Comments on: Toronto Humane and the Meaning of No Kill http://www.dancingdogblog.com/2009/12/toronto-humane-and-the-meaning-of-no-kill/ a friendly voice - an expansive view Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:47:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Chicago's Animal Care and Control Out of Control | Dancing Dog Blog http://www.dancingdogblog.com/2009/12/toronto-humane-and-the-meaning-of-no-kill/comment-page-1/#comment-9306 Chicago's Animal Care and Control Out of Control | Dancing Dog Blog Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:11:15 +0000 http://www.dancingdogblog.com/?p=2731#comment-9306 [...] (video below) from WGN’s Marcella Raymond, I have to ask - do we have another out of control Toronto Humane on our hands [...] [...] (video below) from WGN’s Marcella Raymond, I have to ask - do we have another out of control Toronto Humane on our hands [...]

]]> By: Tawn http://www.dancingdogblog.com/2009/12/toronto-humane-and-the-meaning-of-no-kill/comment-page-1/#comment-1559 Tawn Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:35:24 +0000 http://www.dancingdogblog.com/?p=2731#comment-1559 As a volunteer who witnessed cruelty at our local city shelter and tried to report it, I can say it is difficult to get anyone to listen. No one wants to hear that stray pets are being abused at a shelter. People will call you a liar and ignore you. Others will lie and cover-up for the shelter. (There were people heatedly denying abuse in the shelter who had literally never set foot in it. ) Few employees, if any, will speak out for fear of losing their job. It took me four years of fighting the city to clean up that shelter. As a volunteer who witnessed cruelty at our local city shelter and tried to report it, I can say it is difficult to get anyone to listen.

No one wants to hear that stray pets are being abused at a shelter. People will call you a liar and ignore you. Others will lie and cover-up for the shelter. (There were people heatedly denying abuse in the shelter who had literally never set foot in it. ) Few employees, if any, will speak out for fear of losing their job.

It took me four years of fighting the city to clean up that shelter.

]]> By: MaryHaight http://www.dancingdogblog.com/2009/12/toronto-humane-and-the-meaning-of-no-kill/comment-page-1/#comment-1562 MaryHaight Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:35:51 +0000 http://www.dancingdogblog.com/?p=2731#comment-1562 What an untenable situation you were in. As I mentioned earlier, I simply could not get over how long it took to get Pet Rescue in Illinois closed down, no matter how many investigative efforts were made and aired on the news by respected reporters in the field, like Pam Zekman, how many protests from volunteers were undertaken it had to be in excess of 5 years before this facility was shut down...just seemed to go on forever. You are right--people hate bad news, often they just can't take it anymore; it's why we have infotainment now and not news. I'm glad you and others stuck with it to get the job done. What an untenable situation you were in. As I mentioned earlier, I simply could not get over how long it took to get Pet Rescue in Illinois closed down, no matter how many investigative efforts were made and aired on the news by respected reporters in the field, like Pam Zekman, how many protests from volunteers were undertaken it had to be in excess of 5 years before this facility was shut down…just seemed to go on forever. You are right–people hate bad news, often they just can't take it anymore; it's why we have infotainment now and not news. I'm glad you and others stuck with it to get the job done.

]]> By: Tweets that mention Toronto's Humane Society No Kill Confusion Leads to Cruelty | Dancing Dog Blog -- Topsy.com http://www.dancingdogblog.com/2009/12/toronto-humane-and-the-meaning-of-no-kill/comment-page-1/#comment-1536 Tweets that mention Toronto's Humane Society No Kill Confusion Leads to Cruelty | Dancing Dog Blog -- Topsy.com Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:36:49 +0000 http://www.dancingdogblog.com/?p=2731#comment-1536 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mary E Haight, dogspelledfwd. dogspelledfwd said: Toronto Humane and the Meaning of No Kill http://bit.ly/6NNXl8 #dogs #dogtraining [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mary E Haight, dogspelledfwd. dogspelledfwd said: Toronto Humane and the Meaning of No Kill http://bit.ly/6NNXl8 #dogs #dogtraining [...]

]]> By: MaryHaight http://www.dancingdogblog.com/2009/12/toronto-humane-and-the-meaning-of-no-kill/comment-page-1/#comment-1540 MaryHaight Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:26:36 +0000 http://www.dancingdogblog.com/?p=2731#comment-1540 Working together with support from the community is an absolute necessity, and there are models that work to get the kill numbers down that include converting pet shops per Best Friends and HSUS to adopting shelter and rescued animals (giving a nice belt in the face to the puppy millers--what a twofer!). No kills take from traditional shelters to save adoptables, even some formerly high kill shelters like Washoe County NV has made a complete turn around. So it's no longer outside the realm of what is possible to get to virtually no kill numbers given open lines of communication, community-wide stakeholders, and ultimate inter-agency cooperation. If the priimary objective is on the saving animals where possible, cooperation and success over time can be achieved. And I agree: Spay/neuter, expanded foster networks, public education, are also central to success. Working together with support from the community is an absolute necessity, and there are models that work to get the kill numbers down that include converting pet shops per Best Friends and HSUS to adopting shelter and rescued animals (giving a nice belt in the face to the puppy millers–what a twofer!).

No kills take from traditional shelters to save adoptables, even some formerly high kill shelters like Washoe County NV has made a complete turn around. So it's no longer outside the realm of what is possible to get to virtually no kill numbers given open lines of communication, community-wide stakeholders, and ultimate inter-agency cooperation. If the priimary objective is on the saving animals where possible, cooperation and success over time can be achieved. And I agree: Spay/neuter, expanded foster networks, public education, are also central to success.

]]> By: MaryHaight http://www.dancingdogblog.com/2009/12/toronto-humane-and-the-meaning-of-no-kill/comment-page-1/#comment-1539 MaryHaight Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:02:17 +0000 http://www.dancingdogblog.com/?p=2731#comment-1539 ...This Trow was accused of cruelty back in 82/83, but was brought back into the organization. Looks like the OSPCA has some new rules to institute regarding remedies for intransigence re medical decisions and court ordered euthanasia. on the part of members. I can't see how a court order can be ignored, and certainly that coupled with consistently going against Vet recommendations for medical euthanasia should have triggered action. It should not be so difficult to have effective oversight of all types of shelter organizations. Taking years to get rid of a bad actor at the cost of untolled cruelty is just not acceptable. We had that problem here in Illinois with Pet Rescue...raking in hundreds and thousands of dollars in internet donations, leaving animals sick and lying in their own filth. Who has an answer for all of this? Thank you so much for adding to the conversation! …This Trow was accused of cruelty back in 82/83, but was brought back into the organization. Looks like the OSPCA has some new rules to institute regarding remedies for intransigence re medical decisions and court ordered euthanasia. on the part of members. I can't see how a court order can be ignored, and certainly that coupled with consistently going against Vet recommendations for medical euthanasia should have triggered action.

It should not be so difficult to have effective oversight of all types of shelter organizations. Taking years to get rid of a bad actor at the cost of untolled cruelty is just not acceptable. We had that problem here in Illinois with Pet Rescue…raking in hundreds and thousands of dollars in internet donations, leaving animals sick and lying in their own filth. Who has an answer for all of this?

Thank you so much for adding to the conversation!

]]> By: MaryHaight http://www.dancingdogblog.com/2009/12/toronto-humane-and-the-meaning-of-no-kill/comment-page-1/#comment-1538 MaryHaight Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:01:07 +0000 http://www.dancingdogblog.com/?p=2731#comment-1538 I guess it should not be so astonishing that a bully, who may have come to the job with other mental problems, rose to the top in the animal welfare field...it happens in all other fields. Although in this case, that would be a mischaracterization--Trow was the head of the board and stepped into the position of Executive Director of the shelter, so he didn't rise to this level of incompetence. I noticed also that bylaws allowed proxy voting...not good. I agree the 100 or so employees had a very tough choice to make, knowing if they quit in protest the more than 1000 animals would be at even more risk. We can gather much more of the history of what led to this behavior, as it obviously escalated over time, from those who stayed behind to help as they could...(cont'd) . I guess it should not be so astonishing that a bully, who may have come to the job with other mental problems, rose to the top in the animal welfare field…it happens in all other fields. Although in this case, that would be a mischaracterization–Trow was the head of the board and stepped into the position of Executive Director of the shelter, so he didn't rise to this level of incompetence. I noticed also that bylaws allowed proxy voting…not good.

I agree the 100 or so employees had a very tough choice to make, knowing if they quit in protest the more than 1000 animals would be at even more risk. We can gather much more of the history of what led to this behavior, as it obviously escalated over time, from those who stayed behind to help as they could…(cont'd)

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