Harmonizing Forces for Humane Communities: The Vital Role of Collaboration

Introduction

In the quest for more humane communities, a powerful synergy exists when municipal animal control agencies, dedicated rescue groups, and compassionate foundations join forces.  Today, I will explain the profound impact of collaborative efforts among these entities. Together, they create a formidable alliance that can transform our neighborhoods into havens of compassion and care for animals in need.

Municipal Animal Control: The Frontline Guardians

Municipal animal control agencies play a pivotal role in our communities. They are the first responders to reports of animal cruelty, stray animals, and public safety concerns. With a mandate to uphold animal welfare laws, these agencies ensure the safety of both animals and the public.

Rescue Groups: The Compassionate Saviors

Rescue groups are the heart and soul of animal welfare. Comprised of passionate volunteers and animal advocates, they step in to provide care, shelter, and a second chance to animals facing homelessness, neglect, or abuse. These groups are known for their tireless efforts to find loving homes for animals, especially those in municipal shelters.

Foundations: The Pillars of Support

Animal welfare foundations play a crucial role by providing financial and logistical support to both municipal animal control agencies and rescue groups. Their funding can be a lifeline, allowing organizations to expand their reach, invest in better facilities, and implement life-saving programs.

The Power of Collaboration

When these three forces come together, a transformational synergy occurs:

  1. Effective Animal Rescue: Rescue groups often rely on municipal shelters as a source of animals in need. By collaborating, they can save more lives, providing animals with better chances for adoption and avoiding overcrowding in shelters.
  2. Enhanced Resources: Foundations can bolster the capabilities of both municipal animal control and rescue groups, enabling them to offer more comprehensive services, such as spay/neuter programs, medical care, and educational initiatives.
  3. Community Outreach: Municipal animal control agencies, rescue groups, and foundations can work together to educate the community about responsible pet ownership, the benefits of adoption, and the importance of reporting animal cruelty.
  4. Legislative Advocacy: Collaboration can strengthen efforts to advocate for better animal welfare legislation and policies, leading to more humane communities.
  5. Shared Expertise: Each entity brings unique expertise to the table. Municipal agencies can provide regulatory knowledge, rescue groups offer hands-on animal care experience, and foundations provide financial acumen. This diversity of expertise ensures a well-rounded approach to animal welfare.

Case in Point: The Success Stories

Across the country, there are numerous success stories of collaboration between municipal animal control, rescue groups, and foundations:

  • Reduced Euthanasia Rates: By working together to increase adoptions, spaying/neutering, and community education, many communities have achieved remarkable reductions in euthanasia rates.
  • Improved Facilities: Foundations have supported the construction and renovation of shelters, making them more comfortable and accommodating for animals and staff.
  • Emergency Response: During natural disasters or crises, these collaborative efforts enable swift and coordinated responses to rescue and care for animals in distress.

Conclusion

In the pursuit of more humane communities, collaboration is not just beneficial; it’s imperative. The combined efforts of municipal animal control, rescue groups, and foundations form a formidable alliance capable of effecting positive change on a large scale. Together, they can save lives, promote responsible pet ownership, and pave the way for a brighter, more compassionate future for both animals and humans. In the end, it is through collaboration that we can achieve our shared vision of a world where animals are treated with the respect and care they so rightly deserve.

Call to Action:

Ed Boks Consulting
Ed Boks Consulting: Proven No-Kill Solutions for Communities and Organizations

If you’re inspired by the potential of collaboration to create more humane communities, then it’s time to take action.

Consider enlisting the expertise of Ed Boks, a seasoned professional with a proven track record in facilitating effective collaborations. Ed’s wealth of experience, deep knowledge of animal welfare issues, and passion for positive change make him an ideal partner in your journey towards a more compassionate society.

To explore how Ed Boks can help your organization or community foster meaningful collaborations and make a tangible impact on animal welfare, don’t hesitate to reach out. Together, we can transform our communities into safe havens where animals receive the care and compassion they deserve.

Contact Ed Boks here.

Pit Bulls Are Not Monsters

Jim Pennucci/Flickr

They have big hearts, clownish grins, and wildly wagging tails, but pit bulls do pose tough challenges to the humane community. In 2018, nearly half of U.S. pit bulls were homeless.

Many people wrongfully demonize pit bulls as an inherently dangerous breed. Others overlook challenges specific to the breed in their efforts to defend people’s rights to own them. These opposing views often lead to a vitriolic debate that winds up at City Hall. Continue reading “Pit Bulls Are Not Monsters”

Applying the No-Kill Ethic by Ed Boks

More than a policy and statistical objective, “no-kill” is a principle, an ethic, and once applied the practical consequences begin to fall into place. The principle is that animal shelters should apply the same criteria for deciding an animal’s fate that a loving pet guardian or conscientious veterinarian would apply. That is, healthy and treatable animals are not killed simply because of a lack of room or resources to care for them. Continue reading “Applying the No-Kill Ethic by Ed Boks”

Business-Savvy Landlords Allow Pets: Cities Should Make it the Default

Imagine being responsible for the life or death of 55,000 dogs and cats every year. As the General Manager for the City of Los Angeles Animal Services Department, the desperate need of these animals weighed on my mind every day.  I was determined to end pet homelessness and the practice of killing and disposing of our society’s surplus companion animals.

Today, most cities and towns across the nation share this noble and ambitious goal. Achieving this requires robust community participation, and our cities desperately need the support of an overlooked constituencylandlords. Continue reading “Business-Savvy Landlords Allow Pets: Cities Should Make it the Default”

Top 6 Ways a Board Can Help Its CEO

In a recent GuideStar Blog,  Bill Hoffman shared the following Top 6 Ways a Board Can Help Its CEO:

Board members have a lot of responsibility to the organization they represent, to the community for which they are stewards of the nonprofit’s resources, and also to the organization’s CEO. The CEO’s success is tied closely to the support he or she receives from the board. How can individual board members support their CEO’s success? Below are the six ways I’ve found that have the greatest impact.  Continue reading “Top 6 Ways a Board Can Help Its CEO”

Time for a national conversation about pit bulls by Ed Boks

Merritt and Beth Clifton

Is it time national animal welfare organizations rethink their position on pit bulls?

This is the recommendation of Beth Clifton, a former Miami Beach police officer, animal control officer, elementary school teacher, veterinary technician and wife of Animals 24-7 editor Merritt Clifton.

Animals 24-7 recently published Beth Clifton’s open letter to Matthew Bershadker, president of the ASPCA; Julie Castle, president of Best Friends Animal Society; and Kitty Block, president of HSUS.  Continue reading “Time for a national conversation about pit bulls by Ed Boks”

When it comes to pit bulls, how stupid are we? by Ed Boks

Collage by Beth Clifton

Every year, ANIMALS 24-7 conducts a national dog-breed survey.  The results of the 2018 survey were just released.  As interesting as the data collected by the survey are, I was particularly struck by a rather provocative proposition posed by Merritt Clifton, the editor/reporter of ANIMALS 24-7 and this survey.

Before exploring the thought provoking proposal, let’s set the stage:

The survey found that as of mid-June 2018, nearly 15% of all the dogs available for sale or adoption in the U.S. were pit bulls.  With that kind of market presence, one might conclude pit bulls are pretty popular in the U.S.  However, Mr. Clifton has another explanation. Continue reading “When it comes to pit bulls, how stupid are we? by Ed Boks”

Formula to end feral cat killing by Ed Boks

Ed Boks and feral cats
The formula to end the killing of feral cats works

It is commonly understood that any serious initiative to end shelter killing has to focus on ending the “supply side” of the surplus animal equation.  The only way to do that is to preemptively spay/neuter those animals most likely to “supply” (give birth to) animals most likely to die in animal shelters.We

The three categories of animals dying in the largest numbers in most shelters throughout the United States are feral cats, pit bulls/pit bull mixes, and Chihuahuas.

There are effective solutions for ending the killing of these populations; and those solutions begin and end with targeted spay/neuter programs.  In a previous blog I addressed the need for targeted spay/neuter programs for pit bulls.  In this blog, I focus on how to end the killing of feral and stray cats.    Continue reading “Formula to end feral cat killing by Ed Boks”

Its time to consider targeted pit bull spay/neuter programs by Ed Boks

Ed Boks and Henry Kleinhans
Henry Kleinhans was mauled to death by his own pit bull. Picture: Solly Lottering

Over the course of my career I may have been responsible for safely placing more pit bulls into loving homes than any other person in the United States.

I have long been troubled by the fact that no dog in history encounters more misunderstanding and vilification than the pit bull; a canine category I define as the American pit bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier, and any crosses of these three. I admire these animals for their tenacious athletic ability, loyalty, intelligence, and high-energy.

Word reached me this morning that Henry Kleynhans, 50, a retired police officer was fatally mauled on February 8, 2018, and his wife Rita was critically injured, by their own pit bull in their home at Belmont Park, Kraaifontein, South Africa. Continue reading “Its time to consider targeted pit bull spay/neuter programs by Ed Boks”

Compassion is not a finite commodity By Ed Boks

Ed Boks and strategic planningIn many communities, decisions regarding animal welfare are complicated by a host of competing priorities. When evaluating competing priorities it’s easy to look to the bottom line. When that happens, the questions of conscience concerning animal welfare can be overlooked.

There will always be enough injustice and human suffering in the world to make animal welfare seem less important. But compassion is not a finite commodity. We demonstrated the power of compassion in 2012 by ending euthanasia as our community’s method for controlling pet overpopulation. That is no small achievement; indeed, it places us among the nation’s most humane communities. Continue reading “Compassion is not a finite commodity By Ed Boks”