Maybe the best dog/man book ever…

Once you chance the mindset, the programs to achieve the goals naturally follow.

I’d like to have read the book beforehand but since I already ordered (and paid for) it through the shelter I’ll just have to wait.

We’re no longer killing more than the potential number of homes. If we could double shelter placements from 16% to 32% of owned animals, every animal would have a home.

There are some caveats (not every animal is placeable). There are also some special needs groups (oversupply of pits and pit mixes, feral cats and TNR, orphaned kittens) that require specific policies.

So you don’t look at JUST the “demand” side OR the “supply” side - you look at both. You encourage spay/neuter of pet-quality animals to cut down on the number of animals produced (the “supply side”). You work with education programs that help people be better informed of what they’re getting into before adopting an animal, as well as outreach programs that help people work through many of the behavioral issues that frequently result in animals being surrendered, thus increasing the success rate of keeping animals in homes (the “demand” side). And so on.

And you work with shelters to encourage the mindset of becoming more actively involved in the process of placing animals rather than just being revolving doors that animals pass through in both directions. Which supports both the “supply” and the “demand” side when it’s really being done right.

And so on. Lots of little angles on all the aspects of the problem that add up to a lot less dead animals and a lot more successful placements overall.

Have I sort of got that right, Gina?

If anything, it’s the shelter industry that has been engaged in magical thinking.

If something doesn’t work, year after year after year, and you refuse to consider proven alternatives, you’re engaging in magical thinking. Trying harder to push a broken system doesn’t make it magically start working.

And blaming the victims — two-legged and four-legged both — is just making it worse.

I’m looking forward to reading his book. I’ve always been conflicted when I hear a shelter is ‘no kill’ - are they only taking highly adoptable pets, are they warehousing animals in cages for years, or are they really no-kill and able to find loving homes for ‘difficult’ animals.

Its sounds like Winograd is looking at a whole shift in perspective - but I’m not sure how he does it. So I’m very interested (but just a tad skeptical) as to what he says. I’m sooooo hoping that he really has some ‘magic’ to share.

(And yes - I know they’re worried that if the NEXT guest staying in the room has an animal allergy, then if the room is not clean enough, they’re worried they’ll put that person at risk. But the traveller with dogs always ends up getting the short end of the stick in these scenarios.)