Dual Burglar Fail

Big Ball

More on rendering...

WARNING: The following videos are graphic and may disturb some viewers.

Note the Division Manager for the Bureau of Sanitation of the City of LA who says on camera that the animals being picked up will go to the rendering plant:



[Side note: I wonder if PETA renders the remains of the thousands of dogs and cats they kill in a year?]

...and finally, a 2007 undercover video showing dead pets being prepared for rendering at D&D in California, which holds most of the rendering contracts with Southern California shelters. Please be warned that the video below is very graphic.



Thanks to YesBiscuit! - been trying to find that Dept of Sanitation video for a week! She has a great story tying it all together: Could Dogs and Cats Be an Ingredient in Your Pet's Food?

Back to the funny tomorrow, I promise!

More on rendering, or Soylent Green

...from this EPA document.

"Meat rendering plants process animal by-product materials for the production of tallow, grease, and high-protein meat and bone meal. Plants that operate in conjunction with animal slaughterhouses or poultry processing plants are called integrated rendering plants. Plants that collect their raw materials from a variety of offsite sources are called independent rendering plants. Independent plants obtain animal by-product materials, including grease, blood, feathers, offal, and entire animal carcasses, from the following sources: butcher shops, supermarkets, restaurants, fast-food chains, poultry processors, slaughterhouses, farms, ranches, feedlots, and animal shelters."

We didn't really need the EPA to confirm it as plenty of rendering plants have done so on the record and in the press, but it's interesting to see confirmation from a government agency that they're well aware of it.

More on the document and a list of ingredients that you never, ever want to see in your pet's food can be found at The Truth About Pet Food.

Still Ick

I've known this for years, but some still don't believe: it's perfectly possible for your inexpensive dog food to contain the rendered remains of cats and dogs, among other nasty stuff. But of course - where did you think the pentobarbital found in dog food comes from, exactly?

It's not uncommon for high-kill shelters and municipalities that pick up a lot of roadkill to sell the bodies to renderers, and for years the rose-tinted glasses set has insisted that the products that result would never, ever be sold in the US... right?

Just a Dog

Why?

More Language Navel Gazing

Kathy over at Wisconsin Watchdog recently wrote about five words she'd like to see dropped from the animal welfare vocabulary and I strongly agree with her list... but there's one word that gets tossed around a lot in dog world and it always just makes me a little queasy.

I'm aware of the original, literal meaning of bitch as well as how and why it became a profane insult in our modern lexicon. Maybe it's that I didn't grow up with dogs, maybe it's that I've never been involved with breeding dogs, or maybe I'm just that much of a puritan, but it's not a term I use and it makes me slightly uncomfortable to hear it used. I wonder if others, particularly people without a deep involvement in the animal world, feel the same way?

Or maybe I'm just overreacting.

"Keep Off the Grass" would have worked, too

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!

I can't hula hoop while drinking my 4 foot margarita?

Giant Kitteh Couch

Ain't It the Truth

The Better Angels of Our Nature

It's been interesting seeing the reactions to my post on the myth of the irresponsible public, especially the reactions over on the wonderful No Kill Nation page on Facebook, who kindly linked the article. Most puzzling to me is a small but vocal group who insists that all of humanity is evil and not to be trusted.

I just don't believe it.

One of the more inspiring moments at the No Kill Conference was listening to Nathan Winograd put the No Kill movement into context of other social movements and rights movements throughout history. Every social movement has parallels, each follows a similar arc throughout history from radical idea to accepted social norm. I do not mean to suggest that the No Kill movement is on equal moral footing with social movements such as abolition or suffrage, but there are commonalities to all social movements throughout history, one of which is the belief in and basic appeal to the good in most people.

Of all of history's leaders I believe Lincoln summed up this belief best with his use of the phrase "the better angels of our nature" in his closing to the first ever inaugural address. With secession looming, Lincoln addressed the secessionists directly and closed with this statement.

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

I think of that phrase often, "the better angels of our nature", in animal rescue. As much abuse and neglect as I see, I also have these moments of absolute wonder that people can be good, and kind, and generous. I can think of two specific moments that stand out.

A few years ago, I did a rescue transport from a high kill southern shelter that was full and about to begin the process of killing all the dogs. When we pulled up in the van to take the entire canine population of the shelter to safety at Pets Alive, I expected to be greeted by evil demons at the door. Instead I discovered a shelter staff who treated these dogs warmly and affectionately, calling them by name and saying goodbye as they brought them to the van - they were so grateful that we had come to get them. One of the shelter staff had brought her young children with her and they proudly told me all about their five rescued dogs at home, all from the shelter. I had expected inhuman monsters, but what I found were people who did not want to kill but didn't appear to know any other way. It affected me profoundly in that I realized that these people were not necessarily my enemy.

Most recently I did a rescue, also for Pets Alive, that took 90 beagles from an animal testing lab. The lab had gone bankrupt and locked their workers out - some of whom scaled the fence, cut the locks, and broke into the lab to feed and care for the animals who had been locked inside. They then started looking for a way to get them to safety. When we pulled those dogs we were helped by two of the workers who had done just that - I wish I could have asked them about it. I was surprised that they handled the dogs with care and affection. I had expected pure evil; they weren't it.

When have you witnessed the better angels of our nature?

Euthanizing the Myths - The Irresponsible Public

I've seen Nathan Winograd speak several times now, most recently at the No Kill Conference in Washington DC, and I always come away with something I didn't know or something that I needed to be reminded of. Nathan's opening keynote touched on a few of the myths widely held in animal sheltering and rescue, myths that need to be put out of their misery in order for us to make progress within communities. The first shelter myth I'm tackling is one that I think has the potential to be the most poisonous and the most self-defeating to shelter operations everywhere: the myth of the irresponsible public.

It's not difficult to pull quotes these days from directors and staff of shelters the world over telling the press that they have to kill animals, even inviting TV crews to be there while they do it, because it's the fault of the irresponsible John Q. Public that forces them to kill. What a load of claptrap.

Americans love their pets. Love them. When I walk my dog in the morning, I don't generally run across people beating their animals. I run into other people with their dogs, and we talk about them. I run into people out for a walk who stop me and ask about my dogs - ask about their names, want to pet them, introduce their children to them. They want to tell me about dogs they have had, dogs they have loved. I have had the benefit of living with my dogs all over the country, in all kinds of areas from rich to poor, rural to inner city. My positive interactions about animals with people outweigh my negative interactions by a thousandfold.

A few statistics for you:
- In 2009, giving to environmental and animal related charities (which are lumped together by the IRS for the purposes of reporting) increased by 2.3% even as overall giving decreased by 3.6% in the midst of a recession.
- American spending on pet expenses hasn't experienced a decline in ANY subcategory of spending since 2007, with a 2009 overall increase of 5.4% - also in the midst of a recession - to total spending of $45.5B. In 2010 they project further 4.9% growth.
- A pet owner survey in 2000 found that over half of respondents had taken time off of work to care for a sick pet.
- Stories about animals are big in American entertainment in movies like Marley and Me, which had a US gross of $150M for its theatrical release and was based on a book that was a New York Times bestseller. One movie studio exec was quoted in the press as saying "I have learned never to bet against any dog movie".

In an America where people very obviously love their animals, it follows that they would like to do what is best for them. I do not, personally, know anyone whom I would characterize as irresponsible with their animals. Now, I do know poeple who have occasionally done something irresponsible, knowingly or unknowingly - which includes myself, and I know people who have made mistakes - which includes myself. But I do not, personally, know anyone whom I would call irresponsible. I do know many people who love animals. I do know people who have skipped meals - or had ramen - to feed their animals, who have skimped on their own medical care to pay a vet bill, or who have given money to save an animal's life when they had almost none. I know this doesn't get nearly as much press as the bad people in the world, but these are the folks I know.

Now, there are definitely people out there who ARE irresponsible, and being in the shelter industry you're going to see a lot of them. You're on the receiving end of animal cruelty cases, and your daily communications and email are full of awful things that have been done to animals by a very small minority of people within society. But to use this as an excuse to kill is bunk, and more than that it's self-defeating.

When you are a shelter and you need donations to keep operating, you need to appeal to the public. Most people aren't going to give money to an organization that demonizes them, which is going to interfere with a shelter's ability to carry out their mission. If you had a choice between donating money to a shelter that told the public that most of the animals they took in were doomed to die because of an irresponsible public and a shelter that told you they would do their utmost to use your donation to work as hard as they could to find homes for animals that needed them... which would you choose?

You need the public to adopt your animals. Why would I walk in to adopt an animal from an agency that tells the public they're not responsible enough to take care of them? Why would I sit down with an adoptions staff that works for an organization that views the public - me - with disdain?

You need the public to volunteer for you, to help you care for your animals, to support you in public, support your mission and spread the word. Why would anyone want to even find out about your organization when you're telling them they can't be trusted?

We who work in, among, and with shelters need to be a part of putting this attitude to sleep - NOW - and we need to speak up and correct it when we hear it repeated. It is a poison among us, completely counterproductive to what we are trying to achieve, and it runs contrary to the attitudes we believe in as a No Kill Nation - No Kill communities are founded by people who love animals and believe not only that the public loves animals as well, but that engaging the public in the mission of saving animals is key to achieving No Kill.

"The truth is you cannot blame having to kill shelter animals on an “irresponsible public” or “too many animals” when a shelter doesn’t implement lifesaving and low cost programs. I personally witnessed missed opportunity after missed opportunity from alienating potential fosters to terrible customer service to rude behavior toward rescue groups. I heard the same stories from other volunteers. These were not isolated cases. These were failures of management and staff to do what they should be doing: saving lives."

- Jessica Reid, No Kill Louisville

[via]

Ride It Like You Stole It

Starbucks

My Fair Zombie

On Activism: Revision 1.1

Embrace radical transparency. Own your successes, but also own your mistakes. Admit to both.

Love.

If you believe in what you're saying, stand behind it. Do not allow yourself to be bullied or shouted down.

Take the time to celebrate your successes. Even small or incremental successes can help to build a great framework for the future. Similarly, carefully analyze and learn from your failures - they are also a part of that framework.

Be truthful. Be honest. Be respectful. Be polite. On the other side there is also a human being.

Be persistent.

Believe in yourself.

Communicate.

To speak is not enough; you must also lead by your actions. Be the change - in word and deed.

Be kind.

Be open. To possibility, to change, to debate, to discussion.

Embrace technology. We live in a golden age of mass communication, where free and inexpensive tools enable anyone and everyone to potentially reach millions in an instant. Experiment with new technologies. Keep what works.

Grasp the opportunity to educate. Reach the undecided with reason and intelligent persuasion.

Laugh. Often.

Ask questions. Think critically. Seek understanding. Educate and inform yourself. Be ready to have your mind changed.

Be calm, especially when there is chaos all around you.

Smile.

Be kind to yourself as well. It's easy to burn out. Know when to step away and rest yourself. There will be plenty to do when you get back.

Believe in, in the words of Lincoln, "the better angels of our nature".

What would you add? To be revised on an ongoing basis. I hope to eventually make it a poster.

Image: Banksy

Just Back!

I'm just back from this year's No Kill Conference, which was FANTASTIC - and I have SO many posts to write! Invigorating, inspiring, and a chance to meet and learn from some true heroes of the No Kill movement. A big thanks to everyone!

Wonderful Local Vets

I have sometimes used this space to take companies to task that have ripped me off or provided me with awful service (are you listening, games-stock.com?) but it's also important to recognize folks providing superior service in their communities, and I thought it was important to make this one a matter of public record and make sure The Google can find it forever.

One week ago, my beloved dog Jessie was the victim of an accidental poisoning. She was not badly symptomatic until nearly 72 hours after ingestion (which I did not know about) but once she became obviously symptomatic, they were very, very bad. When I took her out to use the bathroom in the morning she had more blood coming out of her than I have ever seen. Although I am traveling and away from my usual vet, I have a relationship with a nearby vet and called them immediately - they advised me to bring Jessie to a nearby emergency vet center, the VCA Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center of Norwalk, CT. Doing so saved her life.

We were seen within five minutes of walking in the front door. At the time I had no idea what had happened, but Dr. Ehrlich had some strong suspicions and her most likely guess was absolutely correct. They began treating Jessie immediately, as she was crashing and in grave danger of dying within the next 12 hours. There are vets in the building 24 hours, they continued to work to stabilize her throughout her first night there.

Dr. Ehrlich and the vet who took over the case on her days off, Dr. Mahlberg, were fantastic. They were communicative. They discussed options. They were up front about costs, risks, and the pros and cons of available approaches. They spent a lot of time with me and answered every question completely and with patience and respect. They called me every morning and evening to update me. Their staff tolerated my phone calls with friendliness, good humor and excellent service - and when I finally pieced together exactly what had happened, I was able to contact the overnight vet at 1am to let them know.

They're not cheap, which they were totally upfront about - but that kind of service is worth it and there are few facilities in the area capable of doing what they did for her, and they unquestionably saved her life. I wish most of my interactions in human medicine were so positive.