This is a guest post written by Amy Fink, one of Home for Life's board members and offers a unique perspective from someone who was there at the beginning, when the idea of our sanctuary was first created. There was much hope 20 years ago that No Kill might someday be an achieveable goal and, we were so impressed with the vision of Richard Avanzino, the then director of the San Francisco SPCA who had many innovative ideas that inspired a whole new approach to help animals most in need.
As Amy writes, though, what we have seen through our work at Home for Life is that 20 years later, animal welfare and "rescue" has lost sight of many of the guiding principles which informed Avanzion's vision .with the result that still, today, many dogs and cats in need are left at risk with their lives in peril.
This is the text of the presentation Amy gave to her Toastmaster's Group in November, 2020.
_______________________________________________________________________________
I'll give you the answer to the question the title asks: nothing is the matter with Caden.
But this title forces people who care about the fate of dogs and cats like him to recognize the lens thru which rescue organizations are valuing animals, a warped marketing framework that is proving counter to their purported missions.
The mission of rescue is not supposed to be finding more marketable animals. Rescues are supposed to be making the animals they have more marketable by insisting that people stop disposing of their pets like last season's fashion, by doing a better job of " selling " people on the real appeal of each and every cat and dog that falls into their care. Not so that the greatest risk to the life of an animal is to end up in "rescue" or to have "rescues" abandoning their adopters if they run into a challenge with a cat or dog they have bought from the organization.
But the market model has also put alot of rescues in competition with one another financially, and so they take a short cut and just go for the animals who will sell themselves.
As a care for life sanctuary,Home for Life stands outside that competition because we don't have to "sell" the public on our residents.
About 20 years ago I helped my sister found a sanctuary for unadoptable dogs and cats. This was at the point when the No Kill Movement was REALLY gaining steam
We went to a big No Kill conference in San Francisco to talk with other rescue workers and get ideas. Everyone in animal rescue is about reducing animal suffering mostly through spay/neuter or adoption into forever homes.
A sanctuary IS a forever home for animals who don't get adopted.
But when we told people at the conference we were focused around lifetime care ONLY and not adoption, they said:
"OOOh, you will have a hard time funding yourself!"
Because most animal rescue organizationss raise a good part of their operating costs through adoption.
Adoption RULES the animal rescue world. Most groups gauge their success around how many animals move through their doors into "fur"ever homes.
San Francisco Humane Society, our conference host, was a model of what could be accomplished along these lines!
Their director, Richard Avanzino, recognized that we are a market-driven culture, and so he harnessed that market instinct.
INCREASE ANIMAL DESIRABILITY
-- pretty up the adoption rooms to give the animals greater curb appeal
-- get on local tv to showcase animals
-- give animals a name and tell their backstory
REDUCE NUMBERS OF HOMELESS ANIMALS
-- pay people to spay/neuter
INCREASE NUMBERS OF HOMES THAT COULD TAKE ANIMALS
-- work with landlords in a city with a very high renter population to have them allow pets
The program was so successful that the San Francisco SPCA had a contract with the city pound to take all of their animals and find them homes.
It was truly inspiring! No-kills sprang up around the country and everyone redoubled their efforts to end euthanasia and animal homelessness following the market approach
So...living in a market driven culture, we all have a feel for markets
We have an instinct for what sells and what doesn't sell. Right?
Let's try it. Which of these animals do you think is more adoptable?
1) "Caden" a three year old hound mix - neutered, sweet and kind boy, originally from Alabama and a shelter there, then was transported to Chicago's Anti Cruelty Society to try his luck to find an adoptive home. Heartworm positive with a limp due to previous car accident.
2) "Papaya", an eight year old English bulldog - neutered not awesome with kids, breathing problems, bad knees, obesity, arthritis ( also at the Animal Cruelty Society during the same time frame because his owner had surrendered him )
I'll ask another way:
Which one has better curb appeal? Which would you bring onto a local news show?
It turns out most rescues wanted the bulldog. In fact they competed for him even though objectively, he would not make a better pet: he was older, had health problems, and didn't like children
Meanwhile, none of the rescues would go to bat for Caden. Why? Because he is a dime a dozen.
And this is the problem!
Rescues are caught in a trap because they need homes for the animals they are rescuing, which means they need to sell the public on adopting an animal.
Some rescues try to stock their cages with animals they believe will be more adoptable
-- purebreds cool looks interesting or dramatic story.
Dogs like Caden get overlooked and left behind.
In a market-driven world, success is measured by moving your product.
Every adoption/sale "proves" the rescue is fulfilling its mission. Right?
But animals are not commodities and unlike a store with hard goods, a rescue can't just order up inventory to match market demand.
The LAST thing rescue organizations want to do- or should want to do- is manufacture more copies of a popular model.
It goes completely against the ethic of animal welfare. ,
The adoption-as-success metric also hides a sad story. People are flaky and casual about the lives of their animals
Many animals move in and out of the system for years, with each adopting group claiming success,
and meanwhile the animal's health and spirit are slowly destroyed through each transition
Caden already had 4 homes in his short life! He never found a "fur"ever home and he was about to be euthanized until our sanctuary, HFL, stepped in. ( Read more about Caden close call here: Home for Life Animal Sanctuary: Rescue Remedy (homeforlifesanctuary.blogspot.com)
There are millions of suffering, lonely and unwanted animals across our country
Whenever we disregard or devalue one of them, we place all animals in jeopardy,
Because any dog or cat can lose their home, become old, injured, or ill and unwanted.
But in a system designed to handle problems on a mass scale, individuals DO get overlooked.
We can't let ourselves forget that, behind every data point, is an individual like Caden, with their own story and the need for someone to recognize all that makes them special.
____________________________________________________________
I feel that the lesson of San Francisco's great success was lost in all the mania to increase adoption numbers.
San Francisco, under Avanzino's leadership, was practical and market savvy, and those ARE necessary qualities in a well-run rescue
BUT remember: San Francisco did NOT pick and choose the animals they would help. They took on the WHOLE city's animal population!
After all, what keeps animals safe and cherished is our attitude towards them, and our capacity to care .
Whenever we step up to save one animal, we take a stand for all animals in similar situations, and we make visible and practical what is truly possible
The REAL lesson from that conference was that we have a duty to recognize the individual light in every one of the dogs and cats we help.
and to do all we can to give them a safe landing.
This is the mission of our sanctuary, Home for Life.
