5 Reasons Kill 'Shelters' Don't Work

By the Barbi Twins
On Dodo.com September 18, 2014

There's nothing closer to people than their companion pets. We're responsible for their very existence. Yet there's nothing more betraying to a dog or cat's loyalty than for them to end up at a pound to be killed in return for their unconditional love. We've been brainwashed that "killing is saving" so we kill healthy adoptable pets if there are "too many." We've never stepped outside the cage to ask what's "too many pets?" Nor do we think of alternative ways to find homes for pets without killing.

For example, there are 4.2 million people living in Los Angeles and 45,000 shelter pets killed there per year. That's only one percent of the population. Similarly, there are 316.1 million people that live in the U.S. and three to four million pets killed in pounds nationwide; that's also a little over one percent of the population. So why kill pets when we could think about housing them? Why are we the only country that has kill pounds?

Pounds don't work because:

1. They're run by the health department. Their catch and kill technique is an easy and quick way to keep cities disease-free. 
2. Pounds manage themselves. They don't have to answer to anyone so no one enforces laws like spay/neuter laws. 
3. Killing doesn't lower the number of pets, instead it opens a window for puppy mills, kitten mills, pet shops, and internet backyard breeders. 
4. Pounds aren't "shelters"; they're a place to throw away a pet. If they never existed, people would think twice about getting a pet. 
5. Laws protect pounds so that they don't have to disclose facts. Like this one: there's a 50 to 99 percent chance of the animal being killed.  In most pounds we've volunteered at, pets are dragged to the "bump room" unsedated, and killed with a heart stick. This isn't "humane euthanasia." 

Our goal is to make shelters no-kill or to privatize them. Let's tell our local representatives that the cities would save taxes and lower pet numbers by having:

• Free spay/neuter clinics like humane free clinics using third and fourth year veterinarian students. For every tax dollar we'd spend on spay/neuter, we'd save $10 on housing, killing and disposing of pets. 
• City dog trainers, since in my years of volunteering I've seen that most dogs are surrendered to pounds because they're untrained. 
• TNR programs for feral cats to be trapped/neutered and the returned back to a cat colony, since 75 to 80 percent of pound killings are cats.

Let's stop the broken cycle of killing and promote volunteer-based no-kill rescues. Let's rewire the brain to a "pro-live" movement and find new, creative ways to help homeless animals. Animal rights activists should fight for the animals' right to live, not the right to kill them.

June is Adopt a Shelter Cat Month

In a new cat comic strip, Sia and Shane Barbi play heroines who help stop pet pound killings by secretly trapping and fixing stray cats and adopting them!

June is “Adopt a Shelter Cat” month! For more info on how to adopt, go the Stray Cat Alliance website!

EXTRA TV.com  Celebrity News

Barbi Twins and Elayne Boosler - "Help Stop Repeal of Hayden Law" - Sign Petition Please!

Barbi Twins and Elayne Boosler combine efforts to help Stray Cat Alliance's petition against the repeal of the Hayden Law which was written to protect shelter animals.

Elayne, Shane and Sia - The "Triplets"
Elayne Boosler and the Barbi Twins

Elayne:    "Then came the "Hayden Law." SB 1785, named for its sponsor, California State Sen. Tom Hayden, became a life saver for adoptable shelter animals, and a humane and valued partner to animal rescuers and owners. It made animal shelters more accountable. It gave the public longer to find their lost animals before they were killed. It mandated more "work friendly" hours to the public for going to the shelters. It was so good, after a few years it expanded to offer owner-surrendered animals the same amount of time (four to six business days) to stay alive for adoption and rescue instead of being instantly killed.

Better and better, right? And now, worse. Gov. Jerry Brown wants to repeal the Hayden Law. Everything comes down to money, but even here, the math is wrong"

Read Elayne's post in its entirety in the Huffington Post:   Barbis, Boosler vs. Brown & Board of Extermination

Sign the petition:  Don't Repeal Hayden

Visit www.StrayCatAlliance.org for more information about their fight to stop the repeal of the Hayden Law.

Visit our friend Elayne Boosler's official website at  www.elayneboosler.com and her animal rescue organization website at www.tailsofjoy.net

Barbi Twins Speak Out Against Hayden Law Repeal: Doom for Shelter Pets

We are spokespersons for Stray Cat Alliance (SCA), against the Hayden Law Repeal.

Governor  Jerry Brown wants to revoke the Hayden Law for shelter pets in California which currently gives 4-6 days to allow owners to find their lost pets, injured animals to relieve donated medical attention or for fostering or adoption opportunity.   Gov. Jerry Brown wants to cut funds off by eliminating the wait period and killing the pets within only a 72 hour waiting period. This will create mass killings at shelters. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION! Killing has only opened the window for breeders, creating more discarded pets that are dumped at shelters.

As SCA points out, it actually saves money to implement a spay/neuter program.  For instance, to house, euthanize and dispose a pet, it's $250, whereas to simply fix the pet, it is less than $50.

Jerry Brown's solution is not only unethical and uncompassionate, it also won't solve the problem of pet population.  Killing never has been an answer, just an excuse for breeders to continue to over-breed.

It is far cheaper and more cost effective to implement a spay/neuter program.
Petition to urge Gov Jerry Brown to reconsider the Hayden Law Repeal.


http://scapetitions.org/dont-repeal-hayden-petition

CUTEST - A Shelter Rescue Pet Story

By the Barbi Twins and Ken Wahl,

Hi, I'm Cutest. I'm a rescued shelter cat that owns Ken and Barbi. I want to tell you my story.

One cruel, cold day I asked myself, "Where did I go wrong?" Sitting here at the shelter, with my other "co-abandonees", we all backtracked to "the scene of the crime" as to why we were here.

I was a kitten born among many other animals in some back-yard breeders place. It was cold, over-crowded and dirty. I witnessed many of my family and friends being torn from each other, to be sold to various people, some of whom didn't even like animals. There was NO discrimination. I was lucky and a little girl spotted me and took me to her home. I thought she really loved me.

COZYWOOD, A Katrina Story

by The Barbi Twins

This story is not a story for the faint of heart, though it does have a fairy tale ending. It is about my life. I am a Katrina rescue cat and my current name is Cozy

I was born from a litter of 4, outside the city of New Orleans. New Orleans mostly consisted of single moms like my mom, because of few spay and neuter programs. Though I thought I was a cute kitten, humans in the state of LA still viewed me and my litter-mates as "varmints" and treated all cats as such. Gosh, my relatives were the reason the rat population was down! Nothing like a "thank you" to be born behind the junk yard and thrown in the streets with the other ferals. I quess that is why I am anti-social with other cats, (and dogs), because I had to fend for myself

Bunny's Billionaire Helper

By Shane and Sia Barbi
Beverly Hills Times, April 7, 2009

Rarely heard from and almost never seen, there is a silent supporter in Los Angeles’ animal welfare world.  He lives a quiet life, drives an 8-year old dog-friendly PT Cruiser and does his own grocery shopping, and while this hero manages to stay out of the public eye his generous contributions speak for him.  His name is Dr. Gary Michelson.

One of “Forbes 400” richest Americans, Dr. Michelson built his fortune inventing spinal surgical devices. Now retired, he devotes his wealth to benefit causes aligned with his philanthropic passions, including founding two charitable organizations—one focusing on human genetic research and the other dedicated to helping homeless companion animals. 

Pets have always been a positive force in Dr. Michelson’s life, providing great comfort through difficult times, and in return he is committed to ending the needless euthanasia that is the current de facto animal control policy in the United States and beyond. 

Los Angeles Homeless and their pets

By Shane and Sia Barbi
Beverly Hills Times Magazine, Feb 4, 2009

Beverly Hills is filled with powerful yet compassionate people known for their generosity with money and charitable endeavors to help those less fortunate.  Even still, its city borders can't escape the images of the homeless sleeping on Los Angeles streets -- many with their pet companions.

During the California fires some of us heard the horrible story of a homeless man who along with his dog, burned to death.  Every day similar stories surface about homeless who die as a result of the hardships and the dangerous conditions they face living on the streets.  Add to that the fact that many remain on the street even though shelters are available simply because the shelters won't allow them to bring in their pets -- their only family and friend.  You would think that we could find a better solution to helping the homeless...one that doesn't require them to give up their pets for a place to sleep.

On the flip0 side, new reports show a growing problem of a different nature.  Some homless have pets not for companions, but as part of the 'con' to get money and/or sympathy.  Real concerns have risen concerning the health and well-being of these pets as the owners (some are mentally and physically challenged) are taking out their anger and frustration on their animals.  The end result is dismal and the problem has grown to such huge proportions, especially here in Los Angeles, and in all big cities, that animal rights organizations are now looking for options to remove these suffering pets from their care.

Up until now, neither the public bus system nor the city pound is offering to take pets away when they see them being abused.  They explain their reason for lack of intervention as this; even though "the owner is homeless and mentally ill, the pet is still the property of that homeless person."  As animal activists who have traveled the country supporting the rights of all animals, animal cruelty is a felony -- no mattter who does it.  As a community we need to enforce existing laws that support the health and well-being of animals.  And, for those not capable of taking care of a pet or treating it with love and concern, that pet should be removed from the owner, and be protected.

Read the article in its entirety HERE