That argument is always a red herring. Here’s why: there are very few animal hoarders in the world, even though the ones who manage to collect many animals are always news stories because of the shocking visuals. It’s unusual enough that it was not formally defined in public health literature until 1999 and still lacks distinct classification as a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of psychiatry. Today, I did a search on pet-abuse.com, a website that tracks animal cruelty cases in the US. I searched for a radius of 10 miles of my zip code, which would include all of New York City and a heavily populated area of New Jersey as well. Since Jan 1, 2011 in one of the most populated areas in the US there were two cases related to animal hoarding.

Shelters who do a lot of killing will tell you that one of the reasons they don’t work more with rescue groups is the risk of hoarding, but that risk as we can see is extremely low. My local shelter is New York City Animal Care and Control, which has a kill rate of around 1/3 of intake. They and the ASPCA and others will tell you that one of the reasons they need to control rescue access is hoarding, to the tune of killing 1/3 of the animals in their care to prevent it. 1/3 that might – very rarely – end up with a hoarder, getting a definite death instead to prevent that very slim possibility.

It should also be noted that a well-run shelter is a difficult place to hoard animals from. There are fees involved, paperwork, chips implanted to track animals – the shelters I volunteer with stay registered on the chips for their animals and will help them if they are ever found to be in trouble, wherever they are, even if they have to send someone to get them. It would be much easier for a hoarder to acquire “free to good home” animals from the classifieds, pick up free kittens in Wal-Mart parking lots, or even just hang a shingle outside saying “Joe’s Animal Rescue” and watch them come pouring in.

I’m not saying there aren’t hoarders in the world, there certainly are, and we need to learn a lot more about the psychology of animal hoarding and how it can be helped and cured – because untreated the recidivism rate among hoarders is near 100%, making legal intervention a temporary fix at best. I’m not saying that there aren’t hoarders posing as rescuers and rescues, even No Kills, in the world, and they should and are rejected by legitimate rescuers and the No Kill philosophy for the scams that they are.

What I am saying is this: the number one cause of death for dogs and cats in America is shelter killing. It is the largest health risk a dog or cat faces. Hoarding doesn’t even make the list. To defend shelter killing using the slim risk of hoarding as a justification is nothing less than a lie.

The kittens who came in with her were old enough to eat on their own, so they were separated to be adopted separately – but once her kittens were taken from her, Destiny became more aggressive. She still solicited attention at the front of her enclosure, but growled and swatted at the hands of those who tried to touch her.

As an animal lover, I understand this. Although the kittens needed to be separated for adoption to give the whole family the best chance at a good life, mother Destiny took that very hard. She needs understanding, support, and a safe and quiet place to recover – perhaps in a foster home with an experienced cat person.

Instead, NYCACC put her on the kill list for behavior – and not only that, but she was rated “New Hope Only” by virtue of daring to swat at a human hand, meaning that only a registered and approved rescue partner of NYCACC could save her life. Adoption or rescue by the general public was forbidden.

These are the “experts” of sheltering whom Amy Paulin’s Quick Kill Bill would empower to immediately execute animals whom they judged to be in “psychological pain”, bypassing the mandatory stray hold period designed to allow an owner to find their animal.

Is Destiny in psychological pain? I would say so – and I’m betting that NYCACC would too, since they judged her behavior extreme enough to shuttle her to the kill list. Since the terms of a grant that funds them prohibits killing healthy animals, she will undoubtedly be categorized by them as “unhealthy and untreatable” – too sick to live.

Pets Alive stepped up to take Destiny. At their small, private shelter actual experts will evaluate her and then provide her with what she needs to make a full recovery and have her be a happy, friendly cat once again. I have no doubt that they will succeed.

Don’t put up with this. If you haven’t spoken out against the Quick Kill Bill, we need you now. We cannot have life and death decisions being made by people who care so little, people for whom death is a first resort and not a last. Make them hear you – today.

What You Can Do:
If — and ONLY if — you are a New York Resident, please contact NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and ask him not to allow this bill to reach the Assembly floor. There is text provided for you, but as always adding your own heartfelt and polite message is always more effective.

For those outside of New York who want to register your voice, there are three things you can and should do:
Please thank Assembly Member Lentol, a fantastic ally in the New York State Legislature to stop the Quick Kill Bill.
Please contact the Chair of the ASPCA Board and let her know how disappointed you are that they have written and are supporting this terrible legislation.
Please contact companies who support the ASPCA through donations and ask them not to support organizations that kill animals.
And finally, please let Assembly Member Paulin, author of the Quick Kill bill, know of your opposition.

All, however, is not lost and there is also good news to report; this is but the first step that a bill in New York has to get through to become a law and we have powerful allies lining up to oppose this bill, including Best Friends Animal Society (their CEO, Gregory Castle, also wrote this blog on the subject), Alley Cat Allies, Michael Mountain of Zoe, and the No Kill Nation, and of course Pets Alive, among others. Every day we grow in strength, and together we sent nearly 15,000 emails in opposition with less than 1 week of notice. The bill’s sponsor, NYS Asw. Amy Paulin, has seen her Facebook page absolutely crushed with opposition and a parody page has sprung up that has nearly as many “likes” as her own.

It will now move on to the Codes Committee, where it would need to pass to go on to a vote on the Assembly floor – but in the Codes Committee we have a powerful ally and true animal lover in Chairman Joseph Lentol, who has announced his intention to not allow the bill to report out of his committee, which would stop it cold.

With the Chairman of the Codes Committee on our side, there is but one route left: the only way to move the bill forward would be if the Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, forced the bill to the floor for a vote, and this is undoubtedly the route the opposition will attempt. With all other progress blocked, Speaker Silver is the only man who could permit the bill to move forward… and thus he must hear from us.

If – and ONLY if – you are a New York Resident, please contact NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver through this email link and ask him not to allow this bill to reach the Assembly floor. There is text provided for you, but as always adding your own heartfelt and polite message is always more effective. You may also call the Speaker’s office (and that’s always a very powerful option) to register your opinion on bill A05449 at 212-312-1420 – please do this ONLY if you are a New York State resident, as the legislature in NY is known to be sensitive to the interference of “outsiders”.

If you are NOT a New York State resident, there is still plenty you can do – you can thank Aseemblyman Lentol for his leadership, contact the Chair of the ASPCA board to let her know how disappointed you are with her organization, and let Assemblywoman Paulin know that the opposition to her bill is national in scope.

New Yorkers, we need you. This bill has the power to set back the cause of animal welfare in New York State by 40 years, but we only need to convince one person to oppose it to end it. Let’s let him know.

Please steal, use, share.

I want the animal advocates of New York to be well informed, and I want you to know what you’re fighting for is right. I encourage you to read the entire text of the bill and Nathan Winograd’s excellent and complete analysis of it. But if you read nothing else, please read the most destructive section of this very destructive proposed legislation. As this is a change to an existing statute, items contained in brackets are proposed deletions and all-caps text is proposed additions.

S 374. Humane destruction or other disposition of animals lost, strayed, homeless, abandoned or improperly confined or kept.

1. Any agent or officer of any duly incorporated humane society, a duly incorporated society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, any dog control officer, or any police officer, may lawfully cause to be humanely destroyed (by means provided for in paragraph a of subdivision [three] FOUR of this section) any animal found abandoned [and], OR not properly cared for, or any lost, strayed, homeless or unwanted animal[,] if upon examination a licensed veterinarian shall certify in writing, or if two reputable citizens called upon by such agent, officer or police officer to view the same in his or her presence find:

A. that the animal is so maimed, diseased, disabled, or infirm so as to be [unfit for any useful purpose] SUFFERING IRREMEDIABLE PHYSICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL PAIN and that humane euthanasia is warranted; or [after such agent, officer or police officer has obtained in writing from the owner of such animal his or her consent to such destruction]
B. THAT HUMANE EUTHANASIA IS NECESSARY TO ALLEVIATE A CONTAGIOUS, DEADLY HEALTH CONDITION; OR
C. EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN SUBDIVISION THREE OF THIS SECTION, THE OWNER OF SUCH ANIMAL HAS GIVEN HIS OR HER WRITTEN CONSENT TO SUCH DESTRUCTION TO SUCH AGENT, OFFICER OR POLICE OFFICER.

So there it is in black and white, and don’t let anyone tell you differently: if an animal comes in as a stray and any two “reputable citizens” – like, say, the shelter director and their staff – agree that the animal is in “psychological pain” or that killing them is necessary to “alleviate a contagious, deadly health condition”, then it would be permissible to skip the mandatory stray hold period and kill them instantly upon entry to the facility. Other than finding two “reputable citizens”, they need no expertise, no special training, no medical background, and there is no definition provided of what constitutes “psychological pain” or what a “contagious, deadly health condition” is – if you’re familiar with the operations at New York City Animal Control, you undoubtedly know that they routinely label animals with minor illnesses such as kennel cough or no illness at all to have “major conditions” so they can put them on the kill list. With this law they wouldn’t even have to wait that long – a dog with kennel cough could simply be killed on intake without even a stray hold. Why go through the expense of even having a vet diagnose an animal when two minimum wage shelter staff can simply agree the animal needs to die and go about making it happen?

Fight this bill – find out how here. Fight it with all you’ve got, and fight it with the truth. The animals of New York are counting on us all.

The Humane Society of the United States does not run any shelters for companion animals (although they would like you to think they do).
2010 Annual Income: $148M

The ASPCA runs a single animal shelter in New York City (although they would like you to think they run many more). In 2010 they adopted out 3389 animals there.
2010 Annual Income: $133M

PETA runs a single facility in VA that they call an animal shelter but has no living areas or holding wards. It’s an office building with a walk-in freezer. In 2010 they killed 93.8% of animals they took in – 2200 animals.
2010 Annual Income: $35M

Please feel free to steal and share!

Recently the ASPCA suckered convinced NYS Assemblywoman Amy Paulin to introduce their pseudo-shelter reform legislation. Embarrassed by the outcry in favor of Oreo’s Law (now CAARA), they immediately scrambled to write their own shelter reform law – one that they could claim made a difference for the better in the lives of NY animals while actually quietly blocking actual reform and expanding NY shelters’ power to kill.

The ASPCA co-opts meaningful shelter reform legislation largely by copying it but then including weasel words like substituting “may” for “shall”. So instead of requiring shelters to work with outside rescue groups, it simply says that they can if they choose to. Other meaningful reforms, like requiring shelters to scan for microchips, post found animals online, and make an effort to match lost and found animals are scuttled by including an exception if the shelter does not find it “practicable” to do so. Well, given the choice, they won’t find it practicable, which is why we need legislation that mandates it.

Most destructively and unbelievably, the ASPCA written legislation contains a clause that would, for all practical purposes, eliminate the legally mandated holding period for stray animals by allowing shelters to kill any animal who they found to be in “psychological pain”. This is nothing less than a declaration of war on feral cats, scared dogs, or any animal that found themselves scared and confused upon being brought into the chaotic shelter environment – or any animal they simply wanted to find a flimsy excuse to kill. Animals judged by laypeople with no training whatsoever to be in “psychological pain” could be killed instantly on admission to the shelter and bypass the legally required holding period to give their owners the chance to find them.

New Yorkers, we need your help – quickly. This bill, known as New York Assembly Bill A05449A, will face its first committee vote on Wednesday, February 15th. We haven’t much time. The first thing we need to do is to tell our elected officials that we will not tolerate an ASPCA encouraged increase in shelter killing in New York State.

Please visit New York State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin’s Facebook page and leave her a polite, personal comment asking her to withdraw her bill, A05449A, from consideration. Asw. Paulin is up for re-election in November and wants to be a champion of animals in New York State, and she probably would not want to risk her re-election on being dubbed Amy “Quick Kill” Paulin. You might also consider sending her a message on Twitter, although she appears to use that less. Also drop an email to ASPCA President and CEO Ed Sayres and ASPCA Board President Mary Jo White and let them know what you think of their organization’s legislation. Then visit the following four links to email key legislators to send them your thoughts:

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

Keep in mind that although you can use the text that’s been written for you, a heartfelt personal note always goes a long way.

Finally, support REAL change in the form of CAARA, which mandates REAL reform instead of making it optional. CAARA is trying to get the support of NYS Senator Patty Richie, Chair of the Senate Agricultural Committee, and her support would really help move the bill forward. Email her here and ask her to support this lifesaving effort – and you can read more about CAARA here and read the complete text of the bill here. New York’s animals deserve better than the deadly slight of hand of the ASPCA Quick Kill. They deserve the lifesaving provisions of CAARA.

She spent her day relaxing in her carrier and gradually meeting her new family – two adults, two kids, two other cats and two dogs!

Everything went very well and she’s been out of the carrier to explore. The other animals haven’t caused her any trouble, and she’s eating and drinking normally. Best of all for me is that I’ve known her adoptive family for about 20 years, so I’ll be able to see her again!

Thanks to Pets Alive for saving Gloria and to her new family for adopting a great cat!