http://nokillnowaynottomorrownottoday.blogspot.com/
SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 2011
Washoe County, The Unspeakable Tragedy
As a young man growing up, I often heard that figures can't lie, but liars can
figure. Going over the stats in Reno Nevada for the past 3 years as it descended
into it's own personal hell, that is a true statement. The final figures for 2010 show a
turn in rate of strays to owner surrender that are 3 to 1. The only condition that
can create that scenario is No Kill run amuck.
A couple of years ago NHS decided it needed to do something to look necessary,
so they began pulling animals from Animal Control. Prior to that time, we only
took from the public, and if they wanted an animal from AC we brought it
to NHS. Don't misunderstand the ol' preacher, they never took all the
animals the public tried to surrender, just enough to keep the good citizens
off their back. During that time they turned away terminally ill dogs, and
harassed owners with the help desk until they left in shame. Nice folks
those NHS types. We could have used Denise at one of our terrorist
detention centers. I went out to the parking lot in an attempt to bring
comfort to a woman with three small children. She and her children had brought
in two dogs adopted from NHS 5 months earlier, The husband lost his job
and the home was going into foreclosure, and the issues the dogs came
with had worsened with maturity. That means the 9 month old "puppy behavior"
was taking on a serious tone. Nobody told her that 2 males pitbulls are not the
best idea, She had been told they were a "bonded pair" and would never
fight. Having gone to the SPCA and been turned away, I'm certain it was
difficult for her and those children to walk into NHS with those dogs.. Like
every other volunteer at NHS, I gave her the "secret word" and she walked up the
path to Animal Control. Can't anyone see or care that of the 8,0000 dogs in
that shelter in 2010, 6,0000 of them were "strays" ? Compare that to Sac or
SF or even New York. It's part of a tragic numbers game, and people and
animals are hurt. Stop the games NHS do our job , don't hide behind
pulling from WCRAS to stay so full you turn away families with pets. At the
end of 2011 NHS loses any compensation, they are trying an end run to
avoid meeting their cmmitment. Last week I chatted with Denise and she gave
me the story of how tough things are in this economy, how many animals are
coming in and how they are out of room. When NHS puts the welfare of the
animals ahead of Nathan Winograd, maybe then I could respect them.
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