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The large animal organizations
and the public money.
It is said that in America,
anything the imagination can conjure up can be attained
with persistence. In a society where we boast of freedom
and clearly recognize the importance of our leadership in
the world, one must be increasingly disillusioned by the
simple things in life that prevent us from moving ahead
even further. We can successfully put roving monitors on
mars,, cure diseases in short order, win wars in 100 days
or less and have the marketing prowess to alter human life
around the globe.
The suffering of animals is
a deep and quiet thing; and yet, millions of people hear,
and care and hope to answer this call. More than 3,000 non
profits dedicated to the same have logged an estimated 40
Billion man hours in the past 20 years all while Americans
are donating billions of their dollars to animal welfare
organizations who promise that they are relieving animal
suffering.
But are they? Or, is the
trust being placed in them by their donors, being
betrayed?
The overpopulation of dogs
and cats is the major source of the suffering and death of
8 million animals a year in America. This is a problem for
which the cause is well known, the consequences of not
solving it are well known, and the tools for solving it
are within reach. And yet, little headway is being made.
It is one of the simplest problems to correct.
We hear a lot about
increasing adoptions, and this is important; but where is
the effort to prevent the overpopulation in the first
place? The ASPCA, for example, doesn't even take in
strays, so their adoption program, while valuable, is not
addressing the problem in a significant way. They
inaugurated their "no-kill" policy in order to
appeal to more donors. That doesn't mean that animals are
not being killed—they are just being killed someplace
else. And until the overpopulation problem is solved, this
dirty work must be done.
Why is it that almost
everyone knows about the ASPCA and HSUS, for example, but,
by and large, the public still doesn't know that it is not
OK to breed their pets or to allow an accidental breeding?
Why don't people know about puppy mills or where pet shop
puppies come from? The big organizations have utterly
failed to get this message across. Why?
They have the funds. In New
York City, billboards, subway and bus ads abound.
"Think out of the box" is the title under a
picture of a puppy or kitten peeking out of an ASPCA
carrier. Not one ad, or sign, or billboard informs the
public about the overpopulation epidemic and its tragic
consequences. Why? Again, the large organizations have
failed to convey this important message to the public, in
schools and to our elected officials.
Our society is continuing
to devote a sizable portion of our existence to finding
out the problems that face us and realize that we must re
focus our efforts on the TRUE meanings of responsibility,
compassion and to understand that even though only one
voice, each human is part of a societal choir of sorts
that has far reaching consequences for everyone in that
given society. I was once told that we can never expect to
win the game until all teammates play by the same rules.
It certainly holds true in this argument.
Nobody within the ranks of
these seemingly noble efforts will disagree with the facts
that nobody wants to work together. They defend their
ideas as if it were a pharmaceutical corporation with a
cure for cancer. The compassion issue is everywhere in the
animal protection movement. 'Compassion This - Compassion
That." But all the large animal protection groups
continue to bicker, argue, point fingers and sling mud
between themselves. The anger and jealousy and
vindictiveness among the smaller rescue organization
efforts is mammoth in scope. Unimaginably detrimental to
all these efforts is clearly the complete lack of true
compassion - at least a real focus on their actual goals.
Of course, politics, egos and agendas play a large part in
covering up any real compassion that may be earned or even
really exists.
We are not advocating the
end of the big organizations or even the reduction of the
six-figure salaries being awarded their chief
executives.Why shouldn't someone who saves an animal get
paid as well as someone who is willing to send them to
slaughter or pave over habitat? But, in any business and
most other endeavors, a chief executive who does not do
the job is either demoted or fired. The big animal
organizations have not done the job. Should they continue
to get paid?
Too much of their funding
is channeled back into their own development, feeding
their own labyrinthine gullets. These organizations have
become creatures with bigger and bigger bellies and weaker
arms and legs and smaller hearts to get things done. If we
were truly compassion driven, we would not be so
uninformed as to assume the large national groups were
truly out to help the animals with their millions and
millions of dollars laying around in bank accounts while
much needed and well deserved programs go unfunded and
lives continue to be lost. If we were truly compassion
driven, we would educate ourselves on the facts of these
issues so as to clearly understand our individual roles in
prevention.
Sharing the blame and the
shame is the American Kennel Club, which issues
registration papers indiscriminately to decent breeders
and to puppy mills alike. They sponsor the suffering of
thousands upon thousands of animals. No big organization
wants to take them on. Why? We must admit the problems are
ours and ours to solve. Like our fanatical minority and
religious leaders, our large animal welfare organizations
need their victims. Absent crime and imaginary situations
against their people and teachings, these organizations
disappear -- this means jobs. Jobs = egos. As long as they
can convince those who don't know any better, they will
survive.
The picture as of today, is
one of an overworked underfunded and failing animal
control effort, schools failing to institute any form of
humane education programs into a curriculum at any level,
the media won't cover the real stories of HOW to prevent
this and see a productive future, their readers don't want
the stories of puppies and kittens dying as it's too
upsetting to read. Finally, all those who are sitting at
their desk right now in any animal protection
organizations while reading this are going to be outwardly
angered that One would accost them in such a manner, but
are not willing to correct the situation as it stands, to
ensure they receive a pay check next week.
The major animal welfare
organizations are not useless. The world is a better place
with them than without them, but they fall short. Too
short. To whom much is given, much is expected.
Randy Warner has a series
of 7 handbooks to help everyone become better humane
educators. Available at www.21stcenturycares.org/products.htm.
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About
The Author
Randy
N. Warner is the founder and president of
21st Century Animal Resource and Education
Services. A federally recognized tax
exempt organization dedicated to promoting
and supporting humane education in our
nation's schools. His efforts have been
featured in People magazine, LA Times, NY
Post, Letterman Show and much more. His
website with over 900 pages of materials
is at www.21stcenturycares.org. |
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