Shelter deaths: The buck stops where?
By Gina Spadafori
October 2, 2007
Honestly, I can’t remember another book that has so upset the applecart as “Redemption,” Nathan Winograd’s well-argued, well-supported look at what has gone wrong with the shelter system — and what needs to be done to make it right.
The book takes on the conventional belief — which I’ve got to believe is as much as survival mechanism as anything else for the caring people who work in shelters — that pet-owners are to blame for the killings of millions of adoptable animals every year. Winograd instead puts the blame in the executive offices and board rooms of the huge national animal groups that lost their way decades ago, and have led community shelters down the path of darkness with them.
And then viciously attacked anyone who suggested a different way, as Winograd is doing now.
Christie and I have been on the phone for hours discussing this book and its implications, struggling with how it has blown apart the assumptions we ourselves have long accepted as fact. In part that’s because we have both spent plenty of time dealing with “bad” pet-owners — as pet-care writers, online community leaders (we “met” online at AOL, where Christie followed me as head of the Pet Care Forum, and she has gone on to lead the PetHobbyist.com family of online communities) and pet rescuers (I ran a Sheltie rescue in my region for three years and still foster when I can).
Although I have never done it for a living, over the years I have held a handful of unadoptable pets (mostly dogs with aggression issues our rescue group felt would get someone bitten*) while they were euthanized. You want to find someone to blame, and so I understand the anger being directed at Winograd now, for suggesting that the finger points not out at the community, but rather inward at shelters that won’t consider proven alternatives to killing adoptable pets.
I hate to pile on to people with crappy jobs and low incomes, but we must take this issue on regardless, because working harder to push a system that’s long been broken — through mandatory spay-neuter, feral-cat feeding fines and much, much more — won’t fix it. (And neither will giving money to rich national advocacy groups that continue to push the status quo, and use it to raise ever more money.)
In her wildly popular column for SFGate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Web site, Christie talks to Nathan Winograd and looks at the firestorm his book has ignited, with its controversial stand that there’s not a pet overpopulation crisis — but rather a leadership crisis in the sheltering community:
…Winograd isn’t making a lot of friends in the shelter industry these days. That’s because he authored a book called “Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America” that challenges the very foundation of nearly every theory and principle of shelter management in this country: The idea that there are more pets dying in shelters each year than homes available for those pets.
In fact, with between 4 and 5 million dogs and cats being killed in shelters nationwide every year, denying the existence of pet overpopulation seems ridiculous. If there aren’t more pets than homes, why are so many animals ending up in shelters in the first place?
Conventional wisdom tells us it’s because of irresponsible pet owners who aren’t willing to work to keep their pets in their homes. It’s a failure of commitment, of caring, and of the human/animal bond. If fewer pets were born, there would be fewer coming into shelters. If people cared more about their pets, they wouldn’t give them up so easily, would spay and neuter them so they wouldn’t reproduce, and wouldn’t let them stray.
That is exactly what I always believed, too, for the nearly 17 years I’ve been writing about pets. And yet, after reading “Redemption,” I don’t believe it anymore.
Hurry over and find out why.
***
Update:
* Not long after I wrote this, the names and faces of the dogs I hugged as they died came flooding back. Abe, 15-plus with terminal cancer. Rocket, aggression. Spoof, aggression. Three euthanasias out of more than 100 placements in three years isn’t so bad, I suppose, but I remember those three dogs more than most of the successful placements.
But I also remember one we didn’t have to put down, Major, who came into rescue at age 13 and lived almost four more years as the beloved pet of two friends of mine. His first 13 years he was a neglected backyard dog. The rest was of his life could not have been more different, and he died knowing he was very much loved. He would never have been put up for adoption at most shelters, and yet this was a dog who was wanted, loved and made a difference.
Major so touched that my friends with his gentle, loving spirit that they now specialize in “hospice” adoptions, taking in very elderly dogs and giving them a wonderful quality of life for a year or two until they pass on. Special people, and a special dog to share the lesson that love doesn’t have to be puppy.
Yes, I’m crying now. Are you?
Amen!!! Working in animal-welfare I can attest that I’ve saved thousands of lives by using Winograds techniques. Kudos to Winograd for standing up in this dysfunctional industry. It’s about time the world stood up and took notice of the way animal shelters should be managed, rather than the way the ‘leaders’ in animal welfare (HSUS, ASPCA, PETA) say it should be done. All Hail Nathan Winograd!!!
Comment by Saving Lives Everday — October 2, 2007 @ 3:11 am
Winograd is a true champion. He wins best in show (and tell) for writing this book. Picking up my copy tomorrow.
Comment by Nadine L. — October 2, 2007 @ 3:32 am
His writings are remarkable. His ideas WORK.
What I have found shocking is how strongly some rescue and shelter people reject the idea that things can be done better.
To some people, the idea that things can be better means that they are doing something wrong and are bad people.
If we can do things better, we should.
Read the book. Read his blog. Read the No Kill Advocacy Center web site. The techniques there can make a huge, immediate difference.
Comment by Sally — October 2, 2007 @ 3:44 am
Comment by Sally — October 2, 2007 @ 3:44 am
“To some people, the idea that things can be better means that they are doing something wrong and are bad people.”
Sally, when I read what you wrote here, I immediately flashed to the backlash experienced by many clicker trainers when clicker training was first coming onto the scene. Traditional trainers reacted strongly - often in ways that were all out of proportion to what was being presented. And it was often difficult to figure out why.
I know that some of it was due to the almost religious fervor with which many new clicker trainers talked about what they were doing (but it’s hard not to be enthusiastic when you discover something can work so WELL!).
But I know now it was also because - at some level - the traditional trainers felt that they were being accused of being harsh and abusive to their dogs. So it became very important for clicker trainers to be aware of this very normal human reaction, and understand where it was coming from.
Anyway, in response to this, Karen Pryor wrote a piece called “On Being a Change Maker”. Although it’s about how clicker training has gradually found its way into the mainstream, you can easily see how the basic idea applies to many other situations, including the Nathan Winograd’s No-Kill Advocacy movement:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/157
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 2, 2007 @ 6:38 am
I wonder what Sue Sternberg (subject of the HBO movie “Shelter Dogs”, http://www.shelterdogs.org)thinks of this book.
Susan
Comment by Susan — October 2, 2007 @ 6:38 am
Other Pat: Your point is very well-taken.
The backlash to clicker training WAS brutal (and still is, in many quarters, with clicker trainers derided as “foodies” and worse.)
But as you point out, the clicker trainers absolutely made things worse by making it clear they thought traditional trainers were abusive. I remember well positive-reinforcement trainers refering to the traditionals as “pop and jerk,” “punishment trainers” and worse.
There are indeed lessons to be learned here. First, be open to new ways, always. Never stop learning! Second, remember when introducing new concepts it’s essential to be encouraging, not disparaging.
Nothing’s more annoying (or makes someone want to dig in heels more) than being trashed by a True Believer, especially a convert!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — October 2, 2007 @ 9:01 am
Nathan’s arrival on the scene gives me goose bumps just to think that there really are answers if people keep open minds and work together. Rome wasn’t built in a day. There is great hope here and I do wish everyone with successes using Nathan’s concepts will quickly come forward and give their testimony.
We are expecting a fuzzy arrival around the 18th of October—-a 3 year old Old English Sheepdog that needed a new home. He met the criteria for me to take him through therapy dog training so he can work as a Library Dog for children needing a remedial reading program. It’s been a number of years since I did any, even basic, obedience training and am seriously interested in anyone’s input on training through new best methods. I want Keagan, our first rescue dog, to have the best of everything.
Comment by Nadine L. — October 2, 2007 @ 11:44 am
” . . . rather than the way the ‘leaders’ in animal welfare (HSUS, ASPCA, PETA) say it should be done.”
maybe you should see what the aspca does before you lump them in with the other 2.
Comment by straybaby — October 2, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
Comment by Nadine L. — October 2, 2007 @ 11:44 am
“It’s been a number of years since I did any, even basic, obedience training and am seriously interested in anyone’s input on training through new best methods. I want Keagan, our first rescue dog, to have the best of everything.”
Nadine, I am a clicker trainer, and I would love to see you look into clicker training. I’m heading off to a meeting right now. What kinds of resources would be most helpful to you?
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 2, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
Hi again Nadine,
There is a wealth of resources out there on clicker training, so it’s a little difficult to know where to point you without knowing a bit about what you already know, the level of detail you’d prefer, whether you are interested in books, online articles, personal instruction, and so on. So I’m going to toss out a bunch of stuff, and let me know if any of this is helpful.
Since my impression of you is that you don’t mind knowing about things in a fair bit of detail, you might find this page full of articles by Stacy Braslau-Schneck to be helpful. It will certainly give you a thorough overview of what clicker training is as well as where it came from:
An Animal Trainer’s Introduction To Operant and Classical Conditioning
http://www.wagntrain.com/OC/
As far as therapy work with dogs goes, the two organizations with the highest profile in this area are Therapy Dogs International (TDI) and the Delta Society. It’s worth training and obtaining accreditation through an organization of this kind due to the liability issues that can come up when you go into institutions with your dog to do therapy work. The website for TDI is:
Therapy Dogs International
http://www.tdi-dog.org/briefhistory.html
while information on the Delta Society can be found at:
Delta Society
http://www.deltasociety.org/home.htm
The Delta Society calls their therapy program “Pet Partners”. Here’s a geographical listing of Pet Partners Affiliates. If you find one in your area, the folks there could be very useful in guiding you as you learn about training with your dog to become and accedited animal-assisted therapy team:
List of Delta Society Pet Partners Affiliate Groups
http://www.deltasociety.org/CoPartner.htm
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 2, 2007 @ 9:55 pm
Now if your preference is books and you want to learn the basic learning theory that forms the underpinning of Operant Conditioning (what clicker training - and really ALL training - is based on) the book to read is Karen Pryor’s “Don’t Shoot the Dog”. It’s not specifically a “clicker training” book, but it’s pretty much considered “required reading” for anyone who really wants to understand how clicker training works:
Don’t Shoot the Dog
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB116
A more basic book that will essentially guide you through teaching your dog some basic behaviors without really delving into the underlying theory or principles is Peggy Tillman’s “Clicking With Your Dog: Step-By-Step In Pictures” which can be found at:
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB695
Dogwise.com (as well as SitStay.com) are also both excellent resources for all KINDS of dog-related books. Both sites should have books on Animal-Assisted Therapy if you’d like to read more about it.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 3, 2007 @ 6:43 am
I’m relatively new to the issues shelters face so I’ve just ordered it on Amazon (hopefully you or Christie benefit from that click and buy!) I can see though from some of the other comments on other posts that it’s a contentious discussion. I’m looking forward to reading it.
Comment by Laura Bennett — October 3, 2007 @ 6:44 am
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 3, 2007 @ 6:43 am
Wow, Pat! I’ll be in detail heaven! Thank you so very much for all this information. Didn’t realize you were a clicker trainer, but it appears I asked for input in the right place. I’m sure I’ll have more questions once I read all this. Keagan will be arriving around the 18th, so I’ve got homework to do.
Comment by Nadine L. — October 3, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
Just shoot the questions as they come to you, and I’ll do my best to help you find the answers.
And congratulations on your new family member!
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 3, 2007 @ 8:22 pm
Pat, thank you so much for all the links from which I’ve been printing out helpful pages for hours! Am truly fascinated with the clicker training theories, needless to say.
We are so very excited about our upcoming fuzzy arrival. He looks like a giant stuffed animal and has a personality to match.
Comment by Nadine L. — October 3, 2007 @ 9:32 pm
For “Don’t Shoot The Dog” (which I HIGHLY recommend), check your public library. It was first published in the 70s, and then again in the 90s. The second publishing does include some specific references to clicker which are not in the first book, but that’s not essential to “get” what she’s saying in the book, so if your library has the earlier edition, I’d say the price is right!
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 4, 2007 @ 5:28 am
Nadine - I found out the program having dogs read with kids in libraries is called R.E.A.D. for “Reading Education Assistance Dogs” (maybe you already knew that, but I thought I’d post it in case you didn’t). I didn’t find a website for a central organization (although TDI has a program) but here’s the Google search that gets you a lot of hits:
http://www.google.com/search?h.....tance+dogs
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 4, 2007 @ 8:34 am
The website for the central organization is http://www.therapyanimals.org. It is the official website of Intermountain Therapy Animals, the organization who created the Reading Education Assistance Dogs® program (R.E.A.D.®). TDI has a similar program, but the official training is through Intermountain Therapy Animals.
Comment by Paula Dalby — October 5, 2007 @ 9:13 am
In addition to homes available for pets, there are open spots in shelters and rescues around the country. In some regions, shelters stuffed with animals that “must be euthanized” sit fewer than 100 miles away from shelters with empty rooms where there are “not enough animals” to fulfill expressed public demand.
This is a management and professional competence problem. Shelters need to require that their people have skill sets, not just “love” of animals.
Comment by Barbara Saunders — October 26, 2007 @ 10:39 am