Cautious Optimism Concerning Larger No Kill Discussion
    "No Kill" needs more than rhetoric to be successful

    by Mike Fry

    On Animal Wise Radio, Nathan Winograd once said, "Just before no kill advocates cross the finish line to success, the nay sayers will grab the flag and carry it across themselves." As usual, he appears to be right.

    My email in-box has been overflowing with questions about a Star Tribune story regarding a new coalition being created by the Animal Humane Society with plans to take up the No Kill cause. This news clearly marks a seismic shift in the animal welfare community in Minnesota, which can only be seen as good news. However, any celebration needs to be balanced with some bit of healthy skepticism.

    I mean, lets be real: the Animal Humane Society has been Minnesota's most vocal opponent to no kill efforts in the State. They have stated that some no kill programs are illegal, when they are not. They have said that no kill amounts to "limited admission" when they know that is false. They have said that no kill simply means that others have to do the dirty work of killing animals, when they know that a true no kill effort is a community-wide effort. They have said these things all the while maintaining one of the highest kill rates in Minnesota.

    Now, suddenly, we are supposed to believe they are going to be the "leader" of the no kill movement in our state?

    AHS has no TNR program for feral cats. They have no low-cost spay/neuter program for owned pets in our area. They have, in fact, fought programs that offer these services in our community. Suddenly, they want to be the voice of no kill in Minnesota?

    Even more troubling is what has transpired shortly before this announcement. First and foremost, a series of articles, blog posts and comments have been published related to the recent killing of 130 cats that were originally reported to have been "rescued" from a mobile home in St. Anthony, Minnesota. AHS senior staff told media outlets they would keep the cats for weeks to evaluate their health and behavior status. However, news reports later confirmed the organization began killing the cats later the same day. Within 48 hours, they were all dead, in spite of offers for help that came from other organizations while the cats were still alive.

    Following that, a petition was started on the Internet, demanding the resignation of the CEO and COO of Animal Humane Society. Within a matter of days, the petition gained nearly 800 signatures.

    The announcement of this new coalition is made in this context, causing many people to wonder whether or not this new effort is more about marketing and PR than about animal welfare. These concerns are further exacerbated by reports from the participants themselves. Some have privately expressed concern that the rules surrounding the coalition prohibit them from talking about it publically. It seems the only person "authorized" to discuss this new effort is Janelle Dixon, the CEO of the Animal Humane Society.

    Perhaps even more troubling is an email that was recently sent to animal welfare advocates in Minnesota about this new initiative, which stated, in part, "please refrain from any public criticism of AHS". Doing so, it would seem, would violate the "ground rules" of this new effort.

    But, perhaps the most challenging news to absorb is this: this group plans to "discuss" no kill efforts for at least the next year. During that time, AHS is likely to unnecessarily kill tens of thousands of animals. In the meanwhile, a growing number of communities in the USA are proving that with a change of leadership, they can achieve no kill overnight. Literally overnight. We do not need to talk about it for another year. We need to get busy implementing the programs that have been documented and proven to achieve it. These programs have been known since the mid 1990's. Do we really need to wait another year? Do 16,000 animals need to lose their lives during that discussion?

    In the end, Animal Ark sees this announcement as good news. At least the conversation in Minnesota is changing. Without a doubt we will achieve no kill in the very near future. If AHS wants to claim credit for it, so be it. My question is this: do we really need to wait a year?
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    Comments from readers:
    On 05/19/2009 Mike Fry said: Excellent Point, Ellen

    Excellent point, Ellen,

    I will take it even one step farther and suggest that if AHS has a need for animals to go to rescue, they have a responsibility to reach out to those rescue groups. In my years of working in animal welfare in MN, I do not recall seeing a plea from AHS to local groups to please help take some animals. Never. Not once.

    On 05/18/2009 Ellen Weinstock said: rescue FROM the AHS?

    Shelly asks: "Have any of these rescues gone in and taken even 1 of the 200+ cats at AHS that need homes?"

    I don't understand the question - are you saying that cats need to be rescued FROM the AHS? Presumably, if they are on the adoption floor, they don't need to be "rescued." (We would hope so.) In fact, rescues all over the state bust their butts getting cats out of pounds and such. I'd like it if there were so few needing homes that shelters COULD rescue FROM the AHS, but it's not so. How would it help the community for rescues to take cats off the AHS adoption floor & let other cats die at the pound? (The St. Anthony cats were a special case, because there were so many of them coming in at once & other groups have feral cat expertise.)


    On 05/13/2009 AHS Volunteer said: Mary Mistaken

    I hate to have to correct you Mary, but AHS does have foster volunteers. I am one of them, and i also participated in Mission Meow last year (which is starting up again this year). And AHS does place some animals in other resuces- you can see a specific example of one on Home for Life's website, and i have also been on site when other groups are there to pick up animals (MNCRS, Second Chance, Chicken Run, etc). You can see a list of all the rescues they do work with on their website (as well as more info about Mission Meow). Also, i know in the past they have done adoption events at PetSmart, Petco, have housed cats at PetSmart, and done Mall adoption events at Har Mar and in Woodbury.
    I'm not saying they couldn't be doing a better job, but everyone needs to be careful about spreading mis-information- blanket statements like that only help to widen the rift within the MN animal welfare community

    On 05/12/2009 Mary said:

    Shelly - AHS does not currently work with rescue groups to help rehome cats or dogs, nor do they use foster homes, off site adoptions or advertising to help place animals in forever homes.

    On 05/12/2009 Shelly said: What about the other cats at AHS

    We keep hearing about what AHS did to the St Anthony cats and how rescues wanted to go in and save them...but what about all the OTHER cats at AHS? Have any of these rescues gone in and taken even 1 of the 200+ cats at AHS that need homes?

    On 05/10/2009 Amber said: See it to believe it

    Well, I feel bad not getting too excited yet, because I don't trust AHS. Not while Janelle is the leader. For so many years, the wool has been pullen over so many eyes because of PR and Marketing. I REALLY HOPE I am wrong, but I would have to see everything on a daily basis in those buildings to believe it.

    Taking a year to make a decision is AHS's way of doing everything. Again, I hope I am wrong, but would have to see this transformation to believe it. Come on Janlle prove us wrong!

    On 05/09/2009 mary said:

    You are correct Mike. I took a Pet Haven foster dog to the Humane Society to be spayed, it cost them $50. (surgeries take place in the garage in the nueter commuter) I was very surprised that they got such a good deal so I asked 3 other rescue groups if they knew about this program and they did not. Personally, if I were a rescue group and was getting this kind of deal I would make sure everyone else was aware of the program. What is also sad is that my low income neighbors can't afford to neuter there male cat that keeps getting outside and another neighbor thats female husky has not been spayed but gets out of the yard and gets pregnant. Seems to me a spay/neuter program could really make a dent in the feral over unwanted pet problem.

    On 05/07/2009 Mike Fry said: Answers to Mary's Questions

    Hi Mary,

    You ask some excellent questions. Animal Ark has not been invited to participate in this effort. It is worth pointing out that, to a large degree, this coalition is unnecessary. There is an existing coalition with functioning programs, including the Twin Cities Pet Fix, Feline Feral Friends, Wildcat Wednesdays and others.

    All of the members of this new coalition have been invited to participate in these programs. With the exception of the animal control organizations listed, none of the other groups listed have ever participated. Additionally, I do not believe the active members of the Homes For All Pets coalition have been invited to participate in this new effort.

    This certainly does raise questions of the credibility and purpose of this new effort.

    Perhaps more interesting: at least one of the "leaders" of this coalition - Pet Haven - has actively worked to take money out of the above listed programs. However, instead of offering these services themselves, they then refer clients needing things like spay/neuter assistance back to the Homes For All Pets partners. Here is a direct quote from their web site, as an example:

    I want to spay or neuter my pet but can't afford it. Can Pet Haven help?
    Pet Haven has been assisting families with the cost of spaying and neutering pets for several years. At this time, however, the program is temporarily suspended while we seek new veterinary partners to provide the surgeries. We will resume our spay/neuter subsidies very soon. In the meantime, please contact Feline Rescue at info@felinerescue.org (651.642.5900) or Animal Ark at Animal_Ark@animalark.eapps.com (651.772.8983) for assistance with spaying and neutering.

    It is worth pointing out that this has been the status for an extended period of time.

    In other words, rather than working within the coalition that already exists to help fund these services, they choose to take funding from these programs, but then refer the actual work back to Homes For All Pets partners.

    There a many serious questions that should be raised at this town hall meeting. Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend due to a prior commitment. However, I strongly believe that people interested in ending the unnecessary killing of animals in our community attend if they are able to.

    On 05/07/2009 Mary said: I would like to point out

    The mission statement is worded very carefully: "To unite Minnesota animal welfare organizations and engage the community to ensure a home for every healthy and treatable companion animal in Minnesota"

    Notice the part for every healthy and treatable animal.. This is the problem. Please define what constitutes healthy and treatable. We know what AHS did with the St Anthony cats...

    So, who's going to the meeting? Lets ALL go!

    On 05/07/2009 Mary said:

    I'm curious if they - "the coalition" has reached out to local rescue groups to ask them to participate? Mike, was Animal Ark asked to be involved?

    On 05/07/2009 Annetta Cepek said:

    There is a town hall meeting next Saturday about this. It looks like there are 2 email links for questions..one for Dixon and the other for a Pethaven Rep.

    It was just a few weeks ago that Dixon was adamently against No-Kill...

    Anyway..lets go to this meeting if we can. Mike? Will you be there?

    Saturday, May 9th Noon- 1 pm Calvary Lutheran Church Room N203 7520 Golden Valley Road

    On 05/07/2009 dawn said: if this is really true..........

    it would be an answer to a prayer. but I can't help but think that Janelle Dixon is just trying to cover her own butt and make herself come out smelling like a rose when we all know the truth about what she does with the animals in her charge. Perhaps she is starting to feel the the heat re her latest decisions especially the st anthony cats. time and uncaring decision making is starting to catch up with her and i'm willing to bet my favorite pooper scooper that she is running scared. about time! the best thing that could happen to the MN AHS is for her and henchmen to resign and let someone who truly loves and cares about animals take over the reign. We need no-kill in Mn but we don't need Dixon and her killing army.