Nathan Winograd of the No Kill Equation encourages sanctuaries for aggressive dogs. Even aggressive dogs, he says, could lead happy lives in sanctuaries where they cannot harm the public. He encourages sanctuaries where dogs can be rehabilitated rather than the alternative of euthanasia. Sanctuaries such as Best Friends, Olympic Animal Sanctuary, or Spindletop, where these aggressive dogs can be rehabbed and be adopted out.
This stance has had drastic effects in the form of the number of deaths from 're-homed' dogs. The only dogs re-homed from US shelters to killing anyone before 2000 were two wold hybrids in 1988 and 1989. No kill started on the scene in the 80's with limited admission shelters that were able to pick and chose in order to not have to euthanize. From 2000-2009, three shelter dogs skilled after adoption, a pit bull, a bull mastiff, and a Presa Canario.Since 2009, with pressure from the No Kill movement to save them all, 33 re-homed dogs went on to kill, 25 pit bulls 8 bull mastiffs, 2 Rottweilers, and 1 Husky.This speaks for itself in that too many dangerous dogs are being adopted out via the philosophy of No Kill. Do we need to be establishing 'sanctuaries' for these dogs while so many are still having to be euthanized in our shelters for space?
Winograd's movement states there is no pet overpopulation, therefore we need to save them all in some shape, form or fashion. Sanctuaries being but one. A number of these sanctuaries, some endorsed by Winograd, have been exposed as houses of horror. Boggs Mountain is the latest one. Not only is the No Kill movement putting public safety in jeopardy, but it opens a world of scams and schemes that only has resulted in more pets being at risk of unnecessary suffering as well as horrible deaths.
Last week, a jury found the director of the Boggs Mountain Humane Society, guilty of 60 counts of fraud. This fraud resulted in beloved pets dying while their owners were led to believe that their pet had found a good home. Boggs Mountain Humane Society bragged they were No Kill and your pet would be safe. The "Lucky Dog/Lucky Cat" program was thus established, but many weren't so lucky. Prosecutors have shown via testimony that people who signed up for the Lucky Dog/Lucky Cat program understood that their donations, $100 or in some cases more, meant that animals they took to Boggs Mountain or otherwise sponsored would not be euthanized. Boggs Mountain was No Kill wasn't it? Records showed, however, that the pets had been euthanized.
"During a contentious cross examination, Healy tried to established that Penny Burkitt, for presient of the Boggs board, set up the protocol for the Lucky animal program. Cousins held firm, however, and explained that Kilby told her how animals were transferred to Rabun County Animal Control so that Boggs Mountain could remain a no-kill shelter.
The movement of No Kill via Nathan Winograd has allowed for such a scam, playing upon people's emotions, offering the comforting assurance that the words "no kill" should mean to most people. What does it mean in reality? It has allowed for the development of schemes and scams like no other movement before. Money is collected now on animals still sitting in shelters, animals that no one comes for even with the donations, animals that die in the shelter waiting for those with the donations to come to take them out.
No Kill has allowed dangerous dogs to be placed back into society. Save them all is the latest campaign slogan from Best Friends. Should we be saving them all? What is that cost of saving them all? Prior to 2000, only 2 re-homed canines had gone on to kill after adoption, and that was two wolf hybrids. It is no coincidence that the time line of the rise of No Kill and the rise of deaths from re-homed dog attacks. Between 2000-2009, there were three deaths from re-homed dogs. In the competition for the donor dollars, the Humane Society of the United States, along with the ASPCA developed their own versions of No Kill. From 2009, there have been 33 deaths from re-homed dogs. Pit bulls account for 25 of those deaths, 8 by bull mastiffs (including Presa Canario, 2 by Rottweilers, and one by a Husky. In their fervor to "save them all", the safety of people has been forgotten.
The deception of No Kill goes even further with exaggerations of the number of shelters that have adopted No Kill. Nathan Winograd makes claims that he can't back up. PeTA has exposed No Kill shelters as limited admission shelters. But it is the term alone that is doing the damage, misleading people into thinking that all can be saved. Saving them doesn't mean warehousing them, creating hoarding, scams for money making, or just sending them off to the unknown via transports. This is what the humane world has become, ignoring public health, pet health, and safety for both. Playing on the emotions of the public for donations, donations that often don't reach the very cause of the problem.
Boggs Mountain is but one of many No Kill shelters that have been plagued by the easy money that can be generated by pushing the No Kill slogan. How many haven't been caught yet? How many are being covered up to protect an elected official's reputation? There are many questions you need to ask when it comes to No Kill. Ask those tough questions.
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