It’s a great word isn’t it? Misanthrope
mis·an·thrope
–noun
a hater of humankind.
One of the things that most attracted me to the No Kill movement, was the idea that we should be challenging those things we think to be true by taking in and observing the success of others. But one of the hurdles to a No Kill future that Nathan Winograd touches on in Redemption, is the resistance he encountered when trying to bring the successes he was having in saving lives, to those with the entrenched views of the industry;
Chief among these precepts was that (shelters) were required to kill the bulk of the animals because there were simply “too many animals and not enough homes.” This view, a gospel upon which the bedrock of animal sheltering depended, was a truth so ingrained, it was simply beyond question.
A corollary of that governing principle was that the public, in failing to have their animals neutered and, subsequently, failing to make a lifetime commitment to them by surrendering them to shelters, was to blame for this sorry state of affairs.
As a result, shelters – through no fault of their own – were merely performing the public’s dirty work.
Even when it was able to be demonstrated that clever adoption strategies, outreach and community supporting programs could actually save all healthy, treatable pets, a burning resentment of the public meant these techniques were dismissed. Shelters were unable to believe their own communities were as equally kind and compassionate as the ones Nathan was working with.
This is actually pretty common in animal rescuing circles. Check out this video of a lady who has just watched an hour long presentation from Director of Animal Services for Calgary, Bill Bruce, who has taken his community to No Kill:
Each time she speaks, she tries to uses a stereotype she holds about her community, as a deflection of the ideas she’s hearing. Her own community is too diverse, too culturally various, too ignorant, too poor, too rural, too far behind, to ever see the same success that Bill has achieved in his community.
It’s misanthropy at work; the cynical belief that our community is the exception; they’re simply too (uncaring, dumb, uneducated, cruel) to ever be the responsible pet owners we need them to be. And it’s not just restricted to the Canadians.
Misanthropes are spreading the same poisonous attitudes here in Australia.
Rather than embrace the community and offer support and assistance to struggling owners, the Cat Crisis Coalition is seeking legislation that makes desexing mandatory. Even when presented with evidence that their community is overwhelmingly responsible and that cost is the largest barrier to compliance. Even when its shown that this kind of legislation actually targets the disadvantaged and increases cat impoundment and killing… they seek this legislation to target their ‘irresponsible public’. Why?
Because misanthropes can only feel right, after everyone else has been proven wrong. It’s not about efficacy, it’s about punishment. It’s not about solutions, but a desire to shame, blame and judge.
When an animal rescuer presented at a conference last year, claiming she was a fan of compulsory desexing for “twenty years and I’ll be it for twenty more”, she revealed the huge problem that misanthropes cause to the world of animal rescue. If the information you’re working with is decades old and has been tried without success, someone with normal drives would be constantly adapting, learning and evolving. However, this drive to discipline people for their supposed wrong doings, leaves misanthropes struggling to embrace new ideas when they require team work, not retribution.
I was sent this email in response to a piece on marketing for cat groups on this blog:
Just because your stats look good for rehoming animals does not mean they all ended up with good people. Some of these poor kittens end up being given to snakes and pit bulls! I work in a prison where I encounter inmates non stop that have been convicted of animal cruelty. If someone answers an advert for a free cat or kitten they don’t have psychopath written all over their forehead! They look like you and me! There has also been an increase in children being horrendously cruel to their pets.
I work on the frontline rescuing cats and I am fed up with people dumping cats because they can’t afford vet fees! Or dumping litters of kittens over and over because they won’t get their female cat desexed! Or they have decided to move to a unit they purchased and they can’t take their cat they have had for 12 years! Or they have a large disposable income yet want a desexing voucher! My elderly mother adopted a cat that had been abandoned because it had a terrible rash!
I am deeply disturbed that you are more focused on marketing pets rather than promoting responsible ownership! People talk about the cats and kittens we have advertised like they are buying a new piece of furniture. It is very distressing. It is well know that these are the most likely people to dump their pets when the novelty wears off. In addition, the animals are being treated like they are disposable items like handbags. This is not what the no kill movement promotes!
It’s not rational to think the public are animal torturers and psychopaths and are representative of your community. It’s not helpful to think someone giving up a pet because they can’t afford vet fees or they’ve lost their house is irresponsible. And it’s really shooting ourselves in the foot to think of smart marketing and responsible pet placement as somehow contrary aims.
We have to ask ourselves; does the misanthrope tendency to reject the idea that the majority of Australia’s are kind, pet lovers, causing unnecessary death in our shelters? If people are considered guilty until proven innocent, how does that mistrust effect our interactions with them?
The misanthrope badge of ‘us’ against ‘them’ continues to see us fumble and fail. It’s time we put this kind of thinking behind us, banish it to the history books and start to love our public.
