Criticisms vs solutions -- regarding but not specifically related to Fayetteville, NC

Last week, news came out about an animal control board meeting in Fayetteville, NC. On the table for the meeting, is a proposal that the Cumberland County animal shelter would cease to adopt out Rottwielers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Pit Bulls, Chow Chows, Presa Canarios and any mixes of those breeds.  The shelter would hold the animals for the mandatory 72 hours and then tkill them.

According numbers supplied by the shelter, since April, the shelter has taken in 180 Rottweilers and only 26 have been adopted. Of the 96 Chow Chows brought in, only 15 have been adopted.

The news led a lot of people to send a LOT of emails to the Cumberland County officials -- and the animal control Director, Dr. John Lauby, has sent several people a canned reply where more details are given.

In the note, he says that while he's been director, adoptions have increased from 700 a year to over 2000 a year -- and to date, they have taken in more than 1200 pit bulls, and adopted out only 124.  He seems to not want to implement this policy, but is at his wits end about what to do.

And yet, many of the posts I continue to see, focus on criticizing them for the proposed policy (which is justified), but few that I have seen  have offered solutions. I have seen a lot of this lately. Social media and the internet have made it very easy for people to shoot off emails criticizing people for their actions and to openly criticize organizations.  But in some situations, some people just really need honest solutions for their problems.  I think it's really important for advocates to understand the difference. When people are actively looking for solutions -- to provide helpful, proven solutions, rather than just blanket criticsm and when people are just idiots, calling them to the carpet for that. 

I had a really great person email me this week who had a conversation with Dr. Lauby -- and wanted some thoughts on how to improve their situation. So, I provided some thoughts that hopefully they will consider.  Here is a slightly edited version of my email in response -- which I hope shows an attempt to help provide a different solution -- vs just criticizing the one they came up with:

Obviously it is difficult to give a solid solution without having a bit more data, but at least it's good that they're looking for solutions.
 
First, it's important fro them to realize that the 'solution' that they're proposing here is actually going to make the situation worse, not better. Evidenced by the large number of pit bulls coming into the shelter, they are very popular dogs in the area (as they are most places). Not allowing the dogs to be adopted from the shelter will only INCREASE the demand for bred dogs of these breeds -- because there will be no other place to get them. The last thing they want to do is encourage more breeding of dogs that are already in large supply at the shelter.
 
Now, this is where not having a lot of information on the area hurts. But at first glance, 1200 'pit bulls' in the shelter seems like a lot for a community the size of Fayetteville. Kansas City averages around 1,000 a year (which is also a lot) -- but KC has a population about 25% greater than that of Fayetteville -- which makes that 1200 number really high.
 
I did a little googling and wasn't able to come up with a low cost spay/neuter provider in Fayetteville. Obviously if such a service doesn't exist, they really need to create one.  There are a lot of great orgs out there that provide grants for low cost spay/neuter programs -- and some will provide specific grants for free (or very low cost) s/n for pit bulls. If a low cost spay/neuter program exists, then they should apply for a grant and do a significant promotion.  If no such low cost provider exists, it may make sense for the shelter to create their own -- or partner with another organization such as Fayetteville Animal Protection Society to create one.

Also, it seems great that the shelter has done such a great job of increasing their overall adoptions - -but appears as if they aren't seeing a huge increase in pit bull adoptions like they are other animals. I wonder if they have different adoption policies for pit bulls that they don't have for other types of dogs?  Seems like with the high demand for the dogs, their adoptions would reflect that.
 
One other thought -- I wonder if this is somewhat of a recent problem? I know the Fayetteville area has a couple of military bases that employ a lot of people -- I'm wondering if the recent military base restrictions on these particular breeds are causing a greater number of problems at the shelter -- and whether the county can put some pressure on the bases to repeal these restrictions.  I realize that the military doesn't really work that way, but I wonder if they're not seeing some of the side effects of this.

Best of luck to the folks in Cumberland County in hoping that they reach a solution that will be good for the city and for the dogs. The meeting tonight should be starting as  I type this final line.

Comments

[Rudy Kazudi]

If people like me (who are not professionals, but who follow the successes in no-kill communities) know how things can improve, why don't the professionals there, and in other locations, know? They clearly have not done much research to try to solve their problems, but instead are on the verge of codifying more killing. I think the people who are complaining are somewhat justified to slam such deadly ignorance. That said, your quick analysis clearly surpasses all the best thinking that Cumberland County's "professionals" have been able to muster, and that does not bode well for their future performance. New leadership may be required.

[YesBiscuit!]

Good suggestions - I hope the county gives them due consideration.

[Cheryl Huerta]

This is GREAT Brent. Actually I was recently contacted by a local county shelter who had heard of our pit bull advocacy to work with them on a special spay-neuter program that they are putting together for pit bulls. Our county animal shelters here in the Portland Oregon area have come together to create a coalition and one of their top priorities is spay and neuter. I'm sure that if Fayetteville were to contact this organization here they would be more than happy to share information that could help Fayetteville. I commend them on admitting that they don't have all the answers and on trying to find another way than banning adoptions of certain breeds. Let me know if you need my assistance. Regards, Cheryl Huerta

[troyDuke]

this is the way to get around military housing restrictions... register your animal right away!!! http://www.nsarco.com/

[Dmitry]

I recently adopted a dog out of San Jose, CA shelter. It was hard to impossible to find large dog in a shelters around here. I spend weeks looking for one. It seems that the only way for me to get rottweiler or chow was to buy it from craiglist breeders. I thought that large dogs are rare, but now after I read your post I wonder if local shelters adopted same policy. I wish it would not happened for your county. Not all people want to adopt small dogs...