Miami Police Reportedly Shoot, Kill Family’s Dog

It’s become far too frequent to hear stories of law enforcement officers using deadly force on dogs – typically with little or no cause to do so.

In Austin, police responded to a call at the wrong address and shot and killed the man’s dog.  In California, police shot and killed an 11-year-old lab after responding to a false burglar alarm. In Kentucky, a momma pit bull was shot and killed and her puppies put to death.

These are not isolated incidents.

Sadly, Miami-Dade police officers have also been in the news for similar matters. Tuesday night, officers shot and killed a woman’s dog after it got out of her yard and was reportedly barking. There are few details on the case, and police say the matter is “under investigation”. And a similar incident happened in Miami last September.

Guns are deadly weapons, and should only be fired in the most serious and necessary of circumstances. A barking dog hardly qualifies. While I wholeheartedly respect law enforcement – and appreciate how difficult their jobs are, I also believe that most are not properly trained to deal with animals, and that is a situation that must be remedied.

This behavior is completely unacceptable, and as citizens we cannot tolerate it. Tranquilizers should be used on animals except in the most dangerous of conditions, and officers should be trained on animal behavior – just as they’re trained on human behavior. There’s no excuse for wielding a deadly weapon in response to a bark or growl. It’s excessive force, and demonstrates a serious lack of judgement. We can only hope the Miami-Dade officer who killed this family pet is forced to face SOME sort of disciplinary consequence.

RIP Bosha.

Cincinnati Strikes Down Breed Ban, Miami Needs to Be Next!

It’s official. Cincinnati, Ohio, has finally repealed its nine-year breed ban. The City Council voted 8-1 to officially repeal the breed-specific language in the city’s vicious dog ordinance,which made owning “pit bulls” illegal within city limits. Animal advocates across the state fought a long, hard battle to see this decision come to fruition – and thousands of dogs will be saved because of their dedication.

The tide is turning against BSL. People across the US (and world) are recognizing how ineffective and unjust this type of legislation truly is. Check out the numbers here.

In Miami-Dade, we have a chance to terminate our equally ineffective legislation – which has been in place even longer than Cincinnati’s. On August 14, 2012, citizens can cast a vote in favor of eliminating this ridiculous law. It’s time to make Miami’s streets safe for ALL breeds.

When you go to the polls on August 14th, answer the following question with a resounding YES:

“Shall the ordinance repealing the county’s 23 year old law prohibiting the ownership of pit bulls as a dangerous breed of dogs become effective?”

For more information on the upcoming vote, how to register, etc., check out the Miami Coalition Against Breed Specific Legislation (MCABSL). And PLEASE make your voice heard for Miami-Dade’s innocent pibbles.

It’s Up to Us

I’ve been a part of the No Kill movement for about two years. And despite all that time, with all that I’ve been exposed to, all the lies and excuses I’ve heard from shelter staff and government officials, all the horrific stories I’ve heard and things I’ve seen – it still shocks me each and every time I hear of an animal being unnecessarily killed.

It happens every day. Thousands of times a day across the country. Shelter workers stick needles into baby kittens, puppies, beautiful, healthy animals of all shapes and sizes. And why? There’s no good reason. There’s no acceptable reason. (The ONLY acceptable reasons for euthanasia are those that actually define the purpose of euthanasia: irremediably suffering or hopefully vicious (rare).)

I see the photos and bios pass through my Facebook stream, all day, every day, from dedicated groups like Urgent Part 2, Undercats 4 Life and others across the country. There are more photos of gorgeous, healthy, friendly animals on death row than I can possibly comprehend. And far too often, there are “gone but not forgotten” photos of tiny baby kittens, handsome pitties, malnourished pups, starved for food and love. These beings, these sentient creatures who feel emotions just as we do – are piled en masse into garbage cans and hauled away to landfills.

It’s sick, it’s inexcusable and there is NO reason why it should continue to happen. But it does. Every day. And every day I ask myself:

How can a human being stick a needle armed with Fatal Plus into the arm of a two week old fuzzy kitten, mewing and squirming as kittens do?

How can a human being shove a gorgeous, young, happy-go-lucky dog into a gas chamber, and flip the switch only to hear the dog scream and struggle before it dies?

How can a human being walk a perfectly healthy, friendly dog straight from impound back to the kill room, without a second thought?

I cannot comprehend. I can’t. No matter how many times I hear about it, see it, think about it – it’s still astonishing to me that human beings do this, as part of a daily routine. The excuses, the lies, the blame placed on the “irresponsible public” – it’s all irrelevant. Because it comes down to shelters making the decision to kill.

It could stop tomorrow. If every shelter worker put down their needle and refused to kill, a revolution could arise.

The  public wants to help: they want to save lives, adopt kitties, donate materials and give money. They want to see these animals live. But the cover ups, the rhetoric, the constant lies have all erected barriers that keep the compassionate public from knowing the truth.

Are we making progress? Absolutely. There’s no doubt in my mind that one day we will be a NO KILL NATION. But in the meantime, innocent animals continue to be slaughtered indiscriminately. And it’s horrific.

It doesn’t have to continue. We can stop it. So for those of you who DO know the truth, never stop telling it. Tell everyone. Tell every animal owner you know, every co-worker, every random stranger on the street. Tell the world. Because the more people who know the truth, the more pressure our public officials will feel to FORCE change at our local shelters.

We have to stop the killing. Those of us who cannot understand how the slaughter continues have to be the ones to stop it.

Do me a favor. Look your dog (or cat or ferret or rabbit) in the eyes, see his soulfulness, his sentience, and imagine every dog just like him that will be killed today, for no crime other than homelessness. Hug him, and remember – it’s up to us.

Help Broward County Florida Achieve No Kill

Broward County, Florida, recently passed a No Kill resolution. As the second county in Florida to make this commitment, they desperately need the public’s support to make it into the 90% club and save the lives of thousands of homeless pets. Currently, they’re in the running to win $100K in the Rachel Ray/ASPCA challenge – and $100K could go a LONG way towards helping them achieve their lifesaving goal.

The contest is awarded based on votes, and you can vote daily here (through April 16th). It takes less than a minute, and if enough of us come together to show our support, Broward County has an excellent chance of winning. Please share the link with everyone you know, and encourage them to stand for Florida’s homeless pets.

Let’s show the animals of Broward County that we’re here for them – and that we’ll settle for nothing less than No Kill!

Why Shelters Should Lay Off Fines for Responsible Pet Owners

One of the ways animal services agencies make life more difficult for their city’s pet owners is through onerous licensing and registration requirements. Find a high kill shelter, find ridiculous fines and punishments for owners; the two go hand in hand.

Recently, I received a violation notice via mail from Miami-Dade Animal Services (MDAS), stating that I needed to pay a whopping $130 for failing to vaccinate my dog for rabies and failing to renew his tag. In reality, I had done both.

I adopted my dog Bailey from MDAS a little over a year ago. He was formerly known as “Rocky”, and was still listed in MDAS records under that name. My vet mailed in my license and rabies vaccination information, but MDAS didn’t match his name with the data.

When I called MDAS to tell them this violation notice was in error, I was told that I have to either fax in the name change, as well as the proof of vaccination/license, or bring it into the facility. There were two different fax numbers – one for alerting them to the name change, one for sending in the documentation. Additionally, I was told it could take weeks to process via fax, and that coming in person to MDAS would be far quicker.

Knowing that it takes me 45 minutes (at least) each way to drive to MDAS, in addition to the typical wait time of two hours+ on the premises, I chose to fax the information (though I remain skeptical about the efficacy of the process).

Frankly, these steps couldn’t be more inconvenient. Besides being slapped with a $130 fine (extremely steep, IMO), I can’t easily dispute the issue. To fax is an antiquated process, and requires that I visit a Kinko’s location. Driving to MDAS is a nightmare, something I try to avoid at all costs. Who has 4 or 5 hours to blow just to dispute a mistake on their part? Not I.

So, I have a few questions for MDAS as to why they can’t make this process easier for pet owners. Frankly, the whole situation makes me understand why people choose not to license their pets with the city. This is NOT the way to encourage people to license their animals or stay in communication with MDAS.

1. Why can’t email be a viable option? It would cut tons of time to allow people to email in documentation or other necessary information. It wouldn’t add any additional labor time for MDAS staff – checking email takes no more time than reading faxes or speaking to people face to face.

2. Why can’t you cross-check the pet owner’s name with your documentation? It would have saved a lot of time and energy to match my name on file with MDAS with the documents sent in by my vet’s office. Then it would have been clear that Bailey and Rocky were one and the same. I can’t imagine that would have taken more time than the filing of a violation notice.

3. Why are the fines so hefty? Give people a break. Yes, it’s crucially important to vaccinate our pets, etc. And I do, as do most pet owners. But $130? You’re putting the squeeze on people, many of whom probably don’t have a lot to spare. Shouldn’t that money go towards caring for their animals, instead? Offering low cost, easily accessible rabies clinics (preferably off-site, due to MDAS’ remote location) is also important for lower income pet owners. Slapping them with fines is not the way to encourage responsible pet ownership.

A shelter’s goal should be to have a positive relationship with the public; encourage them to interact with the facility – to adopt pets, to tell their friends to adopt, to volunteer, to donate, etc.

Hitting responsible pet owners with hefty fines is not the way to build a mutually beneficial relationship with the general public. Take note, MDAS.

 

Broward County, Florida, Passes No Kill Resolution

Fabulous news! Broward County, Florida, has taken the big leap, and passed a No Kill resolution. What does this mean? That they’ll officially be striving towards a 90%+ save rate, which will make for a lot of happy dogs and cats across South Florida.

Broward has been working on making positive changes for the past couple years, with the help of local No Kill groups, but the passage of a resolution is a major public step towards achieving lifesaving results.

Reaching a No Kill goal involves the implementation of the policies and procedures of the 11-step No Kill Equation – the ONLY method proven to drastically reduce kill rates. These steps include a TNR program, off-site adoptions, foster care, low-cost/high-volume spay/neuter and many other common sense programs. This can often be done BELOW a county’s operating budget, so Broward needn’t worry about an additional burden to the taxpayers.

Broward County is the second Florida region, after Manatee County, to embrace a No Kill  model. As of March 1st, Manatee County has achieved a 77% save rate, and is well on their way to an ultimate 90%.

Broward has the infrastructure in place to achieve No Kill, but they need the public behind them 110%. So show your support for their lifesaving efforts. If you’re in the area, consider volunteering, donating, adopting a pet from the shelter, or at least spreading the word about their plan.

To check out available animals or support the shelter, visit www.broward.org/animal.

ACTION ALERT: Keep Speaking Up for Miami-Dade’s Pitties

Sadly, the bills (HB 997 and SB 1322) that would have repealed Miami-Dade’s antiquated “pit bull” ban were successfully killed by county commissioners. This tragic turn of events is an outrage to animal lovers throughout South Florida (and beyond).

But we’re not giving up. We need to keep speaking out for the innocent animals of Miami-Dade. If the public keeps clamoring for change, eventually the commissioners will have to give in. Theoretically, they’re supposed to represent their constituent’s wishes, but in this case, failed miserably to do so. We need to keep the pressure on and remind them who’s in control – the voters.

We all know that this legislation has been a dismal failure. It’s wasted taxpayer dollars (estimates suggest that Miami residents spend as much as $3 million annually to enforce this ridiculous ban), led to the deaths of thousands innocent dogs, and hasn’t produced any appreciable difference in dog bites – or increase in public safety. So what’s the point?! There isn’t one.

According to No Kill Nation: “While the number of dog bites throughout Florida and the United States has plummeted to historic lows, Miami-Dade’s decrease has been slower than the state-wide and national trends – and most of their decline occurred prior to 1989, when the legislation was enacted. In 1998 (10 years after the ban was enacted) the county was home to 14% of Florida’s total population, but it had 18% of dog bite hospitalizations; more recently in 2007, Miami-Dade included 13% of Florida’s population, but had 16% of the state’s dog bite victim hospitalizations.”

The facts are crystal clear.

It’s time to put this issue to bed once and for all. Please, please contact the Miami-Dade commissioners via this easy action alert, and let them know you want justice for this county’s innocent pibbles.