August 15, 2010Comments are closed.resistance, shelter procedure
In the past pounds and shelter defended the killing of healthy, friendly and treatable pets by claiming they weren’t really ‘killing’ at all… instead they used words like ‘putting to sleep’ and ‘euthanasia’ to describe the acceptance that pets would die at the hands of those who claimed to be working to care for them.
Modern rescue has moved beyond the idea that it is appropriate for those in animal welfare to gloss over the killing of an animal for convenience. The term ‘putting to sleep’ is insulting to our community and ‘euthanasia’ is a misnomer when referring to an animal that is anything but untreatably sick. By reclaiming our role as life savers and recognising each and every death is a profound failure on the part of those offering a safety net for animals, we begin to innovate and find ways to save their lives.
However, while some are working to change the future for animals, some of those deemed to be our shelter ‘leaders’ disgrace our industry by continuing to defend killing and hide behind euphemisms.
“Well for starters, the kill rate is something that I don’t use, I use the euthanasia rate.
If you talk about kill rates, I think the figure, I don’t like the term.”
Dr Graeme Smith, Managing Director, Lost Dogs Home – MTR Radio
Dr Smith then outlines the following figures for February (this year);
983 dogs and puppies admitted
596 reclaimed by their owners
166 adopted
216 killed
So of the 382 dogs who need shelter and treatment in the month, over 56% of them are killed. More than one killed for every one saved. Which would be awful for any pound. Except…
The Lost Dogs Home is not a council pound. They’re acting as one certainly; picking up valuable pound contracts by tendering to councils to take over their animal services. But they are in fact a private charity organisation with absolutely no obligation at all to take on more animals than they can reasonably save.
What’s more the resources of the local community are blocked by the monopoly of the ‘super pound’ in North Melbourne. By releasing these pound contracts, other community animal welfare groups could get off the ground and start to take on the responsibility for saving the lives of these pets.
The community rejects killing as a method of animal management. The Managing Director of the Lost Dogs Home is still killing and defending killing by calling it something other than killing. This discrepancy between the public’s expectations and the performance of management means something has to give. Those fighting for the animals will not be silenced.
