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September 2010

• The No Kill Advocacy Center is working to end the systematic killing of animals in U.S. shelters. Learn more by clicking here.
• Want to stay up-to-date? Subscribe to our free e-newsletter, The No Kill Advocate, by clicking here.
• Have you signed the U.S. No Kill Declaration? Visit www.nokilldeclaration.org or click here.
• Ready to support our lifesaving work? Click here to become a member or donate while you shop at Amazon and elsewhere.

 

NKAC Joins in a Defense of Shelter Volunteers

Animal Care & Control of New York City (ACC) recently unveiled a new volunteer policy that threatens to expel volunteers for exercising their rights to free speech and to petition their government for redress of grievances. Specifically, the policy states that volunteers may not “publicly criticiz[e]” or cast the agency “in a negative light” without permission from ACC. It also prohibits them from “[p]osting [criticism] on any internet site such as Facebook, My Space, Craig’s List, etc.” It further states that “[v]olunteers are prohibited from distributing their personal information, or opinions in regards [to ACC] volunteers, staff, animals, and/or policies to the public.” Those who do “will be terminated.” This policy violates the constitutional rights of volunteers.

Read the letter from New York State Assembly Member Micah Kellner to Mayor Bloomberg asking him to rescind the illegal policy by clicking here.

Not only do we applaud him for standing up for animals and the people who love them, but we want to do our part. The new policy is an illegal attempt to intimidate and silence volunteers which cannot be allowed to stand. Volunteers are the voice of the animals and the conscience of the community. Silencing them allows the New York City pound to continue neglecting animals and killing them needlessly. If the volunteers are silenced through this unconstitutional policy, the animals won't stand a chance.

If you are a volunteer and you have been terminated for speaking up for the animals, please contact us. We can provide information on resources for determining whether you have legal claims for the violation of your rights.

 

Beaming the Revolution Live

Animal Ark, Minnesota’s premier No Kill shelter, and the No Kill Advocacy Center will be teaming up to offer a monthly series of low-cost webinars to help shelters, rescue organizations, private citizens, and municipalities learn more about and begin implementing the programs and services of the No Kill Equation.

Topics will include reforming animal control, turbocharging adoption programs, building a volunteer and foster care program, non-lethal community cat initiatives, using legislation and litigation to save lives, and much more.

The interactive sessions will be hosted by Nathan Winograd and Mike Fry from Animal Ark and feature some of the most successful shelter directors, animal law attorneys, and advocates in the USA and beyond. One Friday afternoon each month, the webinars will be streaming live to computers worldwide.

Webinar: Reforming Animal Control

October 22, 2010

Learn how to reform your local shelter through a campaign for change that includes public advocacy, lobbying and legislation, and harnessing the power of community compassion.

For more information and to register, click here.

 

No Kill Conference 2010

 

No Kill Conference 2010 brought hundreds of animal lovers from 39 states and four countries to the George Washington School of Law in Washington D.C. where the most successful shelter directors, animal lawyers, and shelter reformers nationwide shared insights and strategies to end the systematic killing of animals in our nations pounds and shelters. The attendees heard from directors of open admission shelters with save rates between 92% and 96%. They heard from lawyers who have passed laws making it illegal for shelters to kill animals in a wide variety of contexts and who have successfully saved the lives of animals who shelters were determined to kill. And they heard from reformers who have succeeded in passing laws to end the needless killing of animals in their community.

• To be notified of future conferences, join our list-serve by clicking here.
• To hear the live conference broadcast from Animal Wise Radio, click here.
• To read Nathan Winograd's keynote and see a video montage set to music, click here

To download the Shelter Track materials, cut and paste the following to your browser: http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/Shelter2010.zip

To download the Legal Track materials, cut and paste the following to your browser: http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/Legal2010.zip

 

Yes to Oreo's Law

Working to reform the humane movement to bring it back to its original mission of saving lives, we have experienced many unexpected and heartbreaking moments of animals being betrayed by their so-called protectors. Recently, the ASPCA killed an abused dog named Oreo despite a No Kill shelter's offer to save her. To learn about the Oreo case, read the independent opinions of many people who objected to this tragic and heartbreaking case by clicking here.

In response to the killing of Oreo, two New York State legislators have introduced legislation to prevent this from ever happening again. Please join us in supporting "Oreo's Law" so that her needless death will not be in vain.

Read our letter of support by clicking here.

A No Kill Advocacy Center survey of non-profit rescue organizations finds that they are routinely denied animals, experience inconsistent and arbitrary treatment, are subject to retaliation and/or fear retaliation if they expose inhumane conditions in shelters, while shelters are killing animals these groups are willing to save.

Read the survey results by clicking here.

Update: On June 15, 2010, the Assembly Agriculture Committee voted to hold the bill, meaning it is tabled for this year. The animals lost and by some estimates, 25,000 animals will needlessly lose their lives because of it. Oreo's Law will be taken up again next year. We will continue the fight until we get justice for Oreo and a mechanism to ensure that animals are no longer needlessly killed.

You can also learn more at the following website: www.YESonOreosLaw.com. (Please note: The website is not administered by the No Kill Advocacy Center and the No Kill Advocacy Center is not responsible for its content.)

 

Protecting L.A.'s Feral Cats

The No Kill Advocacy Center and Stray Cat Alliance filed an emergency motion in Los Angeles Superior Court asking the court to allow them to intervene as Defendants in the case of Urban Wildlands Group vs. City of Los Angeles (LASC BS115483).

Urban Wildlands and other groups sued the City of Los Angeles and its Department of Animal Services for attempting to work with community groups to save the lives of feral cats by sterilizing them instead of killing them in the City’s shelters. Feral cats are free living and unsocialized to people. In December, the Superior Court ordered the City of Los Angeles to cease all efforts to work with community groups to prevent shelter killing of feral cats through the method known as Trap-Neuter-Release (“TNR”). As a result of the ruling, the City cannot even inform people who come in contact with stray cats about TNR services available in the community. The ruling will cost thousands of cats their lives, while doing little to stem any perceived loss of bird life.

Update: The trial court denied our initial motion, but we have appealed from that ruling.  To read our appeal, click here.

To read our appellate reply brief, click here.

To read an analysis which debunks the claim by Urban Wildlands blaming cats for any perceived decline in bird species, click here.

 

No Kill Advocate

• The Future of No Kill: Rescuers are taking matters into their own hands.
• Stopping Abuse: Shelter reform legislation can stop abuse both in and out of the shelter.
• The Need for Oreo's Law: A law pending in New York should be passed in each and every state.
• Shocking NYS Survey: A survey reveals that over 70% of rescuers have been turned away while shelters kill the very animals they are willing to save.
• No Kill Takes on the World: A race to become the first No Kill nation.
• Our Future Looks Bright, NKAC news and campaigns, our Director wins the Gold and Bronze, and more...
  
  

Click here to subscribe and/or to read the current issue.

 

We're Here to Help

What does it take to save 4,000,000 dogs and cats? A mouse! Our website is an online portal to help you save lives: Found an animal and need advice on how to find a home? Does your local shelter unnecessarily kill animals? Are you a shelter manager and need help with No Kill programs, services, or policies? Want to keep up with No Kill news from around the country? Want to get more involved with the No Kill movement? And more...

Get the most out of our website:

• Policies, procedures, and guides are available by clicking here.
• Ground-breaking lawsuits, studies, and more are available by clicking here.
• Frequently asked questions (how do I make my community no kill? where can I find a home for an animal? how can I get help with....) with lots of resources are available by clicking here.
• Links to other organizations are available by clicking here.
• Sample success stories are available by clicking here.
• Our e-newsletter is available by clicking here.
• Donation and other support information is available by clicking here.

 

Redemption & Irreconcilable Differences

We are teaming up to bring you signed copies of the award winning books by "the voice of America’s displaced pets and the conscience of the animal sheltering industry."

You can purchase autographed and personalized copies of either book for $20.00 per book. (Shipping, tax and handling are included.) *For unsigned copies for as little as $13, go to amazon.com or your favorite bookseller.

Each book is signed by Nathan Winograd and personalized to the person making the purchase. If you buy more than one copy, signed copies of a second or more books are simply signed and dated by the author.

Proceeds from the sale of signed books benefit the lifesaving programs of the No Kill Advocacy Center.

To purchase a signed copy of Redemption, click here.

To purchase a signed copy of Irreconcilable Differences, click here.

Please note: Neither Redemption nor Irreconcilable Differences are written by the No Kill Advocacy Center and the No Kill Advocacy Center is not responsible for their content. We apologize but this offer only valid by online credit card purchase. We are not able to process credit cards by telephone. For international orders, we ship by the lowest cost method through the U.S. Postal Service. We cannot guarantee delivery by any given date and we are not responsible for books lost in transit. If you are placing an international order and would like your books shipped by Federal Express or UPS in order to expedite delivery and track packages, please e-mail us and we will price your additional delivery fee.

Receive a free copy of Irreconcilable Differences: New members who donate $50 or more to the No Kill Advocacy Center will receive a copy of Irreconcilable Differences, personally signed by the author. (U.S. addresses only.)

 

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