Purrfectplay

No Kill?

Problem solving is tricky-- very tricky.  First you need to define the problem. There may be a cluster of problems. It can be confusing to analyze which problem is the root issue or to decide what to do first. 

Most of us have basic values that set the stage for our problem solving. For example:  You are hungry but low on cash. Most of us would not steal dinner, we would wait till we got home or find an alternative. Stealing would create more problems and not match our values.

Like most of the US, our county has a population of unwanted and abandoned pets.  Our shelter is overworked and underfunded.  It used to solve this problem by euthanizing an average of 1200 cats and dogs a year. Rumor has it, that they generated cash to support the shelter by selling pets to labs.  According to some, this was a means to an end. No question that killing unwanted pets cut down on the population and the "problem".  Of course this depends on how the problem is defined. Out of sight, out of mind?  Pretty darn sad.

A while back a new commissioner got involved and changed all that. Now our shelter is dedicated to no kill and works hard to place as many animals as possible in homes. It is still over worked and underfunded. It has problems.

Last week this commissioner lost the election.  Some of the "kill shelter" advocates contributed to the newly elected commissioner's campaign. Guess what? Killing is again on the table as a solution to the "problem".

One of the biggest issues I have with "killing" as a solution is that it become "the" solution.  No need to go further, no need to try harder. It is like stealing dinner when you are hungry. It solves an immediate need, but at what cost? If killing unwanted pets is OK then selling them to labs so that they can be "useful" may be OK too. 

These are not my values. This is not my idea of a solution. What do you think?

A Glorious Mexican Mutt: How a Companion to None Became Our Muse

In 2001 my husband and I arrived in Mexico. We were there to relax on the beach and drink margaritas. Exhausted, we stashed our luggage and headed to the beach for dinner.

Settled in with our first margarita we noticed a dog just outside the ring of light. Thin and nearly hairless, she watched us with her lovely brown eyes. I started throwing her my dinner—way too much for me anyway. The waiter came by and kicked her away. We objected—he looked disgusted.

The next morning she was still on that beach, but now she was hunting for a place to get out of the sun. She was so sunburned and frail. Sitting near by, a sun bird resident mentioned how easy it would be to bring her home. Since neither of us had ever even lived with a dog, it did not seem possible that we were qualified. But by the end of the next day it did not seem possible to just leave her to die either. Rosa did come home with us and shared our life for 9 years.  She was the light of our home and she helped us to evolve. Bringing her home stands out as one of our finest moments and as the most important shared event of our marriage. In November she left us, having contracted a fast moving sarcoma.

But this is not an entry about our grief and loss. It is an entry about joy. Rescuing an animal with no hope and watching it change into a happy dog or cat is an amazing experience. It doesn’t get any better!

Rosa was much luckier than the average Mexican dog. You may have noticed the many sick, malnourished, and injured dogs living on the streets while you were vacationing in Mexico. It seems so hopeless. But there is much we can do. Even a single act on your part can make all the difference.  

You don’t have to watch a dog die and suffer. Bringing home a dog is possible.  Bringing home a dog or cat will be one of the best things you have ever done on vacation. Take it from someone who knows. 

Some tips on how to help Mexican dogs.

7 Actions You Can Take to Help the Dogs of Mexico

street dog, mexico
Originally uploaded by ollee

1. Make a contribution to a Mexican humane/dog society. Here is a great article with links to many reputable groups

2. Contribute to Save a Mexican Mutt
 Great folk with a true mission!

3. Copy adoption tips from this article and take them with you. Information is power.

4. Send this link: Bringing a dog home from Mexico to all your friends and family. Encourage them to share with others. More knowledge in more people’s hands = more power.

5. Write the Mexican Embassy and express your feelings:
Embassy of Mexico
1911 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20006
Telephone: (202) 728-1600

6. Watch this strong documentary, Companions to None, about the stray dogs of Mexico—Be careful, it is painful. For example, the most common method of euthanization? Horribly enough, it is electrocution.

7. Read this informative article from the LA Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/01/mexico-dogs.html

Now: Share, Share, Share.

Saturday Morning Reading: What Makes a Person Act?

Saturday mornings, when I am not at a pet expo or green festival, are precious. Relaxing with a cup of coffee and the paper.  This morning I was reading a great piece in the Wall Street Journal (Friday: When Jewish Scholars Fled to the South) on displaced German Jewish scholars in the 40's and 50's in our southern states. It tells how the relationships between these scholars and African American students worked to help recraft racial/social standards. 

Reading our local Indiana paper earlier, I was deeply saddened to hear how poorly our puppy mill law was doing with our legislature. For example, simply allowing a breeding dog out of his/her cage once a day for a bit of exercise is seen as a big contentious deal. How DO people sleep at night?  Indiana is know for having a huge number of puppy mills-  many of them in our "scenic" tourist zone peopled by the Amish.  Dogs are just breeding stock to some. These Amish "breeders" throw considerable economic weight into these discussions.  Barns filled with dogs, cages stacked, many dogs never leaving the cage except to be bred.  I don't get it.  I will never get it. It can't be just about money. These same breeders do not have electricity and all the conveniences it brings secondary to their religious beliefs-- although cruelty to dogs doesn't seem to rate a mention.

So, in the face of this kind of material how do you keep moving forward? Why not just eat donuts and watch favorite TV reruns? Or... on the flip side.. go bonkers and break into a mill and release the dogs?  How do things really change?  How do things change that are normalized in a culture-- let's face it, even shameful things can be considered  "normal". Back to the WSJ article.  Jewish scholars were arrested in the 40's (arrested!) for having dinner in a public setting with black students and fellow professors. Events like this are no longer normal--not that they were ever "right".

So.. again: How do things change-- especially beliefs about the value of a non human's life?  Perseverance for sure. Understanding that things will change.  Believing this work is important and supported by the universe-- for sure!  But... I am pretty much done being "polite" about these issues.  Will I go bonkers? Some would say I am already there.