This is the seventh posting in a series of messages responding to the recommendations of a so-called "No-Kill Equation". The “No-Kill Equation” is comprised of ten commonsense, long-standing practices embraced and implemented by LA Animal Services with remarkable results.
An animal advocate in our community submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the seventh recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation.
The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are:
1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded December 11th)
2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter (Responded December 16th)
3. Rescue Groups (Responded December 18th)
4. Foster Care (Responded December 21st)
5. Comprehensive Adoption Program (Responded December 24th)
6. Pet Retention (Responded December 26th)
7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation
8. Public Relations/Community Involvement
9. Volunteers
10. A Compassionate Director
The “No-Kill Equation” is in this blue font.
The analysis is in this black italic font.
My concluding comments are in this font.
VII. Medical and Behavior Rehabilitation
A shelter begins helping treatable animals by closely analyzing statistics. How many animals entering a shelter are treatable? What types of injuries and illnesses are most common? The answers to these questions will determine what types of rehabilitation programs are needed and how to effectively allocate resources. For example, one community may have many underage kittens in its shelters. Another may have substantial numbers of cats with upper respiratory infections, or dogs with kennel cough. Yet another may find that a large portion of treatables are dogs with behavior problems. Each will need a different lifesaving program.
These can include creating a fund dedicated solely to medical and behavioral rehabilitation. Such a fund lets the public direct their donations and allows a shelter to demonstrate what they are doing to help treatables. In addition, the shelter can establish relationships to have local veterinarians come to the shelter to do rotations. These veterinarians can supplement the work of a staff veterinarian and veterinary technicians and help diagnose animals, give vaccinations, and administer medication and treatment.
A relationship with a veterinary college can allow veterinary students to volunteer at the shelter on a regular basis, providing the students with real life on-the-job training, while shelter animals receive high-quality care under the direction of the veterinary college faculty. Finally, it is impossible to overstate the importance of a foster program for underaged kittens and puppies, undersocialized animals, and those recovering from medical treatment.
LA Animal Services has long provided in-house and contract medical services to the animals in its care. Its new facilities feature modern, fully-equipped medical clinics and medical wards and the Department is reinvigorating its in-house veterinary team with compassionate, highly-qualified veterinary professionals. These efforts will substantially expand its ability to provide a full range of medical services, including emergency care, surgeries and disease control programs.
By the end of fiscal year 2008, there will be seven such clinics in the system, staffed by a total of at least seven veterinarians and over two dozen veterinary technicians (most of whom are fully-accredited veterinarians in other countries seeking the same status here while they work for the Department). Additionally, the Department routinely contracts with dozens of outside veterinarians to provide both preventive and remedial care for thousands of animals a year.
The Department has established a relationship with Los Angeles Pierce College to provide internship opportunities for pre-veterinary students and is negotiating with Western University veterinary school to create a formal internship program that will augment care in the shelters and introduce future veterinarians to the practice of shelter medicine.
Since 1987, the Department has maintained the Animal Welfare Trust Fund to be used to underwrite medical expenses for animals requiring special treatment. The Department has established a network of professional behavioral trainers to work on a voluntary basis with dogs who are nervous or scared and can mistakenly appear aggressive when entering unfamiliar shelters, to ease their stay and enhance their adoptability. Scheduled sessions are held at various animal care centers along with individualized training programs for specific animals on an ad hoc basis.
LA Animal Services is a data-driven department. Data creates the link between assessment, planning, and results. Data-driven animal care and control agencies design targeted programs based on their shelter intake data. For example, in LA, data is used to develop and implement a multi-pronged sterilization program to ensure adopted shelter animals are sterilized prior to release, free or low-cost spay/neutering services are available for the pets of our needy, senior and disabled populations, and that cat specific sterilization programs are accessible.
In the drive to achieve No-Kill there are two commonly recognized hurdles to clear. A community’s progress towards No-Kill will usually stall at the first hurdle which is typically found when its pet euthanasia rate is reduced to between 12 and 10 shelter killings per 1000 human residents annually (12.5 is the current national average). Once a community achieves this rate, further significant reductions are stalled and require the implementation of aggressive spay/neuter programs to achieve further euthanasia reduction goals. With effective, targeted spay/neuter programs, progress to the second hurdle can be fairly quick.
The first hurdle becomes apparent after a community has successfully persuaded all the people who are likely to fix their pets to do so. The challenge then is to persuade the more difficult populations, which include the poor, the elderly on fixed income, individuals with negative attitudes about spay/neuter, people who speak languages other than English, and those who live in relatively remote areas.
To break through this first barrier, LA Animal Services developed free and low-cost spay/neuter programs for our community’s needy pet guardians, and free spay/neuter for the pets of our low income senior citizens and disabled residents, as well as cat specific spay/neuter programs. These programs account for over 45,000 spay/neuter surgeries annually.
Animal People magazine conducted a survey in 1994 that found transportation problems represent 40% of the total reasons why pets are not fixed, equal to monetary considerations. This data suggests that providing spay/neuter transportation is an often overlooked strategy to a community’s breaking through the 10 shelter killings per 1,000 humans barrier. LA Animal Services has used this data to provide over 12,000 mobile spay/neuter surgeries annually throughout the City’s underserved areas by partnering with the Amanda and Sam Simon Foundations.
The second hurdle in the drive to achieve No-Kill has been characterized by Peter Marsh, (founder of Solutions to Overpopulation of Pets - STOP), as “the wall”. Few communities have been able to break through "the wall". A community hits “the wall” when it reduces its pet euthanasia rate to between five and 2.5 shelter killings per 1000 human residents annually (LA City is at 4.3 as of June 07). Hitting “the wall” tells a community that it has come to the point where most of the animals dying in its shelters are irremediably suffering due to sickness or injury, demonstrate dangerously aggressive behavior, or are feral or neonate cats, or pit bulls. Hitting the wall reveals the success of an earlier generation of effectively targeted programs.
To break through “the wall” requires a new generation of programs to address the needs of special populations not met by earlier programs. The paradigm remains the same: comprehensive data collection, assessment, and implementation of programs targeted to meet the special needs of residual populations. Breaking through the wall requires taking the information-based targeting approach to the next level.
As a result, the Department is focusing its efforts on saving these at-risk animal populations. The feral cat/neonate kitten side of the equation is fairly straight forward and can often be handled through volunteer programs. However, to be successful, it does require a significant amount of volunteer time and dedication coupled with meaningful animal care and control support. LA Animal Services is fortunate to have such an army of life saving volunteers and employees staffing robust neonate/foster care programs, as explained in Part IV of this series. We are also working hard to make Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) a mainstream methodology for controlling feral cat populations in LA, as explained in Part I of this series.
The pit bull side of the equation is more difficult. According to Animal People magazine, San Francisco is currently the only major city in the US experiencing a decline in pit bulls. San Francisco credits local pit bull-targeted spay/neuter legislation for this decline, which may largely be the case. However, other factors may also contribute to this decline. For instance, it is much more difficult for dogfighters and backyard breeders to go underground in San Francisco compared to most other cities. It has been said that a dog can't bark in San Francisco without 100 neighbors complaining, while a hundred dogs can bark in parts of Los Angeles and not be heard above the noise of the freeways.
LA Animal Services’ volunteer trainers provide much in the way of good citizenship dog training for pit bulls and other breeds. LA Animal Services adopts out more pit bulls than any other dog breed. In addition to our neonate, feral cat, and pit bull strategies, LA Animal Services is also aggressively working to save as many treatable animals as possible.
The “Animal Welfare Trust Fund” supports the Department’s STAR (Special Treatment And Recovery) Program. Many animals come into our care centers healthy and eager to be reunited with their families, or to find new families. Sadly, we also receive many sweet and loving animals that have been injured, abused, neglected, or have an illness that requires extensive treatment. When an animal is not irremediably suffering and will respond to treatment, we undertake all measures we can to make that animal healthy again. The STAR program showcases some of these STAR animals in need on our website. Treatments may take weeks or months, require special medicines, or involve one or more complicated surgeries — all at an expense that exceeds the Department’s usual budget allotment. The public can help these animals with donations to our LA Animal Services' STAR Program, which is used exclusively to pay for special veterinary services on animals with surgery or special treatment needs.
Thanks to our STAR program and a newly assembled, highly competent and compassionate medical team, LA Animal Services for the first time ever has the capacity to treat many animals that historically would have been euthanized or outsourced to private veterinarians. Today our staff veterinarians remove tumors, treat pyometra, repair hernias, perform dentistry, treat animals with intravenous fluids, non-narcotic, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and narcotic pain-relieving drugs, and through the use of our state of the art digital X-ray machines, they are able to successfully mend fractures, and so much more.
As is the case in any hospital, attempts at life saving treatments are not always successful and these efforts have predictably resulted in a higher mortality rate than occurred when we did little to nothing to help these animals before euthanizing them. But to focus on the Department’s mortality rate alone is to miss the larger point that not only is our euthanasia rate at an all time low, the overall death rate is also moving downward.
Fewer animals are dying in Los Angeles today than at any other time since statistics were first kept. Thanks to the outpouring of public support for LA Animals Services that resulted in the City’s $160 million investment in new animal care centers equipped with modern clinics and isolation and holding wards, animals in need can now receive care for longer durations as they recover and await adoption or as explained in Part IV of this series, they may be placed in our Foster Program until they recover.
LA Animal Services has veterinarians familiar with clinical behavioral medicine who strive to help find solutions to behaviorally-challenged pets before and after entry into the animal care centers.
LA Animal Services understands that to break through “the wall” will require remedial programs as well as preventive ones, such as training programs for dogs with behavioral issues, foster care for neonatal kittens, veterinary care for injured or sick animals, etc. While preventive programs can get you to “the wall”, they alone can't get you through it. Its going to take all of us working together to break through the wall and make LA the first major metropolitan No-Kill city in the United States.
For an example of a "new generation" program designed to help break through "the wall" read this LA Times article entitled, "LAPD enlists feral cats for rat patrol".
Friday, December 28, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
IMPLEMENTING THE NO-KILL EQUATION IN LOS ANGELES - Part VI: Pet Retention
This is the sixth posting in a series of messages responding to the recommendations of the “No-Kill Equation”. The No-Kill Equation is comprised of ten commonsense, long-standing practices embraced and implemented by LA Animal Services with remarkable results.
An animal advocate in our community submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the sixth recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is Pet Retention.
The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are:
1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded December 11th)
2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter (Responded December 16th)
3. Rescue Groups (Responded December 18th)
4. Foster Care (Responded December 21st)
5. Comprehensive Adoption Program (Responded December 24th)
6. Pet Retention
7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation
8. Public Relations/Community Involvement
9. Volunteers
10. A Compassionate Director
The “No-Kill Equation” is in this blue font.
The analysis is in this black italic font.
My concluding comments are in this font.
VI. Pet Retention
While some of the reasons animals are surrendered to shelters are unavoidable, others can be prevented—but only if shelters are willing to work with people to help them solve their problems. Saving all healthy and treatable pets requires communities to develop innovative strategies for keeping people and their companion animals together. And the more a community sees its shelter(s) as a place to turn for advice and assistance, the easier this job will be. Animal control agencies can maintain “libraries” of pet care and behavior fact sheets in the shelter and on a website. Articles in local papers, radio and television spots all provide opportunities to feature topics like solving litterbox avoidance and excessive barking. Other pet retention programs include free in-home dog behavior problem-solving by volunteers, low-cost dog training, pet friendly rental programs, dog walker referrals, and pet behavior classes.
LA Animal Services' volunteers regularly provides behavioral training classes in new exercise yards built into the newly opening animal care centers and at the South Los Angeles Animal Care Center Annex. The most sophisticated volunteers augment staff in counseling pet owners and would-be adopters whenever feasible and receive training to enable them to engage in relinquishment counseling. Informational flyers on various pet behavior topics and a variety of animal issues are available in each shelter and on the Department’s informative website, and popular humane community publications featuring information on services and products pet owners can use to enhance their pet guardianship experience are also available free of charge at the centers. When available, donated pet food and pet toys are given to new owners when they’re adopting from LA Animal Services. In addition, LA Animal Services volunteers and staff routinely provide training and grooming services to dogs in the shelters to make relinquished pets more attractive and adoptable.
Roughly 35% of all pets taken in by LA Animal Services are relinquished by their guardians. To meet this reality, the department is developing and slowly implementing a program called "Safety-Net". The program is identifying and bringing together all the resources available in our community that can help pets and people stay together. Often pets are relinquished for reasons that seem out of the control of a pet guardian, such as a death or serious illness in the family, or an eviction or job termination. In many of these cases pet guardians just need time to sort through the difficulty. If given the option and opportunity to keep their pet they will indeed choose to retain their pet. Safety-Net will make these resources available on our website, in our Animal Care Centers, and in our Call Center so that they are made readily available to those in need.
Safety-Net will require a great deal of organizational and community infrastructure to support it, but such programs have been successfully implemented in several communities across the United States. We are confident Safety-Net LA will be a tremendous help to frantic guardians who are really only looking for some compassionate assistance to work through a very difficult time in their lives and the lives of their pets. Safety-Net will be a welcome change from the condemnation that is all too often ignorantly leveled against pet relinquishers simply looking for help.
An animal advocate in our community submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the sixth recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is Pet Retention.
The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are:
1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded December 11th)
2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter (Responded December 16th)
3. Rescue Groups (Responded December 18th)
4. Foster Care (Responded December 21st)
5. Comprehensive Adoption Program (Responded December 24th)
6. Pet Retention
7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation
8. Public Relations/Community Involvement
9. Volunteers
10. A Compassionate Director
The “No-Kill Equation” is in this blue font.
The analysis is in this black italic font.
My concluding comments are in this font.
VI. Pet Retention
While some of the reasons animals are surrendered to shelters are unavoidable, others can be prevented—but only if shelters are willing to work with people to help them solve their problems. Saving all healthy and treatable pets requires communities to develop innovative strategies for keeping people and their companion animals together. And the more a community sees its shelter(s) as a place to turn for advice and assistance, the easier this job will be. Animal control agencies can maintain “libraries” of pet care and behavior fact sheets in the shelter and on a website. Articles in local papers, radio and television spots all provide opportunities to feature topics like solving litterbox avoidance and excessive barking. Other pet retention programs include free in-home dog behavior problem-solving by volunteers, low-cost dog training, pet friendly rental programs, dog walker referrals, and pet behavior classes.
LA Animal Services' volunteers regularly provides behavioral training classes in new exercise yards built into the newly opening animal care centers and at the South Los Angeles Animal Care Center Annex. The most sophisticated volunteers augment staff in counseling pet owners and would-be adopters whenever feasible and receive training to enable them to engage in relinquishment counseling. Informational flyers on various pet behavior topics and a variety of animal issues are available in each shelter and on the Department’s informative website, and popular humane community publications featuring information on services and products pet owners can use to enhance their pet guardianship experience are also available free of charge at the centers. When available, donated pet food and pet toys are given to new owners when they’re adopting from LA Animal Services. In addition, LA Animal Services volunteers and staff routinely provide training and grooming services to dogs in the shelters to make relinquished pets more attractive and adoptable.
Roughly 35% of all pets taken in by LA Animal Services are relinquished by their guardians. To meet this reality, the department is developing and slowly implementing a program called "Safety-Net". The program is identifying and bringing together all the resources available in our community that can help pets and people stay together. Often pets are relinquished for reasons that seem out of the control of a pet guardian, such as a death or serious illness in the family, or an eviction or job termination. In many of these cases pet guardians just need time to sort through the difficulty. If given the option and opportunity to keep their pet they will indeed choose to retain their pet. Safety-Net will make these resources available on our website, in our Animal Care Centers, and in our Call Center so that they are made readily available to those in need.
Safety-Net will require a great deal of organizational and community infrastructure to support it, but such programs have been successfully implemented in several communities across the United States. We are confident Safety-Net LA will be a tremendous help to frantic guardians who are really only looking for some compassionate assistance to work through a very difficult time in their lives and the lives of their pets. Safety-Net will be a welcome change from the condemnation that is all too often ignorantly leveled against pet relinquishers simply looking for help.
Monday, December 24, 2007
IMPLEMENTING THE NO-KILL EQUATION IN LOS ANGELES - Part V: Comprehensive Adoption Program
This is the fifth posting in a series of messages responding to the recommendations of the "No-Kill Equation". The “No-Kill Equation” is comprised of ten commonsense, long-standing practices embraced and implemented by LA Animal Services with remarkable success.
An animal advocate in our community submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the fifth recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is Comprehensive Adoption Programs.
The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are:
1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded December 11th)
2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter (Responded December 16th)
3. Rescue Groups (Responded December 18th)
4. Foster Care (Responded December 21st)
5. Comprehensive Adoption Program
6. Pet Retention
7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation
8. Public Relations/Community Involvement
9. Volunteers
10. A Compassionate Director
The “No-Kill Equation” is in this blue font.
The analysis is in this black italic font.
My concluding comments are in this font.
V. Comprehensive Adoption Programs
Adoptions are vital to an agency’s lifesaving mission. The quantity and quality of shelter adoptions is in shelter management’s hands, making lifesaving a direct function of shelter policies and practice.
As one commentator put it, “if each pet lives 10 years, on average, and the number of homes grows at the same rate that homes are lost through deaths and other attrition, then replacement homes would become available each year for more than twice as many dog and slightly more cats than enter shelters. Since the inventory of pet-owning homes is growing, not just holding even, adoption could in theory replace all population control killing right now–if the animals and potential adopters were better introduced.”
In fact, studies show people get their dogs from shelters only 15% of the time overall, and less than 10% of the time for cats. If shelters better promoted their animals and had adoption programs responsive to the needs of the community, they could increase the number of homes available and replace population control killing with adoptions. In other words, shelter killing is more a function of market share, than “public irresponsibility.” Contrary to conventional wisdom, shelters can adopt their way out of killing.
LA Animal Services' animal care centers have always strived to increase adoptions and have done so every consecutive year for the past six years. As the new and expanded facilities continue to open as targeted during 2008, they will be among the most inviting animal adoption environments in the nation. Even prior to the opening of all of the new or expanded, environmentally-sustainable facilities, the work of dedicated shelter staff and volunteers working in the Department’s existing shelters and at mobile adoption events have made it possible for LA Animal Services to adopt out or release to rescuers more animals than any other municipal shelter system in the U.S in 2007.
LA Animal Services has operated mobile adoption events since the late 1990s and continues to hold five to ten or more such events every month in locations all around Los Angeles, in addition to speaking engagements and information distribution regarding adoption at community events. Department volunteers work with staff to accomplish these activities and also engage in follow-up marketing of the animals that are not adopted from the mobile events. The Department’s goal is to substantially increase the number of these mobile adoptions and outreach efforts in the coming years.
While the "No Kill Equation" asserts a largely unsubstantiated theory (especially in large public shelter systems) that “shelters can adopt their way out of killing,” the reality is that as long as people fail or refuse to spay and neuter their pets, treat their pets as disposable and relinquish them to shelters or abandon them in the streets, favor specific purebred animals over mixed breeds and thus continue to buy animals from breeders and pet stores, there will always tend to be more pets than adoptive homes to care for them.
The "No Kill Equation" chooses to blame shelters and their directors for the fact that animals show up in shelters, are not always adopted, and sometimes are euthanized. This is comparable to excoriating a doctor for the fact that he or she has patients. To be sure, the doctor can and should be held accountable for how he treats those patients once they arrive, but it's not his or her fault that the patient got sick or injured in the first place.
A variety of factors come into play and, yes, one of them is irresponsible pet guardianship. Some guardians simply refuse to have their animals sterilized and let them run loose, where they can breed in an uncontrolled manner. Others willfully breed their animals thinking they can make a few bucks selling puppies and kittens. Shelter directors and the entities that employ them can, and have, used every method available to them to try and persuade people to behave otherwise, but some will never change. To insist otherwise is to be naïve and counterproductive.
That is why the push for No-Kill must include focus on all the factors and influences that contribute to the flow of homeless animals into the shelters, from the need for more spay/neuter, to backyard breeding and puppy mills, to dog fighting and more. If we don't include these as part of our collective focus, we'll find ourselves perpetually frustrated by what seems like an inability to truly get to the root of the problems.
To achieve No-Kill requires communities to both stem pet overpopulation and build robust pet adoption programs. It is not either/or, it is decidedly both. I have managed the three largest pet adoption agencies in the United States, and I can assure you that the "Equation's" contention that shelters can "adopt their way out of the killing" reveals only a naïveté. To focus only on pet adoption is like running on a treadmill expecting foolishly to reach some distant destination.
Indeed, tactical programs (like Adoption and New Hope) are important, but without strategic programs (like Big Fix, FELIX, Safety Net, and legislation like AB 1634) shelters are doomed to be gathering places for our communities' lost and unwanted pets. We must rise above the simplistic solutions of the so-called "No-Kill Equation" and implement multi-focused strategies to effectively end pet euthanasia as a method of pet overpopulation control.
An animal advocate in our community submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the fifth recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is Comprehensive Adoption Programs.
The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are:
1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded December 11th)
2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter (Responded December 16th)
3. Rescue Groups (Responded December 18th)
4. Foster Care (Responded December 21st)
5. Comprehensive Adoption Program
6. Pet Retention
7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation
8. Public Relations/Community Involvement
9. Volunteers
10. A Compassionate Director
The “No-Kill Equation” is in this blue font.
The analysis is in this black italic font.
My concluding comments are in this font.
V. Comprehensive Adoption Programs
Adoptions are vital to an agency’s lifesaving mission. The quantity and quality of shelter adoptions is in shelter management’s hands, making lifesaving a direct function of shelter policies and practice.
As one commentator put it, “if each pet lives 10 years, on average, and the number of homes grows at the same rate that homes are lost through deaths and other attrition, then replacement homes would become available each year for more than twice as many dog and slightly more cats than enter shelters. Since the inventory of pet-owning homes is growing, not just holding even, adoption could in theory replace all population control killing right now–if the animals and potential adopters were better introduced.”
In fact, studies show people get their dogs from shelters only 15% of the time overall, and less than 10% of the time for cats. If shelters better promoted their animals and had adoption programs responsive to the needs of the community, they could increase the number of homes available and replace population control killing with adoptions. In other words, shelter killing is more a function of market share, than “public irresponsibility.” Contrary to conventional wisdom, shelters can adopt their way out of killing.
LA Animal Services' animal care centers have always strived to increase adoptions and have done so every consecutive year for the past six years. As the new and expanded facilities continue to open as targeted during 2008, they will be among the most inviting animal adoption environments in the nation. Even prior to the opening of all of the new or expanded, environmentally-sustainable facilities, the work of dedicated shelter staff and volunteers working in the Department’s existing shelters and at mobile adoption events have made it possible for LA Animal Services to adopt out or release to rescuers more animals than any other municipal shelter system in the U.S in 2007.
LA Animal Services has operated mobile adoption events since the late 1990s and continues to hold five to ten or more such events every month in locations all around Los Angeles, in addition to speaking engagements and information distribution regarding adoption at community events. Department volunteers work with staff to accomplish these activities and also engage in follow-up marketing of the animals that are not adopted from the mobile events. The Department’s goal is to substantially increase the number of these mobile adoptions and outreach efforts in the coming years.
While the "No Kill Equation" asserts a largely unsubstantiated theory (especially in large public shelter systems) that “shelters can adopt their way out of killing,” the reality is that as long as people fail or refuse to spay and neuter their pets, treat their pets as disposable and relinquish them to shelters or abandon them in the streets, favor specific purebred animals over mixed breeds and thus continue to buy animals from breeders and pet stores, there will always tend to be more pets than adoptive homes to care for them.
The "No Kill Equation" chooses to blame shelters and their directors for the fact that animals show up in shelters, are not always adopted, and sometimes are euthanized. This is comparable to excoriating a doctor for the fact that he or she has patients. To be sure, the doctor can and should be held accountable for how he treats those patients once they arrive, but it's not his or her fault that the patient got sick or injured in the first place.
A variety of factors come into play and, yes, one of them is irresponsible pet guardianship. Some guardians simply refuse to have their animals sterilized and let them run loose, where they can breed in an uncontrolled manner. Others willfully breed their animals thinking they can make a few bucks selling puppies and kittens. Shelter directors and the entities that employ them can, and have, used every method available to them to try and persuade people to behave otherwise, but some will never change. To insist otherwise is to be naïve and counterproductive.
That is why the push for No-Kill must include focus on all the factors and influences that contribute to the flow of homeless animals into the shelters, from the need for more spay/neuter, to backyard breeding and puppy mills, to dog fighting and more. If we don't include these as part of our collective focus, we'll find ourselves perpetually frustrated by what seems like an inability to truly get to the root of the problems.
To achieve No-Kill requires communities to both stem pet overpopulation and build robust pet adoption programs. It is not either/or, it is decidedly both. I have managed the three largest pet adoption agencies in the United States, and I can assure you that the "Equation's" contention that shelters can "adopt their way out of the killing" reveals only a naïveté. To focus only on pet adoption is like running on a treadmill expecting foolishly to reach some distant destination.
Indeed, tactical programs (like Adoption and New Hope) are important, but without strategic programs (like Big Fix, FELIX, Safety Net, and legislation like AB 1634) shelters are doomed to be gathering places for our communities' lost and unwanted pets. We must rise above the simplistic solutions of the so-called "No-Kill Equation" and implement multi-focused strategies to effectively end pet euthanasia as a method of pet overpopulation control.
Friday, December 21, 2007
IMPLEMENTING THE NO-KILL EQUATION IN LOS ANGELES - Part IV: Foster Care
This is the fourth posting in a series of messages responding to the recommendations of the "No-Kill Equation". The “No-Kill Equation” is comprised of ten commonsense, long-standing practices embraced and implemented by LA Animal Services with remarkable success.
An animal advocate in our community submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the fourth recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is Foster Care.
The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are:
1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded December 11th Message)
2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter (Responded December 16th Message)
3. Rescue Groups (Responded December 18th Message)
4. Foster Care
5. Comprehensive Adoption Program
6. Pet Retention
7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation
8. Public Relations/Community Involvement
9. Volunteers
10. A Compassionate Director
The “No-Kill Equation” is in this blue font.
The analysis is in this black italic font.
My concluding comments are in this font.
IV. Foster Care
Foster care is crucial to No Kill. Without it, saving lives is compromised. It is a low cost, and often no cost, way of increasing a shelter’s capacity, improving public relations, increasing a shelter’s public image, rehabilitating sick and injured or behaviorally challenged animals, and saving lives.
At some point in time, nearly every animal shelter feels the pinch of not having enough space. A volunteer foster program can be an ideal low-cost way to greatly increase the number of lives a shelter can save while at the same time providing an opportunity for community members to volunteer. Not only does a foster program maximize the number of animals rescued, it allows an organization to care for animals who would be difficult to care for in a shelter environment—orphaned or feral kittens, sick or injured animals, or dogs needing one-on-one behavior rehabilitation. For animals who may need a break from the shelter environment, foster care provides a comfortable home setting that keeps animals happy and healthy.
LA Animal Services has long sought the participation of volunteer foster care providers. Since 2006 it has actively recruited new caregivers and now has a network of more than 100 foster caregivers providing care to both adult animals and neonates. Most caregivers are recruited from the community while some are Department employees. Some of these caregivers also provide unique foster care for so-called evidence animals being held while animal abuse allegations are investigated and other legal proceedings are ongoing. The Department actively encourages more volunteers to join in providing these valuable services. As a result, in 2007 LA Animal Services' foster program reduced the euthanasia rate for neonate kittens by sixty-two percent and hundreds of animals benefited from the foster care volunteers provide.
LA Animal Services regularly fosters the following types of animals: orphaned neonates, nursing mothers, ill and injured, unattractive, and under-socialized animals. An example of an “unattractive” animal is a severely matted dog that has been shaved. The animal may not have a healthy, shiny coat that attracts adopters until he’s spent a few weeks in a foster home. This will give the animal a much greater chance of being adopted. “Under-socialized” fosters include animals that may not adjust well to a shelter environment. They may just need the comforts of a home environment, with training or socialization. After some time in foster care, these animals are perfect candidates for off-site adoption events.
Department Foster Care Givers are provided hands on foster care training and support documents, dedicated staff to assist and/or answer questions in person or by phone and email, replacement milk, bottles, nipples, regular veterinary check ups, access to emergency veterinary services, home medication as needed, flea combs, etc.
LA Animal Services’ Evidence Animal Foster Program is an innovation not found in any other community we are aware of. Animal victims of cruelty can sometimes languish in animal shelters for months awaiting adjudication of their case. The Evidence Foster Program allows these animals to recover from their traumatic experience in the warmth of a loving family home.
An animal advocate in our community submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the fourth recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is Foster Care.
The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are:
1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded December 11th Message)
2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter (Responded December 16th Message)
3. Rescue Groups (Responded December 18th Message)
4. Foster Care
5. Comprehensive Adoption Program
6. Pet Retention
7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation
8. Public Relations/Community Involvement
9. Volunteers
10. A Compassionate Director
The “No-Kill Equation” is in this blue font.
The analysis is in this black italic font.
My concluding comments are in this font.
IV. Foster Care
Foster care is crucial to No Kill. Without it, saving lives is compromised. It is a low cost, and often no cost, way of increasing a shelter’s capacity, improving public relations, increasing a shelter’s public image, rehabilitating sick and injured or behaviorally challenged animals, and saving lives.
At some point in time, nearly every animal shelter feels the pinch of not having enough space. A volunteer foster program can be an ideal low-cost way to greatly increase the number of lives a shelter can save while at the same time providing an opportunity for community members to volunteer. Not only does a foster program maximize the number of animals rescued, it allows an organization to care for animals who would be difficult to care for in a shelter environment—orphaned or feral kittens, sick or injured animals, or dogs needing one-on-one behavior rehabilitation. For animals who may need a break from the shelter environment, foster care provides a comfortable home setting that keeps animals happy and healthy.
LA Animal Services has long sought the participation of volunteer foster care providers. Since 2006 it has actively recruited new caregivers and now has a network of more than 100 foster caregivers providing care to both adult animals and neonates. Most caregivers are recruited from the community while some are Department employees. Some of these caregivers also provide unique foster care for so-called evidence animals being held while animal abuse allegations are investigated and other legal proceedings are ongoing. The Department actively encourages more volunteers to join in providing these valuable services. As a result, in 2007 LA Animal Services' foster program reduced the euthanasia rate for neonate kittens by sixty-two percent and hundreds of animals benefited from the foster care volunteers provide.
LA Animal Services regularly fosters the following types of animals: orphaned neonates, nursing mothers, ill and injured, unattractive, and under-socialized animals. An example of an “unattractive” animal is a severely matted dog that has been shaved. The animal may not have a healthy, shiny coat that attracts adopters until he’s spent a few weeks in a foster home. This will give the animal a much greater chance of being adopted. “Under-socialized” fosters include animals that may not adjust well to a shelter environment. They may just need the comforts of a home environment, with training or socialization. After some time in foster care, these animals are perfect candidates for off-site adoption events.
Department Foster Care Givers are provided hands on foster care training and support documents, dedicated staff to assist and/or answer questions in person or by phone and email, replacement milk, bottles, nipples, regular veterinary check ups, access to emergency veterinary services, home medication as needed, flea combs, etc.
LA Animal Services’ Evidence Animal Foster Program is an innovation not found in any other community we are aware of. Animal victims of cruelty can sometimes languish in animal shelters for months awaiting adjudication of their case. The Evidence Foster Program allows these animals to recover from their traumatic experience in the warmth of a loving family home.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
IMPLEMENTING THE "NO-KILL" EQUATION IN LOS ANGELES - Part III: Rescue Groups
This posting is the third in a series of messages responding to the recommendations of the "No-Kill Equation". The No-Kill Equations is comprised of ten commonsense, long-standing practices embraced and implemented by LA Animal Services with remarkable results.
An animal advocate in our community conducted and submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the third recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is Rescue Groups.
The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are:
1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded December 11th)
2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter (Responded December 16th)
3. Rescue Groups
4. Foster Care
5. Comprehensive Adoption Program
6. Pet Retention
7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation
8. Public Relations/Community Involvement
9. Volunteers
10. A Compassionate Director
The No-Kill Equation will appear in this blue font.
The analysis of LA Animal Services' efforts will follow in italics.
Following the analysis I will further explain our New Hope program in this font.
III. Rescue Groups
An adoption or transfer to a rescue group frees up scarce cage and kennel space, reduces expenses for feeding, cleaning, killing and carcass disposal, and improves a community’s rate of lifesaving. Getting an animal out of the shelter and into an appropriate placement is important and rescue groups, as a general rule, can screen adopters as well or better than many shelters. In an environment of 5,000,000 dogs and cats killed in shelters annually, there will rarely be a shortage of adoptable animals and if a rescue group is willing to take custody and care of the animal, rare is the circumstance in which they should be denied.
LA Animal Services recognizes and embraces the advantages provided by dedicated rescuers finding good homes for the animals in their care. LA Animal Services welcomes the participation of rescue groups and organizations and constantly strives to improve its policies and procedures to maximize the benefits of these partnerships. In 2005 the Department created the Participant Shelter program to streamline procedures for the approximately fifty rescue organizations taking animals from LA Animal Care Centers. In 2006 this program expanded to become the New Hope program, and now partners with over 125 registered rescue organizations to facilitate the rescue and adoption of thousands of animals from the shelters. Department staff provides comprehensive daily lists of available and at-risk animals, as well as urgent notifications, to these rescuers and groups, helping to facilitate nearly 6,000 live releases a year.
The New Hope Program was implemented to eliminate all obstacles that might prevent the animals most at risk of euthanasia from being redeemed into caring, dedicated, expert hands. These animals are placed on a New Hope Alert that is sent to New Hope partners each day by email. The Alert shows a picture and description of the animals, and the Care Center location where the animal(s) can be found. The list is also available on our website and is updated hourly. In addition, New Hope Coordinators assigned to each Animal Care Center send urgent emails to partners concerning specific animals in critical need. Thanks to a vast network of rescue organizations and concerned residents these pleas can reach thousands of people in a matter of minutes.
Animals on a New Hope Alert are available to New Hope partners at no cost, and the animals are provided free spay/neuter, microchip, and vaccinations. The New Hope Program allows LA Animal Services to help organizations who rely on donations, grants, and dedicated volunteers to maximize their limited resources so they are better able to help us all achieve “No Kill”. New Hope is decidedly win/win/win for the rescue groups, for LA Animal Services, and most importantly, for the animals. New Hope is not designed to save animals from adoption, but to save animals from euthanasia.
The New Hope program has been implemented in Maricopa County, AZ, New York City and several other communities across the United States. While the program may not be perfect, it is designed to continually improve and meet the needs of any community. Thanks to the help of many New Hope partners in LA, I believe the LA New Hope program is the most collaborative and successful shelter/rescue partnership program in the United States.
In addition to the program benefits noted above, other New Hope highlights include:
New Hope Partners receive 24/7 access to all Los Angeles Animal Care Centers.
Each facility has a designated New Hope Coordinator trained to provide the very best customer service to our New Hope Partners.
New Hope Partners are able to contact each facility via special "hot lines" to let the respective New Hope Coordinator know if they can help an animal. The New Hope Coordinator is able to immediately remove the animal(s) from the New Hope Alert and then work with the partner to transfer the animal as quickly as possible to the partner organization.
When a New Hope partner needs additional time to transfer an animal they can coordinate that need with our New Hope Coordinator. When necessary, and as recourses are available, transportation of the animal may be provided by the Department for the New Hope Partners having difficulty making these arrangements themselves.
Every New Hope Partner, upon request, receives a sophisticated, yet simple-to-use software package to help them manage the animals in their care. This software was developed by HLP Chameleon and is being generously donated to our New Hope partners. This software provides the smallest to the largest rescue groups the same level of animal management functionality used by over 350 of the largest animal shelters in the United States! We are deeply grateful for HLP's continued and generous commitment to help shelters achieve no-kill.
There are two types of New Hope Alert; a Green Alert and a Red Alert. A Green Alert identifies animals not imminently at risk of euthanasia. These are animals that, in the view of the Department, are not likely to be adopted any time soon for one reason or another, such as age or medical condition. A Red Alert identifies animals that are at risk of euthanasia. New Hope partners are provided seven days to take possession of Red Alert animals, unless the health of the animal requires a more immediate response. All the benefits of the New Hope program apply to all the animals on both the Green and the Red New Hope Alert.
The New Hope program is under review even now in an effort to identify additional enhancements. For more information on our New Hope program, and to see our New Hope Alerts, please visit our website at www.laanimalservices.com.
An animal advocate in our community conducted and submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the third recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is Rescue Groups.
The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are:
1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded December 11th)
2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter (Responded December 16th)
3. Rescue Groups
4. Foster Care
5. Comprehensive Adoption Program
6. Pet Retention
7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation
8. Public Relations/Community Involvement
9. Volunteers
10. A Compassionate Director
The No-Kill Equation will appear in this blue font.
The analysis of LA Animal Services' efforts will follow in italics.
Following the analysis I will further explain our New Hope program in this font.
III. Rescue Groups
An adoption or transfer to a rescue group frees up scarce cage and kennel space, reduces expenses for feeding, cleaning, killing and carcass disposal, and improves a community’s rate of lifesaving. Getting an animal out of the shelter and into an appropriate placement is important and rescue groups, as a general rule, can screen adopters as well or better than many shelters. In an environment of 5,000,000 dogs and cats killed in shelters annually, there will rarely be a shortage of adoptable animals and if a rescue group is willing to take custody and care of the animal, rare is the circumstance in which they should be denied.
LA Animal Services recognizes and embraces the advantages provided by dedicated rescuers finding good homes for the animals in their care. LA Animal Services welcomes the participation of rescue groups and organizations and constantly strives to improve its policies and procedures to maximize the benefits of these partnerships. In 2005 the Department created the Participant Shelter program to streamline procedures for the approximately fifty rescue organizations taking animals from LA Animal Care Centers. In 2006 this program expanded to become the New Hope program, and now partners with over 125 registered rescue organizations to facilitate the rescue and adoption of thousands of animals from the shelters. Department staff provides comprehensive daily lists of available and at-risk animals, as well as urgent notifications, to these rescuers and groups, helping to facilitate nearly 6,000 live releases a year.
The New Hope Program was implemented to eliminate all obstacles that might prevent the animals most at risk of euthanasia from being redeemed into caring, dedicated, expert hands. These animals are placed on a New Hope Alert that is sent to New Hope partners each day by email. The Alert shows a picture and description of the animals, and the Care Center location where the animal(s) can be found. The list is also available on our website and is updated hourly. In addition, New Hope Coordinators assigned to each Animal Care Center send urgent emails to partners concerning specific animals in critical need. Thanks to a vast network of rescue organizations and concerned residents these pleas can reach thousands of people in a matter of minutes.
Animals on a New Hope Alert are available to New Hope partners at no cost, and the animals are provided free spay/neuter, microchip, and vaccinations. The New Hope Program allows LA Animal Services to help organizations who rely on donations, grants, and dedicated volunteers to maximize their limited resources so they are better able to help us all achieve “No Kill”. New Hope is decidedly win/win/win for the rescue groups, for LA Animal Services, and most importantly, for the animals. New Hope is not designed to save animals from adoption, but to save animals from euthanasia.
The New Hope program has been implemented in Maricopa County, AZ, New York City and several other communities across the United States. While the program may not be perfect, it is designed to continually improve and meet the needs of any community. Thanks to the help of many New Hope partners in LA, I believe the LA New Hope program is the most collaborative and successful shelter/rescue partnership program in the United States.
In addition to the program benefits noted above, other New Hope highlights include:
New Hope Partners receive 24/7 access to all Los Angeles Animal Care Centers.
Each facility has a designated New Hope Coordinator trained to provide the very best customer service to our New Hope Partners.
New Hope Partners are able to contact each facility via special "hot lines" to let the respective New Hope Coordinator know if they can help an animal. The New Hope Coordinator is able to immediately remove the animal(s) from the New Hope Alert and then work with the partner to transfer the animal as quickly as possible to the partner organization.
When a New Hope partner needs additional time to transfer an animal they can coordinate that need with our New Hope Coordinator. When necessary, and as recourses are available, transportation of the animal may be provided by the Department for the New Hope Partners having difficulty making these arrangements themselves.
Every New Hope Partner, upon request, receives a sophisticated, yet simple-to-use software package to help them manage the animals in their care. This software was developed by HLP Chameleon and is being generously donated to our New Hope partners. This software provides the smallest to the largest rescue groups the same level of animal management functionality used by over 350 of the largest animal shelters in the United States! We are deeply grateful for HLP's continued and generous commitment to help shelters achieve no-kill.
There are two types of New Hope Alert; a Green Alert and a Red Alert. A Green Alert identifies animals not imminently at risk of euthanasia. These are animals that, in the view of the Department, are not likely to be adopted any time soon for one reason or another, such as age or medical condition. A Red Alert identifies animals that are at risk of euthanasia. New Hope partners are provided seven days to take possession of Red Alert animals, unless the health of the animal requires a more immediate response. All the benefits of the New Hope program apply to all the animals on both the Green and the Red New Hope Alert.
The New Hope program is under review even now in an effort to identify additional enhancements. For more information on our New Hope program, and to see our New Hope Alerts, please visit our website at www.laanimalservices.com.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
IMPLEMENTING THE "NO-KILL EQUATION" IN LOS ANGELES - Part II: High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter
| This is the second in a series of messages responding to the recommendations of the No-Kill Equation. The No-Kill is comprised of ten commonsense, long-standing practices embraced and implemented by LA Animal Services with remarkable results. An animal advocate in our community conducted and submitted an analysis comparing the "No-Kill Equation" to LA's programs and practices. Today’s message focuses on the second recommendation of the “No-Kill Equation,” which is High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter. The Ten "No-Kill Equation" Recommendations are: 1. Feral Cat TNR Program – (Responded to in the December 11th Message) 2. High Volume/Low-Cost Spay/Neuter 3. Rescue Groups 4. Foster Care 5. Comprehensive Adoption Program 6. Pet Retention 7. Medical and Behavioral Rehabilitation 8. Public Relations/Community Involvement 9. Volunteers 10. A Compassionate Director The No-Kill Equation will appear in this blue font. The analysis of LA Animal Services' efforts will follow in italics. II. High-Volume, Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Spay/neuter is the cornerstone of a successful lifesaving effort. Low cost, high volume spay/neuter will quickly lead to fewer animals entering the shelter system, allowing more resources to be allocated toward saving lives. In the 1970s, the City of Los Angeles was the first to provide municipally funded spaying and neutering for low-income pet owners in the United States. A city study found that for every dollar it was investing in the program, Los Angeles taxpayers were saving $10 in animal control costs due to reductions in animal intakes and fewer field calls. Indeed, Los Angeles shelters were taking in half the number of animals after just the first decade of the program and killing rates in the city dropped to the lowest third per capita in the United States. This result is consistent with results in San Francisco and elsewhere. Research shows that investment in programs balancing animal “care” and “control” can provide not only immediate public health and public relations benefits but also long-term financial savings to a jurisdiction. According to the International City/County Management Association, “An effective animal control program not only saves cities and counties on present costs—by protecting citizens from dangerous dogs, for example—but also helps reduce the costs of animal control in the future. A city that impounds and euthanizes 4,000 animals in 2001... but does not promote spaying and neutering will probably still euthanize at least 4,000 animals a year in 2010. A city that... [institutes a subsidized spay/neuter program] will likely euthanize significantly fewer animals in 2010 and save on a host of other animal-related costs as well. It is fitting and appropriate that the No-Kill Equation cites the City of Los Angeles as a national model and leader for spay/neuter initiatives. After a number of years of reduced spay and neuter activities, the Board of Animal Services Commissioners in 1998 initiated a differential cost dog license ordinance to incentivize dog guardians to spay/neuter their pets. The City Council and Mayor adopted the ordinance into law in 1999 and LA Animal Services immediately committed to substantially expanding its subsidy of spay/neuter via discount vouchers and mobile clinics. Since then, those activities have grown impressively. During the same time period, impounds have declined more than 25% and euthanasia by more than 60%, contrary to recent false assertions that L.A.’s differential licensing law has failed. Today, via the Department’s “Big Fix” program, approximately 45,000 subsidized spay/neuter surgeries are accomplished annually, including over 12,000 performed in fully-equipped and professionally-staffed mobile clinics operated by the nonprofit Amanda Foundation and the Sam Simon Foundation, primarily in underserved neighborhoods. The City of Los Angeles commits $1.2 million annually to the department's spay/neuter programs. Additionally, long-dormant spay/neuter clinics in two of the City’s shelters re-opened in 2007 and five more high volume City spay/neuter clinics are scheduled to open by summer 2008. LA Animal Services has been responsible for approximately half a million total surgeries so far this decade and over 85,000 surgeries since January 2006 alone. This number does not include surgeries performed independently by private veterinarians for pet guardians in the City. During 2006-2007, the Department spearheaded the development of statewide legislation mandating the expansion of spay/neuter (AB 1634) and is also helping with the development of similar legislation specifically for the City of Los Angeles. LA Animal Services advocates spay/neuter as the most effective tool available to reduce the flow of homeless animals into public shelters over time and enjoys the full support of all the City’s elected officials in that belief. While not fully embraced by all, the decision to combine all the City's disparate spay/neuter efforts into one identifiable program called "The Big Fix" in 2006 appears to have helped. Since the launch of "The Big Fix" the City's annual spay/neuter rate, which had experienced only modest increases in previous years, rose over 60%. |
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
It’s a New Day in Our Clinics
On December 10, 2007, I had the pleasure of announcing to the Board of Animal Services Commissioners that the sixth full-time member of LA Animal Services’ veterinary team had just come on board.
To the best of our knowledge, this addition makes our current veterinary staff the largest it has been in the 98-year history of the department. Combined with more than 24 Registered Veterinary Technicians (most of whom are licensed veterinarians in their countries of origin) and a growing network of shelter-based clinics, Animal Services is better equipped to handle the health needs of more animals than ever before.
This tremendous accomplishment is due in large part to the hard work of our interim Chief Veterinarian, Dr. Steven Feldman, who has spent more than a half a year investing his considerable time, energy and effort personally recruiting highly qualified, dedicated veterinary professionals to build this team. It also is the product of a lot of hard work of our Human Resources Director, Russ Core and his team, as well as Assistant General Manager Linda Barth, both of whom did heavy lifting to make these jobs more attractive in an extremely competitive market for veterinarians. (These days good, newly-minted veterinarians often have up to seven job offers to choose from the day they receive their license to practice!)
It’s no secret that through the spring of this year our veterinary team was losing members. The local papers highlighted it and members of the humane community expressed their concern that the department couldn’t provide the care required both by state law and good, humane management practices. Some of our critics tried to turn it into a cause celebre, arguing that the attrition and the delays in recruiting new veterinarians were indications of deeper problems. At first they were right.
When I joined the LA Animal Services team in 2006, the pay scale for our veterinarians was one of the lowest in the Southern California public sector. It was lower than the scale for vets at the LA Zoo and certainly lower than for those working for LA County Public Health (which provides their services to LA County Animal Control). Additionally, one of our now-former veterinarians had taken an extended leave of absence after having her out-of-the-city home repeatedly visited by animal rights protestors. Word had gotten around in the vet field about how this job could “follow you home”. Needless to say, in such an environment recruiting veterinarians wasn’t easy.
AGM Linda Barth and Russ Core worked diligently into 2007 with the Personnel Department, the City Administrative Office, and the City’s labor unions to win approval for a raise in the pay scale for our veterinarians. By spring we had accomplished that and were able to attract Dr. Feldman into the fold. However, observers remained skeptical of our ability to reverse the situation. What they didn’t properly reckon with was our commitment to create a medical team like no other.
One by one – at a rate of about one every month or two – we convinced talented, experienced veterinarians that Animal Services was heading toward a national leadership position in the delivery of shelter medicine. Encouraged by Dr. Feldman and the humane medical environment he is creating, they came on board, bringing us to where we are today. There is one fully licensed veterinarian available for each of our current six shelters, backed up by one of the strongest Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) crews I’ve ever seen or heard of in my nearly 30 years in the animal care and control field. The fact that we are in the midst of opening great new or expanded animal care centers featuring full clinics and state-of-the-art medical equipment may have helped a bit too.
Shelter medicine is one of the most challenging areas of veterinary practice because everything is done in high volumes, from prophylactic and remedial care, to spay/neuter, to euthanasia (though we’re bound and determined to keep that last category on a downward curve). And, apart from the new LA Animal Services facilities, shelter medicine often must be practiced in surroundings that are less than inspiring as far as equipment and atmosphere go. I have always been in awe of the dedication shelter veterinarians exhibit in the face of such adversity, and I feel extremely fortunate to be able to offer them a more positive environment in which to work their magic for L.A.’s animals.
Our medical team is working hard to raise the level of care for the animals in our system. Dr. Feldman and his team are instituting strict new protocols to monitor that care, ensure the proper and safe use of medicine and other pharmaceuticals, and provide a range of services unprecedented for the department.
We also have skilled outside providers currently operating spay/neuter clinics in our South Los Angeles and North Central animal care centers and the in-house staff intends to have the just-completed West Valley spay/neuter clinic up and running as soon as possible. We also are starting a Request for Proposals process to recruit outside providers to run some or all of the new clinics slated to be ready for use by summer 2008.
All of this adds up to a benefit at the bottom line. In recent years, operating with a smaller veterinary team, LA Animal Services has had to contract with outside vets for a substantial amount of the care our animals needed, at considerable expense. I’m looking forward to those expenditures starting to decline in the coming months as we handle more of the animals’ needs in-house. In these difficult budgetary times, that’s a blessing.
When Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa first interviewed me for the position I now hold, he emphasized the need for the next General Manager to focus on every aspect of this department’s infrastructure, staff and performance. I took that challenge seriously and have drawn upon all my years of experience as an animal care and control professional and public sector management trainer to try to do so. The emergence of our strong new veterinary team is, I think, one of the most noteworthy successes in that effort.
But it’s not the only one. We’ve brought new talent, skills and energy to our administrative, financial, human resources and information technology staffs. We’ve worked to provide enhanced leadership and training to our shelter and field staffs even as we’ve had to undergo a continual recruiting and hiring process to meet the expanded needs posed by the new and expanded facilities. And we’re actively looking for new public relations and volunteer management people, along with an Assistant General Manager for Operations.
I know that not everyone believes LA Animal Services has yet turned the corner in its effort to move beyond the concerns and controversies of the past or even the present. Fair enough. But we’re working hard and making progress. I am confident this department is reinventing itself every day, acknowledging and addressing issues, moving toward “no kill” and helping to make Los Angeles the most animal-friendly big city in the United States. It’s not only a new day in our veterinary clinics; it’s a new day for every aspect of the department.
To the best of our knowledge, this addition makes our current veterinary staff the largest it has been in the 98-year history of the department. Combined with more than 24 Registered Veterinary Technicians (most of whom are licensed veterinarians in their countries of origin) and a growing network of shelter-based clinics, Animal Services is better equipped to handle the health needs of more animals than ever before.
This tremendous accomplishment is due in large part to the hard work of our interim Chief Veterinarian, Dr. Steven Feldman, who has spent more than a half a year investing his considerable time, energy and effort personally recruiting highly qualified, dedicated veterinary professionals to build this team. It also is the product of a lot of hard work of our Human Resources Director, Russ Core and his team, as well as Assistant General Manager Linda Barth, both of whom did heavy lifting to make these jobs more attractive in an extremely competitive market for veterinarians. (These days good, newly-minted veterinarians often have up to seven job offers to choose from the day they receive their license to practice!)
It’s no secret that through the spring of this year our veterinary team was losing members. The local papers highlighted it and members of the humane community expressed their concern that the department couldn’t provide the care required both by state law and good, humane management practices. Some of our critics tried to turn it into a cause celebre, arguing that the attrition and the delays in recruiting new veterinarians were indications of deeper problems. At first they were right.
When I joined the LA Animal Services team in 2006, the pay scale for our veterinarians was one of the lowest in the Southern California public sector. It was lower than the scale for vets at the LA Zoo and certainly lower than for those working for LA County Public Health (which provides their services to LA County Animal Control). Additionally, one of our now-former veterinarians had taken an extended leave of absence after having her out-of-the-city home repeatedly visited by animal rights protestors. Word had gotten around in the vet field about how this job could “follow you home”. Needless to say, in such an environment recruiting veterinarians wasn’t easy.
AGM Linda Barth and Russ Core worked diligently into 2007 with the Personnel Department, the City Administrative Office, and the City’s labor unions to win approval for a raise in the pay scale for our veterinarians. By spring we had accomplished that and were able to attract Dr. Feldman into the fold. However, observers remained skeptical of our ability to reverse the situation. What they didn’t properly reckon with was our commitment to create a medical team like no other.
One by one – at a rate of about one every month or two – we convinced talented, experienced veterinarians that Animal Services was heading toward a national leadership position in the delivery of shelter medicine. Encouraged by Dr. Feldman and the humane medical environment he is creating, they came on board, bringing us to where we are today. There is one fully licensed veterinarian available for each of our current six shelters, backed up by one of the strongest Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) crews I’ve ever seen or heard of in my nearly 30 years in the animal care and control field. The fact that we are in the midst of opening great new or expanded animal care centers featuring full clinics and state-of-the-art medical equipment may have helped a bit too.
Shelter medicine is one of the most challenging areas of veterinary practice because everything is done in high volumes, from prophylactic and remedial care, to spay/neuter, to euthanasia (though we’re bound and determined to keep that last category on a downward curve). And, apart from the new LA Animal Services facilities, shelter medicine often must be practiced in surroundings that are less than inspiring as far as equipment and atmosphere go. I have always been in awe of the dedication shelter veterinarians exhibit in the face of such adversity, and I feel extremely fortunate to be able to offer them a more positive environment in which to work their magic for L.A.’s animals.
Our medical team is working hard to raise the level of care for the animals in our system. Dr. Feldman and his team are instituting strict new protocols to monitor that care, ensure the proper and safe use of medicine and other pharmaceuticals, and provide a range of services unprecedented for the department.
We also have skilled outside providers currently operating spay/neuter clinics in our South Los Angeles and North Central animal care centers and the in-house staff intends to have the just-completed West Valley spay/neuter clinic up and running as soon as possible. We also are starting a Request for Proposals process to recruit outside providers to run some or all of the new clinics slated to be ready for use by summer 2008.
All of this adds up to a benefit at the bottom line. In recent years, operating with a smaller veterinary team, LA Animal Services has had to contract with outside vets for a substantial amount of the care our animals needed, at considerable expense. I’m looking forward to those expenditures starting to decline in the coming months as we handle more of the animals’ needs in-house. In these difficult budgetary times, that’s a blessing.
When Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa first interviewed me for the position I now hold, he emphasized the need for the next General Manager to focus on every aspect of this department’s infrastructure, staff and performance. I took that challenge seriously and have drawn upon all my years of experience as an animal care and control professional and public sector management trainer to try to do so. The emergence of our strong new veterinary team is, I think, one of the most noteworthy successes in that effort.
But it’s not the only one. We’ve brought new talent, skills and energy to our administrative, financial, human resources and information technology staffs. We’ve worked to provide enhanced leadership and training to our shelter and field staffs even as we’ve had to undergo a continual recruiting and hiring process to meet the expanded needs posed by the new and expanded facilities. And we’re actively looking for new public relations and volunteer management people, along with an Assistant General Manager for Operations.
I know that not everyone believes LA Animal Services has yet turned the corner in its effort to move beyond the concerns and controversies of the past or even the present. Fair enough. But we’re working hard and making progress. I am confident this department is reinventing itself every day, acknowledging and addressing issues, moving toward “no kill” and helping to make Los Angeles the most animal-friendly big city in the United States. It’s not only a new day in our veterinary clinics; it’s a new day for every aspect of the department.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
IMPLEMENTING THE "NO-KILL EQUATION" IN LOS ANGELES - Part I: Feral Cat TNR Program
LA Animal Services has long been committed to making Los Angeles a “no kill” community for animals. Over the past several years the Department has implemented numerous programs and policies to achieve this goal with some remarkable success. The analysis of LA Animal Services' efforts will follow in italics. The analysis is then followed by my statement of support for TNR in this font. |
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