Saturday, March 31, 2012

ORA Responds

Lately, some people, including several pound managers and staff in particular, have been angered by our use of the word "kill," referring to the putting down and killing of animals in pounds. A few sources have threatened us with a boycott of the Nathan Winograd event. Even "supporters" have asked us to remove the word "kill" from our Winograd event posters, even though the title of Nathan's lecture is "Building a No-Kill Community."

The first consideration that comes to mind is this: if they are offended by the word, then they must feel that "killing" is wrong. So why not try to change things and stop the killing rather than hide behind euphemisms? Changing the word does not change the reality; one needs to recognize the problem in order to find the will to change. To this end, we have found Nathan Winogard's following passage in "Irreconcilable Differences" aptly interesting as we continue to encounter the same blindnesses here in Toronto and in many parts of Southern Ontario.

"There is a great hypocrisy in the humane movement. While shelters decry the public's irresponsibility, shelters reject responsibility for the animals in their care. And while they tell the public not to treat the animals as disposable, they treat animals exactly that way by killing them-and literally disposing of their bodies in landfills. In fact, they will even deny that they are killing. The Humane Society of the U.S. held a workshop on "euthanasia" at their national sheltering conference in March of 2006. According to the speaker,

"We're not; we're not killing them... in that "kill" is such a negative connotation. It's... we're not killing them. We are taking their life, we are ending their life, we are giving them a good death, we're humanely destr- whatever. But we're not killing. And that is why I cannot stand the term "No Kill" shelters."

Animal shelter professionals from coast-to-coast applauded in agreement, but more disturbing is the nation's "euthanasia" expert professing an Orwellian logic: killing is not killing, killing is kindness. And when you deny all responsibility, the impetus to change your own behavior disappears."

Nathan Winograd will be in Toronto on April 14th. Do not miss this opportunity to be truly inspired. Learn how to build a no kill community, put lives first and help save our shelter animals. Register for the one day only event now by calling 416-726-8895 or by visiting ORA at http://www.ora-animalsrescue.org/upcomingevents.html.

1 comment:

  1. This just goes to show that the issues are the same everywhere. Funny thing is, the solutions to create a no-kill community will also work anywhere.

    Some basic, common issues are uncovered when you start with a virtual shelter "Tour",

    See http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/shelter-tour/

    There are now more than 30 no-kill communities with open-admission shelters. This independent blog tracks the growing number and includes some links about how they did it: No-Kill Communities blog,

    http://www.no-killnews.com/?page_id=8

    ReplyDelete