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Bad Behavior from Animal Rescue

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animal rescue

Animal rescue and adoption is often a labor of love but it is an area of the animal industry that has always been warped and continues to irritate me, just like many of the aspects of the livestock business have always done.

I ranted about animal adoption nazis last year and noticed that my irritation seemed to rise about the same time it did this year.

There are a lot of ways to get an animal as a pet.

For instance you can

  • adopt from a shelter,
  • obtain from an animal rescue group or breed rescue group,
  • get a pet from a municipal animal agency,
  • buy from a breeder,
  • shop for one at a store,
  • peruse the internet or local publications for a pet,
  • acquire from a private party,
  • be adopted by an animal,
  • find an animal in distress and re-home it.

There are a lot of considerations involved when getting a pet but my main point here is to illustrate the different ways people can obtain an animal so with some many ways to get a pet–why would you make it a saga?

Each way to get a pet has its own unique problems and shortcomings.

Depending on your views, you might think one is better than another–but the bottom line on most of the ways people get pets involves some sort of business practice.

If you want to place animals you need to have business sense AND you need to be customer friendly.

What set me off on this year’s irritation was a particular request for help in placing an animal.

Normally I avoid these like the plague.

Why?

Because nobody ever calls me and says, “Hey, I am thinking of getting a pet. Do you know of any that need a good home?”

Instead I get, “I have an animal that needs a good home–know of any that need one?”

Plus, truth be told, I am a bit more sensitive that my professional side presents.

When I worked as an adoption counselor I was one that struggled with compassion fatigue and the anger that came from the stupidity of the management whose animal rights views clouded their business judgement and so kept animals in cages instead of homes.

I watched animals deteriorate mentally over time…but I digress.

Anyway, I got a call from a rescue group member who had a neighbor, who had a dog, who needed a new home.

The group is in a rural section of my community and has too many dogs.

They also are part of a larger network and the reason they have too many dogs is that they make it hell for anyone to adopt an animal by all the rules and regulations they impose on prospects–while failing to look at their own situation and the dogs within it.

Their personal opinions and ideas about the idea of re-homing a dog cloud their vision about just what makes a good home. And so, they hang to dogs for eons because of it.

The problem is not the mental health of the dogs since they are happy and well behaved in this situation (which is unusual in many cases) or the care of the dogs (other than they need more  grooming) but the fact that one person cannot manage such a large group of animals adequately.

Beyond that, the neighbor’s dog is slated to end up in a rescue environment.

At the moment he is a charming, adolescent that is not neutered (yet) but who is pretty obedient and well adjusted.

So, after weeks of pleading with me, I broke my cardinal rule–don’t get involved unless they are a client.

Guess what? I found a home.

Guess what else?

The rescue person nixed it right away without investigating, without talking to my referral, without thinking about the animal–she was only thinking about her own ideas and said, “I am protective.”

Geezuhs, get over yourself.

The home happens to be with a business owner locally whose dog is aging and he wants to integrate a new dog before the current one passes away.

The current dog has a ton of dog pals and is always with someone and new visitors in a stimulating enviornment.

She has NO behavior problems and is well behaved, well loved, and well taken care of.

She also sleeps with the caretaker who lives on the premises.

But she  lives the life of a working dog and not a pampered pet in an urban environment.

Anyway, it pissed me off that the rescue gal made a judgement without any further investigation simply based on what she wanted–but what really gets me mad is that I got involved personally when I know better.

*sigh*

Now, as an animal professional (and former adoption counselor) I know the warning signs for a bad placement and don’t believe this situation would be a negative one.

But, my point is that her actions are not unusual for a lot of places and this is the reason I think many rescues have miserable placement and adoption rates.

My professional opinion is that you are not successful when you are unable to place an animal in a home within a certain amount of time.

I recently read about a “successful” placement that happened after six years–seriously, would you call that a success?

Now I certainly would not.

I’d rather see more success as is the case with the Greyhound Adoption League of Texas but one thing is for sure, I won’t be helping the local group any more.

Any other ways you know of to get a pet? Do you know any great animal rescue groups?

Photo Credit: Labanex

Blog Posted July 8, 2010 at 9:40 am

Organic Pest Control is the Right Choice

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If you ever worry about organic pest control or natural flea control, you’ll be interested in this bit of news. Although it does not specifically have to do with flea treatment for dogs or flea treatment for cats–it does show an important trend.

Commercial product manufacturers would do well to pay attention to the latest green pet trend and adopt some different (and safer) models of pest control.

A study by researchers from Washington State University (WSU) and the University of Georgia suggests that a balanced mix of insects and fungi in organic fields provides for both better pest control and larger plants than in conventional agriculture. The study, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and published in the July 1 edition of the journal Nature, shows that organic farming practices lead to many equally-common beneficial species, and that this reduces pest problems.

“It’s always been a mystery how organic farmers get high yields without using synthetic insecticides,” says co-author Bill Snyder, Ph.D., associate professor of entomology at WSU. “Our study suggests that biodiversity conservation may be a key to their success.”

The study involved 42 potato plots enclosed in fine mesh on the Pullman campus of WSU. The researchers planted both potato plants and Colorado potato beetles (a very problematic pest of the potato) in each of the plots, adding varying numbers of beneficial insects, fungi and nematodes, microscopic soil-dwelling worms that attack beetles’ eggs and larvae.

Crops placed in the organic test plots with a more balanced insect population grew faster, because no one species of insect had a chance to dominate the plot and kill the potato plants. In fact, the study found that the increased evenness of species in the organic plots compared to the conventional plots led to 18% lower pest densities and 35% larger plants. Larger plants generally translate to greater potato yields, suggesting that organic methods might provide higher profits as well as an ecological sustainability advantage.

Though previous conservation and biodiversity studies tended to focus on species richness, or the number of individual species present in an area, this study is one of the few to consider the advantage of relatively equal numbers, or “evenness” of species for a beneficial agricultural ecosystem. Thus, the results show that both richness and evenness must be maintained to ensure a healthy environment. Conventional agricultural methods, which rely heavily on spraying pesticides, tend to wipe out the majority of insects, leaving behind a few hardy species that end up dominating the conventional field ecosystem. These findings promote the reliance on a mix of natural predators as a way to avoid the “pesticide treadmill” that forces farmers to use larger and larger volumes of different costly chemicals to kill hardy pests that develop resistance.

Research director Andrew Jensen from The Washington State Potato Commission, which partially funded Dr. Snyder’s research, says they hope to translate the study into practical advice their members can use. Washington is second (after Idaho) in potato production in the U.S., but less than 1% of the state’s potatoes are organically grown. Studies like these might convince potato growers to cut back on spraying and eventually switch to organic methods, which would suit top potato customers, like McDonalds and Wendy’s, who are being pushed to green up their practices.

“People who buy a lot of potatoes are asking the growers to reduce insecticide use as much as possible, to document pesticide use, and include biological control as a consideration,” remarked Dr. Snyder in a comment to the Seattle Times.

This study adds to the body of scientific literature considering the benefits of organic agriculture, which includes a paper published by the Rodale Institute in 2003, describing how an organic system produces better yields of corn and soybeans under severe drought conditions and gives better environmental stability under flood conditions through lower runoff risks and greater water retention capabilities in the soil. This helps to balance inaccurate, industry-funded studies which only confuse consumers.

Prior to major commercialization we did use better methods of pest control and this trend is better for the environment and everyone in it.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see major changes in a lot of the pesticide use as people begin to understand just how bad they are for humans and animals.

Recently I learned of the pest control that occurs without application to the human skin (mosquitoes) and was thrilled.

Take a look at the flea control kits in the sidebar and once you visit the site be sure to also look for the pest tag for pets–great options for your pets.

For more information check out the Beyond Pesticides organics page.

Blog Posted July 6, 2010 at 11:25 am
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