January 18, 2009Comments are closed.No Kill, shel
Saving Pets blog turns 1 today!
Looking back to that very first post (WA) Cat, cats everywhere!! (two exclamations, not just one :) it was easy to see that I was needing some sort of an outlet. Now, I see that starting to blog was about getting the jumble of information I had in my head organised into some sort useful personal reference… I had no idea that I’d still be here a year later!
Then along came Redemption and I found myself nodding along yes! yes! yes! It’s the first book I’ve ever actually highlighted paragraphs of, and by the time I was finished it was full of those little sticky notes. That much thumbed copy has now gone to a new home, because I was lucky enough to b given a lovely new one with Nathan’s signature and the words;
Never doubt we’ll succeed.
And you know what? I don’t doubt we’ll succeed. No Kill isn’t just about shelters – it’s about whole communities. I’ve always believed the answer was to remove this enormous chasm of ‘us’ and ‘them’ between us and our public and instead see ourselves as a resource for pet lovers.
No Kill isn’t just about whether or not to kill an animal that we have in a shelter – it’s about implementing programs that stop pets becoming homeless in the first place. It’s about making desexing free to everyone who can’t afford it. It’s about respecting feral cats rights to live as part of the environment. It’s about giving up on stupid laws that pit good pet owners against animal agencies and realise compliance comes with education and support. And its about realising that we’ll always need shelters to care for the animals of people in trouble and those who genuinely don’t care and no amount of legislation will ever change that and that that’s ok – that’s what shelters are for.
No Kill is about proactive rehoming; getting pets where the people are and removing arbitrary hurdles to adoption. It’s about advertising pets in clever ways. It’s about realising that the people who want a pet will get a pet and since we have skills and experience that can help them chose the right pet and be better pet people… so we should want them to get their pet from us.
But mostly, it’s about treating the public like a valuable resource and not like some sort of an inconvenience, opening our minds to their innovations and asking them for support. With the help of our communities there is no limit to what we can achieve. My favourite post of the year; How to start a fan club, was really about embracing the idea that the public was a resource that we could be tapping into. While it focussed on donations, it’s just as relevant for adoptions, volunteers and creating a team of evangelists to help us spread our message of compassion and responsible pet ownership. The most powerful tool for change we have is our supporters.
No Kills is a lot of things that are putting us on the path to a future where pets aren’t killed for population control. And it’s very exciting that it’s just around the corner… never doubt we’ll succeed.
Thanks for reading and for all the comments and emails of support. It’s really appreciated :)
xx
:)shel
