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No More Homeless Pets Forum
November 4, 2002 Toward a No-Kill Nation |
Toward a no-kill nation: Robin Starr and Denise Deisler of Richmond (VA) SPCA discuss how to bring about the change to no-kill in your community.
Introduction from Robin Starr & Denise Deisler:
Five years ago, the Richmond SPCA embarked on a process of change - both for itself and for the Richmond community. The Richmond SPCA was for many years a very traditional shelter that euthanized thousands of animals each year. We committed to becoming a no-kill organization and to making Richmond a no-kill community within a few years. In order to accomplish these goals, we established a working partnership with City of Richmond Animal Control that was modeled on a similar relationship in San Francisco. We also conducted a highly successful capital campaign. We raised over $14 million in a community that had never before given any substantial amounts to a humane cause. We constructed a 64,000 square foot state-of-the-art humane center with an on-site spay/neuter clinic. Most significantly, nearly 1,200 fewer animals were euthanized in Richmond in the first nine months of our partnership with Richmond Animal Control over the same nine months of the previous year. All this was accomplished in the face of vehement protests from members of a few no-kill humane groups in our community.We moved into our new humane center and opened it to the public in October. The difference in the community's active participation is remarkable. In the ten days that the new center has been open we have adopted 41 dogs, 32 cats (many of them quite old) and one rabbit. We have received 250 volunteer applications. We will be the subject of an upcoming special on National Geographic Channel and have been called the "finest humane center in the country".
As we get settled in this wonderful new humane center, our first order of business for the coming holiday season is to promote more adoptions. We are mounting a Home for the Holidays promotion and it has a special tie-in this year with our new home. Next week we will turn over possession of our former shelter to the City of Richmond. They will renovate it and it will become the City of Richmond Animal Shelter early in 2003. We are delighted to have made that gift to the city as it is a better facility for both the animals and the staff.
Questions
Community support
Cats with FIV and FeLV
Fundraising
Dumping animals and dealing with threats
Adoption policies
Feral cats
Spay/neuter programs
Engaging the media
Becoming no-kill
Handling more animals as a result of the no-kill switch
The transition to no-kill
Encountering opposition
Community support
Question from Katherine:
First of all, thank you for all the wonderful work you've done in Richmond. My husband and I actually just moved from Richmond to Yakima, WA this past July. I am now working at the Humane Society of Central WA in Yakima (www.yakimahumane.org) which is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. Our shelter is the only service of its kind in Yakima County, which is very large and includes the Yakima Indian Reservation. It is a very hard place to work. There is a big pet overpopulation problem here and it is a low income area. Our dogs and cats get a maximum of 3 days with us unless adopted or rescued.Rescue usually means they are sent to a no-kill shelter or rescue group in the Seattle area. There is not much vet support for low cost spaying or neutering and everyone I have talked to about it says that the people in this area could care less. I guess I really would appreciate your suggestions on how to start from circumstances such as these to get a handle on the problems in the community and to get to a point where so many wonderful potential pets are not killed. What would you suggest to do and what resources would you suggest we look into first??
Thank you so much for your help and time!
Response from Denise Deisler:
First, your community is very fortunate to have you there. There are probably more people in your community that care than you realize - find them. Speak with community groups, church groups, civic groups, businesses; ask to set up an information table at your local shopping center or grocery store; if there is a veterinary association, see if you can speak with their board of directors; if you have a local newspaper, write a letter to the editor. What you should be attempting to do is solicit friends and potential supporters. I strongly suggest that you approach from a positive position - in other words do not overwhelm them by detailing the magnitude of the problem or sharing sad stories. Instead enlist them by explaining how they can help and have a positive impact. It has been our experience that if we focus on how individuals can help, rather than focusing on the problem itself, people are more inclined to become involved.Once you gather a group of supporters, discuss how you might move the community forward. Spend some time planning - agree on a focus (spay/neuter would seem the obvious choice). Solicit the help of other animal welfare organizations in your state that may be familiar with state laws or who may know of individuals in a position to help. Best Friends has many materials that may be of help to you - as do many other humane organization web sites.
You have a long road ahead. Gather all the friends and information that you can get your hands on, concentrate on what you can do rather than on what you can't do, and remember to celebrate your successes along the way. Best wishes to you and please stay in touch.
Cats with FIV and FeLV
Member's question:
What do you do about cats with FIV and FelV?Response from Denise Deisler:
One of our partner agencies, Richmond Animal League, accepts cats that have Feline Leukemia and FIV. They have special housing areas for them and also work to place them. When we receive one or have someone inquire about placing one, we turn to Richmond Animal League. We also have placed with a willing staff member.Fundraising
Member's question:
You said you raised 14 million dollars in a capitol campaign. How? We'd like to build a new shelter but we don't have the money. How do you go about raising that much money?Response from Robin Starr:
Well, the response to the question you have asked should be the subject of a seminar over several days! There is no way that I can briefly explain all that goes into conducting a successful $14 million capital campaign. But I can provide the following list of what I see as the essential elements:A. The organization needs to take the time to develop a clear and detailed vision of its plan for the future - what it intends to do for the community (and also what it intends not to do), how specifically it will go about achieving those goals, what resources (both bricks and mortar and programs) will be required for success and how much all that will cost - this plan should be committed to paper - if you can't write it, you can't do it;
B. A capital campaign should be launched only after a feasibility study has been done by an independent fundraising consultant on how much the organization can reasonably expect to raise in the community and after a capable and dedicated campaign chairman has been procured;
C. The CEO or Director of the organization will need to be freed up to devote essentially all of his or her time to the campaign;
D. The organization must, through materials and advertising and public relations, explain clearly and simply to the community what it intends to achieve and in what period of time and then needs to convince the community that their contributed dollars will be wisely and responsibly spent and that the goals will be achieved; and
E. You should not go public with the campaign until you have raised about 1/3 of the total goal.
This is a tall order and there is considerable detail about each of these points that is beyond the scope of this answer. Suffice it to say, that it is not easy by any means but it is without question possible.
Dumping animals and dealing with threats
Member's question:
What about the owners who won't try anything to keep their pet and want to get rid of it right there? Some people threaten to kill animals sometimes when we can't take them at our sanctuary. Do you get animals dumped at your shelter?Response from Robin Starr:
Owners who will not work with us on behavioral problems or be put on our waiting list for receiving pets are given a list of the public shelters and the other private humane organizations in the community. We have, like you, had a few people make threats about the safety of the animal. All of our employees are authorized to take in a pet whose safety they believe is at risk whatever are the circumstances. We then transfer the pet to the appropriate public shelter (depending on the residency of the owner, if we know what it is). We also inform them that we are calling the police because what they are threatening to do is illegal - and we do.We do sometimes have animals left tied or otherwise dumped at our shelter. We normally then transfer that animal to the Richmond Animal Shelter. The point here is that we look out for the safety of the pet but do not allow people to use threats or irresponsible behavior to avoid the system that we have put in place for animal welfare in our community.
Adoption policies
Member's question:
Have you changed how you handle adoptions (marketing, screening)? Do you do off-site adoptions? Internet adoptions? Do you take animals back if an adoption doesn't work out?Response from Denise Deisler:
We have modified our adoption screening process to be more educational and less police like. Staff have been trained to engage the potential adopter in friendly conversation in order to learn about their expectations and lifestyle and to be less form-focused. We do conduct landlord checks and ask for vet references/records. We approach each potential adoption as an opportunity to educate and help people to become responsible pet owners - we recognize if we turn an adopter down, they are likely to go to someone else who will not attempt to educate or conduct follow up calls or visits. We want people to view us as a resource and continue a relationship with the SPCA long after the adoption is complete. When we don't feel approval of adoption is appropriate, we advise the person that we will not approve the adoption "at this time." We then might encourage them to take a puppy parenting class and to continue working with us. We do conduct off-site adoptions and our same screening process applies.We post photos and information on our web site but individual must come to the facility to process - all of our adoptions are relationship focused and that is difficult via the web.
We always take our animals back if the adoption doesn't work - there are no time limits or restrictions on this policy.
Feral cats
Member's question:
Do you do anything with feral cats? Are there any local regulations regarding feral cats (prohibiting feeding or trap/neuter/return)? Any TNR programs?Response from Denise Deisler:
There is a group in our area, Operation Catnip, that promotes TNR and conducts spay/neuter days for caregivers. There are no regulations preventing TNR in our area and local ACC (Animal Care and Control) has been supportive of the group's efforts.Spay/neuter programs
Member's question:
What programs do you have through the SPCA for spay/neuter? Do you have a spay/neuter program for the public? Are there other spay/neuter programs in your area?Response from Denise Deisler:
The Richmond SPCA will open its spay/neuter clinic next week. All of our adoptees are sterilized prior to adoption. In addition we will offer low cost surgeries to the public. We are in the research/development phase for outreach programs targeted to underserved neighborhoods. We have also been selected as the pilot city for a grant funded outreach program called Spay Virginia. There are two other low cost clinics in our area and some humane organizations use a vet certificate program.Engaging the media
Member's question:
Has the media been helpful in including the community in your plans? Do they support your programs? How do you work with the media?Response from Robin Starr:
In order to give an adequate answer to this question, I must distinguish between our local newspaper and the television station news operations. Our newspaper (the Richmond Times-Dispatch) assigned one reporter to cover all humane issues about two years ago. That has been very helpful to us and I suggest asking your own newspaper to do this. That reporter has learned about humane and animal care issues in depth and is very supportive of our efforts to make this a no-kill community. She has done a number of very prominent articles with lots of full color pictures about our new facility and our programs for the community. She has covered them with depth and accuracy and has been very helpful in getting our messages out. She even does a weekly pet care column. The newspaper's editorial page also did an editorial saying what a wonderful asset to the community the Richmond SPCA is and how many animal lives we are saving through our programs and partnership with the City of Richmond Animal Control.On the other hand, the television stations have never spent any time understanding the issues and the facts with any depth. They continue to offer us adopt-a-pet spots of the traditional variety but they are not willing to do anything that would bring more significant messages to the public.
The radio stations are somewhere in between. One of the two large companies that own radio stations here has me do a spot that answers people's questions about pet care and behavior. They are helpful and supportive but not with the depth of understanding that the newspaper has provided.
Actually, our greatest TV coverage has been outside this community. The opening of our new humane center was covered all over the country as a result of an Associated Press story that came out about it. An article will appear in the Washington Post within the next two weeks about our humane center and the sophisticated technology of it.
Becoming no-kill
Member's question:
How do you initiate discussions within the local SPCA to consider becoming a no-kill?Response from Robin Starr:
Our Board leadership decided about five years ago to engage in long range planning through a committee of the Board with a professional facilitator. That committee took ten months to look at the possible ways the organization could operate and could utilize its resources. The group traveled around the country doing this research and spent many hours meeting. It devised a written long range plan to become a no-kill organization and to commit our resources to providing the tools to our community to become no-kill as a whole community. We have carried out that plan faithfully.I believe that it is essential for the Board of the organization to give serious consideration to where it wishes for the organization to go and how it wishes to use the resources of the organization. Any Board member can initiate that planning work but there is no substitute for it being done. It is probably best if a Board leader initiates the effort and I believe that a professional facilitator makes the work much more likely to come to a successful conclusion. The process takes time and can be very frustrating. Once the Board has set forth the organization's direction with clarity, then there can be no doubt or argument among staff or Board or the community any more on the subject. We had many rough seas after we adopted our plan but I had the great strength of being able to say that this is the plan and the will of my Board and we will not be deterred.
Handling more animals as a result of the no-kill switch
Member's question:
When becoming a no-kill shelter/community, as a result do you face the issue of handling MORE dogs and cats? What challenges arise from this decision and how do you meet them?Response from Robin Starr:
Our experience has been that we have not handled more dogs and cats since becoming no-kill nor has our City shelter which is the open admissions facility here. The numbers have declined for both of us since the partnership began in operation January 1, 2002 (which is also when we became no-kill). We attribute this success to the following:(i) We have established a strong behavioral support program through which we help owners resolve their problems with their pets through proper positive training techniques. When someone contacts us to relinquish a pet, we discuss with them what the problem is and the possible ways to work the problem out with training. Many pet owners (our experience is about 30%) are willing to give this a try and end up keeping the pet.
(ii) We have instituted an appointment system for relinquishment which gives the owner time to rethink whether they really want to give the pet up. We maintain a waiting list to get a pet in, but while they are waiting we help them work to rehome the pet themselves and often they do so successfully.
(iii) We have put in place a program to help owners keep their pets called Operation Safety Net. It offers many forms of assistance such as a Pet Friendly Housing Guide for the area.
(iv) We are working hard at the spay/neuter issue and it is clearly having an effect of reducing the number of homeless animals in the community.
The transition to no-kill
Two related questions from Bulletin Board members:
When you first decide and announce to the public that you are now a no-kill shelter (rather than the traditional humane society or animal control) do you immediately stop euthanizing animals? Do you announce, "Our shelter has made a decision to be a no-kill" or do you announce, "Our shelter is working toward becoming a no-kill shelter"?In Richmond, if the SPCA was the "traditional" agency to euthanize homeless animals, now that the SPCA is no-kill, what happens to the homeless animals? Does the city/county now do it, or is the city no-kill?
Response from Denise Deisler:
Both the Richmond SPCA and the City of Richmond Animal Control were open admission, euthanizing organizations. When we adopted our long range plan, which called for an end to our community's reliance on killing as its primary means of population control, we announced that once proper programs and partnerships were in place the Richmond SPCA would cease killing healthy, homeless animals and focus our resources on those activities and programs that would prevent homelessness. We spent approximately two years putting those partnerships and programs into place and preparing our community for the change. We secured a partnership agreement with the City of Richmond Animal Control and three other private organizations. The basic elements of the agreement are that we will be mutually supportive of our differing roles and work cooperatively toward an end to euthanizing healthy, homeless animals in Richmond. We also agreed to transfer animals from the City as well as to continue receiving directly from the public on a space available basis.During the two year period, our staff participated in training to help them more effectively engage the public in solutions - once we went no-kill in January of this year, members of the community were required to have an appointment thus requiring an entirely different type of interaction on the part of our staff. We implemented a behavior help line and brought a behaviorist and trainers on board. We aggressively recruited foster care volunteers. We actively promoted pet friendly housing. In short, we spent the two year transition period providing the community with alternatives to pet relinquishment and preparing our staff and the city's staff for the changes to come.
Our city animal control still euthanizes those animals not appropriate for adoption and those that other organizations can not transfer. I am delighted to tell you that the city's intake of animals did not increase when we made the change, in fact it decreased. Most importantly, their euthanasia rate has dropped nearly 20% since the partnership took full effect in January. That equates to nearly 1200 fewer animals killed during the first nine months of the partnership as compared to the same nine months the year prior.
"Believing is achieving," is a favorite quote of mine. Once our community heard there was a better way, they enthusiastically supported it. We have seen positive results far sooner than we ever imagined we would.
Thanks for the great questions and best wishes.
Encountering opposition
Member's question:
This is so exciting! Welcome Robin and Denise, and thanks so much for visiting the Best Friends Forum.I've read about what you've done in Virginia, and am truly amazed at your accomplishments. I did find one thing very confusing though;
"All this was accomplished in the face of vehement protests from members of a few no-kill humane groups in our community."
Why ever would the 'no-kill' groups have objections? I should think that they'd be thrilled. There's not a single no-kill I know of that isn't constantly overburdened, turning away many more critters than they can accept. Your new center should be a dream come true for them.
Wishing you enormous success (if you have clones, please send them to Massachusetts!)
Response from Robin Starr:
Well, we expected that too. But, on the contrary, a few (by no means all) of the no-kill groups in the Richmond community were highly vocal, through protests before City council, on web sites and in numerous letters to the editors of the two newspapers here, that they believed that we should continue in our "traditional role" of being a euthanizing shelter (their words, not mine).Initially, they expressed concern that our limiting our admissions would increase the burden on our City Animal Control shelter and that it would cause animal deaths to increase. We responded to those concerns by setting up a transition fund to assist the City shelter with any transition costs. In fact, the fund was never used because there was no increased demand on the City shelter. Actually, the numbers of animals received at the City shelter has decreased this year over last (as have our numbers too) and about 1,200 fewer animals have died in the city in the first nine months of this year over the same months of last. The objections of these groups have continued despite this obvious success. We can only conclude that they are unwilling to give up the distinction that existed between us and them that they relied upon for purposes of seeking community support.
