KC DOG BLOG

Recreating the wheel - very good sentences from the Book Little Boy Blue

A couple of weeks ago, I review Kim Kavin's book, Little Boy Blue. You can read my entire review here.

However, there is a really great section of the book that I wanted to highlight because I found it, and Kim's handling of the issue, interesting.

Later in the book, Kavin explores the juxtoposition between some more progressive shelters in the Northeast to a few of the high-kill shelters in the South. And she specifically talks about how North Shore Animal League (and Northeast Animal League) grew into being major adoption centers.

In the section, she highlights an article written about Alexander Lewyt by the Wall Street Journal in 1975. The section talks about how Lewyt worked to run the rescue like it was a corporation, not just a rescue -- and I think Kavin's words, and the WSJ story, are pretty eye opening. The section begins talking about a mailing that Lewyt wrote to raise funds for the organization:

"The mailing brought in $11,000, which is the equivalent to about $67,000 today. Within the next 5 years, the shelter's staff grew from one to twenty-five employees, its hours of peration increased to every day of the year and its advertising budget alone was earmarked at $50,000 (about $125,000 in current dollars). That's why The Wall Street Journal had taken notice. Lewyt was running the shelter as if it were a corporation -- work he would continue until his death in 1988. 'We have the same concept as bringing any product to the public,'' Lewyt told the Journal in 1975. 'We have receivables, our inventories. And if the product doesn't move, we have a promotion...Most animal shelters are run by well-intentioned people who don't know anything about fund-raising or running the place like a business. The only reason they don't go broke is that a little old lady dies every year and leaves them something'...

Later, Kavin concludes:

"It's incredibly frustrating that shelters with kill rates as high as the one in Person County even exist, especially since the road map for giving every possible dog a home has been available in print since at least 1975, since the day the Wall Street Journal printed an article about Alexander Lewyt that so inspired Cindi Shapiro" (Shapiro later founded Northeast Animal Shelter in Massachusetts after reading the WSJ article). "In that article Lewyt tals about how whe can find a home for virtually any animal, even ones who are blind, deaf, or missing a leg. He told the newspaper that the "unadoptable" dogs simply need to be treated as special cases and marketed in a way that makes their disadvantages seem like attributes."

Try as I might, I was unable to find the article from 1975 that Kavin refers to online (yes, I realize the internet really didn't exist in 1975, but I hoped it had been reposted somewhere). But I think it's very interesting how long a road map for success has been around. The idea that running a shelter like a business, with real Profit/Loss data is not new. The idea that in business terms, shelter animals are "inventory" that need to be adopted out to make room for new inventory daily is essential is not new. And the diea that marketing and promotions can help move these animals out into homes is not new. These ideas have been around for 35 years -- and yet, so few shelters still think of it this way (and sometimes it's even considered taboo to think of animals as "inventory"). Yet, this approach has been successful, over and over again.

Thanks to Kavin for highlighting this story, and for pointing out the disconnect that even 35 years later, how disappointing it is that there are a lot of shelters that still haven't learned from the success of others.

Book Review: Little Boy Blue

  Little Boy Blue is a book that I haven't really heard a lot of people talking about, but I happened to see a copy of it at Barnes and Noble a couple of months ago, and the cover, and story were intriguing, so I thought I'd pick up a copy.

The book is the story about a dog named Blue (the cute pup pictured). Blue was adopted by the author, Kim Kavin, from a rescue in New Jersey. However, when Kavin began asking questions about the history of Blue, she began to uncover a story of a world she wasn't aware of.

Kavin meets the rescue people she adopted from; the woman who fostered her dog after saving it from a high kill shelter in North Carolina. She visits that shelter (Person County Animal Control in North Carolina), and learns a lot along the way.

During the route, she uncovers that the shelter Blue was pulled from was a shelter that killed more than 90% of the animals that came into it. And not only did they kill them, they did so via the gas chamber - a topic she tackles extensively in the book.

I think the meeting of the shelter director at Person County Animal Control is particularly interesting -- as she meets the man who had a childhood dream of being an animal control officer, and yet ran a shelter where more than 90% of the animals in his "care" were killed. In spite of this, the director was proud of his operation, in spite of the reality that they didn't take photos of their animals to promote them for adoption, are only open from 9-4 Monday through Friday while most people are at jobs or the fact that they didn't bother to even manage a Facebook page to promote animals in need.

Blue's foster, the woman who saved Blue's life, is an intersting story as well. When Kavin visited her home, the rescuer was "caring for" nearly 30 dogs that she had rescued and was fostering - -showing a bit of a shady light on some of the rescuers like thos we've all met -- who are saving lives, but not always by the prettiest means.

She dived into transport groups that ship animals from southern shelters up North where there is more demand. And even uncovers the world of low cost spay/neuter programs, including those that are done in mobile vehicles that serve rural populations in North Carolina.  She also dives into particular realities of major national organizations sometimes not being as helpful as their resources would allow when it comes to solving problems on the ground-level. Kavin also discusses her first experiences with fostering, and the both the joy and sadness that comes with finding a home for one of your fosters.

As for the elimination of gas chambers, Kavin uncovers that opponents of banning gas chambers come in all forms -- including the Farm Bureaue, American Kennel Club, and various hunting and breeding groups who fear the "slippery slope" of more legislation telling them what they can and cannot do.

She also covers fairly extensively the success of rescue organizations like North Shore Animal League (NY) and Northeast Animal Shelter (MA) that are promoting adoptable animals, have evening and weekend hours to be more convenient to adopters and ultimately, saving lives. She also touches on the frustration that is often caused when organizations like these ship in highly adoptable animals from southern shelters while local area shelters continue to kill animals in their shelters (a topic I will cover more at some other point).

In highlighting the difference between shelters like Northeast Animal Shelter and public facilities like Person County, an NAS employee notes: "The mind-set in a lot of these shelters is not to rescue. It's to kill. It's the dogs that are a problem and the job is to eliminate the problem."

Overall, I have mixed feelings about the book. On one hand, I have to confess that the book wasn't written for people like me as the intended target. I often found myself frustrated with her "discovery" of things like gas chambers, low cost spay/neuter clinics, transport groups, etc in the "HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW THIS?" sort of way.

While I think there are times when the book is on target, I have a whole host of issues with the book. In many instances Kavin seems to, instead of relying on research, fall into the trap of repeating urban legends and perpetuating mis-information that exists in animal welfare. In one section she begins to perpetuate the mythology of bait dogs in dog fighting, the idea that dog fighters might pose as rescues in order to obtain dogs for fighting or bait, and that dog fighters might make a a common practice of "buying" fighting dogs from shelters.  In another section she promotes the idea of mandatory spay/neuter ordinances nationally (which tend to cause more harm than good), and then reports that "I have seen no evidence, with any dogs I've known, that spaying and neutering changes a dog's personality or causes him health problems" -- but then notes that this is based on very annecdotal evidence of just 3 dogs. While the science on this one is a bit up in the air (the best science thus far does not prove a causal relationship) her commentary is a bit wreckless based on annecdotal information of a tiny sample set.

In the end, I realize there are a lot of people like Kavin who are unfamiliar with what many of the readers of this blog deal with every day -- and in that, Kavin tells the story of canine rescue in a compelling way that will help others undertstand the story and hopefully become involved (and she provides a list of ways to get involved at the end of the book). And even though I think she at times misleads people with incorrect information, her storytelling that allows others to get involved in the rescue community probably do far more good than harm to the movement.

But at the end of the day it's the story about a dog, and a woman's love for her dog, and how the love for this dog inspired her to learn his story. I think through the story there are some hits and misses,  but the storytelling offers an outsider perspective offers a fair amount of insight as to how the general population will respond to certain aspects of rescue -- both good, and bad.

She also dares to ask some questions that I think, if the public knew what was going on, would be asking too.

Like:

How many billions of dollars doled out to American shelters each year are being spent on gas chambers instead of digital photographs?

How widespread is this problem of gas chambers, in a nation where more than half the pet owners surveyed say they call themselves mommy and daddy? Kavin later determines that around $15 million a year in taxpayer fund is spent nationally in operating gas chambers).

How on earth did we get to this point, of the lucky few like Blue being snatched from the brink of death while the masses are killed every day?

If so many people are dog lovers like me, how did the system get so warped and dysfunctional in so many places?

In her final analyis, Kavin does provide some really good insight into the animal welfare world as an outsider. She discusses the idea of people fighting for the elimination of gas chambers (something that should have been done decades ago) and notes:

"Just as paralyzing to me is the realization that, instead of working primarily to save the lives of healthy, adoptable puppies and dogs, so many people have to fight to ensure that they at least die peacefully, without pain and torture. That certain regions of the United States continue to arge about gas chambers vs lethal injection, well, to me, that's just ridiculous. The conversation should long ago have moved on to how best we can find homes for dogs like Blue while enhancing spay and neuter operations -- not remain stuck in the mire of the least offensive way to kill them en masse." 

And in the end, I think this is an idea we can all agree on.

Book Review: I'm a Good Dog: Pit Bulls, America's Most Beautiful and Misunderstood Pet

Over the weekend, I got the opportunity to attend, and present at, Best Friends' No More Homeless Pets Conference in Las Vegas. I'll be posting some thoughts from the conference later in the week as I work through articulating the stream of thoughts that have come from the conference.

While I was there, I was very happy to get the opportunity to buy an early copy of Ken Foster's new book "I'm a good dog: Pit Bulls, America's Most Beautiful (and Misunderstood) Pet.

I had the pleasure of meeting Foster about 5 years ago -- when he was on tour for his book "The Dogs Who Found Me, what I've learned from the pets who were left behind". In the book, Foster lays out sometimes humorous, and sometimes sad, stories about the dogs that have found him in life. Over time, Foster has become a founder of the Sula Foundation, a pit bull advocacy (and sometimes rescue) group in New Orleans.

So, I was thrilled to be able to pick up a copy of Foster's new work.  And it didn't disappoint.

The book is a short read as it's only about 140 pages long and contains more than 80 photos. But I think the impact of the book will be pretty significant.

The book is broken into four chapters -- with many outstanding images along the way and often interupted with stories of pit bulls owned by celebrities, or in pop culture, or those that have influenced other advocates throughout the country.

In Chapter 1, Foster makes an attempt to define 'pit bull' -- not the easiest task in the world. Foster acknowledges that the definition changes depending on who you ask: from very narrow definitions from breed enthusiasts that refer to "pit bulls' as only purebred American Pit Bull Terriers to broader definitions that include 3 or four breeds of dogs and then on to very broad definitions, sometimes even used in a legal tense, of any dog that physically resembles a pit bull. He attempts to give the history of the breeds (again, something that has variable answers depending on your source) to help define the dogs.

In Chapter 2, Foster talks about Pit Bulls as family, and introduces us to several families he's met over the years whose dogs have very much become part of their family. Foster also notes that the ideas of pit bulls as family is not new -- and takes us through many historical photos depicting pit bull type dogs in family photos that would indicate that they were, even 150 years ago, often considered family.

Chapter 3, Foster entitles "The Comeback". Earlier in the book, Foster laments that this is a book he wanted to write many years earlier, but there was no interest from publishers to do so. However, I'm glad he had to wait, because much of this chapter largely wouldn't have existed 5 years ago. The chapter talks about dogs rescued from Hurricane Katrina -- and how the majority of all the animals saved in Katrina were pit bulls. In Foster's opinion (and it's one I tend to agree with), Katrina exposed pit bull typed dogs to rescuers from throughout the country who, up to that time, had had little to no exposure to the breed. He thinks it was then, that perceptions of the dogs among animal advocates began to change.

Then, a short time later, you had the dog fighting bust at Bad Newz Kennels. With Mike Vick's arrest putting the dogs in a higher profile, several organizations reached out to see if authorities would allow the dogs to be temperament tested to possibly allow for their release. The release of the dogs, and the reality that nearly all were allowed to go to rescue and many to re-enter public life, and the media publicity that followed, helped to elevate "pit bulls' back to the roll as a beloved dog in American Culture again.

Throughout the chapter, Foster focuses on several dogs that have been rescued from dog fighting rings across the country over the last 5 years.

In Chapter 4, Foster looks at pit bulls in the community. He discusses pit bulls as working dogs, both now, and historically. He looks at dogs that help children with their reading skills, as therapy dogs, as dogs that help soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Disc Dogs, Agility Dogs, show dogs, celebrity dogs and dogs that simply live in our communities and live their lives mostly on the couch.

For regular readers of this blog, you will probably not see a lot of new information in this book, but you'll likely love the stories he tells, and how he combines those stories into a larger narative of pit bulls. You'll definitely see familiar faces, like Wallace, and Leo, and hear from familiar voices. But while the book may have been written for the many of us that celebrate, and love, pit bulls, I don't know that that is where the book will have its biggest impact.

"Does the fact that people question our pit bull love make it that much more intense? Possibly -- because in the case of Sula, I know that I saved her life, and despite what some people say, saving an animal's life is never a selfless act; there are huge emotional rewards. Like all forbidden love, from Romeo and Juliet on down the line, each time anyone questions or disapproves of our love, we defiantly love each other even more than before." -- Ken Foster -- from the Forward.

So go out and get a copy of the book - and you may think about buying multiple copies as gifts for your pit bull loving friends, or your family that just doesn't understand why you love the dogs so much.

 

 

Weekend reading material

Looking forward to reading Wallace's new book this weekend.

A review will come as soon as I'm done, but I expect it to be pretty good. Jim Gorant is a very good writer, and Wallace is a very interesting subject.

If you done know about Wallace, Wallace was a pit bull that was rescued by Roo and Clare Yori. Wallace was very high-energy, and in an effort to burn off the excess energy, Roo took to tossing frisbies to him to catch.

The end result was several Disc Dog championship trophies including a world championship.

I've been lucky to see Roo and Wallace in action a few times and it truly was incredible.

Read more about the book, and catch a great video of the two in action, check out the book's website, here.

Book Review: When you have to say goodbye: loving and letting go of your pet

Last fall, I got a copy of a new book written by Dr. Monica Mansfield DVM entitled "When you have to say goodbye: Loving and Letting go of your pet."

The book is a 30 page, fully illustrated children's book that is designed to help children deal with the loss of a loved pet.

Losing a pet is a difficult experience for anyone -- but can be exceptionally difficult for children. This book is designed to help children cope with the loss.

This isn't a book about rainbow bridges.  It's' about explaining that pets die earlier than humans -- and sometimes there are diseases that veterinarians can't cure, and times when a pet's body just stops working.

It's about understanding that it's ok to cry, or even feel angry.  But that it's important for children to talk about their feelings, and how things like writing poems, drawing pictures, or writings stories or looking at pictures of your pet will help you remember the good times with your pet, or making a picture, or a special place for your pet's favorite toys, or planting a flower in your yard can help a child honor and remember your pet.

You can get more info about the book, author and illustrator and the book's website.

It's a cute book that, although I'm not a parent, I think could help a child deal with a very difficult experience in a child's life. The book sells on Amazon for $8.95 -- and I think would be a great addition for any veterinarian office or for a family that is dealing with the loss of a pet. As pets continue to become closer and closer to family members, this is a book that I think will provide value for many families for years to come.

The significance of the upcoming new book, "Why Dogs Die Young"

Several months ago, I got the opportunity to attend a presentation by author Ted Kerasote -- who is the author of New York Times Best Seller Merle's Door.  During Kerasote's presentation, he talked quite a bit about his upcoming new book "Why dogs die young" that is due out in Fall of 2012. 

Not only did I find what Kerasote had to say about the research he found for his book interesting, I also think it has the potential to have a dramatic effect on the animal sheltering community.

Last week, Kerasote did an interview with Dr. Karen Becker describing many of the topics that are in the book: Links will be below. While I obviously haven't read the book (since it's not available yet), there are several key topics that came out during the interview, and in the presentation that I attended that I think could dramatically impact animal welfare in the US for years to come.

Kerasote began writing the book after he toured around the country talking about his book Merle's Door. In his conversations with many pet owners, he heard a lot of stories about people who's pets died at a young age and everyone was saddened that they couldn't get just a little more time with their beloved pet.

So Kerasote began researching why dogs in other countries lived longer than ones in the United States, and some of his findings will challenge a lot of long-held notions we have in this country. Here are a few of the factors he discusses in the book (and the interview):

Spay/Neuter

One of the primary findings in Kerasote's research is that terilization has a significant impact on both the endocrine and immune systems in dogs. There is also mounting evidence that sterilization leads to early death, increased incidence of ACL injuries, certain types of cancers and a wealth of other types of issues. 

Certainly this passes the "sniff test" of logic, as it only makes sense that removing major hormone-producing organs, especially at an early age, can have a significant impact on overall health -- and Kerasote does a good job of laying out this information.

Obviously, any kick-back against spay/neuter could have a dramatic impact on dog population over time.  Kerasote is not oblivious to this and the problems facing shelters right now. He does provide a viable alternative in the form of recommending tubal ligations and vasectomies instead of the more intrusive spay/neuter as a form of birth control. Unfortunately, in talking to all 26 veterinary teaching colleges in the US, not a single one of them teaches these surgeries. When he asked them if they were open to changing, he asked back "are you invested in having fewer unwanted puppies?  Or are you invested in spaying and neutering?

There are still problems with the tubal ligations for some shelters and pet owners (not all are equipped to deal with a dog in heat), but I certainly think that as more research is done about the health impacts of spay/neuter (particularly juvenile spay/neuter), it is well worth exploring viable alternatives.

Breeding

Karesote also discusses how American ideals on spay/neuter have led people down the road of linking unaltered dogs to poor education about dog ownership. The net result is that most people do alter their pets.  However, he reasons that because most people alter their pets, dogs have to come from somewhere (ie, dogs somewhere have to breed), and that we've essentially narrowed the canine gene pool in this country to include a lot of health problems that decrease longevity in dogs. Karesote notes that if dogs have to breed to have more dogs, it is important to discuss how do we do this in the best way possible?  The answer isn't necessarily insisting on altering every genetically healthy dog.

Vaccinations

In Karesote's presention in Kansas City, he noted the HUGE number of vaccinations his dog Merle received during his lifetime. He notes that there is a health impact of over-vaccinating dogs and that we should make steps to only do those that are absolutely necessary. I'm still amazed at the number of cities that mandate by law that dogs get over-vaccinated (there are a few cities in our metro area that still require an annual rabies vaccine even though 3 year vaccines have been around for years and many veterinarians think that vaccine may last up to 5-7 years). Boarding facilities are also very bad about requiring over-vaccination.

Nutrition

Based on his research, Kerasote has strong recommendations about diet and isn't a fan of most processed foods (most of which are way too high in carbohydrates vs the high-protein diet dogs do better on).  There has been a movement recently to higher-quality packaged foods, and also a movement that more people are cooking at home for their dogs, and I expect this trend to continue.

No Kill

Interestingly, in a second part of the interview with Dr. Becker, Kerasote does seem to talk a bit about the No Kill Movement. He doesn't really call it by name in the interview (which I think is interesting), but notes that the notion that we should quit killing dogs in shelters is a growing zeitgeist -- and while some communities are doing better at this than others, the overall feeling that we should stop killing shelter animals is there. Dr. Becker also notes that the successful communities have been replicated in other areas....so it is not a flash in the pan.

Kerasote notes that the problem doesn't seem to be that there aren't enough adopters, but that shelters have not been successful in matching up the right dogs with the right owners.  This isn't something he talked about when he was in Kansas City, so I am interested in reading more about this in the book.

Conclusion

I'm excited for this book to come out. I think Kerasote will provide an interesting perspective on many of the topics that are not terribly honestly discussed in the animal welfare community. While these topics are not new, particularly on the spay/neuter  and breeding topics, the conversation has really only existed in small pockets in the breeding and veterinary communities and have oft been dismissed by the animal welfare community because they felt a) the sources were biased and b) they think talking about them hurts their mission in trying to prevent shelter killing.

I also think some of the findings wil have an impact on city governments, who too often have mandated things like vaccinations and spay/neuter that have a negative impact on canine health.

Kerasote seems to be an unbiased party in this -- and seems to only care about the well-being fo dogs.  Whether you agree with his positions on these topics is somewhat irrelevant.  He is a NY Times Bestselling author, and him bringing these ideas to the forefront will make them part of the conversation and change people's mindsets.

It will force us to have the conversation about what is truth, and what are alternatives.

This doesn't have to hurt the rescue mission (and I'm excited by the prospects of him discussing the no kill movement in some form in the book). It just may change the way we handle thinks like sterilization, and breeding, moving forward. 

For more:

Kerasote's interview with Dr. Becker on spay/neuter and breeding (along with Dr. Becker's written overview) -- the radio interview itself is about 15 minutes long.

Part 4 of the interview with Dr. Becker -- where Kerasote talks about animal sheltering, No Kill and dog friendly communities (this interview portion is about 6 minutes long).

Kerasote's web page that discusses the book (with a lot of links to other information).

Hat tip to Time 4 Dogs who pointed me to the interview.

A Lawyer's Guide to Dangerous Dog Issues

I'm traveling this week -- so I'm a little behind on posting. In the meantime, I wanted to pass along some information on a book that I'm pretty excited about.

The book is "A Lawyer's Guide to Dangerous Dog Issues".

The book is edited by Joan Schaffner, a nationally respected expert on animal law and an associate professor at the George Washington University Law School and founder of the school's Animal Law Program.  I got the opportunity to meet Schaffner at the No Kill Conference back in May and have been excited about this book coming out ever since.

The book takes a really close look at the topic of the law and "dangerous" dogs -- a quickly growing field in law. As communities and governments struggle to address public safety in the wake of the growing media coverage of dogs attacks, they are often looking at legislation and ways to define dogs that are dangerous. It addresses questions like, is breed discrimination immoral? Unjust? Ineffective?  And what other solutions are all of those, if any? 

The book provides progressive approaches to address the concerns of wreckless dog owners and provides strategies for defending dangerous dog cases. It should be a good resource for governments and legal and private associations on handling this emerging field of law.

Writers of the book include: Ledy Van Kavage of Best Friends Animal Society; Michelle Welch, assistant attorney general of the state of Virginia; David Furlow, Houston; Marcy LaHart, West Palm Beach FL; Professor Bernard Rollin, Colorado State University, and Professor Larry Cunningham, St. John's University School of Law.

In seven chapters, these experts from around the nation will consider key topics including:

-- An overview of ordinances targeting reckles owners

-- The concept of canine profiling

-- The Constitutionality of breed-specific legislation

-- Enforcing and defending dangerous dog laws

-- Information on dangerous dog registries and hearings

Other topics include the use of witnesses including victims, animal control officers, physicians and animal behaviorists and a primer on homewners' insurance and dog owners.

The book is sponsored by the American Bar Association -- so a trustworthy source on the topic of all things legal. I'm really excited about this book coming out.

A bit of a warning, the book does come with a healthy price tag of $79.95...but I do think it will be worth it for people who are involved in working with city legislation on canine laws.

Hopefully I'll get a copy soon and be able to give a full-on review -- but it you get to it first, please feel free to send me your reviews.

In seven chapters,