INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Saving the strays

After attending the Nathan Winograd’s No Kill Equation conference (“Saving the Strays,” cover story, Apr. 16-22) this past weekend, I was appalled that absolutely no one from the Humane Society of Indianapolis attended to hear Nathan’s innovative but yet simple answers to adopting rather than killing of healthy, adoptable shelter animals, which comprise approximately 90 percent of pets in all shelters.

The equation he delineates utilizes rescue groups, retention and foster programs, aggressive lost/found placements, many off-site adoption venues, creative adoptive bios, ads, spay/neuter programs, TNR, etc....but first and foremost, you must have an innovative, compassionate, passionate leader in place for any of this to come about and Martha Boden’s leadership is sorely lacking these qualities. There was absolutely no excuse for her not to attend the conference, or at the very least, have a representative, such as the shelter’s kennel manager or veterinarian, etc in attendance.

Another part of the equation utilizes rescue groups which she does not seek out. If rescue groups were allowed free reign to take the purebreds, the burden of adoptable animals would be greatly reduced. Half of the cages at HSI are routinely empty and that is incomprehensible when the city shelters are killing over 10,000 animals a year?! Yet she sells these purebred dogs for a much higher price than other dogs? It’s appalling that any cage is empty when 40 animals a day are dying?!

Using the excuse of keeping the shelter population down to keep disease down is an antiquated answer. Shelters using proper cleaning and disinfecting protocol and keeping dogs and cats exercised, comfortable and clean, will keep disease under control. All shelters will have diseases but it should never reach pandemic proportions that necessitates mass killings or ‘depopulations’ nor should it necessitate keeping cages empty??

To begin shelter reform in this city, we need new leaders. We can’t do what we’ve always done, it’s just not working. The public does not believe in killing dogs and cats. Animals are placed in shelters to be ‘sheltered’. Of course the public has been irresponsible to revoke their commitment to their pets but it is the shelter’s responsibility to ‘shelter’ that animal and take responsibility for its life. To say there are just too many animals is an excuse that does not pan out. There are answers and we need a leader willing to implement those and mirror what Nathan Winograd has accomplished in so many cities, large and small, across the United States.

Maureen Owen LVT
President
Feral Bureau of Indiana