On April 20, 2010, the Mayor of Houston released the below Press Release regarding BARC which is
"The Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care (BARC) benefitted from an overwhelming response from individuals around the State of
The staff at BARC and the City of Houston extends their thanks to all who had a hand in distributing the call for assistance last week and through the weekend, and especially to those who assist the animals at BARC find new, permanent homes. These efforts reflect greatly on the compassion of our City. They also demonstrate the real cost society must bear when individuals do not spay or neuter their pets or practice responsible pet ownership..."
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It is wonderful that so many animals got out of BARC alive last weekend. The above numbers were most likely a record high for BARC. And it is wonderful that volunteers were able to get much needed media attention for the BARC animals. It was disappointing that, at least, one report made it appear that the large number of animals at BARC was an unusual situation, instead of the continual problem that it actually is.
One thing that is really bothersome is that the Mayor's press release seems to blame the public for BARC's own problems. The press release states that the volunteers efforts "demonstrate the real cost society must bear when individuals do not spay or neuter their pets or practice responsible pet ownership.“ So, the Mayor is saying that individuals (meaning you and I) are irresponsible and we are to blame for the high kill rate at BARC.
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Apparently, it doesn’t seem matter that:
No, none of this matters. According to the city of Houston, it is our fault that BARC continues to kill 27,000 animals every year. Wow. It appears that this Mayor is as adept at blaming the public for BARC's high kill rate as the last Mayor.
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Comments
Yes, BARC could do more but people not spaying and neutering is the essence of the problem. Why don't you help get the law changed so spay/neuter becomes mandatory just like the rabies shot?
Spay/neuter is not the most important key in stopping the killing. It is important, but it is not the key and mandatory s/n certainly is not. If it were, all shelters that have become No Kill would not have been able to do so, because none of these shelters are in cities with mandatory spay/neuter laws. In fact, mandatory s/n laws cause kill rates to rise.
This is one reason that Maddie’s Fund does not give grants to cities with Mandatory s/n laws. Because they know that they do not work. Please become more educated on this topic before advocating for something that will cause more death. There is a list of reference material on our website under Resources.
The key to stopping the killing is the shelter director. Period. Even the amount of money that a shelter receives is not a predictor of whether it will stop the killing. Everything depends on whether the shelter director is determined to stop killing. See the No Kill Advocacy website for a study confirming this.
Please stop blindly following Winograd's studies and start logically thinking for yourself. I've read all the books, researched the case studies, scrutinized the death statistics and, OF COURSE, Spay/Neuter is the key to stopping the killing! While I do agree with Winograd that mandatory spay/neuter is not necessary, voluntary spay/neuter is absolutely crucial to saving lives, Atencio is not! Period.
Bett, we are on the same side, but your constant bickering about BARC makes me think you don't want to help. What gives?
Blindly follow? I don't think that it's those who want to save lives are the one blindly following. If you have a better solution for saving lives, BARC Volunteer, please post it Otherwise don't try to stop those who do.
A no kill society must be supported by the public, financially as well as a way of life. It's impossible to blame a lone shelter director for an entire city not caring. I'm not saying there aren't people who care, but obviously it's not enough. No kill needs to be supported by local vets & rescues along with the public as a whole. Stop bashing BARC, turn the focus on the owners are aren't caring for their own animals properly.
If people would spay & neuter, vaccinate, and microchip their animals all Houston shelters would be in a better place. Don't blame a shelter for euthanizing animals, where else are they supposed to go? Set up 5,000 crates in the hallways? Overburden foster homes? Shelter are scrambling to find fosters and adopters as it is, we all need to find a way to fix the problem from the roots up. That starts with the public, and the responsibility cannot rest on the shoulders of one single person.
“BARC volunteer” I am not “blindly” following Winograd’s studies. I’ve researched everything he says from other sources and he is absolutely right. And the facts are that he has figured out the model that stopped the killing in 2 shelters as the shelter director himself. Additionally, other shelter directors who follow his guidance also stop the killing.
Why do you bash someone who has proven he has figured out how to stop the killing of thousands of pets? Why do you bash No Kill efforts at all? If you oppose No Kill that can only mean one thing; you support killing.
What you call bickering, I call making the public aware of what is actually going on in their shelters. The truth has been hidden for far too long.
And no, I don’t think we are on the same side. I want to stop the killing of all healthy and treatable pets entering shelters but apparently you are content with the status quo of killing at BARC.
“Seriously?” you really need to become more educated on how other shelters have stopped killing. No Kill has been around for 15 years, so there is a clear model that works.
Shelters in cities that are in far worse economic shape than Houston and those that have greater animal per capita intakes than Houston (indicating a greater number of “irresponsible people”), have still transformed themselves into No Kill shelters. Shelters with far more money still have high kill rates; yet shelters with little money have stopped killing. So clearly money and the public are not indicators of whether a shelter will become No Kill.
The key difference is shelter directors who do not accept killing as a solution. They find other solutions and those solutions are found within the No Kill Equation. This model of sheltering works & it works everywhere.. north, south, east, west even other countries. But the key ingredient is the shelter leader.
See pt 2
Pt 2
So yes, I blame Gerry Fusco, David Atencio, Alfred Moran and our Mayor & city council for not doing what has been proven to stop the killing. They have a 196 page report desks which tells them EXACTLY how to stop the killing , but they ignore it. I suppose they, like you, believe that they know how to stop the killing better than people who are actually doing it. This is a nonsensical & deadly, notion.
And, the outpouring of help recently proved that your statement that “an entire city” doesn’t care is false. There are a lot of compassionate, responsible, animal loving people in Houston who would help. The problem is that BARC leaders are not reaching them. BARC has only 1 shelter that few people know exists & 1 offsite adoption location. This is for a city that spans 600 sq miles & has 2.2 million people. If Houston had only a few thousand people & BARC took in only a couple hundred animals per yearr, this might be enough.
See pt 3
Pt 3
You don’t have to be a marketing expert to see that 2 adoption sites, in a city this large, are not enough to move out 27,000 animals per year (especially when one of the sites is in a remote location).
In addition, BARC also bans the public/volunteers who do try to help; 3 in just the first 3 months of this year. BARC has arbitrary rules that say certain animals cannot be fostered. BARC refuses offers of free medical help for seriously injured animals & allows those animals to die. BARC/COH plans to waste 12 million dollars on an adoption facility in another remote area that will not help animals be seen by the public and therefore get adopted. Instead of working on ways to get more animals out of BARC alive, they just train more KENNEL ATTENDANTS on how to kill. And BARC continues to kill 75 animals every single day.
So, yes I do blame BARC/COH leaders for not doing what has been proven to work and so should you. Making excuses only allows the killing to continue.
Beth. You will always get opposition from those that have not read about or seen no kill procedures put in to place and work. Brave through it. If Austin can do it, so can Houston.
The mayor clearly refers to individuals who do not spay or neuter their animals, not everyone, as being irresponsible.
Hey Bett Bashers......I know it is difficult for you to understand but The City of Houston IS the LAW. City of Houston can and does make life miserable for people/animal lovers. Just ask anyone who's been arbitrarily fined/hasseled for pet related 'violations'. Let's not forget how easy it was to raise our water bills by 30%. Instead of covering their collective asses, if the City of Houston would put all that power/energy to RAISING AWARENESS, things might be a little different. "normal volunteers/animal lovers" don't have the power to make such significant changes. The CITY has to take the lead.
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