Comments on: Every dog might have his day, but this little guy just has a number

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:28:22 +0000

I’m not a professional, but rather someone who is obsessed with taking photos of dogs. Friend’s dogs, stranger’s dogs, client’s, family, and of course, my own.

I’ve been thinking about volunteering for years, but the problem is I usually have no less than two full-time jobs at any given time and I think that most of the places in Chicago have volunteers who are able to do this. What they’re looking for is someone who can do all of the web maintenance, which is not me.

Maybe I’ll look around again. If they let me do 4am shoots, I can fit it in. Ugh. Why is it that all of the things I’m passionate about will keep me eating one meal a day…

By: Barb

Barb — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:02:59 +0000

I certainly sympathize with anyone who isn’t a talented photographer… but a great place to go for ideas on how photos of dogs in a shelter ideally SHOULD be done is the “One Bark At A Time” blog.
Fred is a genius - look here:
http://tinyurl.com/cftqol
and here for examples:
http://tinyurl.com/djy45l
Great photos and enticing (but truthful) brief descriptions. Tell me that it doesn’t REALLY make you want to take one or more of these dogs home!!

By: Ace

Ace — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:18:32 +0000

Send that shelter your ad. They may not publish it but someone WILL read it, and maybe just maybe it will set the wheels in motion for a little more compassion on the part of those who post such sad sad pictures of equally sad little critters.

By: Kim Thornton

Kim Thornton — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:19:52 +0000

If I get some other things done this morning, I’ll try to add a little more later today too unless I see that Christie has been able to post something from the jury room floor.

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:04:12 +0000

Yes, as in… right now, LOL. But they say there is free wifi in the jury waiting area so I’m bringing my laptop!

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:56:21 +0000

Hint all you want … it may be another day. Christie is reporting for jury duty today. :)

By: Susan Fox

Susan Fox — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:48:22 +0000

I was referring to the proposed national law. But some previous posters seemed to be curious about the California law and I think Eucritta was expressing concerns about how the national law would be implemented vis a vis shelter animals.

But then, maybe we’re all confused ;-) and need to start over again on the new No Kill Conference report post that we are all anxiously awaiting. Hint. Hint.

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:41:30 +0000

I’m a bit confused by this thread, but maybe that’s on me, LOL.

This is not a new or proposed law in California. It’s been the law for many years now. And I’m not aware of it being proposed anywhere else.

What Nathan is proposing is something completely different. It’s the Companion Animal Protection Act, and it’s here:

http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/capa.html

This is the approach I’m mulling over, not the long-established California law that shelters cannot kill animals if a rescue group is willing to take them.

By: Susan Fox

Susan Fox — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:12:00 +0000

If a new law required that the rescues be 501(c)3s, that would be, well maybe not a disaster, but it would seriously restrict the pool of people who could pull animals.

Our county shelter releases animals to “private” rescues all the time. They are sometimes jut one or two people who hava a name of some kind (For Paws, etc), a passion for animals and the willingness to take them in, work with them and find them new homes. They don’t have the time, expertise, energy or resources to handle the overhead required by a “real” non-profit.

As ususl, for this law, as with anything else, the devil will be in the details.

By: Mary Mary

Mary Mary — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:48:26 +0000

There are a lot of “rescues” in my region that advertise on Craigslist that smell a lot like puppy flippers.

They have no formal name, no website, etc. Just ads with photos and text that reads “AKC [insert breed] rescue puppies. First shots, wormed. $200” or similar.

Often not a word about spaying or neutering contracts. I live about 100 miles from the Amish Puppy Mill Belt. I would imagine it’s pretty easy to drive out there and buy — oops I mean rescue — a bunch of “AKC” purebred puppies for next to nothing. Sell them I mean adopt them out for even $100 a head and you have your cigarette money for a few weeks.

That is one thing that bothers me about this proposed legislation. The whole “what is a rescue?” question. Also, as has been argued here many times, there are often far-reaching consequences for each new law, outcomes that you might not think about in the short run.

I also wonder if imposing this new restriction on shelters will actually increase the kill rate because, as they struggle to comply, they start turning more animals away. I have not thought this one all the way through.

I don’t understand how rescues work, really. The way I rescue is this … I find a rabbit dumped in the street. I admit her* to the shelter, get her spayed at the shelter. She never spends more than one night at the facility. I take her home (or find someone else to) and I foster her as long as it takes to find a home … my record is 14 months. I pay for all food and supplies, but the shelter pays for her vet bills and advertises her on their website.

*to date, the strays I’ve rescued have all been females. Probably because their hormones make them so aggressive, and their owner “sets them free” out of frustration.