Wisconsin Watchdog

Thumper's Rule

2012-01-28T16:53:00.001-06:00

One of my most vivid memories from childhood is my mother's constant reminders of Thumper's rule (from the Bambi movie). Thumper was the little rabbit that said "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all." When my mother sensed I was about to say something bad she would give me a stern look and warn me saying "Thumper, Thumper.." as a reminder that I should hold my tongue and be silent.

It took many years to shake that off and I still believe it's good advice when an aunt gives you an ugly sweater for Christmas; or you are eating a not-so-tasty dinner at the neighbors. But I don't think that it applies to our work as animal advocates. We would still be wallowing in the mire of the status quo if it hadn't been for the courage of those who have led the No Kill movement. Those few who bravely spoke out about atrocities and mis-management at animal shelters when nobody else was doing it.

Thanks to their efforts, shelter deaths have been reduced from about 17 million in the 1970's to where it stands today; estimated to be somewhere between 3 and 4 million. That being said, I personally draw the line at character assassination. Not my style, and I'm not sure it is helpful.

Nowadays, I've come to believe that a better rule to live by is one that my friend's husband suggests. He says: "Don't point out a problem, unless you can also offer a solution." And solutions are eveywhere! There are now 27 No Kill communities in the United States that are serving as a blueprint to stop the killing. There are more seminars, webinars, articles, and conferences, than ever before; and with a click of a button, we can share the information where it is needed.

When more people speak out, more progress is made. We can reduce the number of shelter deaths to zero. Please, get involved, speak up when you see something wrong, and offer the solutions that can help end the needless killing of shelter animals.

Sorry Mom, I've broken Thumper's rule a few times!

To solve any problem, here are three questions to ask yourself: First, what could I do?
Second, what could I read? And third, who could I ask? - Jim Rohn

Lowering Stress Saves Lives

2012-01-22T06:21:00.004-06:00

I wrote this last week while on vacation.

Stress. I don't have any right now. My husband and I are on vacation, a Caribbean cruise on board the Celebrity Solstice, the best stress relief I can imagine. I blogged about the cruise ship experience last year and I am equally impressed this year.

No Internet, no telephone, no traffic. The hardest decision we have is what time to eat, and whether to sit by the pool with a book or go ashore for a walk.

Unfortunately for shelter animals, stress is common. Stress causes death. Stress-related problems becomes the excuse that shelter directors use to kill.

Stress in cats cause a weakened immune system and vulnerability to upper respiratory diseases that make cats sick. Sick cats are usually the first to be killed because they will be deemed "unhealthy" and many shelters still hide behind the phrase "we adopt out all healthy and adoptable animals".

Stress in dogs also causes health problems. But worse than that, stress causes behavior issues that make otherwise calm, happy dogs exhibit behaviors that deem them "unadoptable". Sort of like road rage, in people. But we don't kill people with road rage, do we? Some shelters call it "cage or kennel crazy". But it is just stress.

Stress then builds up in animal shelter volunteers and staff that see perfectly adoptable, treatable animals get killed. Their stress causes them to quit out of frustration and despair. The very thing that brought them to an animal shelter to begin with - a love of animals, drives them away. They become overcome with frustration because they aren't able to help the animals they love.

Stress in shelter management erupts because the revolving door of staff and volunteers and animals causes more stress, more turnover and more death.

What's the answer? Other than sending the whole works out to sea on a cruise? Common sense. Empower the volunteers and staff to research and implement easy stress reduction methods for the animals. Don't kill the animals because they are stressed; instead figure out ways to reduce the stress.

Cats need to be able to hide, perch and scratch. These are feline needs; that when met, will lower the stress in a shelter cat's life and keep their immune systems strong. Appeasing pheromones like Feliway will reduce anxiety in cats. Products like the Stretch and Scratch and the Hide, Perch and Go cat carrier have been developed specifically for shelters. Shelter supporters can be asked to donate these products.

Here is a link to an excellent webinar by Sue Cosby. It is full of easy suggestions to help save the lives of shelter cats. The title of the presentation is "Saving Cats in Busy Shelters Through Better Handling" and it is down towards the bottom of the page. Why not have a lunchtime get together of volunteers and staff at the shelter to watch the webinar and discuss these cheap and easy techniques to save lives?

Dogs need exercise, companionship, playtime, and mental stimulation. Throw a little bit of doggie massage into your toolbox too. Diet also has an influence on stress in shelter animals, but I am not a nutritionist so I don't want to get into that here.

Aimee Sadler of the Longmont Humane Society is helping shelters around the country use playgroups to reduce stress in shelter dogs to great success. Most report improved save rates for dogs, including large dogs and pit bull type dogs. For those shelter managers who still shudder in horror at the thought of having pit bull type dogs in play groups, I really encourage you to do try to get to one of Aimee's speaking engagements or contact a shelter that she has worked with and listen and see the results first hand.

Animal Farm Foundation has a whole section devoted to kennel enrichment ideas for dogs.

Volunteers can be an invaluable asset in the whole process. If a shelter empowers volunteers to research and implement stress-reducing techniques for shelter animals; they are in effect, empowering the volunteers to save lives. Volunteers that are saving lives will feel like they are making a difference. They will be inspired to stay on and do more. There isn't any greater motivational tool than positive results.

That's all for now.... my deck chair is waiting.

Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.
Hans Selye

The Perfect Storm

2011-12-26T12:09:00.003-06:00

I remember reading an article a couple of years ago about the "perfect storm" of feral cats. All indicators were pointing in a direction that the feral cat population was going to get out of hand and shelter deaths would rise unless the animal welfare community got on the Trap Neuter Return bandwagon. So true.

I see the same "perfect storm" in the shelter dog world. It is estimated that animal shelter populations are made up of 50% to 70% lost pets. Why is it a perfect storm? Why are there more lost dogs now?

Because the pool of highly adoptable dogs is shrinking quickly (a good thing). So shelters and rescues are saving more and more under socialized and shy dogs. These dogs are being transported, fostered, rescued and adopted. Again all good things. But there are dozens of vulnerable moments. Dogs are being lost from transports, foster homes, vet clinics, pet sitters, boarding kennels, animal shelters, and new adopters in record numbers. Often these dogs are being sent out into the world with an ill-fitting collar or on a slip lead. One frightening moment and the dog is out of his collar and gone.

And where do these dogs end up? Many of them end up in our shelter system and the chaos begins. There is always a lot of talk about all pets being micro-chipped. Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems in the microchip system. The microchip companies don't play nice with each other, some are concerned more with their own profits than in getting lost pets back home (more on this in a future blog). People are giving up their landlines in record numbers and are forgetting to update their microchip information. And we have shelters and rescues who refuse to register a pet into the name of a new owner. A microchip becomes a worthless bar code without the correct information. And that is assuming that the shelter is inputting data correctly, scanning properly and that they have a universal scanner with working batteries!

In Wisconsin we have individual animal control contract holders that don't even have microchip scanners, let alone a website to post pictures on.

Shelters seem to be able to put up no end of barriers for people trying to claim their lost pets: language barriers: excessive reclaim fees and bad policies; poor hours; and a reluctance to post photos and information of lost pets on line. Private rescues accept lost dogs from well-meaning Good Samaritans without holding the stray contract for their area. How is a person supposed to find their dog there?

There are dozens of ways for an animal to slip through the cracks. Bear in mind that stray holding periods vary from 3 to 7 days, so animals are being transported from the southern shelters before their owner even knows where to begin to look for them.

If shelters started to focus on getting lost pets back home through the use of volunteers and proactive programs: just think of the possibilities. Exceptional shelters are returning upwards of 60 percent of dogs back to their owners. Will all the pets get reclaimed? No of course not. But if just 50% of that 50% to 70% went home - just imagine what could happen.

Imagine your local animal shelter if there were 30% less dogs. Would the staff and volunteers have more resources and time available for the remaining dogs to help make them more adoptable? I bet they would.

When we posted on our Facebook page in early December that Lost Dogs of Wisconsin and Lost Dogs Illinois had helped reunited 968 dogs safely so far in 2011(an additional 57 deceased), a clever fan commented: 'Then you have really saved over 1900 dogs. The ones that went back home and the ones that were able to get adopted because there was room for them." I could have reached through the computer and kissed her.

Unfortunately, many people don't get this concept. It's like the elephant in the room. Animal welfare talk is all about adopting and adopting and adopting some more. A couple of weeks ago we had an impromptu tour of Chicago Animal Care and Control. In the lobby were two bulletin boards 3 deep in lost posters. Hundreds of lost dog and cat posters. I wanted to cry. Owners desperately missing their pets in Cook County where there is a confusing array of stray holding facilities to contend with. Here is the list and I counted 25 in Cook County. How is a person even supposed to begin to know where there pet might be?

Just as we are starting to feel like a broken record - some Wisconsin and Illinois shelters are getting on board, checking our Facebook pages and posting stray pictures on Facebook or on their website. Thank you to those who are participating. But we can't do it alone.

My wish for the New Year? That all shelter staff, boards, management and volunteers proactively re-think their lost pet services and head off the Perfect Storm. Lost pets don't want a new home. They just want to go home.

Lost Dogs of Wisconsin and Lost Dogs Illinois will be rolling out a shelter/rescue outreach

and training program in 2012. Let's all work together to save lives.

Stop the Cycle of Cruelty - Adopt Don't Shop in a Pet Store This Christmas

2011-12-23T07:37:00.000-06:00

Photo credit: Frank Schemberger

Today's Christmas Pet Store Puppy is also from the former Petland store in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. Thankfully, this store has now closed. A small independent store took it's place for a few months, but that has also closed.

This Golden Retriever pup could not lay across the wire floor of his cubicle without scrunching his head on the display glass. He has only a rabbit waterer to drink out of. Conditions that are so unsettling that many consumers might feel compelled to buy this puppy just to get him out of there so he can stretch his legs and feel the ground under his feet.

What happens to the puppies that don't sell? This disturbing thought is often what drives a purchase. But "rescuing" that pet store puppy just allows the vicious cycle to continue, the puppy miller will breed more pups to supply the pet store to sell to well-meaning, but mis-informed consumers.

The cycle has to stop. And although I have no hard evidence, and only anecdotal accounts; I don't think the puppies that don't sell come to the terrible end that most shoppers fear. They are either discounted until they do sell, or if the store is going to go out of business, a shelter or rescue will step in to take the last remaining pets.

Please, adopt don't shop this Christmas. Let's stop the demand for pet store puppies. Then they will either close (as this store did) or find another, less cruel way to make a profit and stay in business.

Thank you to my friend and Wisconsin Voters For Companion Animals advisor, Frank Schemberger for providing the photos and the details of the Christmas pet store puppies. A series of these photos and writeups are circulating on Facebook and in local Wisconsin on-line publications. Frank has worked tirelessly over the last several years, photographing and exposing the cruel pet store trade in the Midwest.

Looking for a New Puppy? Don't Buy the Pet Store Lies

2011-12-19T07:15:00.002-06:00

Photo credit: Frank Schemberger

If you are still in the pet store looking at puppies, even after you know the truth about the "USDA licensed breeders" from my blog last week; here are some of the other lies and spin that the pet store staff will try to feed you.

1. The Adoption Trick

Today's pet store puppies comes to you from Madison, Wisconsin. A large, popular store that uses the term "adoption" in their marketing. You could "adopt" a pug puppy for $800 and feel all warm and fuzzy about the wonderful thing you are doing.

Adopting pets is very trendy right now and the pet store industry is trying to cash in on this trend with clever marketing and wording. Some pet stores will purposely keep their puppies in extremely stark, small cages to make the shopper feel sorry for them. Then the shoppers can feel like they are "rescuing" the puppy by "adopting" it. Don't buy the lie. It's not an adoption or a rescue - it's a sale. A pet store sale of a puppy mill puppy.

2. The Money Back Guarantee

Some stores will try to lure you with a promise of a money-back guarantee knowing full well that you will be emotionally attached to that puppy about five minutes after you walk out the door with it. Customers rarely return puppies, because they are afraid of the puppy's outcome; so the pet store doesn't have to make good on the "money-back guarantee". Instead, the customer will absorb the cost of the vet bills when their puppy becomes ill or has genetic flaws, as many pet store puppies do.

The worst case scenario? The new owner can't afford the vet bills and the puppy is surrendered to an animal shelter, contributing to our already overburdened shelter system.

3. The Small, Local, Reputable Breeder Lie

Pet stores will try to convince you that their puppies come from small, local, reputable breeders. Don't be fooled. Small, reputable breeders don't supply pet stores. They have enough demand for their puppies already; because their puppies are sociable, healthy and home-raised. Why would they pay a high margin to the pet store, when they can get the full sales price themselves? Pet store puppies come from commercial breeders who are only concerned with profit.

Some pet stores will tell you that they will reveal the breeder's name and location; but not until you've signed on the dotted line. Again, they know that once you walk out that door with the puppy, the likelihood is very low that you will return it. If pet store staff do give you the name and location, call their bluff and check out the breeder and his facility. You should be allowed to see both of the puppy's parents and the whole facility . You should be allowed to interact with the puppy's parents; checking their temperament and their health.

4. The "Mark Them Up, then Mark Them Down" Trick

Most pet store puppies are overpriced to begin with. It is very common to see the original price "slashed"out in red crayon on the glass, with a "reduced price" below to make it look like the puppy is a good deal. Be an educated consumer and check the prices at your local shelter and at the truly reputable breeders in your area.

Don't buy the pet store lies this Christmas season. Real adoptions occur at shelters, humane organizations, or rescues. Adopt, Don't Shop.

Thank you to my friend and Wisconsin Voters For Companion Animals advisor, Frank Schemberger for providing the photos and the details of the Christmas pet store puppies. A series of these photos and writeups are circulating on Facebook and in local Wisconsin on-line publications. Frank has worked tirelessly over the last several years, photographing and exposing the cruel pet store trade in the Midwest.

The Pet Store / Puppy Mill Connection

2011-12-15T18:10:00.000-06:00

Photo credit: Frank Schemberger

Today's Christmas pet store puppy was in a store in Greenfield, Wisconsin; just south of Milwaukee.

This little Poodle pup found the only soft spot in his cage was his food dish. No exercise, no blanket or pad, no life. His parents are probably somewhere in a mill in in the Midwest.

If you ask the staff at a pet store where their puppies come from they will proudly tell you a "USDA licensed" breeder. Sounds impressive, right?

Wrong. USDA standards are minimal, minimally enforced and a far cry from what the average person would consider humane.

The USDA inspector's job is to make sure breeders are adhering to the minimum standards set forth by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). They can look at a facility with hundreds of dogs in small cages, desperate for human attention, and note no violations. That’s because the Animal Welfare Act (a federal law) does nothing to ensure dogs are happy, or live a quality life.

Here are some quick facts about the minimum standards set forth by the USDA:

Cage size: must be 6 inches larger than the size of the dog, on all sides
Up to 12 dogs can be housed in one cage
Dogs never have to be let out of their cages. Breeders only need to have an exercise plan (seldom enforced)
There is no limit to the number of dogs a breeder can have—many have over 1,000
There is no age limit for breeding dogs. If a dog is able to produce puppies for 10 years, that’s how long they could be in the facility
Inspections are “Risk-based,” meaning that facilities that meet a certain criteria are inspected as seldom as once every 2 to 3 years. There are only about 70 inspectors for over 10,000 facilities.

Photo credit: Frank Schemberger

The second picture is from a USDA approved breeder in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. This is the picture that the pet store owner does not want you to know about. He wants you to envision Momma dog and puppies running and playing in a grassy field somewhere. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Pet store puppies come from large commercial breeders (puppy mills).

Wisconsin's Act 90, a new law which provides state regulations and licensing for dog sellers came into effect in June 2011. These are an improvement over the USDA standards; but a Wisconsin pet store can still be using a supplier from a state that doesn't have oversight of it's puppy mills.

When you buy a pet store puppy you are fueling the industry, and encouraging the breeders to produce yet another litter, in their "USDA approved" facility.

Adopt, don't shop this holiday season.

What is the REAL cost of that Christmas puppy in the window?

2011-12-13T09:29:00.001-06:00

Photo credit: Frank Schemberger

The week before Christmas is the busiest time of year for pet stores that sell puppies. They look so cute and many people make an impulsive purchase without thinking of the consequences of their actions.

I would like to feature some of these Wisconsin puppies over the next few days. These are Christmas pet store puppies that are taken from their mothers far too young. They are bred in puppy mills throughout the Midwest and often destined to end up in animal shelters when the unsuspecting owner is overcome with the medical bills or behavioral problems that are associated with these puppies. Pet store puppies that end up in shelters cost us ALL money. Many animal shelters are partially funded by taxpayer dollars. Even if they aren't, our donations that could have been used for other animals are spent treating or rehabilitating pet store puppies.

Worse still, is the horrendous conditions that the parents endure, week after week, month after month, year after year; existing only to breed more puppies for the cruel pet store industry.

Here is Christmas Pet Store Puppy #1:

This puppy was labelled a "Puggle" at the Petland Pewaukee store (this store is now out of business). This pup's expression gave me the feeling he would rather be back at the puppy mill it came from. At least there it had the companionship of his parents and siblings, although the conditions were worse. Again, no toys, blanket, no life for a pup. Some pups spend months in a pet store until the price drops enough to attract a buyer..... important formative days lost that will imprint the dog. Hopefully he is in a good home, although many impulsive buyers drop their "mistake" off at a shelter, while others will be making frequent visits to a veterinarian.

"Rescuing" a pet store puppy by buying it is not the answer either. It just perpetuates the cycle of cruelty by increasing demand for the pups and encouraging the puppy millers to breed another litter.

Please think twice this Christmas. If you and your family are looking for a new dog (or cat) visit your local animal shelter. Adopt, don't shop!

Thank you to my friend and Wisconsin Voters For Companion Animals advisor, Frank Schemberger for providing the photos and the details of the Christmas pet store puppies. A series of these photos and writeups are circulating on Facebook and in local Wisconsin on-line publications. Frank has worked tirelessly over the last several years, photographing and exposing the cruel pet store trade in the Midwest.

Angels? Or Agendas?

2011-12-06T07:36:00.002-06:00

Christmastime - that magical time of the year when sleigh bells ring and every charitable organization in the world is trying to convince you that THEY are the place you should donate your hard earned money to.

There have been some interesting ads in major publications. Last week there was a full page anti-HSUS ad in USA Today. I think it's content was factual but the underlying agenda of the source was questionable.

Yesterday there was a half page full color ad for PETA in the Wall Street Journal. I just about choked on my coffee when I saw it. It featured a celebrity who had sprouted wings to look like a Victoria's Secret Angel holding a chihuahua. The text reads "Kara DioGuardi and Tikki for PETA. Be an Angel for Animals. Walk your dogs every day. Don't ever crate or chain them."

That was it. There was no explanation for their statement, no qualifications. Just "Don't ever crate or chain them."

Really? I guess as far as PETA is concerned, they're better off dead than in a crate or on a chain.

Here's a picture of our dog Pixie in the backyard. We don't have a fence and she is a high flight risk, so she gets tied out. Is this chaining? Is this cruel? She looks kind of happy to me. Lots of times she is tied to a piece of firewood - just heavy enough for her to drag and explore the yard, but too heavy for her to escape (with any speed, anyways). I call it the "dog on a log" technique. Works for us and also supports the "A Tired Dog is a Good Dog" theory.

Is it horribly cruel if a person leaves a dog in crate when they can't supervise them? I put my dogs in crates when we are at flyball tournaments. Is this cruel? Is this what PETA means?

If you disagree with chaining - instead of giving your money to PETA why don't you approach your city council to get an ordinance passed that limits the amount of time a dog can be tied out.

Someone told me once that they thought that dogs that spend more than seven days in a kennel are better off dead. We're going on vacation soon and we leave our dogs at a kennel. Should we kill them before we go and get new ones when we come back?

I am getting so tired of these "better off dead" cliches that result in guilty consciences, surrenders and shelter deaths.

So, just a word of warning. Before you open up your checkbook, check out the true agenda of the organizations you donate to. Better yet, volunteer at your local shelter or rescue and if you decide they are following the mission you believe in, make your holiday donation to them.

The Virtual Suggestion Box

2011-11-29T09:24:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I were having issues with our cell phone carrier. We spent countless hours humming to the music while on hold and talking to different customer service reps who had no authority to do anything to solve our problem. Out of desperation I finally posted on the wireless carrier's Facebook page.

I was polite and brief in my post. In less than fifteen minutes, a Facebook administrator came on and I was given an email address to write to with details of my complaint. I did and I received a response with the phone number of the direct line to the person who could help us. And she did. To our satisfaction and beyond; so we will remain a customer.

What is the lesson here? When I was talking on the phone to a customer service rep it was a private conversation. I wasn't taken seriously. When I put the complaint on their Facebook wall, potentially a whole lot of people could see my complaint - possibly damaging their reputation and hurting sales. It had to be dealt with in a timely fashion.

Dinosaur - minded businesses, organizations and shelters are grumbling about this new virtual suggestion box. They say it is too easy for people to "bash" them on Facebook or Twitter. But, if you have ever run a business, you know that your most valuable tool is feedback. Companies used to spend a lot of money to get customer feedback - suggestion boxes, mail surveys. They would even give away coupons or prizes if you filled in a survey and mailed it back. Now, thanks to the Internet, customer feedback is instantaneous and it's free!

Customer feedback helps you streamline and improve your operations, spot trends and develop marketing strategies. It helps you retain customers and provide excellent service.

Whether you're a business or a non-profit, if you are ignoring, deleting or otherwise remaining unresponsive to feedback you are making a big mistake. Some Facebook pages have their "walls" set to a setting where nobody else can comment. How silly is that? "Social" media. Doesn't that imply there should be a conversation going on? It's like going to a party and then standing in a corner with your face to the wall.

The good news for the customer and the animals is that mediocrity is no longer acceptable. The Internet does not allow for mediocrity in business or animal welfare. Those who aren't striving for excellence every single day will get called out. Like the dinosaurs who failed to adapt, they will fade away into extinction, - where they belong.

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. - Bill Gates

With Friends Like This - Who Needs Enemies?

2011-11-21T08:25:00.003-06:00

Yesterday morning one of my Facebook "friends", an animal rescuer from southwestern Wisconsin posted a link to a "letter" from an animal control officer that was apparently posted on Craigslist and is now circulating the internet. I won't post the link here because I don't want to drive traffic to a bad article. But the jist of it was that the animal control officer had to quit his job because of the pressure from No Kill advocates. Two of his or her "points" jumped off the page at me as blatant mis-information. One point was that there was "no such thing as a No Kill shelter" and the other was "Animals must be killed because there are not enough homes for them all".

I politely commented under the link that these points were incorrect:

1. In fact - there are enough homes for all of the homeless animals. About four million animals will be killed in animal shelters this year, yet 23 million people will get a new pet in America. AND, if you factor in the ways that you can reduce shelter intake by implementing portions of the No Kill Equation: such as TNR (trap-neuter, return); proactive redemption (getting lost pets back home); low cost spay and neuter; and animal help desks - the numbers that need to be saved will be even lower.

2. And yes, there are No Kill open-admission shelters. At least 25 of them now across the nation that are saving 90% of the animals. Some of these are large, municipal shelters. For those of you who are wondering where they are and how they do it - follow the progress in this blog, No-Kill News.

Back to the Facebook post. I checked back a couple of hours later to see if there was any comments that I needed to answer and guess what? I had been de-friended!

So: here we have an animal rescuer with her head in the sand. Not only does she have her head in the sand, she doesn't want to pull it out and become informed. Really a very sad state of affairs. Somebody that is supposed to be saving animals who actively supports killing them by re-posting nonsense that has no basis in fact.

Make sure that the shelter or rescue you support is truly working towards No Kill goals. There are many that are not and who are trying to maintain the status quo of killing shelter animals.

Here is another blog on this subject from the KC Dog Blog "Knowing That It's Possible". Please share and let's spread the message far and wide because yes, it is possible!

One of the under-reported stories of the internet is this:

It constantly reports on what's possible. Somewhere in the world, someone is doing something that you decided couldn't be done. By calling your bluff and by pointing out the possibilities, this reporting of possibility changes everything. - Seth Godin

ASPCA Opens Mouth and Inserts Both Feet

2011-11-11T20:23:00.007-06:00

Tuesday started like any other day for me. I poured my first cup of coffee and sat down to read what Google Reader had dumped in my inbox overnight. I read Bert Troughton's ASPCAPro blog that was along the lines of "can't we all get along blah blah stuff" that she has addressed before. But I was in a hurry and I didn't click through to the links at the end of the blog.

It wasn't until a couple of hours later that Ryan Clinton's post about the ASPCA's documents attached to those links rolled through my ticker feed on Facebook. Ryan Clinton doesn't post anything insignificant so I thought "Whoa, I'd better go back and read that again." Ryan's organization in the city of Austin is one of those that are specifically mentioned in the document "The Tactics of the Extremist Agenda".

If you haven't had a chance to read the two documents please take the time to do so and think about the full implication of the words. They are here and here. Later that afternoon the same blog and links were sent out in an email blast from the ASPCA. And the subject line of the email ironically was "Can't We All Just Get Along?"

By early evening the links had been removed due to the uproar, but luckily John Sibley, a fellow animal welfare advocate in New York had captured and reposted them.

I normally have a really long fuse. Too long, most people would say. Not much gets under my skin. But I found this whole situation both funny and infuriating at the same time. Extremists? People that are willing to speak out about the plight of homeless animals in their communities are extremists? On what planet?

I could have let this roll off my back. But I can't. I spend a large part of my time convincing people to get politically active and exercise their democratic right to demand that their taxpayer dollars be spent to save animals lives, not destroy them.

I encourage people to call their legislators, make wise voting choices and get involved in the issues. Many people are reluctant to speak out. Heck, some of them, I can hardly get to email their legislator; let alone attend a public meeting. Many people don't like to challenge the status quo. But along with our great team at Wisconsin Voters for Companion Animals we've been making progress. And just when we think we're making headway - WHAM - the ASPCA labels us as Extremists; something that most Midwestern folk don't want to be called.

So, as the extremists of the nation wait for an explanation and an apology from the ASPCA,we'll just keep on keeping on, doing what we do best: advocating for homeless animals that are being senselessly killed in our nation's shelters.

I imagine that the top brass at the ASPCA are huddling and reading two of the other documents linked to the blog "5 Steps to Crisis Management" and "Crisis Management - Before, During and After it Hits the Fan".

By the way, I really doubt it was a "mistake" on the ASPCA's part. Here is the last line of Bert Troughton's blog post:
"P.S. If you're going to be at the SAWA conference next week, any one of us from ASPCA, HSUS, the National Federation or SAWA would love to chat with you further on this topic. Look us up!"

So, when you hear Sarah McLachlan sing that sad, sad song in the ASPCA's television commercial (the one that is supposed to make you run for your checkbook); remember where your donations are going. To produce and distribute documents designed to undermine your democratic right to speak out for the animals you love.

More excellent blog posts on the subject:

Francis Battista, co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society "The Paranoiacs Handbook"

Michael Mountain, co-founder of Best Friends Animal Society ""When a Humane Organization Sounds Like a Tin Pot Dictator

Shirley Thistlewaite, Yesbiscuit blog "Best Friends Calls Out ASPCA" and "I Want My Puppet Regime!" and "ASPCA Got 99 Problems but a "Glitch" ain't one"

Valerie Hayes, No Kill Advocate, Georgia "The ASPCA and the case of the extremely elusive documents" and "The ASPCA: Too big to care"

Nathan Winograd, No Kill Advocacy Center "The ASPCA's War on Animal Lovers"

Cindi Ashbeck, No Kill Advocate, Wisconsin "ASPCA Blunder"

John Sibley, No Kill Advocate, New York, author of "In Dog We Trust" blog - ASPCA "Saves" Dogs by Transporting Them To Kill Shelters

No-Kill Tallahassee, Florida "Another ASPCA Scandal"

The Pendulum Swing

2011-11-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

This fall, the two organizations I am involved with, Lost Dogs of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Voters for Companion Animals have been attending several pet-related events around the state.

On one such occasion, I took the back roads and thoroughly enjoyed the drive: through scenic farmland and rolling hills. Most of Wisconsin is like this and I was travelling only a very small portion. We are the nation's largest producers of cheese, cranberries, oats and snap beans. Wisconsin ranks second (only behind California) in the number of organic farms and the value of organic sales. There are 78,000 farms in Wisconsin totalling more than fifteen million acres. Agriculture is second only to manufacturing, as the driving force behind Wisconsin's economy. This doesn't include the thousands of hobby farms and acreage dwellers.

I started to think about how much of our animal welfare community has lost touch with reality and the rest of Wisconsin. The pendulum of animal welfare has swung so far past the middle ground - into the realm of unrealistic expectations of "perfect" inside homes.

One of my good friends has spent most of her adult life working in animal welfare. She used to manage a small rural shelter in Wisconsin eighteen years ago. They adopted out barn cats then. Not so anymore. It saddens me to think of the lives lost because one small shelter changed a policy. Then multiply that by the hundreds of shelters and rescues in Wisconsin, many who have implemented increasingly restrictive adoption policies in a misguided attempt to save lives. Thankfully, some shelters are reversing the trend, to more open adoption policies that actually DO save lives.

Restrictive adoption practices: no farm dogs, no barn cats, no children, must have fenced yards. The KC Dog Blog wrote an excellent piece on this a couple of weeks ago " Loving Homeless Pets to Death"

I recently received this email from a rural Wisconsinite who had stumbled across my blog about barn cats:

"I just read this blog of yours and am contacting you about the same situation with dogs. Specifically, since you are in favor of Barn Cats, are you also in favor of "Barn Dogs'? I want to adopt a dog (not a puppy) that will be kept outside, but obviously there is no shelter or rescue group that would ever let this happen. I am tired of being judged on how it is better to kill a dog than let it enjoy a yard with a family, food, and shelter."

Unfortunately, I didn't have a good answer for her.

Small, rural shelters will suffer the most from these bad policies. If you aren't a welcoming place for your whole community you are doomed. If you deny adoptions and make judgmental decisions about the people who walk through your door, then don't expect donations to come flooding in when you ask for them. At a small shelter, the pool of available donors is pretty small - so you better not have turned them away or turned them off when they came to you to adopt, surrender or find their lost pet.

When will the pendulum swing back to the middle ground of common sense? When shelter and rescue staff , volunteers and management realize that their misguided philosophies are killing animals, instead of saving them.

The Sky is Falling, the Sky is Falling! Or is it?

2011-10-27T12:37:00.002-05:00

Yesterday a story circulated via Channel 3000 on the internet. It solicited quite a few comments, then was deleted and reposted again later. I'm not sure what changes they made to the story for the "updated" version but I had concerns with both versions.

The story singled out one shelter director, from one Wisconsin shelter who was forecasting doom and gloom for animal shelters. There wasn't any mention of the dozens and dozens of shelters that are saving upwards of 90% of the animals in their care around the nation. There wasn't any mention of life-saving methods that are working elsewhere.

I just got back from the No More Homeless Pets Conference in Las Vegas. As always, it was educational and inspiring. I loved the printed conference schedule that featured seven case studies from open-admission communities that are already at or are close to achieving No Kill status.

So to all the naysayers out there - here's a quick wrap up. I have addressed each of your reasons why No Kill won't work where you are.

No Kill can't happen in a large metropolitan city: Austin, Texas (population 790, 390) 2011 live release to date: 91% for cats, 90% for dogs.

No Kill can't happen in a poor, rural county: Brown County, Indiana with a median household income of only $47,763; 2011 live release to date: 95.6%.

No Kill can't be maintained long term: Albermarle County, Virginia 2010 live release rate: 92% for cats, 92% for dogs. This community has maintained it's No Kill status for the past five years.

No Kill can't be achieved in a cold climate: Calgary, Alberta, Canada has a population of 1,070,295 and covers a vast amount of land. 2010 live release rate 82% for cats, 95.5% for dogs.

No Kill can't happen in a bad economy because people are giving up their pets: Washoe County, Nevada has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. 2011 live release rate to date 92%.

No Kill can't happen because animal issues need liberal political support: Salt Lake County, Utah (a mostly conservative state); has started to implement No Kill programs and is achieving great success. 2011 live release rate: 77% for cats, 89% for dogs. This is up from 83% for dogs and 37% for cats since 2008.

No Kill can't be maintained for an entire state: New Hampshire killed 1.9 pets per 1000 people in 2009, down from 10 pets per 1000 pre-1993.

Still not convinced? Here is a website chock full of even more examples and information on No Kill communities.

So, in conclusion, maybe the Chicken Little naysayers are wrong. Maybe the sky isn't falling. Maybe the lame excuses they churn out day after day: the irresponsible public, the economy, demographics, location, geography, weather, education, politics and/or the "mentality of the folks around here" just doesn't cut it any more. Maybe they're just that - lame excuses. It's time to give them up and get on with saving lives.

Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others who are doing it. - James Baldwin

Bravo to the Myth Slayers

2011-10-16T18:28:00.006-05:00

This is Little Belle. She was fostered at Community Cat for THREE YEARS and then adopted on the first day of the October black cat promotion. The new owner has emailed about how well Little Belle is doing, how quickly she acclimated, and what an amazing cat she is.

Rumors are easy to start but hard to dispel. More often than not, more people read the original incorrect story than ever hear the correction that may be made later. They regurgitate the same old myths for weeks, months and even years. Last week a rumor circulated like wildfire via social media that nails had been found in bits of cheese in dog parks in Chicago and Massachusetts. A picture of a handful of cheesy nails accompanied the story and I must have seen it a hundred times those first couple of days.

Well, the rumor was just that. A rumor. Snopes investigated and found the original story had come out of Argentina in July. There never were any cheesy nails or antifreeze in water bowls in dog parks in America as the story had reported. But I’m not sure if the truth circulated as widely as the rumor and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are still dog owners avoiding dog parks because of it. Poor dogs, sitting at home during the most beautiful fall weather of the year, because of a rumor.

When we allow ourselves to be held hostage by rumors and myths we lose. And animals in shelters potentially lose their lives.

I am thrilled to see that Community Cat from Whitewater, Wisconsin is facing down the myth of Black Cat Halloween adoptions head on. This is such an old wive’s tale that I couldn’t believe that people even bought into it anymore. But apparently they do.

Community Cat announced on their Facebook page:
"OH YES WE ARE! Black cat adoption fees will be reduced to $13 for the month of October! Happy Halloween!";

Several fans commented with their concerns. The same thing happened late last week when Rock County Humane Society announced black cat specials. Facebook fans immediately jumped in to express their unhappiness.

So, if you STILL believe that Satan worshippers are waiting to scoop up black cats out of shelters for Halloween – here’s an article from Best Friends Animal Society for you. And besides, adopters are still screened with normal adoption criteria. If someone flies in and parks their broom outside your shelter door you always have the right to deny them.

Austin Pets Alive has “ Putting the FUN in fungus “ adoption events – where cats with ringworm are adopted out with a goodie bag full of the treatment supplies. I Love It! For goodness sakes – it’s a FUNGUS, not a life threatening disease. But some shelters are so worried about the consequences of going public when they have a ringworm case that they’ll “depopulate’ and kill every animal with a hint of a ringworm spore rather than face the fungus head on and educating the public about this minor skin condition.

Most good shelters and rescues now realize that the Christmas holidays ARE a good time to adopt out pets. People are off from work and school and have the time to spend with their new pets. Last year the IAMS Home for the Holidays promotion resulted in over 1 million adoptions throughout North America. This year they are aiming for 1.5 million adoptions. How’s that for a live-saving myth buster?

What other myths does your shelter or rescue bust? Kudos to you. I’d love to hear them.

Trying to squash a rumor is like trying to unring a bell. - Shana Alexander

Sticks and Stones

2011-10-11T07:51:00.003-05:00

Last week in a Facebook thread I was accused by a Wisconsin shelter director of "shelter bashing" and telling people not to support shelters. Hmmm. I read back through all my posts and I can't seem to find that anywhere. In fact, in several posts I have said that No Kill Advocates WANT their local shelters to succeed. I'll reiterate - well- functioning shelters are an asset to the community and its animals. And I wrote a very positive post about why people should go to their local shelter. The problem is that many shelters are still doing "fuzzy math" or not embracing all eleven steps of the No Kill Equation. Animals are slipping through the cracks - usually the feral and shy cats and the pit bull type dogs, which deserve just as much a chance at life as the cute, fuzzy ones.

There is a new radio advertisement that plays almost every day for a wealth management company in Milwaukee. I have heard it several times. It is a short question and answer interview with a wealth management advisor. She is answering questions about how an individual can discern which is a good non-profit to donate to and which ones they should be cautious about. I'm sure the advisor is not concerned about incurring the wrath of a non-profit. She is educating the public about how they can be informed consumers and wise managers of their hard-earned money.

Just as she is not writing her ads to please the non-profits, I am not writing to please shelter directors. I am writing to educate the public on a topic that has been very rarely spoken about in Wisconsin in the past. And apparently this information is appreciated, because I receive far more compliments than complaints.

The radio ad stresses transparency and how important it is for a donor be able to clearly understand what their donation is being used for. Then they can decide if it is an organization they wish to support or not.

Sound familiar? She took the words right out of my mouth. When shelter directors and boards of directors stop defending the killing, blaming the public, and become transparent with their statistics and financials, I'll stop blogging about it. Until then, I'm here to stay.

The greatest oak was once a little nut that held it's ground.
- Author Unknown

Beagle Wars

2011-10-07T11:54:00.002-05:00

There was interesting news story making the rounds this week about a lost beagle that was turned into a shelter in West Virginia. I won't go into all the details because you can read them for yourself at these links.

Here was the original story: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.comment/id/552672/Humane-Society-not-returning-dog.html?nav=5061

And here is the outcome: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/552715/Beagle-back-home-with-his-owners.html?nav=5061

To make a long story short - the shelter wanted the owners to adopt the beagle back to the owner on their (the shelter's) terms. The owners were willing to pay the reclaim fees but disputed the fact that they needed to adopt a dog that already belonged to them.

The owners took their complaint to the County Commission who stepped in and helped them get their dog back. The Commissioner is unhappy with the way the shelter handled the situation initially.

"Couch suggested the county establish its own animal control services. Commissioners are none-too-happy with the situation and how things were handled, he said."

The way I see this - that shelter director had two choices when the situation arose:

1) Return the dog to the owner, make a big deal about a happy reunion, generate some good pr and goodwill and celebrate the fact that one less dog needs a home.

2) Make a public relations nightmare with inflexible policies. Generate bad publicity, enrage the public, and possibly incur a legal battle causing financial hardship and embarrassment to the shelter.

It was a no-brainer to me. What would you have done?

I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.

- Abraham Lincoln

Teamwork + the Internet = Lives Saved

2011-10-03T13:44:00.001-05:00

Annabelle - lost in Wisconsin in September

Annabelle, recovered safely (but stinky) 24 hours later.

Lost Dogs Illinois and Lost Dogs of Wisconsin crossed the 700 lost dogs recovery mark in September. We have a grand year-to-date total of 730 lost dog recoveries (679 safely, 51 deceased). The bottom line?
679 dogs did not take up space in shelters and/or rescues meant for homeless dogs.

What we have learned?
1. Most dogs don't want a new home. They just want to go home. Most owners are desperately searching for their dogs. They just need some help, advice and encouragement.

2. There is a confusing array of shelters, animal control agencies, rescues, town offices and police departments that hold lost dogs. They generally don't communicate with each other. Some don't have microchip scanners or websites. Many don't post "stray" photos on line.

Finding your dog can become a full time endeavour and is like looking for a needle in a haystack. And you'd better hurry - because there is a good chance that your dog may be adopted out or killed before you get there. The majority of dogs in our animal shelters have ended up there because they are "strays" - lost pets. They committed no bigger sin than to have escaped the custody of their caregivers.

What are our biggest challenges?

1. The mindset and misperceptions of ill-informed people: Good Samaritans, rescuers or shelter staff who feel that people that have lost their dog don't deserve them back and rush to keep or rehome them instead. Also, the common misperception that found dogs have been dumped, abandoned or abused doesn't help. Lost dogs are usually just lost, confused and scared.

2. Rescue groups who do not hold the official stray contract for an area but who accept lost dogs in a misguided attempt to "rescue" them. They seem to think it is their inherent right to rehome somebody's dog whom they've deemed are unworthy owners.

Interestingly enough, dogs are also being lost from shelters, rescues, transports and foster homes in record numbers. Rarely a week goes by when we don't have at least a couple of these. We would love to train more shelters and rescue groups in effective search methods so that they can form their own teams of volunteers.

3. There is also a whole boatload of bad advice that is dished out to the owners of lost dogs. This is often shared and blogged about and yet has very little basis in fact. Rumors that dogs are being stolen for dog fighting bait, research, or have been eaten by coyotes or hawks. This gloom and doom (which in reality, rarely happens) cause people to stop searching far too early.

When the four of us began this venture, I think we envisioned having four or five dogs a month go missing who would need our help. Instead it is more like four or five a day. On certain days (those with fireworks, thunderstorms, blizzards or long holiday weekends) we've learned that we can expect even more.

Our public Facebook pages are pretty straight forward. We post lost dogs for owners, and found dogs that are missing their owners. We also post educational tips daily and we have resource tabs on the left hand side of the page.

But in addition to the main Facebook pages; I wish the public could sneak a peek at the behind the scenes action on our closed Facebook volunteer groups. To watch these volunteers in action is amazing. Posting, emailing, checking shelter websites, Craigslist, - at the speed of light because of the power of the computer and the internet.

Keeping hundreds of dogs straight - remembering details, remembering circumstances. I am in awe of our volunteers and their talents and abilities. Most of us have never met face to face, but we've built this incredible team via Facebook and the internet. Facebook fans are getting in on the action also by checking local newspapers, internet sites, cross-referencing and posting.

So, to the 48 volunteers and the 8927 Facebook fans of Lost Dogs Illinois and Lost Dogs of Wisconsin - a huge thank you from Susan Taney, Jodi Hunter, Kathie Dowe and myself, Kathy Pobloskie.

YOU are saving lives.

Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success.
- Author Unknown

Good Leadership Required!

2011-09-29T19:20:00.003-05:00

Lakeshore Humane Society is a small limited admissions shelter in Manitowoc, Wisconsin that takes in about 1000 animals a year. In April, one of our Lost Dogs of Wisconsin volunteers, agreed to attend a public meeting on behalf of our organization to see what the outcome of the city's stray contract would be. Our group is very concerned that many Wisconsin shelters are giving up their stray contracts.

Animal control contracts are often being split up and given to private individuals, some that hold the dogs and cats in their garage, a warehouse, or a barn. They often don't have microchip scanners, websites, Facebook or even internet access. One we know of doesn't have a camera. This is making it virtually impossible for lost pet owners to try to find and reclaim their pets, especially since we know that it is possible that the animals could have wandered a long distance and/or crossed jurisdiction lines.

Cindi Ashbeck, our Lost Dogs volunteer, a soft-spoken but very intelligent woman attended the meeting. She called me the next day to say that not only was the status of the contract a mess, but the whole humane society was a mess. Not one to let a "mess" deter her, she has dived in head first to make change for the animals in Manitowoc County.

One of the interesting things about this humane society is that it has an open door membership policy. Anybody can pay their $35 and vote for the board (after a 60 day waiting period) even if you don't live in the county. Board members of shelters are supposed to "steer the ship". When you don't have the correct people at the helm, the whole operation is doomed, no matter how well-meaning the director, staff or the volunteers are.

The old time board members of Lakeshore Humane Society do the same song and dance that is heard over and over again in shelters around the state and the country. "It's the irresponsible public, it's pet overpopulation, killing is kindness, blah, blah, blah..." Change is scary, it is easier to defend the old ways than to try something new.

There is a handful of great new people that are on board or want to get on board, Cindi Ashbeck included. They have been reading and absorbing all the information and facts that are out there. They are well-armed with the truth. Cindi attended the Great Shelters Conference in Ohio to learn as much as possible about good sheltering practices. She has started a blog and a Facebook page to inform and educate the public.

The city council also wants change. They want a board of directors that will be honest with them and negotiate the contract. They don't want to go elsewhere. But they will if they have to. Here are details from one of the council member's website.

Pretty obvious to all involved, is that some of the old-school board directors need to go. Dave Evans and his wife, Renee Evans have sat on the board for many years. I'm sure they have supported the humane society in their own way, but times are changing, methods are changing and board members need to keep up.

Dave Evans made the following comment at a meeting this summer. "When they stop making ugly animals, we'll stop killing them." Really? Those words are coming out of the mouth of a board member of the humane society? Unfortunately, Dave Evan's term does not end this fall. He has another year. Dave Evans also made comments at the meeting this week that the humane society's bylaws were not needed and didn't have to be followed.

Another board member's rudeness and arrogance broke down the talks with the city.

One board member, Brenda Meverden, who is running for re-election and a new candidate, Kim Repinski who is running for a director position did not even have the courtesy to show up at the Candidates' Forum to answer questions by the members. This tells me that they don't take their responsibility to the animals and the humane society seriously.

Elections are October 18. I'll be there. I've paid my membership fee and I have a right to vote. I believe in democracy and the will of the people. It is time for change in Manitowoc County. The animals are depending on us.

"Success and growth are unlikely if you always do things the way you've always done them. When you stop changing, you stop growing." - John Mason

Ask Your Shelter Director - Part 3

2011-09-25T17:10:00.003-05:00

I hope over the last few weeks that you've had the courage to ask about your shelter's intake reduction policies and their outdoor cat policies, the two topics I blogged on previously. Shelters can dramatically decrease their kill rates by focusing on returning lost pets back home; providing animal help desks and low/cost spay neuter; and supporting TNR and barn buddy programs for cats. This gives them more "breathing room" on the health and behavior issues. Less animals in the shelter means they have more time and resources to spend on the animals that truly do need rehabilitation and new homes.

It is important that your shelter uses some type of a matrix to evaluate animals. Here is a copy of the No Kill Advocacy Center's Life Saving Matrix. Your shelter should also have a document called their Euthanasia Policy. Both of these documents should be available for donors to see (preferably on the shelter website). If it isn't - it certainly brings up concerns about what is going on behind closed doors. This is called a lack of transparency. An excellent blog was posted this week on the need for shelter transparency by No-Kill News.

If you can't find your shelter's matrix or euthanasia policies; either on the website or in print, then your shelter director should be willing to sit down with you and explain their policies and philosophy. If they aren't, I'd suggest closing up your checkbook and running the other way as fast as possible to a shelter that DOES value its donors enough to let them know what is going on.

Remember - a shelter that says they are saving all "healthy and adoptable" animals could be playing the smoke and mirrors game. Shelters are creating their own definitions of "healthy and adoptable" to defend their killing.
A shelter doesn't have to perfect. But it does have to be transparent. Then you have a baseline to work from.

The biggest "gray area" is in the definition of healthy and adoptable. That's why the 90% save rate bar has been set for No Kill status. The remaining 10% gives plenty of leeway for those dogs and cats that are truly unhealthy or dangerous. And in reality, this number should probably be more like 95 %. (but more on that in a future blog).

So back to "adoption criteria". I wrote a blog last week called "Aspen's Story" not to pick on any particular shelter, but to point out that adoptability is highly subjective. Here are some questions to ask your shelter director about their adoption criteria for behavior issues:

1) May I see your Euthanasia Policy or Matrix that you use to determine which animals are going to be determined adoptable? The answer should be yes. Anything else is a fail.

2) Do you have programs in place to help shy dogs and cats and resource-guarding in dogs? The answer should be yes. There is a wealth of good information out on these subjects now. These are no longer acceptable reasons for killing. Volunteers can be trained to read to shy dogs, socialize shy cats, and hand-feed resource guarders.

3) Do you have a sufficient network of trained foster families that can accommodate animals that need extra time, care or an environment away from the stress of the shelter? The answer should be yes. Developing a sound foster home program should be a major priority of any shelter.

4) When and how do you temperament test? Temperament tests should not be a pass or fail, black and white evaluation. They should be used as an assessment of what a dog needs to get him onto the adoption floor and into a home. Here is an excellent article on the shortcomings of temperament testing. http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/pdf/temptestingfrancis.pdf

Ask the tough questions. Remember, No Kill advocates don't want their local shelters to fail. We want them to succeed. Success will come when shelters become transparent, implement all eleven components of the No Kill Equation, and regain the public's trust and support. Donations will improve and animals' lives will be saved.
Isn't that what we all want?

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

- Alan Watts

Aspen's Story: Unadoptable? Says Who?

2011-09-07T17:41:00.000-05:00

This is Aspen. He was one of the last remaining Bichon Frises from the Puppy Haven buyout by Wisconsin Humane Society in 2008. As controversial as this was, it did result in the closure of this breeding facility and you can read more about it here in the Milwaukee Magazine article entitled Puppy Hell.

Aspen didn't meet the criteria for adoptability at Wisconsin Humane Society. He was too shy. He was not fear aggressive and would never have bitten anyone. He was just incredibly shy and shut down. He was transferred to Bichon and Little Buddies Rescue in Mukwonago to have another chance at life.

Aspen just needed some time and some understanding. Car rides were first because he had no idea how to walk on a leash. He would sit in his little seat belt and we'd go to the McDonald's drive thru for a coffee. Then I'd park and hold him in my lap so that he could watch the people coming and going from McDonalds and the grocery store. It was the first time I ever saw any life in his eyes. One of my friends said - "It's like he has no soul. There is nothing when you look into his eyes."

I used to take him back and forth from the rescue but pretty soon I was taking him home for sleepovers. He enjoyed those a lot. He also loved the dog park and it was the first time I ever saw him run. It was also the first time the other dog park patrons saw me run (not a pretty sight). I would run across the open field yelling "Run, Aspen Run!" trying to encourage his little stiff legs to go faster than a trot.

His eyes started to light up for meals and treats and pretty soon he was jumping through a hula hoop and running through an agility tunnel in our backyard.

I remember telling prospective adopters "Aspen is really, really shy, but he knows how to jump through a hoop!'' in my best salespitch-type voice. A useful life skill, indeed.

By this time Aspen was living full-time at our house. We needed to make arrangements for our dogs while we went on our fall vacation to Best Friends and the No More Homeless Pets conference. An interested family said they would try him at their home while I was gone.

Aspen struck it rich. The wonderful, caring family decided he was a perfect fit for their quiet household and lifestyle. Although I miss him tremendously, he is living the life he deserves. Something to erase those first five or so years of his life that must have been so horrible. The years that removed any expression, any "soul" from his eyes.

So here are some pictures of Aspen with his new family who don't think of him as unadoptable, just adorable.

Aspen's first Halloween

Chillin' out.

Aspen waiting for his dinner in a motel room while on vacation.

Aspen's first camping trip!

And here is a picture of an aspen tree taken at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in the fall. It stood out glowing yellow on the hillside, a reminder to me that a dog that was once "unadoptable" is now the shining light of a family's life.

Return? Or Sleep-Over?

2011-08-22T16:33:00.005-05:00

Julep, from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, on an outing.

I thought this story was interesting enough to share. I could identify the shelter involved but I won't because I can see this happening in many shelters. I always wonder if shelter directors ask "secret shoppers" to come in and then relay their customer service experience, so the director can implement training for staff that are treating customers (potential donors and adopters) badly.

Here's the story:

A 55'ish woman (I'll call her Beth), professional but semi-retired, divorced , no kids and self-sufficient; was thinking that it would be nice to have a dog for companionship. She had the time and resources to spend and was a little lonely. She thought she would like to adopt an older dog that needed a home and who would enjoy walks and outings. So she headed off down to her local shelter with a hopeful heart. Her family had a black lab when she was growing up so that's what she decided to look for.

Wouldn't you know it? The shelter had just put a litter of black lab puppies onto the adoption floor. Beth visited on a Thursday afternoon and fell in love with a puppy (who doesn't?). She filled out her application form and went home to anxiously await a decision. The shelter said that she should hear by Friday if she had been approved. Friday morning came and the shelter called to say Beth had passed all the requirements with flying colors.

Beth headed to the local pet supply store to buy the latest and greatest pet supplies in eager anticipation of her new arrival. Friday afternoon she went to the shelter to pick up her puppy, sign the adoption papers, pay the adoption fee and head home with her new little bundle of joy. Somewhere in the next few hours she realized she had made a horrible mistake. She realized she had gotten a puppy on impulse and that this little guy would make a perfect dog for a family with an active lifestyle. She needed an older, steady companion. Saturday morning she packs up the puppy with his puppy supplies and returns to the shelter before they opened so that he would be back on the adoption floor for the busy Saturday hours.

She was hoping to explain her situation and be able to choose an older dog that would suit her needs. She really didn't think there would be a problem.

Guess what? She was not able to choose an older dog OR receive a refund for the puppy. She was treated with disdain and disgust. The staff made her feel like she was the most horrible person in the world for returning the puppy.

Stop for one minute and think how you would feel if you were treated this way in a retail establishment? You bought something and returned it in good faith and then were made to feel like the scum of the earth. Would you tell a friend? Or two? Or ten - about the bad treatment you received? I think so. Maybe you would put it on Facebook and tell a hundred or a thousand people.

Why do shelters consider returns as failures? Best Friends Animal Society has a sleepover program. You visit their sanctuary, volunteer for the day, and then can check out one of their sanctuary dogs for an overnight stay at your hotel. In the morning you bring the dog back and fill out a short report on the dog's behavior and experience. It's a win-win situation. The dog gets socialized, it gets out of the sanctuary for a few hours, and it gets more on it's "resume" that can be shared with potential adopters. You have a great time with a great dog. It's not a return - it's a sleep-over. The program is SO successful it is now being offered with cats.

Some of my best memories of being at Best Friends are the hours I've spent with a dog that I've taken out.

Back to Beth's story. Beth chalked it up as a learning experience. She headed to the next closest shelter where she chose her new best friend . She has become a loyal supporter and donor. And she has told more than a few people about her bad experience at the first shelter.

We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts.
It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.
Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com

Why Are You Killing the Cats? (Part 2 of "The Correct Answer is...")

2011-08-14T21:28:00.003-05:00

Squeak, one of our barn cats, now thirteen years old.

A couple of weeks ago I started a blog series on questions that you can ask your shelter director to determine their commitment to life-saving. These questions will help you decide if it is the sort of place that you want to give your hard-earned money to or volunteer at. If it is an animal control facility or a private facility which holds the stray contracts for the municipality, then your tax dollars are going there also and you have a right to know the answers to these questions. Remember, emailing is okay! Emails give you written proof of the responses.

Today I'm going to focus on the outdoor cat questions, a biggie. Nationwide - over 70% of cats that enter shelters are killed. (Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission killed 69% of cats entering its doors in 2009 and 67% in 2010) How did cats get in such a bad way? Basically, because sometime in the 1980's humane societies began endorsing adoption policies that only allowed indoor cats. Many animal shelters have never let go of this notion. Cats have lived outdoors for thousands of years and yet most Wisconsin shelters have "indoor only" cat adoption policies. Really? In the Dairy State? With all of those farms and barns and mice for cats to manage?

Try it for yourself. Go into your local shelter and ask if you can adopt a barn cat. Watch as they gasp and sputter in horror and deny you before you are even allowed to fill out an application. These shelters would rather kill cats with litter box or behavior issues which prevent them from being house cats, than adopt them out to good farm homes.

Many shelters consider feral cats, shy cats or cats with litter box issues "unadoptable". So shelters can say they are saving all the "adoptable" cats because they have twisted the words to defend their killing.

The other problem is that many shelter staff cannot distinguish between a true feral cat and a scared, lost cat. Many lost pet cats are killed because they were deemed "feral" when they were really just terrified of the noises and smells of the shelter.

Yes, feral cats are unadoptable and should be spayed/neutered, vaccinated and re-released where they were found. Shy cats or those with other behavior or litter box issues are very adoptable as barn cats (or other workplace cats).

Below is the euthanasia policy for cats for Lakeshore Humane Society's (Manitowoc, Wisconsin). Ask to see YOUR shelter's policy. On the flip side, here is a Model Feral Cat Policy put out by the No Kill Advocacy Center as well as their Life Saving Matrix. Compare the three documents and see the difference for yourself.

Lakeshore Humane Society
Criteria for euthanasia are as follows:
1. Cat is feral.
2. Cat is positive for FIV or Feline Leukemia
3. FIP is suspected
4. Ringworm is confirmed
5. Health is poor
6. Behavior issues - may include issues such as; not using the litter box, not socialized, bite cases
7. Owner requested

So you can see that it is pretty tough for a shy, feral, or litter box-challenged cat to have a second chance at life at the Manitowoc "shelter". Why then is it called a shelter? Shelters should be about life, not death.
Here's my list of questions to ask your shelter director regarding outdoor cats to make sure they're getting a fair chance at life:

1. Do you participate in a Trap Neuter Release program? The correct answer is yes. If the answer is no, and most Wisconsin shelters do not have TNR programs; then they get a big fat fail. Every national animal organization now endorses TNR (except PETA) and there is no reason for a shelter not to do so. Even the National Animal Control Association supports TNR. Listen very carefully to your shelter's answer. Some shelters are appearing to support TNR on their websites when in fact, they're not (more on that soon). The only thing I dislike worse than a bad shelter, is a shelter that lies to the public to get donations and support.

If they claim that they can't do it because of local ordinances that prohibit it, then ask -

1a) Do you have a volunteer political action committee in place to change those ordinances? The correct answer is yes. Shelters need to take an active political stand in their community on the side of life-saving. Shelter management and board members that are hiding behind the coat tails of their city council to defend their killing are not acting in the animals' best interest and do not deserve your hard-earned money.

1b) Are you working with a group that does the TNR for you and re-releases the cats. Some of these Wisconsin groups are listed on the left hand side of my blog. (if your TNR group is not listed please contact me). If the answer is still no - then I seriously question the shelter's commitment to lifesaving. Feral and outdoor cats are our biggest issue in Wisconsin shelters right now.

2. Does your shelter rent or loan out cat traps? The correct answer is no. If the answer is yes and they are not actively involved in a TNR program then they are participating in the failed model of "catch and kill". Here's a blog entry I wrote on this - The Magically Disappearing Cat

3. Do you have a Barn Buddy or Barn Cat program? The correct answer is yes. If the answer is no, ask why. Many cats lives could be saved with a Barn Buddy program in place. Barn cats are spayed, neutered and vaccinated and then adopted to good farm homes that agree to provide food and shelter. Most farms value their cats and the mousing services they provide. Here is a blog I wrote regarding the barn cats where I board my horses: Still Mousing After All These Years

Some shelter directors will argue that if they start a Barn Cat program it will send a mixed message to the public about cats living outdoors. Really? You think the public is that stupid? Please, give people some credit. Put a sign on the cage - This cat is for an indoor home only. Or - This cat is suitable for a farm home. Use the opportunity to educate people and show them that you value all life - not just the lives of indoor cats. It's a win-win situation. The cats get to live, and your shelter shows compassion (and probably picks up some extra donations at the same time).

In closing, I want to make it perfectly clear that I don't recommend that people let their inside cats outdoors. Living outdoors comes with risks (living indoors also comes with risks: stress, obesity, boredom). But the biggest risk for cats right now is not living outdoors. The biggest risk is ending up in an animal shelter.

Next time I'll focus on health and behavior questions for both dogs and cats. See you then! Be brave, take your courage pills and ask the questions! I would love to hear the answers. My email address is on the left hand side of the page.

For more information on lifesaving ideas and information for outdoor cats go to AlleyCat.org and voxfelina.com

People that hate cats will come back as mice in their next life. ~Faith Resnick

A Picture is Worth .... an Animal's Life

2011-08-04T12:37:00.008-05:00

This is a kitten's (?) intake photograph at MADACC.

Over the last couple of weeks No Kill Milwaukee have focused their attention on trying to get the quality of intake pictures improved at the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission(MADACC). It may not seem like a big thing to some people - but it is to that animal. It can be the difference between life and death.

Many of the animals that are brought into MADACC are "strays" or in other words, lost pets. Pets that have escaped the custody of their owner or guardian. They are picked up by animal control officers and impounded. During the intake process a quick picture is snapped of them and then uploaded into the Pet Harbor software that the shelter uses. The website is updated every morning and the intent is that the owners of the pets will be able to look online and see if their pet is there. A great concept ... except...

a) The animal has to be recognizable.
b) Those animals not reclaimed, transferred or adopted have a 53% chance of getting killed at the hands of the shelter. MADACC killed 6241 animals in 2009 (52%) and 7064 in 2010 (53%).

Even if the animal is not reclaimed by its owner, the website is viewed daily by the numerous shelters and rescues that "pull" from MADACC to restock their own shelters. Many Wisconsin shelters have a very high adoption rate by running successful adoption programs. An animal with a good picture is far more likely to get pulled than one without a good picture. In essence, those pictures are the animal's ticket out since MADACC does not have a full-fledged adoption program (Despite efforts by volunteers to make this happen).

No Kill Milwaukee supporters have been emailing and calling MADACC and the MADACC board members to complain about the quality of the pictures. This is a copy of the letter that I wrote a couple of weeks ago:

Good Morning,
I am one of the founding members of Lost Dogs of Wisconsin. We currently have 35 volunteers, many who spend their evenings doing online lost and found matching for lost dogs.

We appreciate the speed with which you get the photos of impounded pets on your website. We also appreciate that you provide pictures. Many Wisconsin shelters don't. But the quality of the pictures is diminishing. Our matchers are having trouble. So I must think that owners who are searching for their lost pets - perhaps even on their cell phone, are having trouble as well.

Would it be possible to improve the quality and closeness of the pictures so that we can hopefully make more happy reunions happen?
Thank you.
Kathy Pobloskie

After many requests by many people, the pictures improved slightly for a day or two; but are dreadful again. Obviously, because the quality is so inconsistent, some staff members care and some don't.

Excuses by defenders of the shelter include:

1. There isn't enough time or money to take a good picture. Umm - sorry, I don't buy it. It doesn't take any longer to snap and upload a good picture than a poor one. Move a little closer please.

2. The camera is on a table. Is the camera nailed to the table? And how is it used to take the cat pictures then? That appears to be a roving camera.

3. Sometimes the animals are squirming around. Possible excuse - but then just click a few (up close, please) and use the best one.

4. The camera is old, so I (meaning me, Kathy Pobloskie) should donate a new camera. What do I look like - the camera fairy? (*see note below) Please explain how the old camera can take a decent one now and again?

5. I (meaning me again) should volunteer to take the pictures at MADACC. Sorry, I already am heavily involved in running two animal welfare non-profit organizations which take upwards of twelve hours per day. The staff at MADACC are paid to do their job which includes taking intake photos.

*I learned my lesson on this one. I donated a camera to another local shelter over a year ago to take pictures of their "stray" animals on intake. They don't use it. I guess it was far too complicated for the staff to figure out how to use a Kodak Easyshare and upload the photos. Funny, they all seem to be able to use computers and cell phones. So, no. I am not going to spring for a new camera for MADACC.

The only conclusion seems to be that a failure of leadership at MADACC is causing the poor quality pictures to continue. When management doesn't care - how are they supposed to inspire their staff? Or as Bill Bruce of Calgary Animal Services likes to say "Fish rot from the head down."

Please remember, if you are behind the lens of a camera at a shelter - think of the implication of that picture you take. It could be the difference of life or death.

"Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well." - Phillip Chesterfield

Rep. Pridemore Flip Flops on the Dog Sellers Law

2011-08-02T07:40:00.001-05:00

This first photo of a female cocker spaniel and her puppies was taken in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin.

The second photo of the Dachshund was taken in Dunn County,Wisconsin. You can see that the wire cages are suspended from above so that the waste falls through. It is not uncommon for a dog's foot to slip through the wire and become severely injured. These dogs are not given even basic veterinary care.

The third photo shows a wire cage being heated by a kerosene lamp. This is in Vernon County, Wisconsin.

I want to make sure that my readers understand one thing very clearly. These cages are not temporary housing. These dogs are not in here for a few hours or a few days or a few weeks or a few months. These dogs can be in these wire cages for years. No exercise, no socialization, no veterinary care. Of course the puppies get out of the cages when they are shipped to pet stores around the country for sale - but the ones that remain behind, the breeding dogs, are the victims.

Act 90 was passed in Wisconsin in 2009 to alleviate the horrendous conditions that these dogs are enduring. It requires licensing and regulations for every person or organization that sells or attempts to sell 25 dogs a year or more. This includes breeders, pet stores, rescues and shelters. The bill passed unanimously through every committee and the house and the Senate. It was signed into law in December 2009.

The rules of the new law took eighteen months to hash out and the rule-making committee was made up of all facets of the industry. The rules are fair. They require that dogs must have exercise and socialization and basic health requirements.

Don Pridemore, Republican, Representative of Hartford Wisconsin has introduced a bill that would raise the threshold level to 100 dogs. In plain language that means that anybody that sells less than 100 dogs per year is considered a hobby breeder and can raise their dogs in the horrific conditions shown above. Rep. Pridemore was a co-sponsor of the original bill, and like I said it was unanimously passed.

He has now flip-flopped and changed his mind.

So far, the rules aren't being disputed - just the number of dogs.

There is much more reading about Wisconsin's puppy mills in this excellent article from January 2009 called Puppy Hell. This is happening here - in Wisconsin. It is not some obscure place that we can shut a blind eye to.

If you are fine with this - do nothing. But if you are appalled that a) the will of Wisconsin voters is being ignored and b) that Wisconsin dog breeders are allowed to mass-produce puppies in these sorts of conditions: then please write or email your legislator to ask them to not support Rep. Pridemore's bill. Click on this link to find out who represents you.

Thank you to Frank Schemberger, a man who has spent many years tirelessly working to expose the cruel conditions of Wisconsin puppy mills, for the photos.

And the Correct Answer is....

2011-07-25T19:37:00.040-05:00

Last time I promised to start talking about the best questions to ask your shelter director and/or shelter board of directors to make sure that you're not being tricked by the Smoke and Mirrors.

People email and phone me all the time with shelter complaints. When I ask: "Did you talk to the director?" Silence. Then, "Well, no... because I don't like confrontation. I just try to get along." Then I say: "But, how can you expect change if you don't speak up?"

Speaking up is not hard (well, maybe a little hard). Swallow your butterflies, hold your head up high and ask the tough questions. Once you've done it once it will get easier, trust me. It doesn't mean you are a bad person, or a trouble maker. It means you are a hero for the animals you love and who deserve it. And I'm giving you permission to write an email if you just can't muster the courage to do it in person.

Emails are great. You know they will arrive instantly and you can even carbon copy the board of directors if you obtain their email addresses from a website or a polite phone call. Hopefully you will get a response to your questions in writing. Something on paper is very valuable - it gives you written proof that you can file and use if you need it. If you don't get a response to your email, follow up with a polite phone call or personal visit. Remember, the key word here is polite. A please and thank you go a long ways (my mother taught me that). If you donate to the shelter, or you are a taxpayer and the shelter is publicly funded; you have a right to know how the money is being spent and you deserve an honest answer.

And as a sidenote: I am in touch daily with No Kill Advocates from around the state and nation. There isn't one that I know of who wants to see the shelters fail. We want to see them succeed - because they are the best chance that the animals have. So enough with the shelter bashing comments already. Somebody posted on my page the other day why I didn't apply for the Executive Director job at MADACC (Milwaukee Animal Control). I'm not thrilled with the way the Catholic Church is run either, but that doesn't mean I want to be the Pope.

The number one thing a shelter can do to prevent shelter deaths is to use all of the portions of the No Kill Equation. What I see most lacking in Wisconsin shelters are effective programs to reduce intake numbers. This means that shelters should be trying to reduce the number of animals coming in. (If they don't come in, they can't kill them!) So start with questions about intake.

You may think this isn't an issue at your shelter because it a) doesn't hold an animal control contact (to accept "strays") or b) obtains most of it's adoptables from other shelters either in Wisconsin or out of state. Don't be fooled. All shelters can and should be working to reduce intake - not just for their shelter and community but for their shelter partners where they are getting their adoptables from.

I don't expect shelters to be perfect. But they should be constantly striving to improve their services to the public - they shouldn't be just big pet stores focused only on adoptions. I would rather they answer the questions stating that they are striving to meet these goals, rather than stating they are a No Kill shelter or an Adoption Guarantee shelter and not implementing all parts of the No Kill Equation. Since incoming animals come mainly from two sources - "strays" and surrenders, focus your first questions there.

Proactive Redemptions (Lost and Found programs)

1. Do you have a staff member or volunteer whose duties include reuniting lost pets with owners and advising owners of correct search techniques? Correct answer - yes or "we're working towards implementing this program".
2. Do you microchip and enroll to the new owner the microchip of all adopted animals? Do you provide microchip services to the general public? This helps ensure that lost pets in the community will get home again. Correct answer - yes. (Some shelters do not enroll the microchips to the new owner. Many shelters do not microchip at all).
3. Do you provide a free, well-fitting collar and ideally even id tags with each adopted animal? (Don't laugh. Some Wisconsin shelters don't provide a collar) Correct answer - yes on the collar. Bonus points for the id tag.
4. Do you post pictures of the lost pets you have impounded on your website or on your Facebook page? Correct answer - yes. Nothing else is satisfactory. In this day and age, the technology has made this a no-brainer. This is the easiest way I know of to increase reclaims.
5. Do you have reasonable reclaim policies and fees to ensure owners can reclaim their lost pets? Reclaim fees should never exceed the cost to adopt the pet. Correct answer - yes and/or "We will negotiate with owners because we know that most lost pets don't want a new home. They just want to go home".
6. Do you have extended hours making it easy for lost pet owners to check the shelter in person and pick up their lost pet in a timely manner? Correct answer - yes.
7. Does every adopted animal leave the shelter spayed or neutered? This prevents pets from roaming and becoming lost. Correct answer - yes unless there is a darn good medical reason to not do it. Some Wisconsin shelters are not spaying and neutering adopted pets.

Pet Retention (Surrenders and Returns)

1. Do you have a staff member or volunteer that does adoption follow up to make sure that things are going smoothly and problems are caught early before they escalate? Correct answer - yes.
2. Do you have an animal help desk or behaviorist on staff (or a trained volunteer) that helps all members of the community - not just adopters? Do you advertise this? Correct answer - yes or "We are striving to implement this".
3. Do you hold training classes for adopters and the public or have good positive-based trainers that you work closely with and recommend? Correct answer - yes.
4. Do you require appointments for surrenders? (This reduces surrenders whereas "no appointments necessary" or night time drop boxes increase surrenders). Correct answer - yes.
5. Do you provide counselling at the time of surrender? Correct answer - yes.

High Volume / Low Cost Spay and Neuter

1. Does your shelter provide low cost spay and neuter for the whole community (no hoop-jumping, income verification required)? Every shelter should be on this bandwagon. They may not have a full-fledged clinic yet but they should be actively working towards it. If they give you the song and dance about the veterinary community objecting; they get a big fat fail. High volume, low cost spay/neuter clinics are working in cities all around this country. Don't buy that argument. So, the correct answer is yes but unfortunately very few shelters in Wisconsin can honestly answer yes, so listen carefully to the answer.

Trap Neuter Return is a huge issue in Wisconsin. Most shelters are still in the dark ages on this issue. So next time I'll focus on TNR questions as well as health, temperament, foster homes and adoptions.

Thank you for stepping up and asking the tough questions. If everybody does their part and holds the shelters accountable we can make a difference.

Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions.
You may have a heart of gold - but so does a hard-boiled egg. ~Author Unknown

Smoke and Mirrors

2011-07-06T22:13:00.005-05:00

In my daily travels, volunteering for  Lost Dogs of Wisconsin,  I am able to spend a lot of time communicating with dog owners. I get a lot of insight on what the average pet lover thinks about Wisconsin shelters.

Many shelter and rescue folks tend to forget that the majority of pet owners in this country are not in tune with the goings on at animal shelters. In fact, they may not even know where their closest shelter is. So I treasure the conversations I have with average dog owners, because I feel like I get a good snapshot of the pulse of public opinion. Some people may criticize the public's lack of knowledge about their local shelter; but you have to remember -  most people are wrapped up in their work, their children, their lives. They love their pets, but they don't live and breathe animal welfare day in and day out like we do.

It came as a big surprise to me when I realized how many Wisconsin residents believe that their local shelters are no kill. Some people that I've talked to think that the whole state is no kill (in my dreams). They are horrified when I explain the truth. They've been deceived by the smoke and mirrors marketing and correspondence sent out to the public or posted on the websites and Facebook pages.

Most of this deception comes through the twisted use of the words "healthy" and "adoptable". Instead of clearly defining what a healthy, treatable or adoptable animal is, by using a matrix like the Life Saving Matrix of the No Kill Advocacy Center, shelter management manipulate the definitions of the words for their own benefit. Very few Wisconsin shelters have any type of statistics available for public viewing. So it is very easy to keep the donors and the public in the dark.

How do shelters kill and get away with it? They may say they save every healthy and adoptable animal. Or they may say they never kill a healthy, adoptable animal for space or time. It's all in the definition of healthy and adoptable.

Shelters will call feral cats "unadoptable" and they usually are. But feral cats should be trapped, neutered, vaccinated and returned. Instead they are killed but because they are considered "unadoptable" the shelter absolves themselves of the guilt of killing them.

Dogs that entered a shelter perfectly healthy with good dispositions, get labelled "unadoptable" if their behavior regresses because of a lack of proper enrichment opportunities or foster homes.

Cats that come into a shelter healthy but develop upper respiratory infections are labelled "unhealthy" and get killed.

Cats that are surrendered with litterbox issues are labelled "unadoptable" and are killed.

The possibilities are endless. Dogs with kennel cough, cats with ringworm; treatable conditions but classified as unhealthy or unadoptable.

Twisting the words to trick the public into thinking that the shelter is no kill or low kill is common practice.

Elmbrook Humane Society in Brookfield, Wisconsin is a shelter that does a lot of things right, but they've missed the mark on their new "adoption guarantee" policy. Transparency isn't their strong point. As a matter of fact, there isn't any statistical data on their website at all.

A few months ago they came out publicly saying they are the only "adoption guarantee" facility in Waukesha County. Well, there are only two shelters in Waukesha County so I guess they are thumbing their nose at HAWS (Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County). Most people understood this statement to mean that Elmbrook was becoming a no kill shelter. I'm sure their donors and supporters were thrilled. But, here's the catch...

Here is their statement from their Facebook page:

"EBHS is the ONLY adoption guarantee facility in Waukesha County. EBHS has no deadline for animals in its care. Animals are placed for adoption as long as they have an adoptable temperament, have reasonable health, and there is room at the shelter."

If it weren't so sad, it would make me laugh. It's like somebody saying they're a vegetarian... except on Friday when they eat fish; and on Sunday they like a nice roast beef dinner; and oh, after 9 p.m. they often eat a hot dog.

You either are or you aren't a vegetarian. You either are or you aren't an adoption guarantee shelter. There isn't all this wiggle room allowed.

So donors and taxpayers: please be smart and ask the right questions. My next few blogs are going to focus on knowing what questions to ask and what the correct, life-saving response from the shelter management should be.   Don't let the smoke and mirrors fool you.

A half truth is a whole lie. ~Yiddish Proverb

Happy Anniversary to Me

2011-06-27T18:46:00.004-05:00

I started this blog just a little over a year ago. My first entry is dated June 9, 2010. I remember that day really well. The news had broke that the Countryside Humane Society in Racine, Wisconsin had given expired rabies vaccinations to 600 animals. Since it is required by state law in Wisconsin to have a rabies vaccination, Countryside had to notify all of the pet owners and have them come back in to get their animal re-vaccinated. Not only a huge waste of donor's money, but a health risk to the animals. Countryside Humane Society said it was an honest mistake.

Come on now. One expired vaccine is an honest mistake. Five expired vaccines could be an honest mistake. I might even accept that twenty could be an honest mistake. But giving 600 expired rabies vaccines is not an honest mistake. The whistle blower, a Countryside staff member who alerted the press, was fired.

But I digress and you can read my two blog entries and the links to the news articles on this subject here and here.

I was furious that day. Furious at Countryside Humane Society, but even more furious that NOBODY in the animal welfare community stood up to make a public statement that what Countryside did was wrong. The animal welfare community was gossiping about it behind closed doors but too spineless to speak out in public. One brave Racine City alderman and some of the public spoke out and attended a meeting. But not one shelter director, that I am aware of, put out a public statement saying that what Countryside did was unacceptable and that the director and the board members should be held accountable. NOBODY. Circling the wagons, at it's finest.

So I sat down and typed my first blog. It was late that night - I didn't have any clue how to use Google Blogger and my first attempt at putting a picture on was hilarious. By about midnight, I'd figured out the picture thing and I was happy with the words I'd written.

I realized that I hadn't given my blog a name. Wisconsin Watchdog was the only thing that popped into my head at that time of night. I'm a morning person. I get up before the crack of dawn and by 8 p.m., I'm done for. So creativity at midnight is not going to happen.

So, Wisconsin Watchdog it was. Like I said, I was furious. Sleepy, but furious. If nobody else was going to watch what was going on in the animal welfare scene in Wisconsin, and be brave enough to tell it to the public, well then I would.

So that's my story. And what a year it has been. My inbox overflows daily with insights, tips and complaints. I go through them and sort out the credible, from the not-so-credible.

Three amazing groups of people have gotten the courage to go public about the wrong-doings at their own Wisconsin shelters (more on this to come) and I am ever so grateful. Because they are paving the way for the many more who are getting ready to do it.

It's easy to take a stand against the bad guys - the puppy millers, the dog fighters, the animal abusers. Not so easy to stand up and say what's wrong in the animal welfare system. Shelter board members and directors are often considered leaders in the community. They have been put on a pedestal. Sort of like TV evangelists. We're supposed to donate blindly, but never question how they spend the money. Just like the gig is up for a lot of TV evangelists, the gig is up for the poorly performing shelters.

Shelter killing is the number one cause of death of companion animals in this country. Not cancer, nor puppy mills, nor dogfighting, nor animal abuse. Animal shelters kill, at best estimate, (because transparency is a huge problem), about four million animals a year in America. We can rescue the dogs from puppy mills or dog fighting busts or animal abusers. But it won't do one lick of good if they end up getting killed in the shelter.

What will the next year bring? Progress. I am certain of it. More and more shelter volunteers and staff will swallow their butterflies and have the courage to speak out. We have a support system in place, both locally and nationally. We have at least six Wisconsin residents attending the No Kill conference in Washington D.C. in July. Another nine that are attending the No More Homeless Pets conference in Las Vegas in October. And three that are attending the one day No Kill seminar in Ohio as well. Are there any Wisconsin shelter directors attending? Not that I know of, but it sure would be nice to see them. Don't worry - we No Kill Advocates are actually really nice people and we all want the same thing, right? To end the killing of healthy, treatable pets in America's shelters.

So, to those Wisconsin shelter directors and board members who are still not actively seeking methods to reduce shelter killing in their community, be forewarned. We're watching. And that's not a threat, it's a promise.

To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice. ~Confucius

A Tale of Four Cats

2011-06-19T17:26:00.005-05:00

In America, everybody is entitled to their personal opinion on any given subject. But, I believe that if you are in a position where you have been entrusted by the public to save lives, you need to do your job, regardless of your personal opinion. That includes shelter staff, shelter directors and especially shelter board members. They are supposed to be "steering the ship."

I think it can be compared to a pharmacist who won't fill a birth control prescription because of religious beliefs. I respect that the pharmacist has a right to her beliefs, but they prevent her from doing her job. So she should be relieved of her job. Just as shelter staff and board members who uphold personal philosophies that support killing rather than life-saving, should be relieved of their jobs.

My blog this week has several links to news articles regarding the vastly different attitudes towards Trap, Neuter, Return in Wisconsin. Four counties, four stories. I'm not going to say much - I'm going to let you read and process this information....

All of the national organizations, except PETA, recognize Trap Neuter Return as an effective method to reduce the feral cat population. It saves lives, saves taxpayers' money, and it works.

Here is the link to the Best Friends Animal Society Community Cat Fiscal Estimator, which will help you determine how much money you can save in your community by starting a TNR program. So, even if you don't like cats, but you like money, you can see that Trap Neuter Return will save taxpayer dollars.

OUTAGAMIE COUNTY
"The Town of Greenville and the Fox Valley Humane Association are working together on a trap-neuter-return program as a long-term solution to Greenville’s feral cat problem. Greenville constable Vicki Prey is a key player in a cat population management program. In just the first year of the TNR program, the shelter has seen a 63 percent decrease in the number of feral cats brought in during the first quarter of 2011 compared with the first quarter of 2010. "
http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20110603/APC0904/110603085/Trap-Neuter-Return-program-finding-success-Greenville-

My note regarding Outagamie County: A successful collaboration between the town of Greenville and the local humane society is working. The proof is in the numbers.

MILWAUKEE COUNTY
Wisconsin Humane Society's Jill Kline talks about their feral cat program:

"The Wisconsin Humane Society has participated in the program for 10 years. Since 2005 more than 2,000 feral cats have been trapped and neutered or spayed. We think it's a great community program," Kline said. "About one in eight feral cats brought in to the Humane Society are adoptable. Some are ill and must be euthanized, but most are healthy. Kline said the "trap-neuter-return" program helps curtail overpopulation of cats as well as cuts down on nuisance complaints since the cats no longer fight, spray or howl."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/123593059.html

My note regarding Milwaukee County: Great work by Wisconsin Humane Society. Unfortunately for the cats of Milwaukee County, the animal control contract is held by the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC) where they do not have a TNR program.  The past Executive Director was not a supporter of TNR and subsequently 68% of cats that entered MADACC in 2010 were killed (or 4763 cats). In 2009, 65% (or 4363 cats) were killed. So you can see that killing cats did not improve the situation. The good work of Wisconsin Humane Society will be negated by the poor decisions at MADACC, unless a progressive director is hired for the vacancy at MADACC.

WALWORTH COUNTY
Lakeland Animal Shelter is the county shelter in Elkhorn. It has neither a TNR program or a barn cat program. BUT.... Walworth County is the home of Community Cat, Inc., whose co-founders, Tammy Neumeister and Lela Schuster are avid feral and barn cat advocates. They believe that every cat has a right to live, and Tammy had this to say:

"There is an important factor that people against TNR seem to miss. The fact that these are healthy cats. The cats we TNR are generally as healthy as house cats, if not healthier. They are in good condition. They have colony caretakers OR they are making it on their own. They have a source for food, water, and shelter. If we found a skinny, injured, non-healthy cat, we would not TNR. It's obviously not doing well where it is. Those we take in, make well, and then try to find a new location with a caretaker, usually on a farm. Some of these are obvious strays. They don't know how to care for themselves out there. These we take in as house cats. Some are closer to "house ferals" but that's OK too. Most of them come around once they are healthy again and see that we help. Then they can be adopted out. The true ferals are fine. They are in great shape. They know what they are doing out there and it's all they know."

My notes: Tammy should know what she is talking about. Her small group of volunteers at Community Cat in Whitewater, Wisconsin has assisted in a TNR program and the spay/neuter of  3000 cats (and 400 dogs) since 2009. Although they work with all cats and dogs, their real passion is the free roaming "community cats".

SAUK COUNTY
A recent story in the Washington Post alerted me to the anti-TNR opinion of the president of the board of directors of the Sauk County Humane Society in Wisconsin. Her name is Dana Madalon and her comments in the story are on the second page of the link.  The story even mentioned that Ms. Madalon withdrew her financial support from the Washington Humane Society (D.C.) because of their TNR program.

I contacted her and asked if she would like to clarify or defend her position and the following is her response. I agreed to post it in its entirety.

"I realize it’s often difficult to have meaningful dialog about TNR as it is so filled with emotion but we all come from the same place which is love for cats. I personally share my home with 4 cats, all of whom were rescued from the street.

My opinions have been formed from over 20 years of observation and personal involvement, not from some lofty perch on the outside. I have an extensive background in animal shelter and rescue work. I am an animal welfare activist, not an animal rights activist as the reporter wrote in his story. I have been involved in virtually every program available in shelters from cleaning cages to serving on Boards and deployed with the HSUS to New Orleans to help with animal rescue after Katrina. I do respect the opinions and viewpoints of TNR advocates but based on my experience and what I have personally witnessed, disagree that it’s the right approach for most situations. I do recognize there are success stories but those are regrettably in the minority.
I will share with you some of what I have seen through shelter work both in the Washington, DC area and in the Midwest.

Cats are domestic animals. This means they do not have natural defenses or immune systems and thus depend entirely on humans for their medical care. In TNR colonies we see devastating illnesses and diseases that are left untreated because people can’t get close enough to the cats to identify whether a cat is ill much less provide multi-day medical treatment. These cats get severe ear mites, flea allergies, skin conditions, abscessed teeth, upper respiratory infections, conjunctivitis, ringworm, injuries, and frostbite, all of which are untreatable since it’s virtually impossible to identify then trap and treat a specific cat throughout its lifetime. Further, the sick and dying cats and kittens stay hidden while the healthier cats take advantage of any food placed out. I have seen skinny, bedraggled, forlorn looking cats from TNR colonies shivering in the extreme cold with their eyes almost closed filled with gunk. And these are the ones that are healthy enough to emerge. Imagine the ones we find that are near death under a bush or in a car engine. In researching TNR, I have never encountered meaningful discussion on how to address these issues once the cat is released.

In most cases, TNR colonies are not lucky enough to reside in neighborhoods with dedicated, conscientious, and long-term caretakers. In urban and rural settings in particular (as opposed to suburban), we see a lot of horrific abuse. Since these cats are used to hanging around their colony they become vulnerable to incredibly indescribable acts of cruelty. Just seeing one instance is often enough to turn a person into an “indoor only” fanatic. It’s really bad. There are some cases that will haunt me forever.

The mere existence of feral cat colonies, in many cases, actually contributes to more cats. TNR colonies perpetuate the notion that this is a “good” life for the cats, thereby promoting dumping. For example, university and college settings are among the worst problem areas for feral cat colonies. In these settings we see cat colonies actually on the increase. Cats are frequently abandoned by irresponsible students who see a feral cat colony as a reasonable solution to an unwanted cat at the end of school. They wouldn’t think this if the colony didn’t exist in the first place. We also seeing dumping of unwanted pets (which is actually considered abandonment and a crime in many jurisdictions) near cat colonies by irresponsible or ignorant owners, thereby perpetuating the cycle rather than helping to decrease the populations. Again, these misguided (giving them the benefit of the doubt) individuals see or hear about a colony and think it’s a “good” place for their pet because “at least it won’t be euthanized.”

In rural areas, where shelters are scarce and often TNR if done, is not done with the necessary amount of care and dedication required, populations explode and cats live miserable lives. Kittens are everywhere, most of them sick and dying. A friend of mine just recently rescued one from a TNR colony that was near death. She was lucky enough to be able to trap this particular cat and whisked it to a vet. It was less than a year old, missing most of its fur, its eyes were filled with gunk, and she was bleeding. And this was from a TNR colony.

In New Orleans, during the rescue efforts, we encountered colony after colony of feral cats, many of which had notched ears, clearly indicating they were TNR colonies. Wary of humans to begin with, post-disaster they were virtually impossible to rescue. Whatever caretaker there might have been had been forced to evacuate leaving these animals to fend for themselves in a truly inhospitable environment with little to no food or shelter available. I realize disasters are the exception rather than the norm, however, we can plan for our own pets in the event of emergencies but planning for a feral cat colony is a lot more problematic, if not impossible.

One of the arguments espoused by the TNR community is that removing the colony would create a vacuum only to be filled by yet more feral cats. I find this premise to be a “seeing the trees not the forest” mistake. In attempting to preserve the colony, one ignores the plight of those “other feral cats” that are suffering, starving, subjected to cruelty, etc. The sad reality is that until we get the problem of the pet overpopulation under control, we are going to have to make tough choices. Even if all the TNR efforts were successful, there are still millions of feral cats and dumped cats that were once pets that are suffering greatly.

I honestly believe we have a moral obligation to make sure these animals do not suffer (or languish interminably in cages) and are free from peril. That is my priority. We have to make decisions on where to place our limited resources to best help those who can’t speak for themselves. For me, that is in anti-cruelty education, spay/neutering programs, providing larger and better shelters (where cats aren’t warehoused), and whatever programs are targeted toward minimizing animals suffering. I personally could never trap a cat and put it back on the street because I believe if you truly love an animal, you’ll do what’s best for it, not what makes you feel good. I believe TNR falls into the latter category. So, unless these cats can be socialized and until we get the problem of pet overpopulation under control, I believe euthanasia, sadly, is the most humane and loving alternative." - Dana Madalon, President, Sauk County Humane Society

My Notes on Sauk County - Notice, that there is no live-saving solution offered . There is no acknowledgement that EVERY major national animal welfare organization (except PETA) endorses TNR. So, I guess Dana Madalon is the expert and they're not? There is no acknowledgment that TNR saves taxpayers' and donors' money because it effectively reduces the feral cat population. She does not offer any viable solution to help reduce the feral cat population except killing. And we know from experience and statistics that the killing won't solve the problem, but increase it. Sauk County Humane Society - can you really do your job to save lives with this kind of regressive thinking at the helm?

Four cats, four counties. If you were a feral cat in Wisconsin, where would you want to live?

Happy Times for Wisconsin Dogs

2011-06-09T21:55:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy time for animal welfare volunteers and staff in Wisconsin. Act 90/ATCP 16 went into effect on June 1st . This new law, called the Commercial Dog Sellers law requires everyone who sells or offers to sell 25 or more dogs per year to be licensed and regulated. It includes breeders, pet stores, flea markets, shelters and rescues. It is budget neutral.  The licensing fees collected will pay for the enforcement of the regulations. For detailed information on the new law click here.

Is it perfect? Of course not. Not many laws are.

Is it better than what we had (which was not much)? Yes. Will it shut down puppy mills? Of course not.

Will it improve conditions for the dogs living in commercial breeding facilities? Yes. And, it is also the first step in ensuring that shelters and rescues are also maintaining reasonable standards of care. It will ensure that dogs are humanely cared for with exercise and socialization requirements.We have had some very sad cases of badly run shelters and rescues in this state - most notably the Thyme and Sage Ranch case which just recently resulted in the conviction of Jennifer Petkus on six counts of animal cruelty. Jennifer Petkus held the animal control contract for Richland County at the time.

With our new law, the situation at Thyme and Sage would never have regressed to the point it did.

To those of you who think that the bill should have attempted to shut down ALL breeding operations, here's my question.   There is a demand for puppies and dogs. Do the math. There are an estimated four million cats and dogs that will be killed in shelters this year. Let's say half of those are dogs (probably a high estimate, because we know the fate of cats is worse).

So, two million dogs are killed. But, about 17 million people will add a new pet to their family. Again, let's say half of those people want to get a dog, 8.5 million. Even if you convinced everybody to adopt their new dog from a shelter; where would the remaining 6.5 million dogs come from?

Of course, the whining and complaining about the new law has begun. Not by everybody, most reputable shelters are happy that the law passed. They realize that the inconvenience and cost will be more than made up for by the benefits to dogs in this state.

Any of you that know me personally know that I am not a huge fan of over-regulation by the government.
But, that being said, I also worked in an unregulated industry; horse training, breeding and riding instruction;  for twenty years. I would have gladly paid a licensing fee and welcomed inspectors with open arms to my farm if I thought it would mean that the bad actors would have been regulated. A few bad actors can ruin the reputation of an industry as a whole, and then responsible players suffer.

There aren't many businesses that don't require licensing. You have to have a license to cut hair, sell Christmas trees or run a dating service in Wisconsin. But up until now - you could be responsible for the health and lives of dogs while running a rescue, shelter or commercial dog breeding operation without a license or any oversight, whatsoever.

Some people will argue - Why should the "good guys" have to pay for the sins of a few? Well, that's how our society works. We all have to register our vehicles. The pool of money collected is used to enforce and regulate the rules of the road, even though most of us are responsible drivers. Hunters and fisherman have to buy licenses to hunt and fish. Even though the vast majority are responsible and follow the rules; the licensing fees helps enforce the rules for those that aren't.

Some rescuers are panicking that a huge influx of dogs being "dumped" by breeders will overwhelm the system. Will it be a busy couple of years for shelters as some breeders downsize? Probably. But that still isn't a good reason to oppose a law that will make conditions better for dogs for decades to come. The good shelters are prepared and have trained staff and volunteers in puppy mill dog rehabilitation.

So, to all the whiners (most of whom did not attend the hearings or offer any input) quit complaining; do your paperwork, pay your licensing fee and get on with life. You've had eighteen months since the bill passed to prepare. Good breeders should be happy. Good shelters and rescues should be happy. Humane standards are being implemented. The dogs are better off now than they were before.

It's a happy time for Wisconsin dogs and I'm celebrating. Thank you to Representative Jeff Smith, Senator Pat Kreitlow, the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project and everybody that worked hard to make it happen.

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are,

first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense. ~Thomas Edison

The Right to Criticize - Mine, Yours and Everyone's

2011-05-20T13:58:00.001-05:00

"Unless you have worked at Madacc you shouldnt bash them. And if you have worked there and still want to bash them then why didnt you try to do some of the things that are being mentioned you cant call a kettle black when you didnt try neither."

I copied this comment (bad grammar and lack of punctuation included) from the "I Support Madacc" Facebook page that was put up in response to the new No Kill Milwaukee Facebook page that was created a few weeks ago. Facebook wars - kind of funny, actually. I'm not exactly sure who the comment was directed towards but I want to weigh in with my opinion.

I am not involved with the No Kill Milwaukee Facebook page but I wholeheartedly support what they are trying to do: educate the public about the 50% plus kill rate at Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC) and encourage the hiring of a new progressive director that will implement the No Kill Equation, proven to save lives. (As a side note, somebody asked me the other day why it wasn't called "The Common Sense Equation" because that is what it is about. Good point, indeed!)

So back to the Facebook comment above. This goes into my pile of lame defenses of shelter killing. Really? I am a taxpayer and I am not allowed to criticize how my tax dollars are spent? I am a donor to privately-funded shelters and I am not allowed to know how my money is spent? Because I don't work there?

I would like to ask the writer of the comment - Has she never objectively criticized her snow removal? Or the potholes in town? Or the wasteful spending of the government? Because she is not a snowplow driver, or a roads worker, or a politician? Then I consider her a poor citizen who is not doing her civic duty to hold government agencies accountable for their actions.

Even private entities are subject to criticism. This is how they improve. I will never be a medical doctor, but that doesn't mean I don't objectively review credentials before I choose which doctor I will entrust with my medical care. I carefully scrutinize my veterinarians before I entrust my dogs' health to them, yet I will never be a vet. I read restaurant reviews and watch for public health violations when I am choosing where I eat, yet I don't work in a restaurant.

So yes, Ms. Facebook commenter. I and every other citizen of this nation has the right to observe, critique and comment on the operations at their local animal shelter. Sorry to burst your bubble.

If every animal shelter in the United States embraced the No Kill philosophy and the programs and services that make it possible, we would save nearly four million dogs and cats who are scheduled to die in shelters this year, and the year after that. It is not an impossible dream." - Nathan Winograd

Demonizing the American Public - Are We Shooting Ourselves in the Foot?

2011-05-10T11:40:00.002-05:00

Facebook, Twitter and social networking are great. I can't imagine where we'd be without it. It has given the No Kill movement a huge boost to propel us forward in ways never thought possible a few short years ago. But I think it has it's drawbacks also.

We can pass along information with the click of a button. Some of it helpful, some not so helpful to our cause. Now every time a dog has been abused, starved or beaten - we share it so that the whole world can see the horrors of animal abuse. We have demonized the American public.

Pretty soon, every time I glance through my Facebook newsfeed I see the same stories being shared and reshared. Don't get me wrong, animal abuse is horrible and the perpetrators need to be severely punished; when they are found guilty. Plus, it's nice to see the public enraged and willing to act.

The problem is that since the No Kill philosophy has a basic premise that most people are good and should be trusted with animals; when we overpost cruelty, we are shooting ourselves in the foot. We need adopters, foster homes, volunteers, and staff to make the programs of the No Kill Equation work.

Our common sense tells us that 95 percent of people in the nation are good people. But it's kind of boring to share and reshare the stories of the good people. It's far more satisfying to share the horror stories of the 5% evil. It is much more dramatic to post a cruelty story than a kindness story.

You would think, we of all people, animal welfare advocates would have learned from history. Isn't this what happened to pit bulls? They were demonized by the press. They became victims of an overzealous media seeking sensational stories to sell newspapers. A few bad stories and pretty soon the whole breed has to bear the burden of the crime.

If you want more background on the plight of the pit bull and how the media played a part in their downfall, check out the National Canine Research Council and Karen Delise's book - The Pit Bull Placebo, The Media, Myths and Politics of Canine Aggression. It is available as a free download.

Another good reminder is that the number one cause of death to companion animals in America is not dogfighting or animal abuse or puppy mills. It is shelter killing. Let's focus our energy on that.

Maybe, it's time to think before we click that share button on an animal cruelty story. Is it credible? Is it local? Has the perpetrator been found guilty? Are we helping our cause? Or hindering it?

There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience,

and that is not learning from experience. ~Laurence J. Peter

Ralph's Story

2011-05-04T14:19:00.004-05:00

This is the story of Ralph, a small dog who taught me a big lesson. Ralph, a Jack Russell mix, was adopted from the Wisconsin Humane Society a few months ago. In late March he escaped from his nice adopted home. A shy little guy, he was starting to live the good life, after a rocky start. But somehow he got away from home and was lost. Confused, disoriented, shy. Sounds like me when I would get lost in a department store when I was young, separated from my parents.

People ask us why there seems to be so many more lost dogs now, than say, ten years ago. Well, we know a few reasons. There are far more rescued dogs (a great thing). But many of these can be shy puppy mill dogs. Also, there are far more undersocialized pet store dogs. Since pet stores often sell their puppies at a very young age; they have missed an important socialization period in their development with their mother and littermates. Plus, there are more foster homes and transports. These are very vulnerable periods in a dog's life before he gets to his permanent adoptive home. These reasons add up to what we call more "high flight risk dogs" and more potential for lost dogs.

Anyways, back to Ralph's story. This little guy was lost from a Milwaukee suburb called Bayview. He was sighted numerous times during his disappearance but was never able to be approached.

On a warm Sunday in April, I was on my way home from Racine with my dog after a flyball event when I got a call from the director of Lost Dogs of Wisconsin. A Facebook fan had just posted a report of a deceased dog on the shoulder of I-94 northbound between Chicago and Milwaukee, just north of Racine. She was unable to stop but gave us a good description of the location and the dog. The description sounded like a dog that is one of my "still missing" cases from August 2010, so I made a quick turnaround and went back to look. Even from the southbound lanes I could see it wasn't my case, but I exited and re-entered the freeway to get a better look and at least a picture of the deceased dog.

We have learned that different municipalities have different policies regarding the identification and removal of dead dogs. Some good, some not so good. So, worried that somebody may never have closure for the loss of their dog, I put the lifeless little body in the back of my SUV and headed to the nearest 24 hour vet clinic to have it scanned for a microchip.

As I drove, I thought about all the thousands of cars and trucks that had passed that poor little deceased dog on the shoulder. I wondered what all those people thought.

" A dumped dog, no collar, somebody probably threw him out of a car."
" Some careless person had him in the back of a pickup truck and he jumped out."
" Some heartless farmer was letting their dog run around without a collar."
"A stray dog, unloved and unwanted."
"Another sad case of animal neglect. How could people be so horrible?"

It was pretty obvious to me what had happened. A lost dog had made a poor choice about crossing I-94. Most of the way, there is a large grassy shoulder. But for about a 100 feet alongside where his body was, there was a concrete barricade along the edge. He probably made a quick dash across the freeway, but had to turn back from the barricade and got clipped by a vehicle. His small body was barely damaged.

The vet clinic immediately picked up a microchip with the scanner. When I got home and called the microchip company; it was Ralph, one of our other caseworker's cases. Other than matching colors, he looked nothing like the picture we had posted above.

I realized that without that microchip, I might have thought the same thing as all those people. I'm not sure I ever would have recognized him from his picture. He looked more like a cattle dog cross than the puppyish dog in the photo above. I probably would have had him cremated and Ralph may have stayed forever in our Still Missing file.

The owners were devastated. They met me the next morning to retrieve his body. Ralph had travelled 20 miles from their home. They had had a sighting in Racine a couple of days previously, but it was easy to discount it because it seemed so far.

Please, everyone, today - go take good standing shots of your pets from all angles. And get your pets microchipped! If they are already microchipped, make sure it is enrolled to YOUR name (not the shelter or rescue which could go out of business) with current contact information. Heaven forbid, you should ever need those precautions, but if you do, you'll be ready. And above all please, Think Lost - Not Stray (a trademarked quotation of Kat Albrecht of the Missing Pet Partnership).

Rest in peace, Ralph. You were really, really loved by your family.

Defending the Indefensible

2011-04-23T22:50:00.002-05:00

My very first job for a newspaper was in advertising sales in a tiny little town in northern Alberta. There were three staff - an editor/reporter, a typesetter/secretary and myself. We published a weekly paper that was absolutely horrible, not worthy of lining a birdcage. Back before the days of desktop publishing; everything was typed, sight unseen into a huge blue machine that I have since forgotten the name of. There were many typos and factual errors, the pictures were blurry, and the stories were poorly written.

But I beat the streets day after day, defending the newspaper and trying to convince the local businesses to advertise. We needed the advertising revenue to keep our jobs and keep the doors open. I had no control over the content of the paper (I was the newbie on staff) and I was embarrassed by the whole thing. But you do what you gotta do to put food on the table.

Luckily, after about six months, I relocated to another town and got a job at an award-winning weekly newspaper that I was extremely proud to work for.

Now that I've become involved with animal welfare, I often see staff at shelters defending bad practices. I honestly think these staff took a job in animal sheltering because they love animals. They probably started the job with enthusiasm, thinking they were going to be able to make a difference, saving the lives of homeless animals.

But then something went wrong. All of a sudden those enthusiastic employees begin to see the cracks in the system. Instead of saving lives, the shelter is cutting corners or killing healthy animals or making costly mistakes. It becomes an embarrassment to work there. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Staff need their jobs and they need for the shelter to keep it's doors open. So instead of speaking up for the animals they love, they defend the shelter's bad practices. Even when the shelter is killing pets when better life-saving methods are available.

Somebody has to bear the blame. So it's much easier for the staff to point the finger at the irresponsible public than to criticize shelter management, potentially losing their job. It's much easier to blame lack of donations, or lack of public support, or the No Kill advocates that are rallying for change. It's much easier to try to discredit the better methods than to embrace change and learn new things. It's much easier to call the advocates "bashers and trouble makers" and reject their good ideas. Because it's hard to not defend your employer. Until one day, you realize that killing healthy or treatable animals is just plain wrong.

I know. I was there. Defending something that I didn't believe in. But killing healthy or treatable animals is wrong. Just plain wrong. And it's indefensible.

Leadership that makes a difference includes a personal willingness to do the right thing. It makes tough choices - moral choices, spiritual choices, ethical choices, right choices.

- Stan Toler

Annie's Story - And how it has exposed a flaw in our Wisconsin shelter system

2011-04-22T10:09:00.003-05:00

With gas approaching $4.00 per gallon and no relief in sight I want to get on my soapbox one more time in an effort to a) save lives b) save gasoline and c) show my support for the Companion Animal Legislation Act (CAPA) that is gaining support and steam around the nation.

We are really lucky in Wisconsin. We have compassionate shelter directors and staff. We have very few of the troubles that plague other states' shelters. But, with this has come complacency and reluctance to change; and embrace new technology and ideas (the dinosaur syndrome). Resting on our humane laurels does not save lives. Continually raising the bar and thinking outside the box does.

We STILL have shelters in Wisconsin that will not post pictures of lost pets they have impounded on their websites. This is the simplest way to save lives that I know of. Every person I speak with (other than shelter staff) cannot believe that it isn't being done. Unfortunately, they find out all too quickly if they lose their pet. (I just saw an interesting statistic that said that 5 million pets are lost per year in the U.S. or ten per minute).

There was also great new data released this week from Pethealth, Inc. that shows that increasing return to owner rates is lowering shelter intake; proving again that strays are lost pets, not dogs and cats that have fallen from the sky.

Annie is a cocker spaniel/springer mix that escaped from a rural pet sitter last Thanksgiving in southeastern Wisconsin. Annie is eleven years old and does not have a microchip. She is a very shy dog who could have spent a long time wandering from farm to farm, eating catfood, corn cobs and bird seed; like so many lost dogs we find. She was lost near the edges of four counties: Racine, Waukesha, Jefferson and Walworth.

She easily could have ended up in any one of those county shelters. It is a 151 mile, 4 hour round trip by car. At 20 miles to the gallon that is approximately 7 gallons of gasoline or 28 dollars. Once. Now multiply that by the number of times that Annie's owner would have spent visiting the shelters several times per week since Thanksgiving. Money that I'd rather have that owner spend on more flyers and newspaper ads to generate sightings for her dog; in case she still is out there roaming from farm to farm.

I want to briefly explain how the stray hold system works. We are blessed with a seven day stray hold in Wisconsin. This is the time required by state law that an animal shelter must hold an animal. This allows an owner time to reclaim it before it is put up for adoption, transferred to another facility or killed.

Animals on stray hold are often (but not always) kept separate from the rest of the shelter population for the seven days. Paperwork is done when a "stray" is brought in and it is basically effortless to also snap a picture. Uploading the picture to the corresponding shelter software that is used for the intake information takes about two minutes when you've had a little practice. But, regardless of how easy this is - it is not being done.

None of the four county shelters (Racine, Waukesha, Walworth or Jefferson) post their stray pictures on their website. Annie's owner has even written to her state legislators describing the problem. These shelters (along with others in the state) require the owner of a lost dog to visit the shelter to see if their dog has been turned in.

Countryside Humane Society has their policy on their website:
If you have lost your pet you need to make regular visits to our shelter to see if your pet is here.

If the owner can't make the 151 mile round trip; a nice dog like Annie will be adopted in a flash to a new home (possibly within hours of the stray hold ending), before the owner has a chance to see her picture appear on the adoptable section of the website. Am I really supposed to trust that the staff at Countryside are going to put two and two together and match Annie's lost report with a dog that is brought in? Remember, this was the same staff and management that gave expired rabies vaccinations to 600 adopted pets last year.

Shelter directors that I have contacted use this excuse for their outdated policy:

What if somebody tries to claim a pet that they see listed as lost because they want it for themselves?

Hmm. This doesn't appear to be rocket science. First of all, reclaim fees are very high in Wisconsin. In the case of a cat - why would somebody pay a high reclaim fee when they can go down the road to another shelter in the area that has a great free cat adoption program?

In the case of a highly desirable dog (or cat); simply hide an identifying feature in the photo and ask the owner to describe it. Or change the collar color and ask the owner what color collar the dog was wearing. Or ask the owner to bring in family photos with the pet. I am currently trying to find evidence (either statistical or anecdotal) to find out how many times people try to claim a lost pet that is not theirs. I am thinking that it is rather low.

Hundreds of shelters around the nation put the lost pet photos online. And a huge thank you to the ones in Wisconsin that do. Dane County Humane Society recently launched a new website that makes it incredibly simple to search for your lost pet. Hats off to them.

For the shelters that don't do it: why is it so hard? Maybe that grateful owner will donate the gas money they saved to the shelter. Do shelter directors not see the benefit to the animals, the owners AND the environment?

The Companion Animal Protection Act which has passed in California and Delaware and has been recently introduced in Texas and Rhode Island contains a very specific section on the efforts a shelter must make to reunite lost pets with owners including posting them online. Does such a simple idea really need to be legislated?

You would think that shelters would be jumping at the chance to save more lives. Apparently not.

We are still searching for Annie. And we will not give up.

They say the world has become too complex for simple answers.

They are wrong. - Ronald Reagan

Mythbusters - Volunteers are More Trouble Than They're Worth

2011-04-15T19:48:00.000-05:00

As National Volunteer Appreciation Week draws to a close - I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our awesome volunteers at Lost Dogs of Wisconsin and Lost Dogs Illinois. Who knew, only a little over a year ago, when there were just four of us, that we would open such a huge can of worms! The longer we are at it, the more we peel back the layers of confusion and misunderstandings about "strays" and our animal control system. We now have almost 50 volunteers who work tirelessly to get dogs back home to their owners, thereby keeping them from crowding our animal shelters. Between our two organizations we have assisted in the recovery of over 200 dogs since early 2010.

I often hear the following from shelter volunteers: they want to do more to help save lives but they are frustrated. Frustrated because they aren't encouraged to do more, plus they aren't empowered to help with anything that would make a real difference. Sure, every shelter volunteer should know how to do the laundry and scoop poop. But there is so much more they can do.

The sad thing is, these are smart people. Many are retired from high level managerial positions or have owned and run their own businesses. They may have a lot invested in the shelter; definitely more than most of the kennel staff, both in time and in dollars. Volunteers are there on their own dime and time, no paycheck involved. Yet when they make a suggestion (usually a good one), they often get labelled as a bothersome volunteer.

Many of these volunteers are the ones that have the time and income available to go to the conferences and seminars that teach new, lifesaving methods. There is nothing more frustrating (I know this from experience) than to come back from a conference with your brain busting with low-cost, live-saving ideas, just to get stonewalled or ignored.

Plus, most of these volunteers have the maturity to know that their suggestions may not be implemented immediately or that there is a reason why things are done the way they are. But keeping volunteers on the low rungs of the ladder forever is a surefire way to make them quit in frustration.

My husband uses Situational Management in his line of work. He empowers employees, continually moving them up the ladder and engaging them in decision making.

Another good read is Tribes by Seth Godin, which discusses how the old hierarchical management style is pretty much dead and gone.

When will the shelter managers figure this out? When the last volunteer has left the building? I hope not. Our shelter animals need them.

Thank you, to our great volunteers at Lost Dogs of Wisconsin and Lost Dogs Illinois; and to all the volunteers around the nation who are making a difference in the lives of our companion animals.

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling while they do it" - Teddy Roosevelt

Mythbusters - If dog breeders stopped breeding all our problems will be solved

2011-04-08T21:28:00.010-05:00

This is a comment I see and hear often. "All breeding should be outlawed until every shelter dog has a home." There's a couple of significant flaws in this thinking. I know that even though it may come from a person with good intentions; they really haven't thought it through thoroughly.

First of all, this is America. I really don't think we want the government telling us when we can and can't breed dogs, or cats or any other domestic animals for that matter. I'm not talking about the licensing and regulation of commercial breeding facilities. I'm talking about the flawed thinking that all breeding should be banned. There isn't enough money in the budget as it is; trying to enforce this type of law would make us all go broke. And what would the consequences be? Take the animals away? Put the people in prison? Oh good, more animals and people for the government to care for.

So let's file that in the pile of bad ideas.

But the other argument is the one that truly upsets me because it is a myth. It is the argument that all breeders are irresponsible and if they were responsible they wouldn't be breeding more dogs.

There are many good dog breeders out there who are breeding healthy, sane, socialized dogs for people to love and enjoy; whether they buy them as companions, sports or working dogs. These dogs are the opposite of puppy mill and pet store dogs. Below is an excerpt from my testimony from the public hearing that was held for the Commercial Dog Breeders Bill that was passed in 2009 in Wisconsin.

I am a long time participant in competitive dog sports, mainly flyball, which is a team relay race for dogs. I also have trained and shown in agility. I feel that most dogs are happiest when they have a job, often related to their breed, whether it be herding sheep, playing competitive sports with their owner, or chasing chipmunks in the yard.

Dogs from mass production facilities lack the qualities that enable them to perform their breed specific jobs. They are poorly bred with poor conformation and health, and are often under -socialized. These dogs rarely live up to their full potential in life and often end up in the animal control facilities and shelters when owners can no longer deal with their behavior problems or afford their veterinary costs. This is a burden on the taxpayer whose tax dollars go to fund animal control services.

Licensing and regulating these cruel and inhumane mass breeding facilities will help level the playing field for the responsible breeders who produce sound, healthy dogs - willing and capable to be fully functioning canine members of the family.

Good dog breeders are part of the solution. Let's not ostracize them. Besides, have you recently researched how hard it is to adopt a dog that would be suitable for somebody that needed or wanted a small, non-terrier or non-shedding breed? They fly out the doors at many shelters. Especially if they are reasonably well-socialized and suitable for families with children.

There are more of these dogs in rescues than shelters, but many rescues don't adopt to senior citizens; families with small children or grandchildren; or homes without fenced yards. This immediately eliminates many condo and apartment residents. I hope we all agree that we want people of all ages - the elderly and children included, to reap the benefits of pet ownership. Numerous studies have shown that there are significant physical and mental advantages to having a pet in your life. Here are a few taken from this Best Friends article:

• Blood pressure goes down when people interact with pets.
• Coronary heart-disease patients with pets have higher survival rates.
• Physical therapy patients with pets show improved balance, coordination, muscular strength, and language ability.
• Children with pets in the household have higher IQ scores.
• Preteens with pets show increased emotional reciprocity and sense of responsibility.
• Children with pets demonstrate increased ability to nurture and care for others.
• Young children with pets have an easier time interacting with their peers.
• Children exposed to two or more dogs or cats in infancy were half as likely to develop common allergies as children with no pets in the home.

So, if the small highly adoptable dogs aren't available from shelters or rescues, we really should be recommending a good breeder to discourage the trip to the pet store.

Well-known and respected animal behaviorist Patricia McConnell, PhD of Madison, Wisconsin wrote an excellent article for Bark magazine last summer entitled Well Bred that explained how dogs from good breeders rarely end up in the shelter.

Here is a quote from her article:
"Responsible breeders not only decrease the chance that a dog needs to be re-homed, they keep dogs out of shelters in the first place by following them throughout their lives and being willing to provide a home if one becomes necessary."

Saving Pets in Australia has also written some excellent blog posts on this subject.

And I loved this blog - "A breeder is a breeder is...well maybe not " from John Sibley when he said he was retiring his "Don't Breed or Buy While Homeless Pets Die" bumper sticker.

One last note: responsible breeders are on our side when it comes to breed specific legislation, mandatory spay neuter laws and pet limit laws. They see the misguided thinking that is behind these laws as clearly as No Kill advocates. Plus, responsible kennel clubs push for the construction of more dog parks and off-leash areas to provide proper socialization opportunities for dogs. So we really have a lot of similar principles.

It's time to join forces with responsible breeders, give them the pat on the back they deserve, and work towards our common goal of No More Homeless Pets.

Begin challenging your own assumptions.

Your assumptions are your windows on the world.

Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.
~Alan Alda

Princessa's Story

2011-04-02T21:39:00.007-05:00

Once upon a time there was a small 8 lb. chihuahua/rat terrier cross named Princessa who was the princess of the house. She sat on the back of the couch and probably ate bon-bons.

Then one day on November 6, 2010 while on a big trip to a semi-rural Super Walmart in Pewaukee, Wisconsin she managed to slip out of the car and she was off! She had a collar and tags, and was a friendly little girl, but that big parking lot and all those cars must have been scary; even for a Princess, because she ran into a residential subdivision, and vanished.

The owner contacted Lost Dogs of Wisconsin, we posted her, and she was reported missing to all the correct places. But still nothing. Nobody had seen her and the worst was feared.

But what we have learned is that the worst seldom happens. Coyotes are not lurking behind every bush; dog fighters are not waiting to scoop up lost dogs and use them for bait dogs; and lost dogs are usually way too resourceful to starve.

We have learned that many owners give up far too early and because of this our shelters are overcrowded with "strays" which are in reality - lost pets. Helping educate owners on effective methods to recover their lost pets is a large part of the No Kill Equation. Why try to find a new home for that "stray" when it has a perfectly good home already? There are far needier animals in need of shelter space and new homes.

So back to Princessa's story. We still had nothing to go on. Until one day early in December, we had a call that a small brown dog was hanging out behind the Thunder Bay Grille just off of I-94, a great restaurant with a fine menu. It was only about 3 miles from the Walmart, so we knew it was possible for it to be Princessa. We took a live trap over thinking this was going to be an easy catch.

Well, it was not. Why eat rotisserie chicken in the trap when you can have prime rib at the dumpster? Some nights she almost went in, reaching with her long beautiful Princess neck just over the trip plate. Some nights she snubbed us completely - "You expect me to eat that?" We offered her everything we could think of - delicious concoctions provided by our volunteers. The Christmas season came and along with it all the holiday parties at the restaurant, with large trays of lovely offerings - lots of which missed the dumpster and became a doggy smorgasbord.

On bitterly cold nights we had to close the trap for fear that she would be caught too long and freeze. But no worries there - she wasn't going in. We tried big traps, small traps, covered traps, cozy traps, traps fit for a Princess. Christmas and New Year's came and went.

The Thunder Bay Princess became the Thunder Bay Devil Dog in my mind. I'd lie awake at nights and dream up ways to catch her. My husband, an engineer, tinkered with the traps and came up with a double catch method. Other Lost Dogs members and myself would spend hours on the phone or over coffee scheming. I think we were getting crazed looks in our eyes - kind of like Bill Murray in Caddyshack trying to catch the gopher.

She lived in a hole under the porch at the restaurant, but was seldom seen. Only her tiny footprints in the snow showed us her daily whereabouts.

Then one day in mid January - she was gone again. A worrisome couple of weeks. Why would she give up the restaurant food? Was she concerned about her waistline and her high fat/low fiber diet? Looking for a new kingdom to conquer? Luckily a phone call from a neighboring condominium subdivision came in - just when we were beginning to think we'd completely lost track of her and were back to square one. The caller said a fat brown, sausagey looking dog with short legs was seen running across the patio.

Late January. More blizzards, bitterly cold weather and very deep snow. A sighting here, a sighting there. She was now the Princess of Avondale and Stillwater, two very nice, spacious condo subdivisions with a lot of green space, plenty of birdseed, and endless decks and sunrooms to crawl under for shelter. An upscale neighborhood with a regular garbage day - what more could a Princess want? So here a trap, there a trap, everywhere a trap, trap. But only an angry possum. Never a Princess in a trap.

February came and went. The snow started to melt. Princessa was a busy girl. One day I saw her - her coat glistening in the sun. I made a note to add more sunflower seeds to my diet. Sometime in February she lost her collar.

The residents were wonderful. They called with every sighting. They helped man the feeding station and the trap. One resident that was helping us took this picture, as she warmed herself by a vent on the side of a condo.
She was now very comfortable in this quiet neighborhood and would be seen five or ten times a day. Our phones were busy, but our trap was not.

March arrives. The snow starts to melt and the Princess is enjoying rolling on bare patches of grass in the sunshine. And suddenly a bunch of us had the same idea at the same time. Maybe we just needed a bigger trap! The snow had melted away from the gates of the tennis court. The wonderful Avondale property manager opened it up for us and offered to keep her food bowl filled. He moved it progressively into the tennis court - a little bit at a time, so she didn't get suspicious of our plan. I was envisioning tennis players in August having to jump a small, fat dog as they dove for the ball.

But - thankfully, it didn't take that long. On March 10th we got the call. A lady walking by had seen her in the tennis courts eating from her bowl and had snuck up and shut the gate.

And so the story of the Pewaukee Princess came to an extremely happy ending. No frostbite, no medical problems. An 8 lb dog that lived outside for four months through a brutally cold Wisconsin winter. She spent a few days in rehabilitation with our director, Kathie D; but then came right back around to being a Couch and Lap Princess. Princessa gave us memories to last a lifetime plus another success story to encourage owners of lost dogs to Never, Ever Give Up.

A huge thank you to the residents and management of the Avondale and Stillwater condominium subdivisions, the staff and management at the Thunder Bay Grille, the Mobil station, the Machine Shed restaurant and the Radisson hotel; the staff at the AT&T building; BREW Midwest for the loan of a trap; Mark H at HAWS; and to the wonderful members of Lost Dogs of Wisconsin - Carlene and Becca H, Kathie D, Larry D, Susan T and Carol S, and my husband, all of whom manned the trap, delivered flyers, concocted wild schemes, and commiserated with me during the entire process.

A Tired Dog is A Good Dog

2011-03-22T18:48:00.004-05:00

Spring time arrives and with it, I hope a multitude of dog-friendly venues and events for people to participate in with their canine companions. Many thanks to the shelters, rescues and dog training clubs that host events that allow the public to bring their dogs - even though it may take extra effort and preparation.

Last weekend our flyball team played in Madison. As I put Hawk, our rat terrier, to bed on Sunday night, exhausted but happy, I couldn't help but think of all the hundreds of other flyball dogs that were crawling into their doggie beds that evening. All tired out from an exciting weekend of being with their owners, playing with their teammates and hanging out around the crating area.

And why is this so important to the plight of homeless pets everywhere? Animals that are surrendered to shelters take up spaces for animals in more dire circumstances that need them. When people make pets a part of the family, and share in events and dog sports with them, they are far less likely to surrender their dogs to animal shelters. When the public is welcome to bring their dog and socialize it with other dogs at public events, the human-dog bond is strengthened. This reduces the chances of a pet being relinquished to the backyard, day in and day out, to become a bored, barking, under-socialized dog.

Even if you're not a dog lover, community dog-friendly events are important. To repeat a phrase I heard a couple of years ago that I'll never forget - "A humane community is a safe community". Neighborhoods filled with animal lovers are safe places to live. Statistics have proven time and again that there is a direct link between violence towards animals and violence towards people.

So a sincere thank you to all the shelters, rescues and dog clubs for making our communities a safer place to live by providing dog-friendly events. Hawk, Pixie and I will see you this summer!

The Magically Disappearing Cat

2011-03-14T07:52:00.005-05:00

Fairly amazing. Now you see it, now you don't. Here's how it goes:

The nice family brings in a cat to their local shelter. They came in last week to borrow a trap and successfully trapped it in their yard. The little girl is proudly carrying the trap with both hands, confident that she is doing a really great thing for animals. She is sure that somebody is going to adopt this cat that she has grown fond of, but can't pet. Somebody will tame it, give it a wonderful home and it will live happily ever after.

The woman at the front desk politely fills out the paperwork, smiles and nods her head. The nice family may leave a donation to the shelter for all the good work they do. The woman at the front desk calls a kennel attendant to come and get the cat.

Now here's the trick: Poof! - the cat is gone. Never to be seen again.

The nice family asks how soon it will be before the cat is put up for adoption, can they come visit it and how will they know when the cat has a good home. The woman at the front desk staff says "Watch the website. Thank you for coming in," and then pretends to be busy with something else.

The nice family leaves, blissfully unaware. Or maybe, just maybe they are starting to catch on; with the nagging suspicion and the sinking feeling in their stomach that they didn't "rescue" the cat and bring it to a "shelter". Maybe, just maybe, they sentenced the cat to death.

The truth is that 81 percent of the American public would rather leave a cat where it was (outside) than have it brought to a shelter and put to death if it knew that those were the only two options available. But unfortunately, many shelters don't tell the truth.

If your shelter does not offer Trap, Neuter, Return, does it at least tell the truth about the outcome for the cats that are brought in? Acknowledging the truth is the first step to solving the problem. Does your shelter perform feline friendly practices as outlined by Alley Cat Allies so that we can begin to end the killing of cats in America's shelters?

Or does your shelter still perform the trick - the Magically Disappearing Cat?

I want to say that in the last couple of years there has been a remarkable improvement in Wisconsin regarding TNR and barn buddy programs. There is still a long ways to go but progress is being made. Thank you to those that are speaking out on behalf of cats in Wisconsin.

Mythbusters - The Public are Irresponsible with Animals

2011-03-08T10:14:00.000-06:00

There she is again on our television screens. Sad Sarah Mclachlan representing the ASPCA singing her sad song with puppy dog and kitten faces staring at you. Making you feel like animal cruelty is an insurmountable problem. We might as well all just throw up our hands in despair and give up. Or better yet, run and grab our checkbook and write a big fat check to the ASCPA because they can ward off all those evil people in the world that would harm pets. It's a pretty grim picture they paint. I see that the HSUS is sending out a similar television message also.

We are evil, evil people. Not to be trusted with animals. Animals are better off in shelters where there is a good chance they will get sick or be killed when their time is up. The public is so irresponsible. Or are they? Who does this perception serve? It certainly doesn't serve animals well. It serves the pocketbooks of the large organizations. Even though the statistics clearly show that more and more Americans are making pets valued members of the family, they prefer to ignore that and paint the sordid picture of pet overpopulation and animal cruelty.

In reality, the numbers are showing that the majority of animals that need our help are the pit bulls, pit bull mixes and feral cats. Yet you don't see their pictures in the television ads. It's the cute puppies and kittens we see. Why don't the television ads tell the truth and the good news about the kindness of most people? My guess - Why kill the goose that laid the golden egg? The longer the charade goes on, the longer the money will pour in.

This attitude of mistrust can permeate down to our local shelters and rescues also. Overly restrictive adoption policies; judgmental shelter staff and volunteers; and the big red flag - shelter staff that say they like animals better than people. Yikes. Probably time for a new job for those folks. Better yet, screen them out from the start. If I was hiring I'd never hire anybody who said they liked animals more than people. Because we need people to adopt, foster, reclaim and volunteer with animals. Does your shelter and staff harbor an attitude of mistrust? Or do they embrace the public and trust them?

Here is the truth. The figures are out. Americans spent $2 billion more on their pets in 2010 than in 2009. That money came from the average, normal pet loving public with kids, a job, a family pet and a lifestyle that may not be immersed in animal welfare like ours is.

Pet lovers abound everywhere. We need to seek them out and recruit them. There are construction workers, lawyers, health care providers, teachers and salespeople that love pets. There are Democrats, Republicans and Independents that love pets. There are people of all religions, races and cultures that love pets. There are farmers, fishermen, hunters, meat eaters, and heaven forbid - yes, even dog breeders that love pets.

Don't make these people part of the problem. Make them part of the solution. Include them - don't exclude them. The basic premise of the No Kill philosophy begins with the fact that the public can and should be trusted.

Yes, there are cruel people. And we need to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. But the vast majority of Americans are good, hardworking, honest people that love animals. Go out and find them and welcome them. They are our yellow dots. They are the ones we need to get onboard our bus. They love pets and we need their good advice, their skills, their common sense and their support to pave the way to our No Kill goals.

One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life. ~E.M. Forster

Mazi's Story

2011-02-21T07:47:00.000-06:00

This is Mazi. If Mazi were brought into a shelter I would like to be a fly on the wall to hear the reaction from the staff, the volunteers and any public that happened to be there.

My guess is that it might sound something like this:

"OMG- How could somebody do that? How could somebody treat a dog like that." "If I knew who did that I would kill the SOB with my bare hands." "People are horrible. People don't deserve animals. They should never be allowed a pet again."

But that is not Mazi's story. Mazi is a boxer that was lost for eight days in frigid temperatures in northern Wisconsin. She escaped her yard and headed off down a snowmobile trail. There were no sightings for the entire time. She was found by a neighbor lying in the woods, very thin with abraded hocks. She spent several nights at both the emergency vet and the regular vet.

(On a side note - we are finding that some dogs have better "survival" skills than others; some lost dogs do well scavenging and living out for weeks, months and even years on their own.)

Here are some excerpts from notes that Mazi's owner posted on our Lost Dogs of Wisconsin Facebook page. The owner took all of our advice, flyering, signs, leaving food and bed outside, everything. It was heartbreaking to hear the despair in her tone as the days passed.

"Our boxer, Mazi, is still missing! If you have seen her or found her, please call day or night!"

"it's so hard to concentrate on school when i keep on thinking about my baby girl somewhere out there...."

"if you have a pet, be sure to hug them extra tight because you don't know just HOW much they mean to you until they are gone... "

"Our brown boxer, Mazi, is still missing. PLEASE keep your eyes open for her and check out your surroundings just in case she could be nearby you. She has a black rhinestone and studded collar. Call day or night, with any information. We are heartbroken and miss her dearly..."

"does anybody or do you know anybody that has one of those hunting motion detector camera things? if you do, i would very much appreciate it if i could borrow it. there is a possibility that mazi came to the house during the night last night, but the only way to be sure is it we caught her on camera. i will pay you. please let me know!!"

Mazi is safe and warm at home now, recovering from her ordeal. I always like to debrief in my brain after each case and think about the lessons learned. I look at the pictures and realize how easy it would be for somebody to make false assumptions about her condition or care.

She could have been picked up by a stranger, taken to a shelter and assumed to be a neglected, dumped or abused dog, with hateful thoughts aimed towards the owner before all the facts were known. Very little effort might have been made to reunite her if Mazi had ended up in a shelter outside of her jurisdiction.

I was speaking with a board member of a northern Wisconsin shelter one day - telling her about our mission at Lost Dogs of Wisconsin and asking if they posted pictures of their lost pets online. She said "No - they didn't need to. Everybody in their county knew where to come and look for their pet. Besides they didn't have many lost dogs. They only had dumped dogs. Those were her exact words. "We don't have lost dogs. We only have dumped dogs." I guess I should move to that county and my job would be done.

I said "That's funny, because we have three lost dogs from your county posted on our Facebook page right now with owners that are desperately looking for them." When she stuttered and stammered I continued - "Did you ever think that maybe dogs walk across the county line and end up in a different shelter? And what about posting those pictures for the convenience of the people that work two jobs, or don't have a car, or the single moms that have difficulty getting to the shelter during viewing hours."

As the steam was coming out of my ears, I realized - we've come so far, but we still have a long way to go. Here was a seemingly intelligent board member of a respectable shelter without a clue that strays are lost pets. Or that the pets are sometimes not recovered in a day or two, and that coming to a shelter every day becomes an incredibly time-consuming, financial drain (not to mention a big waste of gas!).

Besides, we would much rather that the lost dog owner spend their valuable free time flyering and generating sightings rather than driving to and from the shelter. If there is the hint of a possible match from the on line photos - then a trip to the shelter would, of course, be required.

So, please remember Mazi's story and when you see a skinny, unkempt dog ask first - "Is this a lost pet?" Don't just assume it is an abused, dumped dog.

Also, please ask your local shelter to post the pictures of lost pets on their website. Remind them that this is now the law in Delaware because it has been proven to save lives. Animal control is YOUR tax money and/or privately funded animal shelters are run with YOUR donations.

Shelter directors - please make sure your board members are staying educated on progressive, lifesaving methods of animal welfare. They should be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem. They should be more than fund-raising, do-gooders in the community wanting a feather in their cap.

Welcome home, Mazi! Your family really, really loves you.

Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom. ~Merry Browne

If It's Broke - Fix It!

2011-02-13T21:51:00.000-06:00

I'm going to divert for just a bit from my original plan because I thought this was an interesting "teaching moment". Last week a lady named Mary made a comment on my Mythbusters blog in regards to reducing surrenders or pet retention as it is called in the No Kill Equation. I am sure Mary is a wonderful, animal-loving person, and this is not meant to disparage her in any way. Nor do I place the blame on her shoulders.

I'm paraphrasing (you can read the whole comment here) but in essence; she said she had been answering the phone at a rescue (I'm a bit confused because later she said shelter) for fifteen years and had found that 99 percent of the time people wanting to surrender pets would not change their mind.

I replied that a study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association found that targeted helpful advice that actually solves the problem results in a better than 90% decline in chances of relinquishment.

At the Nevada Humane Society, their animal help desk, a central part of their pet retention program, fields over 20,000 calls a year. Of those who agreed to try and resolve their issues after calling to surrender their pet, 59% ended up not doing so. The link to read regarding both these statistics is here.

You may wonder why these two numbers are different. My explanation would be that in 30 percent of the cases people will be too busy or lack the resources or commitment to stick with the program and work the problem out. Still, reducing surrenders by 59 percent is outstanding.

Now to my point: One of the key problems I see in animal welfare is bad management. This isn't Mary's fault that she couldn't help these people. This is a serious lack of management by whoever is in charge of this shelter or rescue. Mary needs more training. Or some training. Or maybe a different position in the organization. She sounds like a very loyal employee (or volunteer - I'm not sure which).

But if I owned a widget factory and there was also a widget factory next door and the next door's widget factory salesman sold 100 widgets while my salesman only sold one; and my widgets were just as good as theirs; well - I wouldn't do the same thing for FIFTEEN YEARS!

I'd get my salesman some training. Or I'd increase his commission. Or I'd find another salesman. BUT I'd do something different. If it ain't broke don't fix it - but if it's broke, FIX IT! Good grief. Honestly - it's almost funny. Except that I find it sad when I think that animals suffer because of bad management. Fifteen years. It makes my head hurt.

And with the internet, free or low cost webinars, countless great articles, conferences, etc.,etc., - there is absolutely no excuse to have untrained staff or volunteers manning the phone. Allowing under performing staff or volunteers to continue to under perform hurts everyone. It reduces morale; it affects financials and performance; and in this case it probably caused the death of animals: not just those that were surrendered needlessly, but the ones that were waiting in line for a place at the shelter.

Bonney Brown of the Nevada Humane Society has excellent online advice on how to start, maintain and advertise an animal help desk. It is best if you just google it because there are several very large pdf files available to download and print. Between Bonney Brown and Mitch Schneider they are saving over 90 percent of the animals in Washoe County, Nevada. They are true leaders who we should be modeling our communities after.

One housekeeping note - I realized that some people think I underline words in my blog for emphasis. Not so. I underline words that are direct links to supporting articles and information - just click and read.

"A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better." - Jim Rohn

Myth busters - Not all shelter pets need a new home

2011-02-08T06:19:00.000-06:00

Part 2 in a series about making a paradigm shift in our thinking about animal welfare.

Here's the scenario: You walk into an animal shelter as a volunteer, an employee or a potential adopter. You see all those adorable faces of the animals looking at you and you think "All these poor, poor animals - there are so many of them, we need to find them all homes. They are homeless, unwanted, unloved." STOP! REWIND! DO-OVER! BIG MYTH!

The vast majority of animals in shelters come from two sources. Strays and surrenders. In Wisconsin, we receive a lot of transfers from other shelters. But the initial reason for the animal coming into a shelter was the same. It was a stray. Or it was a surrender. (Occasionally some will come from a cruelty case or a commercial breeder surrender. I'm not talking about those - they rightfully belong in a shelter until a new home can be found.)

Instead walk down that aisle and think about where that dog or cat came from. How could you have stopped it from coming in the door? I admit, my mind used to work the old way. I thought shelters should be just big adoption facilities - cranking them out as fast as they were coming in. But then the reality hit me. Most animals don't belong in shelters. Now when I walk into a shelter and see those faces the words of that old Jackson Browne song runs through my head "She Must Be Somebody's Baby - She's So Fine."

If you are only thinking about how to get the animal adopted, you are just putting a bandaid on the problem. A lot of these animals don't need new homes. They had perfectly good homes to begin with. Animal shelters should be operating like good doctors - focusing on wellness and prevention rather than treatment.

Does your shelter operate like a pet store? That's a big red flag to me. Now don't get me wrong - I have no problem with shelters that use good marketing techniques and make their shelters happy, friendly places with convenient hours and policies for people to come and adopt.

What I do have a problem with is is the attitude - "We'll find them a better home", instead of getting them back into the home they had. I've blogged on this twice before once concerning the poor and once concerning the elderly. A shelter should be a a safety net for the animals that have no guardian or owner to advocate for them. Most pets DO have somebody to advocate for them and you have to do a little homework to find them and make it all work out.

Maybe they weren't perfect homes, but then whose is? But maybe they were good homes. And we've got to get off this kick that every pet needs a fluffy bed and fancy toys. Pets need kindness, food, shelter, water and basic veterinary care - not a six figure income and a big house in the suburbs.

If the shelter or rescue is not spending a great majority of it's time and resources on programs which promote "reducing intake" then it is only putting it's finger in the dike.

Strays are lost pets that should be returned to their homes. It's called Missing Animal Response or proactive redemptions. It should be a major focus of every shelter and animal control agency in this country. Bill Bruce, Director of Animal Bylaw Services in Calgary, Alberta; and Mitch Schneider, Director of Animal Control Services in Washoe County, (Reno) Nevada are leading advocates of proactive redemptions and guess what? Both of these communities are saving over 90 percent of the animals.

Mitch Schneider summed it up simply and brilliantly: “By returning the dog home, we don’t stress the dog, we don’t stress the dog’s owner, we don’t stress the staff at the shelter, and we don’t stress the other dogs in the shelter. Everyone wins. Even the taxpayers win: we spend less of their money.”

Surrenders are dogs and cats that are brought to a shelter that with early intervention could have probably been kept in their homes.

Does your shelter or rescue have an animal help desk? Do they have resources for people that need to move, need behavior or training advice, need pet food? Or does it accept every animal no questions asked? Then as soon as the person walks out the door after surrendering, the judgements and accusations start to fly behind the counter. (How could they dump their pet like that? What horrible people! They don't deserve to have a pet!)

Does your shelter provide high volume, low-cost or no-cost spay/neuter with no hoop-jumping income or residency restrictions?

If a pet does needs to be rehomed - does your shelter have a rehoming link on it's website? Then the pet can be rehomed by it's present owner. These pets get into a new home without ever entering a shelter. Without the risk of stress, disease and death that entering a shelter brings.

Does your shelter have a Trap Neuter Return program for community (feral) cats? Because these cats should never be in a shelter to begin with (except for the snip and eartip). They live and belong outside.

Notice the 'Making a Difference" links on the left hand side of my blog. These are all local organizations aimed at reducing shelter intake. Yes, rescue and adoptions are important. But let's start keeping the animals out of the shelter in the first place.

What is the number one cause of death in companion animals in America? It's not puppy mills, or dog fighting or cruelty. It's shelter deaths. So, how do we reduce shelter deaths? We don't let them go there. If they don't enter a shelter they can't be killed!

Will it work out every time? Of course not. But by starting to make a paradigm shift towards reducing intake you will begin to give yourself the breathing room to truly rehabilitate and rehome those that need it.

It only took a few paragraphs and I covered four steps of the No Kill Equation: Trap Neuter Return, Proactive Redemption, Pet Retention and High-Volume, Low-Cost Spay/Neuter. And not one mention of warehousing or hoarding. Hmmm. Maybe that is a myth too.

"A leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, 'wrong jungle!'" - Steven Covey

The Paradigm Shift

2011-02-02T21:52:00.000-06:00

Have you ever believed something for so long that when you finally realized that it wasn't true - you went through this amazing array of emotions? Disbelief, curiosity, embarrassment, and even guilt?

I remember one of the largest paradigm shifts of my adult life revolved around dog food. It was about 1998. We had our Jack Russell terrier, Jasper for a couple of years and I had been feeding him a premium (so we thought) high priced dog kibble. I thought I was a good owner. He started to develop itchy, raw hot spots on his feet and my vet at the time wanted to do the whole band aid solution approach of treating the symptoms and not the problem. Luckily, I hung out with a lot of competitive dog sports people who were way ahead of their time and fed raw or grain-free diets.

I started to do my research and couldn't believe the pack of lies that I had bought into for 20 plus years. I had been brainwashed to believe that I was a bad, bad owner if I fed anything but sawdusty dry bagged kibble. If I fed human food my dog would get bad teeth. My dog would beg at the table. My dog would get an upset stomach and loose stools And heaven forbid - there was no way to feed a COMPLETE and BALANCED diet unless you fed sawdusty kibble every day, twice a day for 365 days a year. What a load of garbage. Or genius marketing by the dog food companies, which ever way you want to look at it.

Hopefully, all of you enlightened readers have made the paradigm shift about dog food in your own lives. If you still believe that human food is bad for dogs or if you know someone that does - here is an excellent common sense article by a local dog trainer and rescuer, Carol Sumbry of Pooch Pedestrian Dog Training and Pet Sitting that will open your eyes.

Anyways, this blog isn't about dog food. It's about that sudden realization that things aren't always as they seem. That sometimes we've bought into a pack of lies for so long - it becomes really hard to open our minds to a new way of thinking. The marketing has been clever. We've been duped. So - in these next few blogs I'm going to challenge you to open your minds and see if you can start to make a paradigm shift. The one that will lead the way to a No Kill Nation.

Oh, and by the way, Jasper's hot spots cleared up shortly after improving his diet.

Wise people sometimes change their minds - fools never do. -Anonymous

The Dots

2011-01-26T09:11:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to blog on dots for a long time. I'm just getting around to it now. A couple of weeks ago somebody made a comment on my blog that I explained last week in my post.  As soon as I saw the comment my mind quickly said "red dot" and I didn't waste much energy on it. And so herein lies my dot theory.

A couple of years ago when the Commercial Dog Breeders Bill was introduced in Wisconsin a small, but determined group of supporters decided that they would form a citizens' lobby group to support passage of the bill. We started a yahoo group and the first couple of weeks were spent tossing out all kinds of ideas about public awareness campaigns to generate interest. It was overwhelming to say the least. My simple little mind doesn't like to be overwhelmed. It likes logical thinking.

Some of the ideas exhausted me at the mere thought of them. Walking across Wisconsin for the cause was one. My legs got tired just thinking about it. Another idea was to tie wire crates to the top of our cars and put stuffed dogs inside - to show the plight of puppy mill dogs to the public. Not my style. Plus, I might have ended up divorced.

So I put on my thinking cap (as my mother used to say).  We only had to convince 133 people - 99 assembly representatives, 33 senators and the governor. Now that was something I could wrap my mind around. And we really didn't have to convince 133, only a majority.

Next we needed a map. I'm a map type of person, probably from my old forestry days. I printed off the assembly and senate district maps as large as possible - large enough to cover our dining room table. Then I trotted off to the stationery store to buy transparent sticky dots - red, yellow and green, used for pricing rummage sale items.

Thus, the dot theory was born, and I have found endless uses for it since. The co-sponsors of the bill immediately got a green dot stuck on their district number. We already had their vote. (thanks to the tireless work of the bill authors, Jeff Smith and Pat Kreitlow; and Eilene Ribbens of the Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project).

There were some legislators that we knew were against the bill - those were the red dots. No use wasting a lot of time there. We only needed a majority of votes. Our time was better spent rallying people in the districts where we thought we could make a difference.

Where we needed to focus was the yellow dots. The ones that we knew we could convince. The members in our small group were amazing. They knew people in every town, county and area of the state. As the bill passed through committees and we could see whose votes were needed; they were able to rally friends, families and neighbors to call and email their legislators. As we grew confident that we had their vote I replaced the yellow dot with a green one on the map.

The bill passed unanimously - through every committee, the House and the Senate. In the end, even the red dots changed to green. It would have been political suicide to vote no. The momentum was too strong.

So, the dot theory has stuck with me like glue.  As we move towards a No Kill Nation, or a time when there are No More Homeless Pets (whichever phrase you prefer) the green dots are the progressive thinkers: the No Kill advocates, my friends and allies in our mission. We talk almost daily, exchanging ideas and stories on yahoo groups and by email and phone. But it's not the best use of my time. They're already on the bus.

The red dots are the naysayers and dinosaurs - a big waste of time. They make my blood pressure rise and the dinosaurs are going to be extinct soon enough anyways. Besides, we don't need them. We only need a majority. Plus, one thing I have learned, the buck doesn't stop at the red dots. There is usually an elected official or a yellow dot above them. Also, funding for naysayer shelter directors comes from tax dollars or donations, a whole sea of yellow dots.

The yellow dots are who we need on the bus. They're the majority of the pet lovers in our nation. They're easy. And there are millions of them. Once they understand the problems, the solutions and the mission, they're more than happy to get onboard the bus.

This is where I want to spend my time. Each day dawns with the possibility of yellow dots just waiting to hear about the No Kill Equation and the possibilities of a No Kill Nation.

So, back to the red dot naysayers. In the end they'll be like the red dot legislators of our Commercial Dog Breeders Bill. They'll come along. Either kicking or screaming; or pretending like they were onboard the whole time.

It will be suicide for them not to. Or like the dinosaurs, they'll become extinct.

"Almost all people are in favor of progress, it's the change they don't like. Most people become willing to change, not because they see the light but because they feel the heat." - John Mason

Comments and such

2011-01-18T07:55:00.000-06:00

Just a quick response to somebody who commented in my blog's comment section last week. She said "my comment is too long to post here" and then posted a link to a blog written at another site. First of all, I welcome all comments, positive and negative. I definitely prefer a real name (this one had a screen name). My personal opinion is that if your viewpoint is valid enough to write, then you should be willing to use your real name. I don't always respond to comments although I will try to answer honest questions. I'm not really a "last word" type of person. I've said my piece in my blog - and others are welcome to say theirs. But - if your comment is too long, then shorten it up.

The heading on my blog states my mission - "Working towards no more homeless pets in Wisconsin through progressive animal welfare practices...". If you want to write a blog on regressive animal welfare practices, then that's your perogative. Knock yourself out. It's a free country and that's one of the privileges of being a citizen of this great nation.

So blog away. But don't expect to use my blog as a platform to launch your blog. I'm trying to educate people on newer, progressive animal welfare methods, stuff that normally hasn't been practiced or promoted in Wisconsin, other than by a few brave souls. If you want to dwell on the old 'catch and kill methods' and restrictive adoption policies that have failed animals in the past then you'll have to find your own audience. I've worked hard to build my following and reputation and you can do the same.
My blog - my delete key.

Who's On Board for a No Kill Nation?

2011-01-16T17:28:00.000-06:00

Good Morning,

I'm sitting on the 14th floor of the aft deck of the Celebrity Solstice as I write this, watching the deep blue waters of the Caribbean ocean slide away behind the cruise ship. My husband and I are enjoying an anniversary cruise, a gift he gave to me that he says is payback for the horrible winter months we spent last year while he recovered from total knee replacement surgery and I was his nurse and chauffeur. Hey, for better or for worse, right? Well, I'm enjoying the better now.

This is our first cruise and the jury is still out on whether it is our type of vacation or not. We're generally more of the national park, drive and hike, type of people. But regardless, I defy anyone; even those who hate cruising to not be amazed by the efficiency with which the cruise ship staff house, feed and entertain over 2500 people while still making you feel like you're the most important person in the world. I'm still trying to find a way to stuff our cabin steward into my suitcase when we leave.

Yesterday, we were docked next to Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, making our little ship look like a Yorkie next to a Great Dane. And still, people we talked to in port said the service on board that mammoth ship was excellent also.

So what does this have to do with animal sheltering? Somehow animal sheltering staff seem to think that they have cornered the market on "impossible" problems to solve. That they alone have staff, logistics, inventory, and customer service problems that are unique. Sorry, I just don't buy it and when those types of lame excuses cause shelter deaths in our communities it makes me furious.

Service With a Smile: How many times do we hear that shelter staff have low morale because it is a low paying, long hours, dirty work type of job? Staff on this ship work for six months in a row without any days off. AND they smile and say good morning to everyone that walks by. Many are from different parts of the world, but not all. Most I have talked to love their job - whether it is cleaning rooms, attending the restrooms, tending bar, or squirting endless hand sanitizer on us as we enter the food service areas.

How many times have I walked into an animal shelter and not even been acknowledged by a staff member or volunteer? One local shelter has a comment card at the front desk, a great idea. It has check boxes so that you can check off how many minutes you waited before being served. Funny thing is - there is no box for NEVER, which was my experience. Even though there were several staff and volunteers in sight, chatting amongst themselves; nobody ever acknowledged that I was there. I finally had to figure out which door to go through to see the adoptable dogs on my own.

Inventory and logistics: Somehow cruise line food and beverage managers figure out exactly how much needs to be on board. I'd bet they'd chuckle at what animal shelters consider monumental problems - not enough small dogs in the north, too many kittens at one time of the year - not enough at another; a shortage of canned cat food some days; too much laundry on Mondays.

On the first day, my husband and I sat on deck and watched the K9 unit sniff the cargo as it was being loaded on board. Hundreds of pallets of food and supplies, let alone getting 2500 people's luggage delivered to their stateroom door in less than two hours. Not forgetting, they had just docked and unloaded 2500 people from the previous cruise at 7 a.m. that same morning. Plus... the busy cruise port had eight other ships leaving at approximately the same time as ours. Delivery trucks, airport and hotel shuttles, taxis, all getting to the right place at the right time. It boggles my mind. Getting all that food, drink, luggage, fuel on board for on time sailings. And they do it every day. Safely and efficiently.

Customer Satisfaction: The ship's crew always has the attitude of how they can make it right for the customer. Last night my husband and I were seated in one of the ship's speciality restaurants - serving Asian fusion cuisine. The older couple at the table next to us were experimenting for the first time and had obviously never had sushi before. The wait staff and maitre' d couldn't have been more helpful. They explained the menu, brought samples and kept a good sense of humor - even when the couple curled their noses at some of the food. Does the staff at your animal shelter do that? Or do they roll their eyes and comment on how some people just "don't GET it" when they have to explain housebreaking and exercise requirements.

Needless, to say - the couple at the next table left satisfied - happy they had tried something new. They may not eat sushi again for awhile , but I bet they won't have any problem recommending the restaurant to friends. Wouldn't it be nice to think that everyone that left our animal shelters and rescues felt the same way? Even if they didn't choose a new pet, that they felt like they had been treated respectfully and patiently?

So other than the feeling of being well sanitized, I kind of enjoy this pampering. Some people would say it's over indulgence. And I'm usually one of those types of critics. I often gauge prices in "spay and neuter" economics. My mind is calculating - just think of how many spay and neuter surgeries that could have paid for. But then I smack myself in the head for that narrow minded view and think of the bigger picture. Commerce makes the world go round. The money spent by tourists both in ports and onboard helps animals also. Staff, families and townspeople whose lives are dependent on tourism have pets. When people have a better way of life - so do their animals.

And with that - I'm signing off from the Celebrity Solstice. Good Day.

The State of the State of Wisconsin

2011-01-01T20:41:00.000-06:00

Here's a recap of the state of animal welfare in Wisconsin this past year as I saw it.

Puppy Mills and Pet Stores
The rules for Act 90 - the Commercial Dog Breeders Law are still being hashed out in committee meetings. As with any negotiations, it will be difficult to please everyone, but as long as the committee members remember that the ultimate goal is to improve conditions for the dogs in the breeding facilities, we should come out okay. The bill, and I'm sure the economy has had an effect on the number of USDA breeding facilities in the State. There are now 44 active licensees. This is down from approximately 95 at this time last year.

Petland Pewaukee closed out. It was bought by an independent owner who is still selling puppies and kittens in the same cramped cages that Petland did. This leaves only two Petlands in the state: Racine and Janesville. But there are numerous independent pet stores that sell puppies and kittens.

Wisconsin brick and mortar shelters quickly adopt out the highly adoptable, small fluffy dogs.   Small dogs languish in rescue organizations longer than shelters - mostly because of the restrictive adoption policies imposed by the rescues on the adopters. The rescue groups still don't seem to understand how this perpetuates the cycle. Denying adoptions and/or overly restrictive adoption policies drives people to the very same pet stores that the rescuers abhor. Many dog rescuers are pet store protestors on the weekend. This doesn't make sense to me.

Bully Breed Issues
The Brew City Bully Club had an outstanding year raising awareness with two major newsmaking events. First was the kick off of their End Dogfighting program in Milwaukee. Second was the "Ride to End Dogfighting". Members from Rescue Ink attended and rode borrowed Harleys for the ride.

Another group -  Battle Against Dogfighting also put on several events. Between the two groups, awareness of dogfighting in Milwaukee was brought to the forefront.

Breed Specific Legislation reared it's head in Sheboygan, but quick action by concerned citizens and pit bull lovers prevented it from being passed by city council.  A breed neutral, dangerous dog ordinance is being drafted instead.

The largest problem is still the number of stray pit bulls and pit bull mixes that end up at the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC). Most people do not even know that this facility exists and by the time they figure out where their dog is - the reclaim fees are beyond their means.

MADACC implemented a foster, adoption and volunteer program. This has been very well received by the community and will hopefully continue to grow and succeed.

Many shelters in the state are very good about taking as many pit bulls and pit mixes from MADACC as they can reasonably hold and adopt out. But the longer stay and increased costs are a burden on all of the shelters. Returning more of these dogs to their owners would go a long ways towards making us a no-kill state.

The Executive Director of MADACC resigned in early December to take a job in California. The position is still open. I hope a progressive thinking pro-redemption (return to owner), pro-Trap Neuter Return candidate will be hired.

Community Cats
Several shelters are now offering limited trap, neuter, return programs. This is an improvement over last year but we still have a lot of work to do in this area. As mentioned above - a pro TNR, Executive Director at MADACC will help tremendously.

Pet cats continue to adopt out very quickly especially when shelters use innovative pricing programs. Since we have research that shows that people value a discounted or free cat as much as a more expensive one - why not save a life?

Research shows us that almost all (87%) pet cats are spayed or neutered. So as TNR programs improve and we get the community cats out of the shelter system - the population of pet cats will level off in the shelters - attrition will meet demand, and we will be well on our way to no-kill for our cats as well. Keeping the community cats out of the shelters (where they don't belong anyways) will also help prevent the overcrowding that makes disease prevalent - especially in the older shelters with poor air circulation.

Shelter Intake
I was pleased to see a lot of new innovative organizations start up this year in Wisconsin.

These organizations are designed to keep animals out of the shelters in the first place. Barney's Blessings is a food pantry and more for pets. Nose to the Ground to Help Hounds is a website and resource for hound lovers and owners.  Lost Dogs of Wisconsin is aimed at getting lost dogs home quickly, before they end up in shelters.

There are also some great organizations with strong no kill philosophies that are becoming front runners in the animal welfare movement in Wisconsin. Most notably - Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center in Southridge Mall and Community Cat in Whitewater are two that I want to mention. Strong leadership and the determination to save lives brings these two to the front of the pack.

Other issues:
Dairyland Greyhound Racing Park closed in late December 2009. Amid much internet hysteria that hundreds of greyhounds would be euthanized, I did not hear of any such outcome. Some dogs went on to race at other tracks while many others were put up for adoption. Greyhound racing has become a thing of the past in Wisconsin, not because it was outlawed, but because it had lost it's public appeal.

Social networking has taken the state by storm. Shelters that are not using Facebook and Twitter are sadly missing out. Maybe it's our cold, dark winters - but most evenings the internet is abuzz with animal welfare news from around the state and nation.

The words "no kill" seem to still cause concern around the state. One shelter is now calling itself an "adoption guarantee" facility. Great news for those of us in the know; but I've had a few phone calls from average citizens wanting to know if this means that they can get their money back if an adopted pet doesn't work out! And honestly, I can see where that misunderstanding might come from.

I also get phone calls and emails almost daily from people who want to know which are the "good" shelters so they can decide who to donate to. I don't endorse any shelter. I tell people to do their own research. But with a few mouse clicks people can now google "no kill" and Wisconsin and come up with a list. Donors are demanding greater accountability and transparency from shelters and rescues.

In 2010, the term "no kill" went mainstream, around the nation and the world. Wisconsin can either be a leader or a follower. Wouldn't it be nice to be a leader? Here's to a Great 2011!

Finders Keepers - NOT!

2010-12-17T21:19:00.000-06:00

The other day I was walking along the sidewalk in downtown Milwaukee and I saw a bicycle leaning against a building. It was a bit sad looking - it's paint was faded and chipped, it's tires looked like they needed some air, and the seat had seen better days. Poor thing. I glanced around for an owner but saw no one. It had been abandoned. I decided to take it home and give it some love. I was going to give it the life it deserved! I was going to be a hero! I was going to be a bicycle rescuer! What a wonderful thing I was doing. I would be able to tell the story for years to come to my friends and family about the poor neglected, abandoned bicycle that I had saved.

I hope you see where I'm going with this. Of course I wouldn't take the bicycle. That's called STEALING. Bicycles are property. Cars are property. A wallet is property. Dogs are property. Why do people thing that it is somehow okay to keep a dog that they have found?

We very seldom have dogs intentionally stolen (premeditated theft) in Wisconsin. But lately we have had a few cases of lost dogs that have been picked up and kept by well-intentioned, but misinformed Good Samaritans. These are lost dogs that have owners who are desperately looking for them. This is illegal. Let me say it again. Dogs are property. We have a very clear law that states how lost property must be handled in Wisconsin and how you must make every effort to find and return the property to its owner. The details are spelled out and I encourage you to read them.

As we work through these cases with Lost Dogs of Wisconsin we smile and delicately and diplomatically negotiate the return of these dogs (if we know where they are). But behind the scenes - my head is about to explode with the words "GET YOUR OWN DAMN DOG". It isn't like there's not enough dogs in our shelters and rescues that need a good home.

I have two shy, sensitive dogs. They're also very physically fit. They would only have to be lost a couple of days and I'm sure they would appear underfed and abused - cowering and thin. Would someone find them and assume I was a horrible owner and didn't deserve them back? Would they keep them and call themselves heroes - not even trying to reunite them with me?

In the big picture - this is one of the reasons that I am really happy that dogs ARE property. This protects my rights as their owner. The law is on my side if my dogs are lost. Good Samaritans take note. We appreciate that you get the lost dog safely off the street and to a warm, dry place. If you feel that a dog is neglected or abused, contact a humane officer or police officer in your community. But do not think that you are doing anybody any favors by keeping a dog that is not legally yours.

"Think Lost, Not Stray"

- Kat Albrecht, Missing Pet Partnership

Today I Mourn

2010-12-06T08:29:00.000-06:00

Today is the one year anniversary of the death of our Jack Russell Terrier, Jasper. He would have been fourteen. He developed heart problems in the last couple of years of his life and he died in my arms as we were driving to the vet to have him euthanized. He was the light of my life and my constant companion for over thirteen years. The picture at the top of my blog is one of the last I have of him - taken on a sunny day last fall.

We got Jasper in 1996. I wanted a Jack Russell and wanted to adopt a dog. I thought I could give a rescue dog a second chance and a good life. Anybody that knows Jack Russells know that they are big dogs in a small body - they are a highly energetic, happy, happy, happy, play, play, play kind of dog. They are sometimes purchased or adopted because of their small size and clean appearance by people who don't understand their prey drive, hunting background and need for a lot of exercise. So they are often surrendered because of behavior issues that arise from a lack of mental stimulation and physical activity.

In 1996 - the AKC had not yet "recognized" the breed. There were no "Parson Russell Terriers" yet. Only Jack Russell terriers who were registered by the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America. The JRTCA was and still is determined to preserve the working characteristics of the breed. In 1996 there was not the confusing array of rescues that exist now. There was no Petfinder. To adopt a JRT I went to the only source I knew - the national rescue that was run by the JRTCA. I was denied because we didn't have a fenced yard.

So I did what any determined dog lover would do. I contacted a breeder. She had a pet quality puppy that would be perfect for me. I didn't really want a puppy - I wanted to give an older dog a home. But what's a girl to do? The breeder didn't ask me if I had a fenced yard. She did give me a lot of information about the exercise requirements and breed characteristics of Jack Russell terriers. So the puppy came to live with us. We named him Jasper.

We lived in four locations over the years without fenced yards: Maryland, Texas and two in Wisconsin. We don't like fenced yards. We choose to live in subdivisions without fences. Jasper never ran away. He never got lost.

Jasper and I went to Jack Russell events. He enjoyed everything. He did Jack Russell racing, Go to Ground, agility, obedience. He achieved his Canine Good Citizen certificate. He flew under the seat in the cabin on airplanes. But his true love was flyball. We played on Just Say Go, a flyball team in Texas from 1998 until 2005 when we moved to Wisconsin. We then joined Hair Force One, a team that we played on until he retired at the age of twelve. We travelled around Texas, Missouri, Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa staying in hotel rooms and playing flyball.

Was I such a bad owner? Did I really not deserve a rescue dog? I guess I'll never really know or understand.

So today I mourn. I mourn for my beloved Jasper. But more than that, I mourn for the dog I could have adopted and given a good life to. And I mourn for the hundreds of thousands of dogs that have lost their lives because of denied adoptions. When one is saved - room is made for another.

Are We Saving as Many Lives as Possible?

2010-11-29T18:31:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving with families, friends and pets. We had a great week. Lost Dogs of Wisconsin reunited Lucy, the German Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix with her 83 year old owner and got her home in time for the holiday after 27 days travelling the roads of Waukesha County.

We had some weird weather last week. I was on my way home from the barn when a tornado warning was issued. I ducked my "used, but new to me" Ford Explorer under a gas station overhang for fear of hail damage and listened to the storm's progress on the radio.

Weather forecasters are doing an awesome job these days. It struck me that they're in the business of saving lives also, just like our shelter directors. I wonder if any weather forecasters are dinosaurs or naysayers - stuck in a rut, still doing things the way they did twenty years ago. I bet not - especially those that want to keep their job. It's probably "keep up or ship out" in the meteorological business.

Can you imagine a weather forecaster saying "Those new methods don't work - lives won't be saved. I'll just keep on using my old maps and outdated technology."

The forecaster I was listening to was using ultra-modern technology plus asking for listener participation and tornado sightings through Facebook and Twitter. The accuracy of the predicted path was amazing. No lives were lost although properties were severely damaged. Without the forewarning, there could have been casualties.

I think the animal welfare world can learn a lot from others that are also in the business of saving lives. Ambulance services, fire extinguisher and smoke detector sales, air traffic controllers, hospitals . I can think of dozens more. Can you?

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. ~Henry Ford

Profile of a No Kill Advocate

2010-11-18T12:52:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I had a lot of time on my hands - catching up on reading, writing emails, thinking. I was on Lucy surveillance for Lost Dogs of Wisconsin. Lucy is an elusive German Shepherd/Golden Retriever mix that went missing on October 24th. She is owned by an 83 year old woman who was in the hospital and was being looked after by her son. A shy dog anyways, Lucy slipped her collar in a strange rural neighborhood and has been on the run for the last 3 weeks. She finally seems to have settled in a neighboring town and we're hoping a humane trap and some smelly food will do the trick.

Anyways - back to my point. I had lots of time to think - as I was slouched behind my steering wheel hoping to catch a glimpse and a picture of Lucy. We No Kill Advocates are a bit of an unorthodox bunch and there is more than a few traditional shelter directors that wish we would go away. But too bad, so sad - we're not. So if you're looking for us - here's the typical profile of a No Kill Advocate:

1) An inquiring mind. Always wants to know the Why, What, Who, When, Where and How of animal welfare to figure out ways to improve the system.

2) Usually starts out as a typical shelter volunteer but becomes disenchanted when simple suggestions to save lives go unheeded. Often becomes labelled as a "troublesome" volunteer - more problem than they're worth.

3) Smarter than average. Reads everything that they can gets their hands on - shares, blogs, posts, and arms themselves with facts and statistics to defend their position against the naysayers.

4) Often willing to get involved politically - because they realize that true change will come when good laws and policies are implemented that will save lives and taxpayers' money.

5) Willing to attend conferences, seminars, webinars, etc. at their own expense. Again, to strengthen their position. Whereas - the dinosaurs and naysayers are too busy "in the trenches" to read anything new or attend any progressive animal welfare conferences that may save lives.

6) Good sense of humor. They are amused and emboldened by the fact that they are a threat to the status quo. I laugh when I hear the bizarre rumors that people try to spread about me and I honestly feel sorry for folks who have nothing better to do than to gossip. (I guess you do have some time on your hands in the trenches). I didn't play the gossip game in 6th grade and I'm certainly not going to start it now.

7) No Kill Advocates meet in coffee shops and fast food restaurants. They are rallying by the tens of thousands. They couldn't make a difference "within" the system so they have to try a new approach. They are educating the masses and spreading the word about cities like Reno, St. Louis, Austin, Charlottesville.

And when you think about it - isn't it a bit sad? They're treated like the criminals, the outsiders, the troublemakers. When all they're trying to do is save lives.

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” - Harold Wilson

And I got my picture of Lucy!

We Become What We Believe

2010-11-13T06:42:00.000-06:00

Growing up, I was the last one picked in gym class for any type of sports team. My phys ed teacher put high value on athletic ability and usually left me on the sidelines to keep score while the other girls played. I grew up hating team sports. I convinced myself that I was useless at them. When I looked in the mirror I saw an awkward, skinny, freckle-faced girl with no aptitude for sports. Even into my early adult years I avoided team sports like the plague. I hated the company picnics when we were supposed to play volleyball or softball and I always found an excuse not to participate.

But I was wrong. I enjoy being active.  I love hiking, riding my horses, competitive dog sports, swimming, anything outdoorsy. It wasn't true that I was an nonathletic klutz like I had let myself believe. It had simply been an incorrect perception that I had of myself.

This memory taught me a big lesson - if we're not careful, we become what we believe. If we believe that we can't do better than what we are doing - then we won't. We'll get stuck in a rut - never achieving any more than what we perceive ourselves as.   But if we look in that mirror and see who we want to become - we will. We'll start to consciously and unconsciously make the choices to drive us towards our goals.

Shelter directors and shelter boards of directors who are naysayers to the no kill movement discourage their staff, volunteers and donors who want to do better. They deflate their dreams and drag the whole shelter into doom and gloom. Everybody starts to believe that they are doing the best they can - and that is just the way it is. And guess what? Perception becomes reality.

Instead we need enthusiastic, compassionate, driven shelter directors like those described in this article from the No Kill Advocacy Center. We need boards of directors well-versed in the No Kill Equation who support the director and assist in fundraising.

As the no kill movement gains steam, the naysayers will either get on the bus or will have to step aside. If they truly love animals (as many of them say they do) they must look in the mirror and self-reflect. Those that join us will have to let go of false perceptions that they have believed for many years.  We ARE a No Kill Nation. Don't let anyone tell you we're not.

Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right. ~Henry Ford

Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare - Revisited

2010-11-08T20:07:00.000-06:00

I usually don't blog about my blog but since there was so much feedback posted in various places on my last entry I thought I'd try to clear up a few misunderstandings.

A few people thought I was anti-vegan, and anti-vegetarian. Not true at all! Some of my best friends are vegetarians and vegans. They are also smart enough to know that in the world of politics there are times to flaunt it and times to not flaunt it.

Some people commented that my definitions were too general or too simplistic. Agreed. That was my goal. It's a blog. I don't have a lot of time to capture people's attention and make a point. I ended the paragraph with one sentence that I thought covered the bases pretty well. "There are also varying levels of extremism within the groups. "

To any moderate animal rights advocates that would like a different definition - please come up with one, plus a new name and then educate the media, the politicians and the lobbyists on the difference between you and the extremists. That would help immensely. Because - let me make one thing perfectly clear - when even the hint of the phrase "animal rights" appears on the radar screen of the lobby groups that oppose us - they spring into action to squash our well-intentioned bills.

If you don't believe me, read the KC Dog Blog last week. Whether you were for or against Proposition B in Missouri, the effect that the lobbyists and special interest groups had on the bill was humbling. One glance at the map shows that they were able to convince the rural population of Missouri to vote no on Proposition B. It passed with 51.6 percent of the vote, but only because the urban population pulled it through. I saw a copy of an "action alert" that was circulated by opposition to the bill a few weeks ago. The phrase "animal rights" was mentioned no less than five times. The people that voted "no" are not dog-hating people that are "for" puppy mills. These are people that have been convinced that their farming lifestyle and individual rights will be taken away from them.

When it is not a ballot initiative - it's the legislators that vote on the bill. And they want to please the majority of their constituents. In states where the economy relies heavily on agriculture, like here in Wisconsin, we'd better not be aligned with a vegetarian or vegan agenda. Just ain't gonna happen in the land of milk and cheese.

That doesn't mean we can't get good positive animal welfare laws passed. We just have to be smart about it.

Another point I was trying to make - as the holiday season approaches - our mailboxes are full of requests for donations - many with pictures of cute kittens and puppies on the front. I was hoping to educate readers on making sure they are giving to organizations whose beliefs align with their own- whatever they may be. It can be hard to navigate through the hype. But credible organizations will clearly state their intent - whether it be animal welfare, animal protection or animal rights. If you can't find their intent in an "about us" or "mission statement" it should raise a red flag.

Thanks for all the comments - good and bad. Creative thinking and lively discussion produces new ideas which can save lives. And that's what I'm trying to do. I do appreciate names, and usually won't reply to anonymous comments.

Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare - And Never, Ever Get the Two Confused

2010-11-03T12:27:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest misunderstandings I come across in my daily travels is with the definitions of animal welfare and animal rights. I'm going to share with you an easy explanation that was given to me over twenty years ago and has stuck with me ever since.

Animal welfare advocates are concerned about the physical and psychological well-being of animals whether they are used for food, profit or pets. They want to ensure that animals are treated in a humane, compassionate manner.

Animal rights advocates would like to see the rights of animals elevated to the same status as humans. They do not believe that animals should be used for food or profit and would like to see the liberation of domesticated species. They often do not believe in the keeping of animals as pets.

Examples:
Best Friends Animal Society is an example of an animal welfare organization.
PETA is an example of an animal rights organization.

There are many other groups and organizations that may or may not clearly state their intent and/or agenda. There are also varying levels of extremism within the groups.

I am an animal welfare advocate. I believe that all animals, including livestock and those raised for other profit-driven industries, should be treated compassionately and we should continually strive to improve their living conditions. This is one of the signs of a progressive society.

Many journalists do not know the difference and will lump all animal groups under one umbrella. This makes it increasingly difficult to present a fair and reasonable argument for anti-cruelty laws - especially when farming and hunting lobby groups can portray that you are leading them down the slippery slope to vegetarianism (no meat) and vegan ism (no meat, dairy or any animal products). It is always a good idea to make a phone call or write a polite letter to the editor if you see the term misused in the media.

I urge you to read any literature soliciting donations that comes to your mailbox carefully. Read between the lines, check the mission statements of the organizations and make sure that you are sending your hard-earned money to a group that matches your beliefs.

Whatever you believe , do it with passion - you are the voice of the animals we love.

The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

- Mohandas Gandhi

The Litmus Test

2010-10-25T06:28:00.000-05:00

My husband is perhaps the most objective person I know. The great thing about this is that I can run all sorts of ideas and thoughts by him and he tells me HONESTLY what he thinks. He doesn't just take my side because I'm his wife. He has a very clear way of thinking, plus a way of sorting through the fluff and getting to the heart of the issue. I have learned a lot from him (please don't tell him I said that).

He does not have a background in animal welfare. So a couple of years ago - he was quite enamored with the Starfish story when he first heard it and if you're not familiar with it - here's a link to a blog and the original story that I did on it several months ago.

So, he constantly refers to cats, dogs or other companion animals as starfish. When I'm asking his opinion on an issue - he says "Well, at the end of the day did you make things better for that starfish or those starfish?" Even if it is only a temporary fix - he says "Did you get that starfish back into the water for a little while - until you can come up with another solution?"

Some of these issues can be incredibly complicated. They are political, fuzzy and grey. His starfish analogy has now become my litmus test.

So it makes me more than a little angry when I see organizations who have lost sight of the real reason we all do this. I definitely believe in sticking your neck out and calling a spade a spade when it is deserved. But on the same note, when credit is due - put aside differences and give credit. No one will ever be perfectly aligned with another's viewpoints. Our opposition one day will be our friend the next and vice versa. I love this from the 10 Golden Rules of Lobbying: #6 There Are No Permanent Friends and No Permanent Enemies.

Recently, the HSUS stepped up to the plate and assisted with the seizure and rescue of 200 pit bulls from an alleged cruelty case in Ohio. This was a huge change in policy for them - isn't this what we wanted? Yet, there has been still very little acknowledgement of their help. At the end of the day were those starfish better off because of HSUS assistance? Darn right.

It passed my litmus test. Thank you - Humane Society of the United States.

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. ~Harry S. Truman

A Shout Out to The Brew City Bully Club

2010-10-22T14:12:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, Saturday October 23 is National Pit Bull Awareness Day. (Did you know that pit bull is two words, not one? I always mess that up). There are events planned around the nation to bring awareness to the injustices heaped on this breed and similar breeds of dogs.

Here in Milwaukee, the Brew City Bully Club is hosting Pitty Palooza 4 at the Frontier Airline Center. Immediately preceding it will be the Luv-A-Bully March where dog owners can walk their dogs (all breeds) to show support for the bully breeds.

Afterwards at the Frontier Airline Center there will be displays, vendors, and demonstrations. (Please leave your dogs at home for this portion). The Brew City Bully Club is a group that I am proud to support. They meet my criteria of a good organization by making efforts to reduce shelter intake. The founders, Michelle and Jeremy Serocki, realized at the very beginning that they wanted to get to the root of the problem. And although pit bull rescues are wonderful and needed, Michelle and Jeremy had the foresight to see that becoming another pit bull rescue would quickly drain their resources and only serve as a bandaid for the problem. They made the wise move to become a community awareness and educational group for bully breed owners. Their mission is to rehabilitate the reputation of pit bulls while reducing fear in the community.

The Brew City Bully Club also started the End Dogfighting in Milwaukee program. Their youth training team will be demonstrating some of their new skills with their dogs tomorrow. Come out and show your support for these youth who are doing the right thing - enjoying their dogs and bonding with them.

Remember a pit bull is just a dog. Just like any other dog. They are all individuals and they deserve to be treated as such. I hope to see you tomorrow!

Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore?

2010-10-19T10:14:00.000-05:00

I'm on the plane on my way home from the Best Friends No More Homeless Pets Conference in Las Vegas. It was another great year with over 1100 attendees from all 50 states and 9 countries. My brain is on overload and I have tons of notes to organize, business cards to file and people to follow up with.

It is inspiring to sit in lecture rooms filled with people that believe in and are committed to a no kill philosophy. It is now time to get back to work and focus on the problem areas, which in Wisconsin are pit bulls and community (feral) cats. We need to get to the root of these problems - changing policies and reducing shelter intake. The best way to successfully tackle this is to get more people on the bus. We need to educate and inform more people about what needs to be done to reduce shelter deaths so we can make sure that the shelters become what they need to be - a safety net for the community's animals when they have no owners willing or able to advocate for them.

We need to take the message mainstream. I categorize people into three groups. The first group includes the people who are deeply involved and educated in these issues already. No use spending a lot of time here - that's like preaching to the choir. These are what I call green dots (more on my dot theory at a later date).

The second group includes the people that I think of as those "that don't know, what they don't know." They happily go about their lives oblivious to the existence of any problems in animal welfare. They may even volunteer or work at a local shelter - doing laundry or cleaning kennels, but they really have no interest or desire to know what goes on or how they can help become part of the solution. There is also a small portion here that are unreachable. They've already made up their minds, dug in their heels and will not listen to reason or logic. (red dots and dinosaurs)

The third group is the chunk of the population in the middle. They're my "yellow dots". They want to know more than they know, but don't know where to turn and they may not even be sure what questions to ask. It's not easy for them to find the answers in the confusing array of websites and organizations. But these are the people that are looking for information and can be brought onboard our bus.

Believe me - I remember being there myself. Back before the days of blogs and high speed internet I would wait anxiously every month for my issue of Best Friends magazine to arrive in the mail. I would read it cover to cover, mark the pages of many articles, and try to commit to memory the amazing stuff I was reading. It was news that at that time was not being printed anywhere else. It was full of encouragement and hope. It was the first place that I read about the No Kill movement and how it WAS possible to end the killing of homeless pets in America. I'd take my earmarked copy to the corner gas station to use their 10 cent photocopier and make copies of the articles to share and save. Plus, I'd always make sure I'd leave my issue somewhere to hopefully be picked up by someone else who would be inspired - a doctor's or dentist's office, or the seat pocket of an airplane.

Nowadays, animal welfare advocates can educate by simply hitting the share key - amazing, but also a little scary. We risk overloading the newbies with too much information and becoming "white noise". We also risk turning them off by sharing negativity and sarcasm. Instead, I try to spend a big portion of my day writing, calling and emailing yellow dots. It can be exhausting. Lots of questions (albeit good ones), lots of research and lots of time. But it is ultimately the most rewarding. It causes the ripple effect in the pond. These are the people who will carry the message farther and farther out into society - so that we will become a deafening roar that can no longer be ignored by the policymakers, old school shelter directors, boards of directors and politicians.

One of my favorite ideas from the conference (and now I can't even remember who said it) was in reference to the Winnie the Pooh stories. We want Tiggers in our movement - not Eeyores. Tiggers that are full of enthusiasm and optimism. Not Eeyores that are negative and dismal.

So with that - I'm off to tackle my yellow dots today. I'll leave you with one of my favorite Pooh quotes:

"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear." - Winnie The Pooh

Never, Ever Give Up

2010-10-07T21:27:00.000-05:00

Phil - lost in western Wisconsin in June 2010. Found in October 2010
on a rural road 65 miles from where he went missing.

Lost Dogs of Wisconsin is growing by leaps and bounds. We have over 1500 Facebook fans and we will be working hard in the coming months to train more volunteers. We've had a lot of successes and a few sad stories.

I've mentioned it before but I'll say it again - our goal is not only to reunite dogs with owners but to reduce shelter intake. You only have to glance through the shelter listings and see how many dogs are listed as "strays" to realize that a great part of the problem of shelter overcrowding is dogs that go missing and are not found. By the time they end up in a shelter - they often become lost in "the system", especially if they have no collar or microchip. The number of lost and found websites is overwhelming and the complexity of animal control contracts especially in small municipalities can cause a dog to end up in a shelter many miles away from where his home is.

Most of the owners we work with are great - it makes our job easy. Most frustrating for us is when an owner buys into false assumptions or myths and they give up far too soon. There is not much we can do when an owner gives up. We need the owner to take the sighting calls, to recruit neighbors, family and friends, and to be willing to do most of the legwork.

The number #1 assumption that usually does not pan out? That the dog has been stolen. I'm not saying it NEVER happens. It can. But not very often. Unfortunately the rumor of "dog theft" spreads like wildfire. We'll see stories of "bunchers" who steal dogs and sell to dealers circulate the internet or stories of dogs being stolen as bait dogs for dog fighting rings. Sure these things can happen. But they are generally very isolated incidents. Most dogs that go missing are just that - missing. Usually lost, disoriented and scared. If they were very friendly they may end up in a shelter somewhere but the owner, who is convinced they were stolen, is not looking for them there.

Once an owner has convinced themselves that their dog has been "stolen" they suddenly become unwilling to invest the time and energy into looking for their dog in a logical, systematic fashion which has the best chance of producing results.

We never say never. We've had too many surprises. But we do know that the Number One reason that a dog is never found is a lack of owner commitment. Dogs can turn up weeks, months and years after they were lost. They can live out on their own, eating underneath bird feeders, from dumpsters, vegetable gardens, corn fields, and wherever feral cats can be found. They can be in a shelter or rescue nearby, or hundreds of miles away. One thing we do know - dogs do not drop off the face of the earth. So never, ever give up. We won't as long as you won't.

For more information on profiling and finding lost dogs here are two great websites that we use a lot:

lostdogsearch.com and missingpetpartnership.org.

In The Trenches - Would a Change of Perspective Help?

2010-10-02T20:00:00.000-05:00

American rider, Steffan Peters on his gelding, Ravel, obviously pleased after an amazing ride

My husband and I are headed home from the World Equestrian Games currently being held in Lexington Kentucky. This is a sixteen day event with 58 countries participating. It is the first time it has ever been held outside of Europe. It involved the largest commercial airlift of horses ever. There are eight equestrian sports featured and daily attendance has been upward of 30,000 people with over a week of competition left to go.

We had tickets for dressage, an Olympic sport requiring the highest level of partnership between human and equine. Most of the horses that perform at this level are in their mid-teens. Horses competing into their late teens or even early twenties is not unheard of. (This is one of the reasons why I love dressage - a true partnership develops over the years that is amazing to watch - these horses are cherished and loved - it is not a sport for "throwaway animals.")

Last night was the musical freestyle competition - similar to watching the freestyle figure skating finals at the Olympics. Horse and rider combinations are required to perform specific high level compulsory movements but get to take some artistic license with music and choreography - making a finished performance look like a beautiful dance between two perfectly coordinated partners.

The performance was sold out. Attendance was almost 50,000; the atmosphere electric and the competition nothing short of amazing. The high score was a goose-bump inspiring 91.8% to bring home a gold medal for the Netherlands. Any of the top five riders could have been the winner - and special mention must go to the Spanish rider and his beautiful stallion who had the audience stomping their feet and clapping their hands in time to his music.

After the awards presentation, over forty five thousand people poured out of the stands towards the cars and shuttle buses in the makeshift parking lot on the fields surrounding the Kentucky Horse Park. And there we sat. And sat. And sat. Gridlock. I couldn't help but make the comparison to the perception of homeless pet problems in America: Too many cars, not enough homes. How are we ever going to get all these cars moving through the system in an orderly fashion? Tempers were flaring, horns honking, parking lot attendants were stressed, flailing their light wands around and trying to make sense of the mess.

All sorts of sinister thoughts passed through my mind. What if we run out of gas? What if the car in front of us runs out of gas? What if there is an accident? What if there is a fist fight? What if somebody needs an ambulance? We might be here in this field FOREVER.....

But I think somebody looking down from the sky could have easily observed the problem and sorted it out. It wasn't too many cars and not enough homes - there were plenty of roads and homes for all those cars. It was just a logistical nightmare for what seemed an eternity, but in reality was just a little over an hour.

When I read Lame Excuse #285 for shelter deaths in America from the files of the animal welfare dinosaurs - which is "We're here in the trenches. You progressive thinkers don't understand, you're not having to deal with all these animals, there are too many animals - not enough homes" - I'm going to remember that gridlocked night in the fields of the Kentucky Horse Park. What seems like an unsolvable problem when you're "in the trenches" may just need a fresh look from above - some direction, some support, some cooperation. And a healthy dose of good humor doesn't hurt either.

Special thanks to one of my former riding students, Kendall Raisbeck, for the picture.

Tomorrow's Shelters - Are We Strategically Planning?

2010-09-27T20:50:00.000-05:00

If I was an investor and I looked at this graph from Maddie's Fund, the last thing I would do would be to invest in an animal shelter that was going to build more capacity (more kennels). I might as well flush my money down the toilet. In less than ten years those kennels will be gathering dust. This graph shows the downward trend in the number of shelter deaths in this country over the last 30 years. It is falling fast - at the rate we're going we're on track to be a No-Kill Nation by 2015.

So will animal shelters become obsolete? Of course not. There will always be animals that slip through the cracks and need the safety net of our community's shelters. But things will change. Smart shelter directors and boards of directors are looking at the trends now and planning for the future. Shelters will be more about being community-based resource centers than pet stores or "pounds".

The highly adoptables will fly out the door (they already do in a lot of places). The public will demand that the less adoptable be rehabilitated. The old sheltering model of "adopt the best and kill the rest" will not be tolerated. So shelters will have to design themselves around these less adoptable (but just as lovable) animals and the eleven steps of the No Kill Equation to stay afloat. Shelters will be funded by donations because of the goodwill that is generated in the community - not through adoption fees. Donors will fund shelters because they are grateful that the shelter helped them find their lost pet, taught them to potty train their dog or listened to their endless questions about Fluffy the cat's, odd nocturnal behaviors.

Looking in my crystal ball: here are some things that I think smart shelter directors should be thinking about NOW before they are blindsided by the changes that are to come:

- dogs will need more rehabilitation (because the highly adoptables are gone) so shelters will need to be set up to accommodate this. There will be less dogs, but for longer periods of stay. So shelters will need socialization rooms and exercise yards; both with equipment and furnishings that will simulate what they will need to deal with in their new lives. They will also need an extensive network of foster homes.

- trap banks, training and support for TNR (trap-neuter-return) programs. Once the community (feral) cats are out of the shelter system, the pet cat population will stabilize and adoptions will match attrition rates in the community.

- lost and found services (Missing Animal Response) This is woefully lacking now in most shelters in this country, resulting in thousands and thousands of shelter deaths.

- animal help desks to assist new adopters with behavior and training challenges. You aren't expected to learn to do the service work on a new car yourself. Why do animal shelter staff get disgusted when you adopt a new pet and then have training issues?

- low cost spay and neuter services available to the public without making them jump through all kinds of income-verification and/or residency hoops.

- great customer service that helps EVERY person that comes in the door with a smile, referring them to a good rescue or breeder (or shelter down the street) if the dog or cat of choice is not available at the shelter. Yes - I said breeder. Because good breeders will be an important part of the future of animal welfare.

- services for seniors citizens. Perhaps a volunteer run program that helps seniors choose and adopt a pet and then helps with the vet visits, grooming appointments, and other small details that will enable a senior to keep a pet in their home longer.

Does your local shelter do these things now? Are they on the right road to doing these things soon? If not - don't be surprised if they are closing up shop in the next few years. The writing is on the wall.

I Live, I Breathe, I Vote

2010-09-17T21:51:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night was primary election night in Wisconsin. Now it is only 48 more days until November 2 - Election Day, the day we have the privilege and obligation to select new people to represent us in government. I am a new American (six years) and I am proud to be a citizen of this great country. I am amazed by how many people take voting for granted, don't bother to do it, and then complain for the next four years about the way things have turned out.

I am the director of Wisconsin Voters for Companion Animals - a grass-roots organization which supports fair and reasonable laws that will protect our pets and advance humane legislation in our state. We track legislation, provide voting records for state legislators, and question the candidates for upcoming elections. We do not endorse candidates. We simply provide the information on our website for voters to make informed voting decisions.

This fall we know that the economy and the budget are the big issues at the polls. Will our companion animal issues even get the time of day? I should hope so. It's all a part of the big picture. This is not the time for shortsightedness.

According to the American Pet Products Association, 62 percent of U.S. households have pets. Pets and pet supplies were a 45.5 billion dollar industry in 2009. (And this does not include the recreational horse industry which we also consider as companion animals). There was no decrease in spending during the recession on pets - and it is predicted that 2010 will bring another $2 billion increase in sales. So anyone who argues that "pet issues are insignificant" had better look at the facts.

Companion animals directly affect the quality of our lives. Just a few of many significant points:

Seniors with pets have lower health care costs.
We know there is a direct link between cruelty to animals and domestic violence.
We know that most serial killers abused animals first.
We know that most puppy millers do not pay sales taxes.
We know that poor animal control policies and laws cost the taxpayer money.

I love when I have tools available that I can use to show the lawmakers how good animal welfare policies and laws actually SAVE the government and taxpayers' money. Two examples are fiscal estimators developed by Best Friends Animal Society. With the punch of a few buttons, these tools calculate the costs to communities on two different issues.

The first is the Breed Discriminatory Fiscal Impact calculator. It shows how much a breed specific law (such as a pit bull ban) will cost a community to implement. The second is a TNR fiscal estimator. This shows that a well-run Trap Neuter Return program for feral cats will actually save a municipality money over the "catch and kill" method that is often used and does not work.

Wisconsin Voters for Companion Animals does not represent a bunch of animal rights fanatics that think animals have more rights than people. We do not have a hidden vegetarian, vegan or anti-hunting/fishing agenda. We are a bi-partisan group of fair-minded people with legitimate concerns about the humane treatment of companion animals in our state. I spoke with one assembly candidate who said he didn't want to be the puppet of a special interest group. We are not asking for a puppet. We're asking for our lawmakers to listen, consider our position and represent us fairly.

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.” - George Jean Nathan

Still Mousing After All These Years

2010-09-07T23:23:00.000-05:00

Squeak, the barn cat - twelve years old

This is Squeak. That's not his real name, but that's what I call him because of the silly noise he makes when he's trying to talk me into getting the cat treats out of my tack trunk. He has trained a bunch of us at the barn very well.

Squeak is one of three barn cats at the boarding facility where my husband and I keep our horses. They were all from the same litter of kittens many years ago. They are neutered and at least twelve years old.

The other day I was sitting on the bench removing my riding boots (Squeak likes to help me with the laces) and I asked him this question. I said "Squeak, would you have been better off dead?" He looked at me with horror and I swear his squeak went up three levels.

"Cause, you know Squeak, a lot of people feel that having a cat in a barn is inhumane. That it would have been better off to kill you than adopt you out to a nice barn home."

I daresay that I think Squeak and his two brothers are VERY happy barn cats. They behead mice and leave them for us to discover. They dodge barn swallows. They sleep in the hay on warmer nights and on the coldest nights they have a kitty door that goes into the laundry/feed room where their beds are. They have plenty of food, water and a never ending stream of visitors to feed them kitty treats. They can often be found on the laps of visitors watching riding lessons. They have the largest litter box in the world (the indoor riding arena). And if they could speak I'm sure they would assure you that they would rather not have been dead these last twelve years.

This farm is only one of many that I have either worked at, boarded or visited over the past 25 years. I can probably count on one hand the number of poorly cared for barn cats that I have seen on horse farms. But unfortunately we still have shelters here in Wisconsin and around the nation that will not adopt out cats to a barn home. They have an "inside cat only" policy. (Thumbs up and a big thank you to the shelters that DO have Barn Buddy programs.)

"Inside only" cat policies cause cat deaths. It may be fine for the cat that is waiting for an inside only home - but not so great for the one waiting in the wings to get onto the adoption floor. And barns NEED cats - how else do you manage mice and rats - through the horrendous use of poisons that cause a slow and painful death and endanger other pets and wildlife?

I talked to a lady at the dog park the other day. Her husband, a retired farmer, had gone to a shelter to adopt an indoor cat. They looked at his address, knew he was a farmer and assumed he was lying and that he was going to let the cat live in the barn - so denied his adoption. Good grief! So now adoption counsellors are trained in lie detection? Why not just take a chance and save a life?

If you have an inside cat, great! I'm not advocating that you let it outside. There are risks involved with outside cats, especially those in urban neighborhoods. But there are also risks involved with having indoor cats - including obesity and the diseases that accompany it.

It's time for shelters and rescues to get over the concept that a cat is better off dead than to have a good home on a farm. Especially those that have been surrendered for litterbox issues or for not getting along with other cats in the home. Squeak and his brothers vote yes to barn life!

The Business of Saving Lives

2010-08-27T20:54:00.000-05:00

Animal shelters are in the business of saving lives. To me that's a no-brainer. It should be on their business cards, painted on the wall, in their mission statement - "We Save Lives." Maybe if the staff looked at those words every day they'd be more inspired to think of new and creative ways to save lives - instead of getting stuck in the same old, same old rut. Maybe we wouldn't hear the lame excuses that are churned out about why they are failing.

Lame excuse for shelter deaths #558 - "you don't know what it's like - there's so many animals, they keep coming in, we have to deal with them all. The staff get tired and burnt out."

Hmmm. Another profession that is in the business of saving lives - air traffic controllers. I'm glad they don't use this same excuse. "The planes - they keep coming and coming - we get tired and burnt out." Somehow, the aviation industry manages to land more than 25,000 commercial flights safely in this country every day of every year. They do an exceptional job of saving lives. Why have we accepted so much less from our animal shelters?

There are hundreds of professions and businesses that shelter directors could study for innovative ideas on management, business principles, leadership skills, staff motivation and rewards. Combine these with the No Kill Equation shelter model and we'd be a long ways towards a No Kill Nation.

I had the pleasure of meeting Billy LeFeuvre and Jeff Daniels of Justice for Bella at the No Kill Conference a few weeks ago. Although their story started off sad with the shooting of Jeff's dog, Bella (read the whole story on their website or Facebook page) - their determination and dedication to now DO something about the problem in Cabarrus County, North Carolina is inspiring. They have already made a huge difference and I have no doubt in my mind that they will succeed in everything they set out to do. They have that kind of attitude about them.

This is an excerpt from a Facebook post that Billy wrote:

I am in law school now, but when I took my MBA, I remember studying the most successful companies in the world. They were leaders in their industries.

Many of them had competitors selling the same products, offering the same services. What do you think made them successful and their competitors unsuccessful, or much less successful?

It was the attitude and commitment of the leadership. They did not make excuses. They did not blame the public for not buying. They were innovative. They were passionate. They looked at the best practices of every industry, whether it was related to them or not, and through research and development, they went with what worked and scrapped what didn't work.
They did not stick with the same outdated ways of doing business, when those ways didn't produce results, or at least didn't produce acceptable results.

They demanded better, and when they saw something that worked, they implemented it, refined it, improved it, and experienced growth far greater than their competitors.

Everyone should be asking themselves why a shelter would ever continue killing, and continue making the same old excuses, when ten years ago the entire country was shown the way to No Kill in San Fransisco; then a couple of years later in Tompkins, NY; then Charlottesville, VA and Reno, NV, and so on...with dozens and dozens of No Kill Communities across the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. And even more saving over 80%, just shy of declaring themselves a No Kill Community, but well on their way!

Billy hit the nail on the head at what is wrong in so many shelters in this country. I think we have too many shelters being run by unmotivated, unskilled shelter directors who have not been trained in leadership, management or successful business strategies. There is a "model" out there that works - The No Kill Equation. Why a shelter director would not use it as a blueprint for success in their community is beyond my comprehension. And shouldn't the boards of these shelters be ensuring that the directors are following a clearly defined path of success? If these were publicly traded companies the stockholders would be appalled that the results were so poor; when competitors were doing so much better.

It's time to challenge the thinking of the past and get on with the business of Saving Lives.

"The minute you stop striving for excellence, you quickly slip into mediocrity." - Unknown

Pluto's Story

2010-08-23T21:18:00.000-05:00

Renee and Pluto - happily reunited!

From the Lost Dogs of Wisconsin files:

The following is a letter received from a woman named Renee, shortly after we recovered her dog, Pluto. She only had the dog a couple of days before it slipped out the door at her daughter's house. Her energy and determination to find her dog makes our work easy and makes it all worthwhile.
This is her story in her own words:

I was saddened to hear about my friend's health . She lives in Green Bay. I moved from Green Bay to Milwaukee and didn't see her for a long time. She lives next door to my daughter. I was visiting my daughter and she came over crying so hard. She had her adorable dog with her named Pluto. A little Lhaso with brown eyes who would melt your heart. She was telling me she had to move due to heath crippling her. She said "Would you do me the honor of taking my dog?"

She knew my dog passed away a few months earlier, and knew how I was missing her. I replied I would love to have Pluto. That was a Sunday.

I took him back to Milwaukee with us. I was worried about his adjustment so I stayed home with him till Tuesday when I had to go to the store. I took him to my other daughter's house so he wouldn't be alone while I was shopping. I wasn't gone 10 minutes and my 2 year old grandaughter opened the front door and out he went. All my grandchildren in the house went chasing him with all their friends. I was so scared. That was in Greendale. He didn't know that neighborhood.

It was like he vanished. No sight of him anywhere. One person said he went through his yard. So I perched myself on my daughter's porch and slept there. No sight of Pluto. It was so hot ....All these thoughts went through my head of him being hit by a car and whatever else could happen I was thinking it... I called all the authorities in the area. Then I called all the humane societies. Even MADACC(Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission).

This is when I talked to the most wonderful caring person in the world . Her name is Kathy P. She told me she was from Best Friends. Wow !!! Dogtown !!!!! She even knew John Garcia!!! My idol !!! I was in awe. So she came and talked to me. Took me to MADACC to see if he was there. She told me that it will take time. Then the next day the Greenfield police called. Someone sighted him in the woods. So we all went searching no luck.

Kathy sent someone from Lost Dogs of Wisconsin. It was Sunday. A couple came from a long ways in that heat and set a trap at the place he was seen. Her name is Kathie also. What beautiful people. I didn't even know them and they gave up their Sunday to help me. So there were a few more sightings. I did not leave those woods for days.

Kathy P came back on Monday. She went and bought a bigger trap and told me yelling his name will not matter. He was in a scared mode. She educated me on so many things. She made a map of all the sightings. How smart is that ! I would not give up . I saw deer and coyote and was even more frightened for my little Pluto. I just kept following Kathy's instructions . Hoping for results. It was Tuesday. I took a break for lunch and came back with a couple of pounds of leftover roast. I went back in the woods and laid down with a path of the roast leading to me. Being as quiet as possible. I heard the tall grass moving. Then all of a sudden a little white head pops out. Pluto !!! So I stayed laying down throwing some roast. You dont know how hard it was not to yell and scream. It seemed like an eternity when finally he came to me. It would have been a week on Wednesday.

A million mosquito bites later I had my baby in my arms !!! I called Kathy right away, she was so happy. She had to come and meet the little vanishing star. She was so happy that she took me to Petco and bought me tags for him and a new harness. Can you believe that... Someone I didn't even know cared that much. By now I loved this wonderful woman. Please everyone out there with a pet missing listen to the people with the experience and follow their advice and you will get the same happy results. Who would imagine that not calling your dogs name is the answer... Thanks to all that helped....You have great networks out there. Keep it up...Love Pluto and Renee

Credibility (or Lack Thereof) and How it Hurts our Ability to Save Lives

2010-08-18T16:29:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago there were a couple of tragic dog attack stories along with the negative "spin" that goes with them. The KC Dog Blog did a great job of explaining how this has escalated in recent years since Internet news has made deadlines virtually obsolete. These reports lack credibility and hopefully one day we'll be able to hold news agencies more accountable for what and how they report.

But we'd better take the stick out of our own eye also. Animal welfare advocates are probably some of the worst offenders in the credibility arena. I spend several hours each week answering emails regarding figures pertaining to shelter deaths. I don't think animal welfare supporters see the harm in spewing out the incorrect figures. (perhaps they think they'll get more donations if the problem seems worse than it is?)

But it makes animal welfare as a whole, look foolish and unprofessional. If we don't understand our own industry - how can we expect to solve it's problems?

It kind of reminds me of when McDonalds used to put how many hamburgers they had served under the golden arches. First it was part of a permanent display, then they tried all sorts of methods of having interchangeable numbers. Then they finally gave up. The numbers never matched up - one location would say "over 6 million served" and just down the block the next one would say 8 million. It just looked foolish. Besides, it's a LOT of hamburgers.

Christie Keith wrote a great piece this morning, Damn lies and cat statistics refuting the preposterous claim that one unspayed cat could produce 420,000 offspring in just seven years. It just doesn't add up. And does someone think this is actually helping cats? Hardly. This blog also touched on the study that rears it's ugly head at least once a week in my Google Alerts for "feral cats Wisconsin" that incorrectly reported on the number of songbird deaths by cats. I wish someone would send that report to cyberspace - never to be seen again.

A recent post on a yahoo group I belong to quoted a figure that made me reach for my calculator. It just didn't SOUND right. It said that a dog was killed in a shelter every two seconds in the U.S. With the punch of a few buttons, I realized that according to this Internet blast, we were killing 63 million DOGS in the U.S. each year. Never mind the cats.

When I asked for the source - well, it couldn't be found. I think it's sort of like the old game we used to play as kids, whisper something in someone's ear and pass it down the line and then end up in fits of giggles over what the last person has interpreted as the message.

One more Wisconsin myth - after the closing of Dairyland Greyhound Park in late December 2009 - an email circulated like wildfire that 600 (or was it 900?) greyhounds would be "euthanized". I never quite saw the point of starting this rumor, and as far as I know, all of the greyhounds have either been returned to their owners, placed in adoptive or foster homes, or transferred to other tracks. There was no mass slaughter of racing greyhounds.

Rescues and shelters, please research the correct figures and educate your staff and volunteers so they can speak intelligently and credibly on the subject. Presenting a well-informed image to the public, the lawmakers and the opposition will make us look professional and not like a bunch of bleeding heart fanatics.

Pesky .... And Proud of It!

2010-08-12T15:12:00.000-05:00

If they keep track of those sorts of things I'm sure this summer may go down in the record books as the summer of the mosquito. They are rivaling Canadian mosquitoes - which are a force to be reckoned with. Yesterday morning I had to check a humane trap that we'd set for a lost dog. It was only a short trek into the woods - but by the time I got to the trap, the buzzing was deafening.

No dog in the trap, just an ungrateful raccoon who took off without even a backward glance or a "thank you, ma'am" for the cozy bed, tennis ball and Solid Gold Green Cow tripe that we'd baited the trap with. As I hightailed it back to the road with a thousand hungry mosquitoes following me, I remembered one of my favorite quotes:

"If you think you're too small to be effective - you've never been in bed with a mosquito". - Betty Reese

I like being a mosquito advocate for animals.We have a dedicated group of them in Wisconsin. We're like pesky flies - writing letters to politicians, pet store owners, irreputable breeders. We never go away - just when they think we have - bzzzz - there we are again - annoying as hell.

We were a whole army of mosquitoes (flock? herd? gaggle? what's the word?) last year during the state legislative session while we were trying to get the Commercial Dog Breeder's Licensure Bill passed. In the end - the legislators gave up trying to swat us away, we were deafening and annoying - and the bill passed unanimously through both the House and Senate.

Our numbers continue to grow - there are countless animal lovers willing to take up the cause when they realize how effective they can be.

So whether you are a mosquito army of one, or of thousands, never doubt that you can make a difference in the lives of the animals you love.

Five Little Words We Could Do Without

2010-08-11T12:49:00.000-05:00

Just a short little blog today to get this off my chest before I tear my hair out. These are my top five words that I think should be dropped from the animal welfare vocabulary.

DUMP - As in: Those morons "dumped" their dog at the shelter. This type of negativity just breeds negativity. As pointed out in John Sibley's blog last week most people are NOT irresponsible. Using negative connotations in respect to people and their pets poisons the minds of new staff and volunteers and perpetuates the cycle.

EUTHANASIA (and/or "putting to sleep") when used in the context of the shelter deaths of healthy animals. It's killing. Plain and simple.

STRAY - Kat Albrecht said it best "Think Lost, Not Stray". These are lost pets. Generally being looked for by their owners. They often fall through the cracks of the system and cost the taxpayers millions of dollars when they end up in animal control facilities. Simply changing the public perception towards them by calling them "lost pets" would help many more make it back home.

FLUSH - This deals specifically with our volunteer work of Lost Dogs of Wisconsin. Flushing is for toilets. Not dogs. Flushing lost dogs out of the bush does not work. They can run faster than people and flushing them usually either frightens them and prolongs the search or chases them into traffic where they are killed or cause an accident.

DEPOPULATE - This still gives me nightmares. Maybe we should have a "depopulation" of shelter directors who have so little respect for life that they can callously spew this word around like it is nothing.

There! Thank you. I feel so much better now. Any others that anyone wants to add?