dollars, was kept secret by HRM until last year.
• In spite of the improvements to Metro, apparantly Councillor Hendsbee feels that it might be more appropriate to utilize "vacant warehouses"
• No mention is made of any safeguards for the animals. Will these "vacant warehouses" be centrally located in an area convenient to the public? Will adoption be encouraged? If so, will there be user friendly adoption hours? Will "pound puppies (and cats) " be altered/vet checked/etc before adoption?
• More importantly, what will happen to the animals when the 72 hour hold period is up? Will they expect the SPCA to assume the burden of the rescue costs without any compensation at all? Or will there be another contract for Unhappy Tails with HRM veterinarians to kill the cats and dogs when their time is up?
• If animals are held for an extended period of time ... such as a Brindi... how will that impact on the outcome for the other animals?
• Contracting out a sheltering facility absolves the city of its obligation to save long term tax dollars by promoting the lifesaving programs recommended in their own report, such as free lifetime licenses for microchipped and altered pets. There will be no need for the city to invest in workshops for obedience training. Mind you, given the constant struggle that responsible dog owners and advocates like my friend Joan blogs about, http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/, it doesn't sound like HRM has a whole lot of interest in changing their status quo.

What time is it? To paraphrase the old newscast from the seventies ... its eleven o'clock ... do you know what your politicians are doing?

Hmmm... billing the animal abusers ... its about time!

From the CBC News website tonight
Online pet store owner to be billed for seized animals
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 6:09 PM AT Comments0Recommend2
CBC News
The owner of a now-defunct pet business in P.E.I. will be held financially responsible for the animals seized from him last month by the Department of Agriculture.
More than 80 animals were taken from kennels belonging to Bud Wheatley, who owned PuppiesAcrossCanada.com. The website has since been suspended.
The pets were taken to the P.E.I. Humane Society, which said it would bill Wheatley for the extra costs.
"It was the first time in the history of the P.E.I. Humane Society that anything that large had been undertaken and that we had helped that many animals so suddenly," said Kelly Mullally, the organization's executive director.
She said under the Companion Animal Protection Act, it is the group's responsibility to take care of the animals seized and to bill the owner of those animals for any expenses incurred.
"We're responsible for that debt and we have to collect that debt," she said. "If we're not able to collect that debt within 24 months from the owner, then we're able to go to the provincial government and get some assistance."
The seizure doubled the population at the animal shelter, which now cares for more than 200 animals.
Mullally said there have been corporate donations and extra volunteers to help, but the task has been expensive and time-consuming.
In an effort to increase adoptions, the shelter is keeping its adoption floor open until 8 p.m. on Thursday and on Nov. 12.
Now if they could make that stick, that might be a more significant deterrent that slap on the wrist fines will ever be. As anyone with a pet knows, its all too easy to wind up with a substantial vet bill for a normally healthy animal that has been well loved and cared for. Even with the available resource of the vet college, it doesn't take any imagination to picture the vet bills for this seizure.
Collecting the debt from the owner is on the books for the existing Animal Cruelty Act here in NS, and has been for some time. If a prosecutor could be found who was not willing to coddle animal abusers, this could be both a useful tool and act as a deterrent against abuse.
As always, the penalty is only part of the picture. Until the language of the Criminal Code sections pertaining to animal cruelty changes, there are far too many loopholes that still permit animal abusers to evade prosecution. How many times have the Benoits slithered out the courtroom door because the crown has been unable to prove they were the "owners" of the unfortunate animals in their care. If you will remember, the paltry thirty day sentence Gail Benoit received this year was NOT for animal abuse ... it was for assaulting a peace officer in the person of an SPCA constable.
Inadequate penalties will continue as long as the the phrase "willful neglect" , which is nearly impossible to prove 'beyond shadow of a doubt" , remain in the language of any animal cruelty laws.
What time is it? Its always time to remember that the single thing ... the only thing ... that will inspire our federal politicians to effect any meaningful change for the animals is strong voter feedback. Its time to remind our politicians that getting Bill C-229 to the first reading is only the very first part of the journey.
This is not new ground ... so for the convenience of readers whom I continue to nag about contacting their MP's, ( and for my own convenience in not reposting this material regularly : ))) Scroll down to the bottom of the page for contact information for your Nova Scotia MP