Is that really the choice? I don’t think so. How about the anguish of being killed for no reason other than space, convenience or habit?

And there is no pet overpopulation problem, as has been more than adequately demonstrated by Nathan Winograd. There are just pets that haven’t found the right forever home yet and that can take time, however much time it takes. As long as the animal’s physical and psychological needs are being met while they are waiting for adoption, then I doubt that they are enduring much “anguish”, whatever that is.

In any case, Christie, is the new hospital really any different than the spiffy ASPCA one we see on Animal Precinct? I can’t imagine that anyone got up in arms about theirs when it was built/opened. Maybe SF/ASPCA needs to point out the other SPCA’s that have similar facilities, to demonstrate that there’s nothing particularly unique about theirs.

Of course, there will always be those species-centric folk who think that anything that is given to an animal is something taken away from them. They need to Get Over It.

Change is something people fight. Personally a lot of the “no kill” fans have also be seriously naive about the cost factors to maintain a facility and the animals in it for the long term.

When I worked at a low kill shelter they often ignored the mental state of animals that had been returned because of poor placement—should the animal be rehabilitated and endure the anguish of being back in the shelter or humanely dispatched despite the outcry?

People want to believe the “good stories” and don’t want to hear the others.

So, until people are ready to deal with the realities facing the pet overpopulation problem and finding ways of getting into prevention through education there will be outcries over change, setback, or failure.

As for the HDP, the standard legal procedure to dealing with terminated employees is abrupt and insensitive…until the lawyers decide to come up with another way to “protect” the agencies doing the termination that is probably how it will remain.

Okay, so beyond my rant I believe that change is often met with unpopularity. It is uncomfortable but the only way things move forward…and change will be accepted eventually despite all the kicking, screaming, and hate mail.

Apparently once an organization has done something wrong, nothing they ever do from that day forward can be right, and any reporter who looks at each act, policy, or program on its own merits has sold her soul.

Oh, and the opposite is not true; while one bad action will taint every single thing you do in the future until eternity, no amount of good actions can innoculate you against anything you do wrong in the future.