That is similar to success in mid-1990s San Francisco, Charlottesville, and many, many others.
Despite my request that he do so, Malisow did not talk to shelter directors in communities which were succeeding including:
o Bonney Brown at the Nevada Humane Society
o Mitch Schneider at Washoe County Animal Services
o Susan Cosby of the Animal Welfare Association of New Jersey and former Chief Operating Officer of the Philadelphia Animal Care & Control Association
o Suzanne Kogut in Charlottesville
o Doug Rae at Indianapolis Animal Care & Control
o Tereza Marks in Portsmouth, VA, and,
o The director of the municipal shelter in Porter County, Indiana
False Claim: I do not believe in public irresponsibility
In the article, Malisow claims I do not believe in public irresponsibility, a fact I contradicted during his interview of me. As a former criminal prosecutor�who helped prosecute everything from drunk driving cases to a capital murder case�and chief of animal control, I would never deny human irresponsibility. In fact, he questioned me about a raid we participated in to try to stop an abusive backyard breeder while I was in Tompkins County.
As a Deputy District Attorney, I also prosecuted cruelty cases under the Three Strikes Law. I was even criticized for being too tough, when I charged someone with arson in addition to animal cruelty after they burned a cat because arson was a �strike� and would have led to a maximum six-year sentence, rather than three years for the cruelty. (As a strike case, it also required the defendant to serve at least 80% of that sentence, rather than the 50% for non-strike felonies.) I also succeeded in changing the policy in Riverside County which allowed defendants to be given their animals back pending trial because it was cheaper than boarding them, even though it meant putting the victim back into the hands of his or her abuser.
I have long stated that while irresponsibility sends animals to the shelters, what happens when they get there depends on the shelter. The fact that someone allows a pet to give birth to a litter doesn�t mean a shelter doesn�t have to put in place a foster care program to avoid killing those little ones. It doesn�t give the shelter the moral absolution to order their killing because they refuse to put in place a targeted program to stop it. Shelters exist to be a safety net for animals who are victims of irresponsible people, for homeless animals, and for animals when people have no where else to turn. But too many kill, rather than save animals. In fact, too many shelter directors refuse to implement alternatives to killing, acting irresponsibly themselves. And that is what I am critical of. While people surrender animals to shelters, it is shelters that kill them and one does not necessarily follow or excuse the other.
False Claim: I care �too much� and am �romantic� rather than practical
First of all, I don�t know what caring �too much� means. Compassion and love are not limited. But to make that claim, he makes much of an adoption incentive we offered in Tompkins for a discount pet massage. When someone adopted a dog or cat from our agency, they received:
1. Free health exam at any local vet
2. Free dog grooming at local pet salon
3. 10% discount at pet supply store
4. Free dog behavior advice for life
5. Free month of dog doodoo pick up
6. Free engraved pet I.D. tag
7. Free bag of pet food
8. 10% discount at puppy class
9. 10% discount for pet massage
10. Pet Lover�s Guide to New Pet
11. Free bag of goodies
12. Discount on latte at local coffee shop
13. Periodically: free video, free Kong, free collars/leashes, etc.
We paid nothing for these services. I succeeded in getting local pet related businesses to donate them in order to incentivize adoptions, encourage the integration of pets in our community, promote good pet care by new owners, and to promote pet related businesses. How is that an example of �caring too much� and being �romantic�?
In addition, it allowed us to effectively compete with local pet stores. Someone could pay $50 for an unspayed kitten from a pet store or they could adopt one from us for the same price, and not only get a kitten fully vetted and sterilized, but all those freebies and services, and they could adopt him or her at the very same mall during our regular offsite adoption events.
The pet massages were offered by a local business run by an animal loving member of our community, and I graciously accepted the donation. The insinuation is much ado about nothing.