“One of the ways that we’ve learned to make progress is to engage the community and let them be part of it and get an understanding of it,” Barnette explained the relationship between the community and the No-Kill goal, “we are working together instead of head on with each other.”
The number of pets euthanized in LA shelters has dropped markedly. In 2012, only 57.7 percent of cats and dogs left city shelters alive, with 18,000 cats and dogs euthanized. By 2016, the number of euthanized pets dropped to 3,236, an 82 percent reduction. According to Barnette, the victory is in sight because they have reached a little over 87 percent, just 3 percent from the goal.
“We certainly will be either the largest city to achieve No-Kill or one of the two large cities that achieve No-Kill by the end of 2017,” Barnette said.
Are the Statistics Real?
Critics claim the numbers are being manipulated. They say some LA animal shelters are taking in fewer strays in order to reduce the euthanasia rate. They point out that Barnette proposed a program this May that allows lost pets to stay with the person who found them for 30 days, instead of sending them directly to animal shelters. The so-called “Finders, Keepers” program would encourage citizens to keep stray animals at home rather than taking them to a shelter. It puts a burden on people to seek out lost pet's owners. This program is not yet approved but critics point to it as just another way to "fix" the numbers in favor of the animal shelters.
“If people want to find their dogs, the first thing they are going to do is to go to a local shelter,” Lisa Lange, Peta Senior Vice President, said, “the dogs have to be there and held there for at least five days so people can come and identify.”
Lange also brought up another issue, saying that there is lack of response from LAAS to emergency calls. She says they had a case where a citizen was asking the LAAS for help rescuing an injured poodle dropped in a dumpster. Lange claims LAAS never showed up so PETA picked up the dog. Four weeks ago, PETA got a call from someone who was frustrated trying to call LAAS to rescue a poodle, who suffered head trauma and was dying in the dumpster. LAAS didn not respond and PETA sent people out.
“The poodle was really betrayed by the whole system that focuses more on ‘save rate’ than the life of each individual animal.” Lange said.
According to Lange, PETA gets a huge number of calls from people in Los Angeles who cannot get through the animal control.
“Even when people call directly to the shelters, either they do not answer or they put them on hold for 40 minutes.”
Voices Against No-Kill
Laura Jones, CEO of All About the Animals(Left) and Lisa Lange, Peta Senior Vice President(Right) think that LA animal shelters are neglecting animals in order to reach the No-Kill goal.
Laura Jones, the CEO of All About the Animals, a non-profit animal rescue organization, brought up the same case, saying LAAS focuses more on the numbers than caring about animals. Jones thinks that LA city and county shelters are not doing their jobs.
“I think the harm of treating animals as statistics is that it’s not taking animals as sentient beings, man’s best friend, as creatures we let in our homes that depend on us,” Jones said.
Different Sides, Same Goals
Jones urges the community to adopt animals instead breeding or purchasing them. In fact, California could be the first state to outlaw so-called puppy mills with legislation that bans pet stores from selling dogs, cats and rabbits that no do not come from rescue organizations or shelters. The bill was passed this September and sent to Gov.Jerry Brown, who has until Oct.15 to act.
“There are wonderful, wonderful dogs in the shelters, and cats,” Jones said, “there are so many beautiful animals that are sadly losing their lives.”
Barnette says that a change doesn’t always happen overnight, sometimes it is much slower than those of people who want to see it right now.
“The bottom line is that we should all be trying to save animals lives,” Barnette said, “and we should not accept lethal measures as a way to solve a problem.”
The entire animal-saving movement has come a long way since the days of “the pound” and “the dog catchers”. While there are still debates on how to save shelter pets, there is agreement that animals deserve better lives.
Find the nearest place to meet some adorbale pets!
From this map, you can find an animal shelter or an adoption center that is the closest to you and meet with some cute animals. What are you waiting for?