Why I added Pawsitively Texas to the links list

The comments that follow this posting bring up many salient points about the inmates running the DAS asylum. 

Dear DAS - Please Wake Up From Your Positive Slumber

The comments are lengthy but make some extremely good points. For example, NOBODY in DCAP bothered to attend the No Kill Workshop, even after receiving personal invitations. Skip Trimble also received an invite, but he didn't show either. Only Jody Jones attended.  But plenty of DCAP folks, including chairperson Rebecca Poling, spent hundreds to attend the annual Texas Unites conference in Austin. 

I guess we can't blame Rebecca for wanting to fly hundreds of miles to hobnob with people who will never disagree with her while she downs a few alcoholic beverages. So what if it cost hundreds more than Winograd's workshop?  Sure beats admitting you've got it all wrong.

Ultimately, the author of Pawsitively Texas proves what a lot of us suspected:  DCAP is the emperor with no clothes. 

But not only are the folks in DCAP naked, they can't be bothered to actually DO anything except committee-sit, badmouth others, blame the public for their own failures, and defend their killing ways. 

It's kind of getting old, isn't it? Let's not allow DCAP to allow this to drag on for five years (see their Five Year Plan within my March 24 blog post) while the daily killing continues.

Some spring cleaning, web link style

I've added some links to Web sites you may find interesting.  To suggest a new link, leave a comment with your recommendation.

More about the cowards at THLN

This comment was posted by Bett Sundermeyer of No Kill Houston in response to the previous post. Bett is more than a commenter; she helped schedule the debate.

Since you have to click on Comments to see it, I decided to copy and paste it here so no readers would miss it.

I worked with Vegan World Radio to schedule this debate. Vegan World Radio has been supportive of No Kill issues in the past and wanted to talk about Nathan's Phyllis Wright Awards, of which Monica Hardy was a "winner". But VWR was trying talk about the issue in an unbiased way. That's why an open debate format was suggested...so each side would have equal opportunity to present their opinions. The questions were entirely unbiased. Considering that THLN took a lot of deserved criticism after they opposed us regarding Texas CAPA i.e. Hope's Law in 2011, one would think that they would have jumped on the chance to openly discuss their stance regarding CAPA.

THLN should have easily agreed to answer those question. And, if they didn't like the questions or the format, they should have made suggestions regarding changes instead of dropping out of the debate completely. 

Personally, I think THLN has a lot to hide and debating Nathan Winograd would have exposed it. They would have been roadkill by the end of the show. 

THLN needs to be open and honest with the public. The public deserves to know the whole agenda of organizations that they have supported.

Nathan Winograd 1, Monica Hardy 0. New balls, please.

Unlike the professional committee-sitters who comprise THLN, DCAP and similar groups - all of them as much use to animal welfare as an ashtray on a Vespa - Nathan Winograd is not a mealy-mouthed sort and lets the chips fall where they may. 

When asked to debate Winograd, the THLN's Executive Director, Monica Hardy chickened out when faced with the potential embarrassment of these topics:

1. During the last Texas Legislative Session, a controversy arose over the introduction of House Bill 3450, known as (CAPA) The Texas Companion Animal Protection Act. Please explain your understanding of the meaning and significance of this bill and what sparked the controversy?
2. What are your feelings about this bill and legislation similar to it?
3. Why did CAPA fail to pass in your opinion, and can you offer any suggestions regarding this bill and others which would most help the animals for the next legislative session?
4. In the interest of benefiting the animals, please offer any constructive suggestions you may wish to share with each other, as well as any ideas regarding animal legislation.

I didn't see anything particularly scary within these softball topics.  Did anyone else besides Monica?

Read all about it here at Nathan's blog.

DCAP's Five Year Co-option Plan

The city shelter in Seagoville, Texas has been one of the most impressive shelter turnarounds - if not THE most impressive - I've ever seen. It proved that the No-Kill Equation is within every shelter's reach, even those with small premises, few paid staff and a high intake.

So...wouldn't it make sense for the City of Dallas to sit up and take notice?

Instead, the Dallas Companion Animal Project, aka DCAP, is insisting they need five years to implement no-kill - and they aren't even 100% sure it will happen. As I've mentioned before, DCAP is a textbook example of co-option as explained in Nathan Winograd's book Redemption.

Recently, the Web site dallascityhall.com posted a PDF of a DCAP presentation made in January. You can download it here. DCAP's presentation begins on Page 8 of the PDF.

DCAP's summation page of their five year plan was as follows:

 Now…
 Request Quality of Life and Government Services Committee support
of the Dallas Companion Animal Project.

 First year
 Focus on the detailed one-year business plan and multi-year strategic plan
 Finish prioritizing and begin implementing programs and initiatives
 Determine related costs and funding

 Years Two - Four
 Continue to implement, expand and build momentum

 Year Five
 Celebrate Success! If all major initiatives have been successfully implemented, our community will be one of the largest no-kill communities in the country.

(I particularly like that Get Out Of Jail Free clause at the end - "IF all major initiatives...".)

How about Dallas simply follow Seagoville's lead? True, the DCAP folks and some of the Animal Services Commission would have to do some things they wouldn't enjoy. Things like:

1. Mend fences with all the local rescue groups they've ostracized.
2. Smarten up and stop sleeping with the enemies - the HSUS and THLN. Neither support no-kill.
3. Admit that Nathan Winograd might have a point. Note: NOBODY in DCAP attended Winograd's recent local presentation. Only Jody Jones was spotted in the audience.
4. Get off their butts and spend more time with hands-on volunteering. Nobody needs further "education".

The folks at Seagoville skipped the presentations, the photogenic/useless Advisory Board, and months of committee sitting. They just made up their minds to stop the killing. Does this really take five years to decide?

Mark Twain: Do not steal the kittens!

This is an actual note left by Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens) to potential burglars. Click on the link below to be taken to the Letters of Note blog.

Besides being a brilliant writer, Twain was very fond of cats.

To the next Burglar

Yesterday's Animal Shelter Commission meeting

I'm kind of glad I wasn't able to go.

According to this Dallas Observer article, the proceedings were just as painful as ever.

Some highlights of the meeting:

The shelter is still short 30 employees, as it has been since October 2011. Joey Zapata's excuse: "they want to make sure they get the right people". So why did they shitcan some of the better employees last year?
Animals are still disappearing from cages. Joey Zapata blamed the public for this.
The shelter is still euthanizing around 75% of animals admitted for "shelter".
Dwaine Caraway is now contributing.
The Shelter Commission gave the Dallas Companion Animal Project "approval to move forward". Huh?

I see nothing in place that will improve things one bit, especially when you look at DCAP's faults. They're in bed with the HSUS, run by a professional committee-sitter, and have an Advisory Board full of folks with NO experience in transforming kill shelters into no-kill shelters.